{"id":2049,"date":"2026-06-09T07:04:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T07:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2049"},"modified":"2026-06-09T07:04:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T07:04:38","slug":"defense-says-da-is-fueling-publicity-she-wants-to-stop-in-faith-hedgepeth-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2049","title":{"rendered":"Defense says DA is fueling publicity she wants to stop in Faith Hedgepeth murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

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\n 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.\n <\/p>\n

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Attorneys for the man accused of killing UNC student Faith Hedgepeth say in a recent court filing that the Durham County district attorney is undermining her own effort to limit pretrial publicity.<\/p>\n

The defense team\u2019s criticism centers on District Attorney Satana Deberry\u2019s request to seal all motions and orders leading up to jury selection in the trial of Miguel Salguero Olivares, who is accused of raping and killing Hedgepeth in her off-campus apartment 14 years ago.<\/p>\n

Deberry told The News & Observer last month that she is making the unusual request<\/a> amid intense coverage of each step of the case, including defense filings that contained \u201ca bunch of falsehoods and allegations that were not true in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Rainsford, attorney for Salguero Olivares, wrote in a motion last week that he wants the pretrial filings to remain public. He argued Deberry\u2019s statements appear to be doing exactly what she says she wants to prevent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe State\u2019s above-listed statement is exactly the kind of action capable of improperly tainting the jury pool that the State claims to fear from Defendant,\u201d Rainsford wrote in a filing last week.<\/p>\n

A hearing on Deberry\u2019s request is set for Tuesday afternoon. Rainsford\u2019s filing highlights the increasing tension between prosecutors and the defense as the brutal killing of Hedgepeth moves closer to trial in four months.<\/p>\n

The conflict goes back to motions filed on behalf of Salguero Olivares over the last year, raising questions about whether Hedgepeth\u2019s roommate, Karena Rosario, was at the apartment when Hedgepeth was killed in September 2012.<\/p>\n

In court filings starting in July 2025,<\/a> Salguero Olivares\u2019 attorneys sought to retest evidence and ensure Rosario<\/a> could testify. In the filings, the defense team alleges she could have been at the apartment at the time of the killing and points out she had a drop of blood on her finger when she got in a friend\u2019s car to leave.<\/p>\n

In May, Durham County prosecutors asked a judge to seal future motions in the murder case, arguing that defense filings are distorting evidence as the case approaches a Sept. 28 trial date.<\/p>\n

Last week, Rainsford objected to the request, arguing that prosecutors\u2019 concerns do not outweigh his client\u2019s right to a public trial, one of the oldest promises of the American justice system.<\/p>\n

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That promise does not begin when jurors take their seats, Rainsford argued. It extends to the pretrial motions and hearings that shape a case long before opening statements, determining what evidence reaches jurors and which witnesses are allowed to testify.<\/p>\n

Sealing the pretrial filings and orders \u201cwithholds the proceeding from public view more effectively than locking the courtroom door,\u201d Rainsford wrote.<\/p>\n

Rainsford\u2019s filing also says Deberry hasn\u2019t offered any evidence or specifics about the falsehoods she alleged in the conversation with The N&O and in other hearings.<\/p>\n

If the judge grants prosecutors\u2019 motion to seal the pretrial motions after Deberry\u2019s statements, \u201cit would now be seen by the potential jury pool as the trial court\u2019s endorsement of the State\u2019s unsupported and unsubstantiated\u201d allegations about the defense team, Rainsford\u2019s filing states.<\/p>\n

Deberry declined to respond directly to the allegations in the filing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state will make its full argument on Tuesday, and we\u2019ll let the judge decide,\u201d Deberry told The N&O.<\/p>\n

In September 2012, police found Hedgepeth\u2019s body<\/a> in a Chapel Hill apartment she shared with Rosario, a fellow UNC student.<\/p>\n

Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old sophomore, was found in the one-bedroom apartment hanging off the bed, tangled in a bloody comforter after being raped and beaten to death, court documents state.<\/p>\n

Rosario told investigators that Hedgepeth was asleep when she left the apartment around 4:25 a.m. Sept. 7, 2012. About seven hours later, Rosario called 911, frantically describing finding Hedgepeth\u2019s body and blood all over the pillows and a comforter around 11 a.m.<\/p>\n

Nine years after the killing<\/a>, Chapel Hill police charged Salguero Olivares<\/a> with Hedgepeth\u2019s killing.<\/a> Police said they used DNA found at the apartment to identify relatives of Salguero Olivares, which led to him eventually being charged with Hedgepeth\u2019s murder in 2021.<\/p>\n

In 2024, prosecutors added burglary, rape and sexual offense charges, alleging Salguero Olivares broke into Hedgepeth\u2019s apartment and raped her.<\/p>\n

Read more Woman who shot NC attorneys stalked neighbors, made threats online, orders show<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attorneys for Miguel Salguero Olivares oppose efforts to seal pretrial filings in the Faith Hedgepeth murder case, criticize Durham DA\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nDefense says DA is fueling publicity she wants to stop in Faith Hedgepeth murder case - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2049\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defense says DA is fueling publicity she wants to stop in Faith Hedgepeth murder case - 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