Miguel Salguero Olivares convicted of murder in 2012 UNC student death

A North Carolina jury has convicted Miguel Salguero Olivares of first-degree murder, rape, sexual offense, and burglary in connection with the 2012 killing of Faith Hedgepeth. Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was beaten to death in her off-campus Durham apartment in September 2012.

Olivares, now 33, was arrested nine years after the crime following a driving while intoxicated stop that led to a DNA sample match. Prosecutors argued that forensic evidence, including DNA found on a blood-covered rum bottle used as a weapon and on the victim's body, “screaming his name.”

During the trial, the defense argued that investigators suffered from “tunnel vision” and suggested Olivares may have had consensual sex with the victim days before her death. The defense rested its case without calling any witnesses or presenting evidence. After deliberating for approximately six hours over two days, the jury returned a guilty verdict.