Rachel Morin murder trial begins in Maryland; opening statements focus on suspect Victor Martinez-Hernandez

A judge heard opening statements Friday in the trial for Victor Martinez-Hernandez, who is accused of killing Maryland mother Rachel Morin in 2023. 

Morin's body was found on August 6, 2023, off the Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County, one day after she reportedly left for a jog.

Law enforcement officials said Martinez-Hernandez is an undocumented migrant from El Salvador. He is facing first-degree murder and rape charges. 

Police believe Martinez-Hernandez hid in a culvert before he attacked, raped and killed Morin. He was arrested in June 2024 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after a 10-month nationwide search.

A 12-member jury, along with six alternates, was seated on Wednesday after two days of jury selection.

The trial is expected to continue until at least April 16.

Prosecution delivers opening statements

During opening statements, Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey talked about Morin as a business owner, fitness lover and mother of five. 

According to Healey, Morin visited the Ma & Pa Trail nearly every day between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., especially during the summer. 

She revealed that the last text sent from Morin's phone on August 5, 2023, was around 7:04 a.m. When she stopped responding, her family became worried. 

Morin's boyfriend, Richard Tobin, went to look for her and found that her car was still in a nearby parking lot. He then went to different bars in an attempt to find her. When he was unsuccessful, he returned home and called 911, Healey recounted. 

A search party eventually found a rock with blood on it, leading them to discover Morin's body in a drainage tunnel. Morin had 15 to 20 head wounds and showed evidence of strangulation, which was later determined to be the cause of her death. Police received more than 1,000 tips while investigating Morin's case, Healey said.

According to Healey, Martinez-Hernandez had an aunt who owned a home in Temple Hills, Maryland. 

During the investigation, his aunt told police that Martinez-Hernandez had come to live with them in late 2023. About a month after Morin's death, he left their home and never came back, Healey said.

According to Healey, when Martinez-Hernandez was eventually found in Oklahoma, his phone showed map searches of the Bel Air, Maryland area, along with a search for "moring." He told police he had never been to Maryland.

Healye also revealed Martinez-Hernandez had photos of Morin on his phone, and his DNA matched the DNA found on Morin's body.

Defense delivers opening statements

Martinez-Hernandez's lawyer Sawyer Hicks, delivered opening statements for the defense team, saying he disagrees with the prosecution on who killed Morin. 

Hicks told the courtroom that Morin attracted a lot of male attention and emphasized that she met her boyfriend, Tobin, while on the Ma & Pa Trail. According to Hicks, they had just recently made their relationship official. He said that could have been upsetting to other men who were interested in Morin.

Hicks went on to call Morin's murder a crime of passion, saying whoever did this had a grievance with Morin and wanted to humiliate her. He questioned why Martinez-Hernandez would have that motive.

Hicks further questioned the connection between Martinez-Hernandez and Morin, saying the only connection is DNA. 

According to Hicks, Morin's boyfriend Tobin had admitted to having relations with her on the morning of her death, though his DNA was not found on her body.

Who was Rachel Morin?

Rachel Morin was one of six children. She owned a cleaning company and worked around the clock to support her family, according to her mother, Patty Morin.

Michael Morin, Rachel's brother, spoke at the Republican National Convention, saying she was a "joyful" person.

"Rachel, a joyful, accomplished athlete and mother of five, was raped and murdered by a suspected illegal immigrant," Michael Morin said. "My sister's death was preventable."

"Part of the reason why Rachel was working so hard to make her financially secure—it was because she wanted to have all of her children living with her," Patty Morin said.

According to her mother, Rachel was known for her spirit. 

"Rachel was this feisty little bugger, and I do mean that in the kindest way," Patty Morin said.

Attorney Randolph Rice called Rachel "a devoted mother."

"She made sure she took care of her kids," Rice said. "She took care of herself. She was a part of the church. That was a big part of her life."  

Who is Victor Martinez-Hernandez?

Martinez-Hernandez crossed the border into the U.S. in February 2023 after an arrest warrant was issued for the murder of a young woman in El Salvador in January 2023,  Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said. 

Then, in March of 2023, investigators said he assaulted a 9-year-old girl and her mother at a home in Los Angeles.

Border Patrol apprehended Martinez-Hernandez on three occasions in 2023. He was vetted, and because no criminal history was found, he was expelled.

ICE said Martinez-Hernandez unlawfully entered the U.S. in February 2023 without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration officer.

He has connections in the Washington, D.C. area, in both Virginia and Prince George's County, Maryland, and has ties to known gangs, Gahler said.

"Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better life for himself or his family," Gahler said. "He came here to escape the crime he committed in El Salvador. He came here and murdered Rachel and, God willing, no one else."  

Push for max sentence in Morin murder case

Harford County State's Attorney Healey has been calling for the maximum sentence if Martinez-Hernandez is convicted, according to a court filing in July 2024.

The maximum penalty is life without the possibility of parole.

"Since Maryland doesn't have the death penalty anymore, life without parole is the most serious consequence you can face in the criminal justice system," Morin Family Attorney Randolph Rice said.

Rachel Morin's murder case makes national headlines

The hosts of a true crime podcast brought attention to the case and added to the reward. The hosts of the Mile Higher podcast added an extra $5,000 to the reward, leading to the arrest of Morin's killer, bringing the reward to $35,000.

The Harford County Sheriff's Office released a video of a possible suspect after investigators said DNA tied Morin's suspected killer to a home invasion and assault on a young girl on March 26, 2023, in Los Angeles, California.

Police said they took DNA from the crime scene on the trail, put it into a national database and they got a hit: DNA recovered from the March home invasion in Los Angeles. The video shows the suspect leaving that home after the crime.  

Thousands of those flyers went to Los Angeles where the suspect was linked to an assault against a young girl in a home invasion.