Maryland mother of five Rachel Morin was brutally raped and murdered while out jogging in 2023 by an undocumented migrant who had killed before, a court has heard.
Her heartbroken mother, Patricia Morin, fought back tears as prosecutors described Morin’s slaying by suspect Victor Martinez-Hernandez during the opening statements in his murder trial on Friday morning. Martinez-Hernandez, 24, is facing first-degree murder and rape charges, and could be sentenced to life without parole if convicted.
A jury was told that on the evening of August 5, 2023, Morin left her home for a jog on August 5, 2023, and never returned.
Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey described what happened to Morin as “a mother’s worst nightmare” as she told jurors how volunteers found the 37-year-old’s body the next day just off the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, by following a bloody trail that stretched about 150 feet after she had been dragged by the killer, the Baltimore Banner reported.
Following a 10-month-long nationwide search, Martinez-Hernandez was arrested in June 2024 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by using investigative genetic genealogy to track down family members and later matching his DNA to the crime scene.
The case has captured national attention because of the undocumented status of Martinez-Hernandez, who is from El Salvador, and his connection to prior violent crimes.
His trial is expected to last until April 16.
‘A mother’s worst nightmare’
During opening statements on Friday, the State’s Attorney walked the jury through the tragic case she described as “a mother's worst nightmare.”
She said Morin went to the Ma and Pa trail around 6:58 p.m. on August 5, 2023, and was never seen again.
“That place that she loved so much ended up being the place she lost her life at the hands of this defendant,” Healey told the court.
She went on to say that the Harford County Sheriff’s Office received more than 1,000 tips, which led them to an apartment in Temple Hills, Maryland, where Martinez-Hernandez’s family members provided investigators with a photo, Facebook profile, and phone number, The Baltimore Banner reported from the courtroom.
DNA collected from his belongings matched what was found on Morin, the prosecution said.
Martinez-Hernandez was later arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When investigators analyzed his cellphone, they found that Martinez-Hernandez had searched for “Bel,” “Air,” “Rachel,” and a misspelling of Morin, Healey said.
Cached images and YouTube videos about Morin and the investigation were also found, Healey added.
Defense claims Rachel Morin ‘attracted male attention’
Defense attorneys for Martinez-Hernandez argued that he was not the man who committed the crime, went so far as to claim that Morin had “attracted male attention.”
“Rachel Morin was brutally murdered. This was a horrible tragedy,” said Assistant Public Defender Sawyer Hicks, one of Martinez-Hernandez's attorneys, in his opening statement.
“But Mr. Martinez-Hernandez is not the man that committed this offense.”
The defense also questioned the motive and said there are many unanswered questions.
“This was not a crime committed by a complete stranger,” Hicks said. “This is someone who had a grievance. Someone who wanted to humiliate Rachel Morin to the greatest extent possible.”
Searcher recalls moment he found Morin’s body
Evan Knapp, who volunteered to help search for Morin on August 6, 2023, testified Friday about the moment he found her body.
“I feel like time froze for a second,” Knapp said, adding that he was in shock. “It’s just kind of hard to really know what I was feeling.”
Morin’s loved ones also took the stand on Friday.
Her daughter, Violet Custer, told the court she became worried when her mom stopped responding to her texts. At 3 a.m., Custer and her mom’s boyfriend Richard Tobin decided to go search for her themselves.
“I went onto the trail, to try to find my mom,” she said.
When Tobin took the stand, he told the court that he tried to call Morin but her phone went straight to voicemail. Then it just started beeping.
He testified that he went out looking for her and discovered her car near the trailhead, before going to search for her again in the middle of the night. Tobin added that he cooperated with police, handing over his phone and a DNA sample.
And when the authorities found Morin’s body, he broke down.
“I freaked out,” Tobin said. “I cried. I screamed.”
Who is Victor Martinez-Hernandez?
Police said Martinez-Hernandez, who is from El Salvador, had been living in the US illegally since February 2023.
He is believed to have killed a woman in El Salvador in January 2023 before crossing into the US and attacking a nine-year-old girl and her mother during a home invasion in Los Angeles in March 2023, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said.
The suspect has connections in the Washington, D.C. area, in both Virginia and Prince George's County, Maryland, and has ties to known gangs, Gahler added.
"Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better life for himself or his family," Gahler said at the time of the arrest. "He came here to escape the crime he committed in El Salvador. He came here and murdered Rachel and, God willing, no one else."
Who was Rachel Morin?
Rachel Morin, a mother of five, who lived in Harford County, was out for a jog when she was dragged from the trail, raped and murdered.
A community in mourning gathered to honor her memory following her death. According to a program distributed at the memorial, Morin was a fitness enthusiast who lifted weights and participated in marathons. She loved fashion and enjoyed traveling.
And she was a dedicated mother of five children, aged eight to 18 years old. The children are being taken care of by their fathers and other relatives, according to Joseph Murtha, an attorney representing Morin’s family.
Her mother Patty Morin said she owned a cleaning company and worked hard to support her family. She also loved to exercise and spent a lot of time on the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail.
“We actually lived a block away from the trail for over 10 years when they were younger,” Patty Morin said. "And, as a family, we would go there every day . . . I always told Rachel to never go on the trail alone. Even though it's safe, just don't do that.”
Michael Morin, Morin’s brother, gave an emotional speech at the Republican National Convention in July 2024, where he condemned his sister’s murder.
“Rachel, a joyful, accomplished athlete and mother of five, was raped and murdered by a suspected illegal immigrant,” Morin told the RNC attendees. “My sister’s death was preventable.”
