One of the last people believed to have seen Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five, alive on the Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County on August 5, 2023, took the stand on Wednesday.

Kyle Stacy told the jury he was walking on the trail with his dog and girlfriend when he crossed paths with Morin and the possible murder suspect, Victor Martinez-Hernandez. 

Morin's body was found off the trail on August 6, 2023, a day after she went for a jog. Martinez-Hernandez, an El Salvador native, was arrested 10 months later in Oklahoma.

Stacy said he had been to the trail dozens of times before, claiming it's highly unusual to see people hanging out off the main trail. He said he heard a branch snap in the wooded section off the trail about half a mile from the trailhead.

That's when, he said, he turned toward the noise and locked eyes with a broad-shouldered man who was holding a black stick with an orange cap. Stacy said the man was "acting sneaky" and looked like he had been caught.

Stacy said the encounter made him nervous and uncomfortable, putting him on high alert going back toward the trailhead. That's when he testified that he saw Morin, wearing headphones and adjusting her Apple Watch.

He told the jury, "I wish I said something."

Aftermath of the encounter

Stacy said a coworker told him there was a murder on the Ma & Pa Trail. Stacy told the jury he looked up an article and immediately recognized Morin as the woman he saw on the trail, and called the police to alert them about the suspicious man.

The defense brought Stacy's attention back to the interviews he did with police days after Morin's death, reminding him that he told authorities the man he saw in the woods had a blonde beard. Victor Martinez Hernandez has a brown beard.

"There have been studies, hundreds of studies that talk about eyewitness testimony," Attorney Randolph Rice said. "I think the fact that he established that the suspect was in the woods, he saw him, and most important that he saw him with what he believed was a walking stick, which they believe is obviously a shovel, but that walking stick had that very distinctive orange cap and tip on it, which matched the shovel that they found in the woods a couple days later."

Testimony later given by Lt. Brandon Underhill, with the Harford County Sheriff's Office, explained they found a shovel in the woods the following week, matching the description of the suspicious man's walking stick.

The shovel was taken into evidence, and we're still waiting to hear from detectives what was found when it was tested.

Timing out Rachel Morin's death

New testimony pinpointed when investigators believe Rachel Morin was killed on August 5, 2023.

Digital forensic examiner Megan Waltimyer detailed health data pulled from Morin's iPhone and Apple Watch showing a spike in her heart rate at 7:07 p.m., at 115 beats per minute. Two minutes later, her heart rate had dropped to 69 beats per minute, and down to 62 beats per minute just 26 seconds after that, which is when investigators believe she died.

Waltimyer explained the process of removing the logic board from Morin's smashed phone and swapping it out in a functional phone to access her data.

Lead detective Phillip Golden provided in-depth testimony about how they were unable to track any potential suspects directly linked to Morin, despite searching Morin's phone and social media, speaking with family, and canvassing the area.

Juror dismissed during trial

A juror was dismissed from the courtroom Wednesday during the sixth day of the trial for Martinez-Hernandez.

Before court proceedings began Wednesday morning, the judge called up eight jurors, and the eighth one, a man, was dismissed. 

The judge did not share a reason for the juror's dismissal. 

The trial for Victor Martinez-Hernandez got underway in Harford County on April 4. Martinez-Hernandez is accused of raping and killing Morin on August 5, 2023. 

The trial is expected to continue through April 16. 

Jury selection in the Rachel Morin case

A 12-member jury was selected on April 4, along with six alternate jurors. 

The jury included 10 men and two women, and the alternates were four men and two women. 

Over two days, 184 potential jurors were questioned about their familiarity with the case, if they have strong feelings about rape and murder allegations and if they would have a problem delivering a verdict based on their feelings about immigration status or cultural identity. 

The prosecution and defense ultimately chose the final jurors.

Opening statements in the Martinez-Hernandez trial 

Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey delivered opening statements for the prosecution. She revealed that Morin visited the Ma & Pa Trail almost every morning during the summer. 

According to Healey, Martinez-Hernandez lived with an aunt in Temple Hills, Maryland, in 2023. During the investigation, his aunt said Martinez-Hernandez left the home and never came back about a month after Morin's death. 

When Martinez-Hernandez was taken into custody months later, his phone revealed searches for the Bel Air area, though he told police he had never been to Maryland. His phone also contained photos of Morin, and his DNA matched the DNA found on Morin's body. 

Martinez-Hernandez's lawyer Sawyer Hicks delivered opening statements for the defense, saying he disagreed about who killed Morin. 

Hicks said Morin attracted male attention and said the relationship between her and boyfriend, Tobin, could have been upsetting to other men who were interested in her. 

Hicks called Morin's murder a crime of passion and said whoever did it had a grievance and wanted to humiliate her. 

Testimony in Martinez-Hernandez trial

During the first day of the trial, some of Morin's family and friends testified.

Morin's 14-year-old daughter, Violet Custer, talked about the day her mother disappeared and remembered that the last text message she received was around 7 p.m.

Morin's boyfriend, Tobin, said he also noticed that Morin had stopped responding and said his first few calls went to voicemail before he started getting a beeping tone. 

Tobin revealed that he thought Morin might be cheating, so he looked for her at neighborhood bars. When his search was unsuccessful, he went to Morin's home, where he found Custer panicking. 

Morin's oldest child, Faye McMahon, also testified about the moments when Morin stopped responding to texts. 

During the second day of testimony, a community member recalled contacting 911 to tell police her friend had found Morin's body in a tunnel. 

A detective who responded to the scene told the courtroom it was "obvious this was not a slip and fall injury" and "this was a serious attack."

Det. Michael Wilsynski further recalled finding a lot of blood, an Apple AirPod and a cellphone near Morin's body. 

On Tuesday, the jury viewed photos of evidence and the crime scene. Some photos revealed a 150-foot trail of blood leading from the Ma & Pa Trail to Morin's body. 

During day five of the trial, the defense team raised concerns about the method of DNA collection, asking Det. Wilsynski about swabs and showing a video of the detective putting Morin's body in a body bag using another bag rather than gloves. 

Randolph Rice advertises with WJZ CBS News Baltimore and has a sponsored segment that airs on WJZ at 9.