NewzA man accused of killing a North Carolina college student 14 years ago was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, rape and other charges after prosecutors told jurors that forensic evidence was “screaming his name.” Miguel Salguero Olivares was arrested nine years later after being pulled over for driving while intoxicated and providing a DNA sample that prosecutors say matched evidence from the crime scene.Salguero Olivares, 33, did not testify during the trial, and his attorneys rested their case without calling any witnesses. Jurors deliberated for six hours over two days before convicting him of murder, rape, sexual offense and burglary.In closing arguments Thursday, defense attorneys accused investigators of having “tunnel vision” in assuming that their client was a monster and not a “19-year-old boy” who had consensual sex with the victim days before her death.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, urged jurors to rely on DNA evidence instead of distractions from the defense team.“We know who did it. The forensic evidence is screaming his name,” said prosecutor Angela Garcia-Lamarca, who described the “uncurable agony” Hedgepeth's family has endured.“When the defendant brought that bottle down on her head and she started to bleed, that was the start of a bleeding that still hasn’t stopped,” she said. He sentenced everybody else who loved her to life.
There was no one there to protect her. There was no one there to stop him — until now. You’re here now, and you can stop him.”Prosecution suggests victim spurned defendant's advancesNearly two dozen witnesses testified for the prosecution, including crime scene technicians, state and local law enforcement, a DNA expert and Hedgepeth's friends.Hedgepeth's roommate, Karena Rosario, testified that she was drunk and sick when Hedgepeth drove them home from a club around 2 a.m.
She said she later called a friend to pick her up, leaving Hedgepeth in the apartment alone. She returned hours later to find her roommate’s body.Prosecutors suggested Salguero Olivares may have attended a barbecue hosted by Hedgepeth’s neighbor that night, unsuccessfully hit on the young women in the parking lot and then re… Salguero Olivares, 33, did not testify during the trial, and his attorneys rested their case without calling any witnesses.
In closing arguments Thursday, defense attorneys accused investigators of having “tunnel vision” in assuming that their client was a monster and not a “19-year-old boy” who had consensual sex with the victim days before her death. “When the defendant brought that bottle down on her head and she started to bleed, that was the start of a bleeding that still hasn’t stopped,” she said. Hedgepeth’s roommate, Karena Rosario, testified that she was drunk and sick when Hedgepeth drove them home from a club around 2 a.m.
She returned hours later to find her roommate’s body. Prosecutors suggested Salguero Olivares may have attended a barbecue hosted by Hedgepeth’s neighbor that night, unsuccessfully hit on the young women in the parking lot an…
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