Closing Arguments Due in 2012 UNC Student Murder Trial

Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday in the trial of Miguel Salguero Olivares, who is accused of killing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sophomore Faith Hedgepeth in September 2012.

Hedgepeth, 19, was found beaten to death in her off-campus apartment. Prosecutors allege Olivares, now 33, was a stranger who killed Hedgepeth in a fit of rage. His DNA, they say, was found on a bloody rum bottle identified as the murder weapon, on Hedgepeth's body, and on a note found at the scene.

Olivares was arrested nine years after the killing, following a DWI stop where a DNA sample he provided was matched to evidence from the crime scene. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, rape, and burglary charges. His attorneys rested their case Wednesday without calling witnesses, and Olivares did not testify.

Testimony began on October 7, following eight days of jury selection. Nearly two dozen witnesses testified for the prosecution, including Hedgepeth’s roommate, friends, crime scene technicians, law enforcement officers, and a DNA expert.

Early testimony focused on Hedgepeth's final hours. Her roommate, Karena Rosario, testified that she was intoxicated and unwell when Hedgepeth drove them home from a club around 2 a.m. Rosario later left the apartment and returned hours later that September 7 to find Hedgepeth dead. An autopsy revealed Hedgepeth suffered extensive skull fractures and severe injuries to her face, head, arms, and legs.

Forensic scientist Erin Ermish testified that DNA from Hedgepeth's body was 170 septillion times more likely to be a mixture of DNA from Hedgepeth and Salguero Olivares than from Hedgepeth and an unknown individual. Ermish also stated that DNA mixture from the top of the rum bottle was 48.6 tredecillion times more likely to be from Hedgepeth and Salguero Olivares than two unknown individuals.

During cross-examination, defense attorneys questioned Rosario's account of the night, the crime scene processing, and the reliability of the DNA evidence. They highlighted that police did not search certain areas of the apartment and later lost some potential blood evidence. Jurors reportedly cried upon viewing autopsy photos of Hedgepeth, while Olivares cried when prosecutors played a jailhouse call between him and a deceased friend.