Live updates from the Faith Hedgepeth murder trial

His lawyers asked Judge Gregory to throw out the judgments and order a new trial, and asked for a hearing. Their four grounds include a lab report they say was disclosed late, Heinrich's testimony, and the exclusion of a defense expert's opinion before trial (WRAL).

WRAL reported no hearing date (WRAL). The Durham County District Attorney's Office told ABC11 that filing the motion is the defendant's right (ABC11).

“We have really been working on this case almost every day for the last two years,” Durham District Attorney Satana Deberry said after the verdict (9th Street Journal).

Rainsford told the judge the defense would appeal. Deberry said notice of appeal was filed that evening (The Daily Tar Heel).

Judge Gregory sentenced him to life in prison without parole for the murder, plus consecutive terms on the other three counts that AP totals at 45 to 65 years (WRAL; AP).

“It didn't matter who done it, I knew that I had to forgive, and I do forgive, but my heart aches for his family,” Faith's mother, Connie Hedgepeth, said. Her father, Roland Hedgepeth, said, “I say it without reservation, I forgive Miguel for what he did” (AP).

“We're not supposed to watch our children leave this Earth before we do,” Gregory said (The Daily Tar Heel).

The jury found Salguero-Olivares guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense and first-degree burglary on Oct. 23, after about six hours of deliberation over two days (AP; The Daily Tar Heel).

“It's not fair,” he said as the verdict was read (WRAL).

“We know who did it. The forensic evidence is screaming his name,” Garcia-Lamarca told jurors (AP). Prosecutor Lisa Coltrain said, “They still got the guy because he left his DNA like confetti all over that room” (WRAL).

The defense said investigators had tunnel vision and argued the DNA could be from an earlier consensual encounter (ABC11). “His life is in your hands,” Rainsford said (The Daily Tar Heel).

Jurors began deliberating in the afternoon and went home after 5 p.m. (ABC11).

The defense rested without calling witnesses or presenting evidence, and Salguero-Olivares told the judge he wouldn't testify (ABC11).

Closing arguments were set to begin Thursday, Oct. 22 (Chapelboro).

The judge agreed with the defense on one point and told jurors to disregard SBI Special Agent Justin Heinrich's earlier comment about the DNA (WRAL).

On cross-examination, the defense asked Heinrich why he never interviewed a downstairs neighbor himself. “It was not a key priority to us when we got involved in the investigation,” Heinrich said (ABC11).

The state rested after 23 witnesses, and the defense asked the judge to dismiss all counts (ABC11). “I just don't see any premeditation or deliberation, I also don't see a murder,” Rainsford argued. “That motion to dismiss is denied,” Judge Keith O. Gregory said (Chapelboro).

Erin Ermish, the State Crime Lab's only DNA analyst on the case since 2012, testified over three days (The Daily Tar Heel). She said DNA from the top of the rum bottle was overwhelmingly more likely to come from Hedgepeth and Salguero-Olivares than from two unknown, unrelated people (The Daily Tar Heel).

She also testified about DNA evidence from the sexual-assault examination. Bench Watch isn't describing that evidence further (The Daily Tar Heel).

On cross-examination, defense lawyer James Rainsford asked how DNA breaks down over time, and Ermish said it can, especially for items collected in 2012 and tested years later. She also told jurors she can never confirm for certain that DNA belongs to a particular person (The Daily Tar Heel).

Asked by prosecutor Angela Garcia-Lamarca where the evidence led, Capt. Johnnie Britt said, “Everything led back to the defendant” (WRAL). Asked whether she would test more items if she could go back, she said, “The gas cap is probably one of those things” (9th Street Journal).

Jurors saw part of a 2021 police interview in which Salguero-Olivares repeatedly said he didn't know Hedgepeth (WRAL).

A State Crime Lab fingerprint expert said she could draw no conclusions from the prints on the rum bottle prosecutors called the weapon, but she identified a palm print on a wine bottle as his (WRAL; The Daily Tar Heel).

A forensic sexual assault nurse examiner testified for the state. Bench Watch isn't describing that testimony (WRAL).

Chapel Hill police Capt. Johnnie Britt, the lead investigator, said police interviewed hundreds of people and compared their DNA to a male profile from the State Crime Lab (The Daily Tar Heel).

On cross-examination, Britt said she learned only years later that the swab from the bathroom doorframe had been lost (The Daily Tar Heel).

Court ended early Friday and resumes Monday, Oct. 12, at 9:30 a.m. (ABC11).

Dr. Lauren Scott, an associate chief medical examiner who performed the autopsy in 2012, testified about blunt-force injuries to Hedgepeth's head (ABC11).

Jurors were shown autopsy photos. Several jurors cried, and Judge Keith O. Gregory called an early 15-minute break (The News & Observer; ABC11).

She also testified about the sexual-assault examination. Bench Watch isn't describing that testimony in detail.

Forensic technician Tamika Price testified that a presumptive test on a red stain near the bottom of the bathroom door frame indicated possible blood. She said the step to collect the sample “was a step that was missed” (The News & Observer).

On cross-examination, defense lawyer James Rainsford asked about areas police didn't search or test (The News & Observer). Price testified that doorknobs weren't tested because she wasn't told to test them, hand towels by the sink weren't collected, and Hedgepeth's phone couldn't be processed after a sergeant handled it. She said she followed her supervisors' direction (ABC11).

Price acknowledged the missing sample should have been documented in her report (ABC11).

Sheleathea Quick, a retired forensic evidence specialist who was training Price in 2012, testified next (The News & Observer; ABC11). Asked when she realized the door-frame swab couldn't be found, she said: “When Price let me know. We searched the truck. We searched the lab” (ABC11).

Tamika Price, a forensic technician, continued testifying Friday. She showed jurors the rum bottle prosecutors say was the murder weapon (WRAL).

Jurors watched crime-scene video on the second day of testimony as Hedgepeth's family sat in court (ABC11; East Idaho News). Witnesses included the 911 operator and forensic evidence technician Tamika Price (ABC11).

“The evidence in this case is louder than the noise around it,” Assistant District Attorney Angela Garcia-Lamarca told jurors, saying the defendant's DNA was on the rum bottle, a note and other evidence. Defense lawyer James Rainsford told jurors to ask, “Where's the rest of the evidence?” (AP).

One of the state's first witnesses was the roommate who found Hedgepeth (AP).

Jury selection began Sept. 28 in Durham County, with Judge Keith O. Gregory presiding (Chapelboro; WRAL). Bench Watch's live coverage begins here; updates follow as testimony continues.