Miguel Salguero Olivares sentenced to life for 2012 UNC student murder

Miguel Salguero Olivares, 33, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2012 murder of Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student. A Durham County jury also convicted him of first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense, and first-degree burglary.

Following the murder conviction, Judge Keith Gregory ordered consecutive prison terms ranging from 64 to 89 months for burglary and 240 to 348 months for the rape and sexual offense charges. The verdict concluded a high-profile case that spanned fourteen years.

Prosecutors secured the conviction using extensive forensic evidence. A forensic scientist testified that genetic material found at the scene was 170 septillion times more likely to have originated from Salguero Olivares than an unidentified person. Additionally, prosecutors presented a palm print found on a wine bottle at the crime scene that matched the defendant. Salguero Olivares was arrested nine years after the incident following a driving while intoxicated stop that led to a DNA match.