GUILTY: Life Without Parole in Faith Hedgepeth’s Murder 14 Years On, Where the Russell Brand Trial Stands, and Ethan Hauschultz

0:07 Good morning. This is Daily Crime and Justice from Calaroga Media, powered by AI. I'm Garrett Fisher. It's Monday, October 26, 2026. This morning in London, the Russell Brand trial resumes, and it's about to change shape. For two weeks, the jury has heard from the prosecution. Six women, their friends, their families, their old bosses. By the middle of this week, the prosecution is expected to rest. And then the spotlight swings to the man in the glass dock and the biggest decision of his life. Does he get up and tell his side of the story? So today, if you've missed any of it, we're going to catch you up on everything. And the question at the center of it, when the defense's turn comes, what does it actually have to prove?

0:53 Let's get into it. This segment discusses allegations of rape and sexual assault. I'll keep it to the facts the jury heard without graphic detail. The essentials every time. Russell Brand, 51, the comedian, actor, and podcaster, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court in London on seven charges. Three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault involving six women between 1999 and 2009. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them, and he denies all of the allegations. What follows comes from evidence in open court, as reported by Sky News and other outlets in the room. The women are legally anonymous for life and will refer to them the way the court does.

1:41 The prosecution opened on October 14th. Prosecutor Rael Carmi Jones told the jury the six women did not know each other, had never met, and came forward independently. She described a man who could be charming and funny when he wanted something, and demanding and entitled when he didn't get it. She also told the jury what Brandt said when police interviewed him in 2023, that he had never engaged in nonconsensual sex, and that the accusations had been reinvented or imagined after what he called a defamatory documentary. Here, in order, are the six women and the seven charges. The first complainant says that in the autumn of 1999, before Brand was famous, she met him at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth. She says that back at her hotel, she came out of the bathroom to find him partially undressed and, in her word, prancing around the room, and that he pushed her onto the bed and raped her.

2:38 Brand's former flatmate testified that around that time, Brand told him he thought he may have gone a bit too far with a woman. Under cross-examination, she rejected the defense's suggestion that she'd fallen under Brand's spell. And on Brand's side, he told police that if it happened, he doesn't remember it. The second complainant worked at MTV. She says that in 2001, she offered to show Brand where the toilets were, and that at the door, his manner changed. He grabbed her forearm, begged her to come in with a desperate, wild-eyed look, and tried to drag her inside before she wrenched free. That's the indecent assault charge. The jury also heard her call to police from 2023. She said she was in two minds about reporting it. Nothing did happen, she said, but it could have done, and she said Brand probably wouldn't even remember it. The third complainant says that at a party in a Soho bar in 2004, Brand grabbed her breasts within a minute of meeting her, then pulled her into a toilet and orally raped her, and that later, in a car, he exposed himself and laughed when she refused him. That's one rape count and one sexual assault count.

3:54 The defense asked why she didn't come forward until 2023. She said she was afraid she wouldn't be believed. The fourth complainant worked at a London radio station, Choice FM. She says that in 2004 or 5, Brand, a stranger to her, pinned her against a wall in the middle of the working day, groping and kissing her while the people with him watched and did nothing. Under cross-examination, she was pressed on inconsistencies about how many people were there and when it happened. She said it was more than 20 years ago, and that she has never had any doubt it was Russell Brand. The fifth complainant is at the center of the most serious allegation. She says she met Brand after his show at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009, had a consensual encounter in his dressing room, and went to his house in Hampstead a week later, expecting to sleep with him. She says that after consensual sex, he raped her, ignoring her as she told him to stop.

4:54 Months later, she says, he texted her that he wanted to push her further. She replied that he treated her like an animal. He wrote back, I'm sorry. The defense says it was all consensual and confronted her with Brand's reputation at the time. Her own words years later that she was probably as much to blame and an inconsistency over who told her to clean up afterward. Her answer, we are not here to discuss my morality. Then the jury heard from a long line of people, she says she told, beginning in 2009, including her parents, a sexual health nurse, her manager, and her ex-boyfriend, who said it was rape and she hated it, but conceded he'd once told police she had come round to it. And the sixth complainant worked at Channel 4. She says that in 2009, Brand refused to keep working unless she gave him a massage, then put his head in her lap in front of two of his colleagues. She says she reported it to her manager at the time. The defense noted she'd described her clothing differently to a journalist. So what's the defense's case?

5:57 Over two weeks, it's come into focus. Delay. These allegations are as much as 27 years old, and most weren't reported until after a 2023 Channel 4 and Sunday Times investigation. Inconsistency. In dates, in details, in who said what. Contamination. The defense suggests the documentary shapes some of these memories. And for the fifth complainant, consent. The judge has already told the jury the documentary's allegations have never been tested in any court and won't be shown to them. Now, what happens this week? The prosecution is expected to finish its case in the next few days. At that point, in an English trial, the defense can ask the judge to rule that the evidence on any count is too weak for a jury to convict. If the judge agrees, that count goes away. If not, the defense presents its case, and then comes the decision everyone's waiting for. Russell Brand does not have to testify, that's his right. But in England, unlike in the United States, if a defendant chooses not to give evidence, the judge can tell the jury they're allowed to take that into account. So staying silent carries a risk that it doesn't carry in an American courtroom.

