Faith Hedgepeth Murder Trial: Agent Confirms Police Called Nine Years 'A Couple Years Back'

Police told him the girl in the picture died "a couple years back." It had been almost nine years. Watch the agent who was there agree that is a difference. This is the Faith Hedgepeth murder trial in Durham County Superior Court, North Carolina. Faith was a UNC student who died in Chapel Hill in September 2012. The man now on trial is presumed innocent, and only the jury decides the charges. Right before this clip, the State played a bodycam interview for the jury. Police went to the defendant's apartment almost nine years after Faith died, held up one picture of her, and asked if he had ever seen her before. He said no. Cesar Gutierrez, the bilingual agent who was there that day and put the Spanish into English for the detective, walked the jury through it for the State. Then Mr. Rainsford stood up for the defense, and this cross is the defense's answer to that "no." First the picture. The agent agrees it was a digital picture on a cell phone screen, not a printed photo. He does not know when it was taken. The defense says earlier testimony put it almost a year before September 7, 2012. The jury saw Faith with her hair up on surveillance video, and the agent does not remember showing a picture like that. Then the words. The detective never said her name, and the agent does not remember why he did not use it either. The detective said it happened in Chapel Hill "a couple years back." Mr. Rainsford asks if almost nine years had passed. "Correct." Is there a difference? "I would agree, yeah." No date. No exact place. The agent says he cannot tell the jury why. His answer for all of it is the picture: "that's why we showed the picture and see if you knew her." The defense comes right back: one picture does not show how tall someone is or how she dressed. The last stretch matters too. The agent says he called the defendant evasive, not uncooperative, and points to a man worried about his painting job and a mother who told her son to help. The defense notes the jury never saw the first 10 to 15 minutes of that encounter. Here is what I keep coming back to. The State's side is simple: he was shown her picture and said he did not know her. The defense's side is that the question gave him almost nothing to work with: a small screen, one picture, no name, no date, and "a couple years back" for nine years. I am not the jury and neither are you. But if that "no" is going to carry weight in this trial, the jury deserves to know exactly what it was answering. Watch it and decide whether it was a fair test. --- KEY MOMENTS 0:00 What this video is, and a preview 0:21 Video starts 0:34 The defense opens: were you there to make an arrest? 1:48 One picture, on a cell phone screen 3:30 Why police never once said her name 4:17 "A couple years back" against nine years 7:59 "I said evasive," and the missing first 15 minutes --- COMPLETE CASE COVERAGE justiceisaprocess.com SUBSCRIBE for daily trial coverage. CASE BACKGROUND REPORT: https://justiceisaprocess.com/nc-v-mi... Complete case overview including the charges, the timeline, the key players, and the legal questions this trial raises. State of North Carolina v. Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares. Durham County Superior Court, North Carolina, Judge Keith Gregory presiding. Salguero-Olivares is charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 death of Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old UNC-Chapel Hill student, along with other charges. He has pleaded not guilty. Opening statements were heard on October 7, 2026. He is presumed innocent unless and until the State proves each charge beyond a reasonable doubt. LATEST ARTICLE: https://justiceisaprocess.com/desk-20... PLAYLISTS AND RESOURCES Website: https://justiceisaprocess.com/coverag... Full Trial Live Broadcasts:    • NC v. Miguel Salguero-Olivares: Full Trial...   No Breaks Edition:    • NC v. Miguel Salguero-Olivares: No Breaks ...   Trial Analysis Podcast:    • NC v. Miguel Salguero-Olivares: Case Story...   Key Moments and Testimony:    • NC v. Miguel Salguero-Olivares: Key Moment...   Commentary:    • NC v. Miguel Salguero-Olivares: Commentary   Subscribe for Daily Coverage:    / @justiceisaprocess   FAIR USE AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE This content is produced under Fair Use (17 U.S.C. 107) for news reporting, criticism, and educational purposes. We provide transformative commentary on public court proceedings, advancing public understanding of the judicial process through timestamps, analysis, and educational context. #JusticeIsAProcess #FaithHedgepeth #SalgueroOlivares