Maryland mother Rachel Morin's killer was convicted. Here's what happened during the trial
The man who killed Maryland mother Rachel Morin was convicted Monday after a 7-day trial.
Martinez-Hernandez was charged with murder and rape after Morin was found dead off the Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County on August 6, 2023.
Investigators believe Martinez-Hernandez hid in a culvert before attacking and raping Morin, a mother of five, on August 5, 2023. He was eventually arrested in June 2024 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following a nationwide search.
Law enforcement said Martinez-Hernandez entered the country unlawfully in early 2023 from El Salvador.
Jury finds Rachel Morin's murder suspect guilty
The prosecution rested on Friday, and the defense rested its case on Monday.
Closing arguments concluded Monday afternoon before the jury was handed the case.
The jury found Martinez-Hernandez guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and kidnapping.
The judge had previously expected the trial to run through Wednesday, April 16.
Attorneys close their cases
The defense rested their case in the morning after calling only one defendant for less than 10 minutes.
Before entering into emotional closing arguments on both sides this afternoon, Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey outlined every event relating to this case, starting with the day Morin disappeared on August 5, 2023, until when Martinez Hernandez was arrested in June of 2024.
Healey illustrated her arguments with evidence, photos, and videos presented over the last two weeks of the trial, reminding the jury that Martinez-Hernandez's DNA was found on every piece of evidence presented in the trial.
When considering the charge of first-degree premeditated murder, Healey told the jury, "You don't accomplish a rape and a murder in four to six minutes unless you have a plan."
But defense attorney Marcus Jenkins asked the jury to consider several main points while deliberating.
Jenkins said the first was the lack of motive, adding that Martinez-Hernandez didn't know Morin and never communicated with her in the past.
Jenkins also pointed out that one witness, the last who allegedly saw Morin alive, testified he saw a man in the woods moments before seeing Morin on the trail.
The man in the woods was described as a tall, broad, muscular man with a blonde beard, which does not match the description of Martinez-Hernandez.
DNA evidence links Martinez-Hernandez to crime scene
On Friday, April 11, prosecutors presented DNA evidence that they said linked Martinez-Hernandez to the crime scene where Morin was murdered.
A video showing the first interview with the accused murderer after the arrest was played for the jurors. Detectives questioned Martinez-Hernandez about whether he ever killed or harmed anyone.
Police told the suspect that his DNA was found at the crime scene. Law enforcement said scientists believe the DNA found at the scene links him to where Morin was found murdered.
Tiffany Keener, with the Maryland State Police Crime Lab, produced several reports between August 2023 and July 2024.
She testified that DNA from an unknown male was found on Morin's neck, left wrist, breasts, and an Apple watch. Keener also said that after testing items collected from family members of Martinez-Hernandez that the likelihood of someone else matching that DNA profile is very slim.
"I would say that's a pretty good probability that it's not somebody else out in the world, it's got to be the defendant here," said attorney Randolph Rice, who represents Morin's family.
Testimony places Martinez-Hernandez in Maryland in 2023
On Thursday, April 10, Harford County Sheriff's Detective Michael Wilsynski testified that on June 13, 2024, he spoke with Martinez-Hernandez's aunt and cousins, who live in Prince George's County, Maryland.
The detective told the jury he handed over Martinez-Hernandez's Facebook information, where he went by the name Fernando Ismael, his phone number, and the clothing he left behind before leaving the area.
Martinez-Hernandez's shoes, a sweatshirt, and dirty laundry were swabbed for DNA, which was taken to the Maryland State Police forensics lab, according to Wilsynski.
Martinez-Hernandez was determined as the lead suspect. Investigators contacted T-Mobile and were able to ping his cellphone to a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where police there found him and arrested him on June 14, 2024.
Former roommates and employers testified that Martinez-Hernandez was in the Bel Air area during the summer of 2023, and he had been working at Popeye's and at Barrett's on the Pike.
Harford County Digital Forensics Supervisor Heather Marsh, who examined Martinez-Hernandez's phone, testified that she found WiFi connections, user maps, and a user dictionary that all link Martinez-Hernandez to Maryland.
"The DNA wraps up the crime scene and what happened to Rachel Morin and everything that was found there to the suspect they arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma," Rice said. "So this is a very important day that puts the bow on this whole case."
Witness testifies to seeing Rachel Morin before murder
On Wednesday, April 9, witness Kyle Stacy testified that he saw Morin on the Ma & Pa Trail the day she was murdered. Stacy told the jury he was walking on the trail with his dog and girlfriend when he crossed paths with Morin.
Digital forensic examiner Megan Waltimyer pinpointed the timing of Morin's death on August 5, 2023.
Waltimyer explained that health data pulled from Morin's iPhone and Apple Watch showed 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.
Crime scene photos presented
On Tuesday, April 8, crime scene photos were presented to the jury. The photos showed evidence markers lining the 150-foot bloody path leading from the trail to the drainage culvert where Morin's body was found.
A detective with the Harford County Sheriff's Office Forensic Service Unit described the images and also found Morin's smashed phone and Apple Watch near the scene.
The medical examiner testified that Morin appeared to have been struck in the head at least 15 to 20 times with a blunt object, and her manner of death was ruled a homicide.
The day Rachel Morin was found
On Monday, April 7, jurors heard from a community member who called 911 to alert law enforcement that her friend had found Morin's body, along with officers who responded to the crime scene, on August 5, 2023..
Wilsynski testified that when he got to the tunnel where Morin's body was located, it was "obvious this was not a slip and fall injury" and "this was a serious attack."
Wilsynski explained that a vast amount of evidence found inside the tunnel near Morin's body included an Apple AirPod, a cellphone, and a lot of blood.
Photos of Morin's battered body stunned the courtroom.
Rachel Morin's boyfriend, daughter testified
On Friday, April 4, Morin's boyfriend Richard Tobin and her 14-year-old child, Violet Custer, testified.
Tobin testified that he noticed Morin stopped responding to text messages just after 7 p.m. on August 5, 2023. He said that when his messages stopped delivering, he called Morin. The first calls went to voicemail, and then he started getting a beeping tone.
He thought she might be cheating on him, so he checked neighboring bars with no luck. That's when he says he went back to Morin's house and found Custer panicking for the same reason, so they called 911.
Custer testified to texting with her mother at around 7 p.m. on August 5, 2023, but Morin abruptly stopped responding.
Opening statements in Martinez-Hernandez's trial
On Thursday, April 3, opening statements were delivered by the prosecutors and the defense.
Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey talked about Morin as a business owner, fitness lover, and mother of five.
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.
Healey said 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.
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, according to Healey.
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.
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