7:12 On the other hand, if he does take the stand, he faces cross-examination from the prosecution about six women, a decade of his life, and a public persona built on talking about his sex life. After that, closing speeches, the judges summing up, and deliberations. In England, after a set amount of time, a judge can accept a verdict of 10 to 2. The trial is expected to run into December. I made you a promise at the start. No opinions on the evidence until there's a verdict. I'm keeping it. But I'll tell you this much. Whatever you think of Russell Brand, this is a real trial, with real evidence on both sides, and a jury that has been warned to avoid people like me. Good. Russell Brand denies all charges.

7:58 The trial resumes this morning. When we come back, two cases where justice took years to arrive. Faith Hedgepeth was 19, a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a citizen of the Halawa-Saponi tribe, and she wanted to be a pediatrician. In September of 2012, she was found beaten to death in the off-campus apartment she shared with a friend. Investigators collected DNA from the scene, and for nine years, it matched no one. Then, in August of 2021, police in Raleigh pulled over a man named Miguel Salguero Olivares on suspicion of drunk driving and collected a DNA sample.

8:55 According to arrest warrants reported by the News & Observer, investigators had already used ancestry data to identify him as a possible suspect. The sample matched. He was charged with murder and rape. At trial, prosecutors said his DNA, fingerprints, and a palm print connected him to the scene, including DNA on the weapon. The defense argued investigators had tunnel vision and accused the wrong man and chose not to present any evidence. On Friday, after about six hours of deliberation over two days, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense, and burglary. Salguero Olivares, now 33, sat shaking his head as the jurors were polled.

9:37 The judge sentenced him on the spot to life in prison without parole, plus 45 to 65 years. His lawyers say he will appeal. Before the sentence, Faith's parents spoke, and so did two of her nieces. And one family member said something remarkable. As reported by Fox, I say it without reservation, I forgive Miguel for what he did. 14 years, 1 month, and 16 days, the student newspaper at UNC counted. Faith Hedgepeth was 19. Someone has to say her name. If Faith Hedgepeth's case took 14 years because nobody knew who did it, this next case took eight years, even though everyone knew who was there. In April of 2018, a seven-year-old boy named Ethan Hauschultz died at a home in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. He and his siblings had been placed in the care of his great uncle, Timothy Hauschultz, after neglect in their own home. Prosecutors said that as punishment for not memorizing Bible verses, Timothy Hauschultz made the children walk laps around the yard carrying heavy logs and put his 14-year-old son, Damien, in charge. Ethan died of hypothermia and other injuries. Damien pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and is serving 20 years. Timothy's wife served five years in prison, but Timothy's case dragged on for eight years. Three different plea deals were presented and judges rejected all of them. One would have essentially sentenced him

11:09 to time served. Ethan's mother wrote to the court calling that an injustice. So it went to a jury. The defense blamed Damien saying he went far beyond anything his father told him to do and noted that neither Timothy nor his wife was home when Ethan died. On Wednesday, after more than 11 hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Timothy Hauschultz on four of the six charges, including child neglect resulting in death and being party to physical abuse of a child. His lawyer asked that he stay free until sentencing. The judge said no, noting that the case had moved from a posture of allegations to a posture of convictions. He was let out in handcuffs. Ethan's death led Wisconsin to pass a law in his name aimed at protecting children placed with relatives. Ethan Hauschultz was seven years old. Someone has to say his name. When we come back, the week ahead. That's the show for this Monday.

12:13 Here's my question for the Spotify crowd. If you were Russell Brand's lawyer, would you put him on the stand? If you're listening on Spotify, drop a comment and tell me why. Coming up this week, the prosecution expects to rest in the brand trial and the defense case begins. In Boston, the government's medical experts are still to testify in the Sandra Birchmore case. And we're keeping an eye on Brian Koberger and Krista Pike. I'm Garrett Fisher. Do better.

13:03 This episode of Daily Crime and Justice is produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and is intended for news and commentary purposes only. It is not legal advice. Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies all of the allegations against him. Miguel Salguero Olivares and Timothy Hauschultz have been convicted and may appeal. On Russell Brand, accounts of evidence are as reported by Sky News, the BBC, and other outlets present at Southwark Crown Court, and are allegations and testimony, not findings of fact. Our description of English trial procedure, including submissions of no case to answer and the effect of a defendant not testifying, is a general summary and not legal advice. Under the Sexual Offenses Amendment Act 1992, complainants in sexual offense cases in the United Kingdom are entitled to lifelong anonymity. On Faith Hedgepeth, details are as reported by Court TV, WRAL, CBS 17, Axios Raleigh, The News & Observer, The Daily Tar Heel, and Fox. On Ethan Hauschultz, details are as reported by Court TV, WLUK Fox 11, and WBAY. If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, you can call RAINN at 800-656-4673. In England and Wales, you can reach Rape Crisis at 0808-500-2222. If you suspect a

14:40 child is being abused, call the Child Help National Child Abuse Hotline at 800-422-4453.