What to watch for as Hedgepeth murder case returns to court Tuesday, approaches trial
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge will hear the DA’s motion to seal pretrial motions and orders Tuesday afternoon.
- Defense opposes sealing, arguing the defendant has a right to public pretrial proceedings.
- Trial for Miguel Salguero Olivares on rape, murder, related charges is set for September.
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Faith Hedgepeth Murder
Faith Hedgepeth was a UNC sophomore when she was killed on Sept. 7, 2012. Her murder was unsolved until Sept. 16, 2021, when Chapel Hill police made an arrest in her case. Here are stories about Hedgepeth and the case from The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun.
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The man charged with killing Faith Hedgepeth is set to return to court Tuesday as his defense team tries to block the prosecution’s request to seal motions and orders in the months leading up to a scheduled fall trial.
The judge’s ruling on the request will determine how much of the remaining legal battles unfold in public before jurors consider the evidence in the trial accusing Miguel Salguero Olivares of raping and murdering Hedgepeth, 19, at the start of her sophomore year at UNC in September 2012.
The dispute is one of many that Judge Keith Gregory will have to decide as prosecutors and defense attorneys begin to argue over what evidence jurors will hear and how the case will proceed as it moves toward a Sept. 28 trial date.
On Tuesday afternoon, Gregory is scheduled to hear District Attorney Satana Deberry’s motion to seal all pretrial motions and orders, which prosecutors argue is necessary to prevent the jury from being influenced by intense local and national coverage of the case.
Defense attorneys for Salguero Olivares oppose the request, arguing that he is guaranteed the right to a public trial, including proceedings that shape the case before it reaches a jury.
In another filing, James Rainsford, attorney for Salguero Olivares, outlined some of his pretrial requests but indicated he planned to make more by the June 15 deadline for motions.
The requests include:
- Allowing attorneys to question prospective jurors together and individually.
- Permitting the defendant to wear civilian clothes and preventing the jury from seeing his handcuffs or shackles.
- Restricting witnesses from watching court testimony before they testify.
About Faith Hedgepeth and the man charged with her killing
In September 2012, police found Hedgepeth’s body in a Chapel Hill apartment she shared with Karena Rosario, a fellow UNC-Chapel Hill student.
Hedgepeth, a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribal community, grew up in a small North Carolina community on the Warren-Halifax counties’ border, The News & Observer has previously reported. A Gates Millennium Scholarship for advanced minority students paid for Hedgepeth’s school expenses, but she also worked part-time jobs for grocery and gas money. Her dream was to become a pediatrician and return to her community to care for patients there.
Nine years after the killing, Chapel Hill police charged Salguero Olivares with Hedgepeth’s killing. Police said they used DNA found at the apartment to identify relatives of Salguero Olivares, which led to him eventually being charged with Hedgepeth’s murder in 2021.
In 2024, prosecutors added burglary, rape and sexual offense charges, alleging that Salguero Olivares broke into Hedgepeth’s home and raped her.
The trial, which is expected to last several weeks, is set to start at the end of September, which will be just over 14 years since the killing.
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
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