The high-profile case against Victor Martinez Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, will go to trial on Monday. Hernandez is charged with assaulting, raping, and killing Rachel Morin, a mother of five in Harford County, on August 5, 2023.
Morin’s family’s lawyer, Randolph Rice, anticipates that the trial would take at least two weeks, and that jury selection may take longer than usual because of the case’s high level of attention.
By the end of the week after jury selection, the murder trial might begin.
On August 6, 2023, the day after Morin went out for a jog, her body was discovered off the Ma & Pa Trail.
According to law enforcement, Martinez Hernandez attacked and killed Morin while hiding in a drainage tunnel.
Rice says Morin’s family has been going through a difficult 19 months, and he hopes this trial will ease their grief.
“This, at least, can be a door to be closed, that they can go through this process of hopefully seeking justice,” Rice stated.
The arrest of Martinez Hernandez
Following a ten-month countrywide manhunt, Martinez Hernandez was apprehended in June 2024 at a pub in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was extradited to Maryland on allegations of rape and first-degree murder.
According to attorney Rice, Martinez Hernandez’s location was determined with the use of Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) equipment.
“It’s actually what they used in the Brian Kohberger case in the Idaho murder of the four college students out there,” Rice stated. “They were able to take DNA collected from a knife sheath and put it in the system and track back a family member in Pa, which ultimately led to the capture of Brian Kohberger, so it is really interesting technology,” Rice stated.
Investigators claim that Martinez Hernandez unlawfully entered the United States in 2023 after an arrest warrant for a homicide in El Salvador was issued. Law enforcement said that DNA from a Los Angeles assault on a toddler and her mother matched evidence found at the murder scene of Morin.
Getting ready for the trial
In addition to heavy traffic and road closures, Bel Air Police are getting ready for the trial.
During courthouse hours, cars will not be allowed on Cortland Street or Office Street between Bond and Main Streets.
The courthouse is surrounded by traffic barriers.
The mother of Morin talks to WJZ
After the culprit was apprehended in 2024, Patty Morin, who was relieved that her daughter’s alleged murderer had been apprehended, had an exclusive one-on-one interview with WJZ.
According to Patty Morin, “I was just so very grateful that they didn’t give up,” “That she wasn’t the folder on the desk that I was afraid might happen.”
According to Patty Morin, her family’s ten-month nightmare came to an end, but they were left feeling conflicted.
Patty Morin remarked, “It takes and shatters,” “Everything you have endured has served as a sort of cushion from the agony, but now you must confront the fact that she is truly gone. We lost her, and as I mentioned before, it was a mixture of feelings that I’m still processing.”
High-profile trial for accused murderer of Maryland mom Rachel Morin to begin this week.
