Prosecutors reveal evidence found on suspected killer Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez’s phone, after Morin was brutally raped and murdered while out for a run — as his defense says the slaying wasn’t committed by “a complete stranger.”
The Rachel Morin murder trial started Friday, with attorneys on both sides making their opening statements, before the first witnesses were called to the stand.
Morin’s body was found on the Ma & Pa Heritage hiking trail in Bel Air, Maryland in August 2023, after she failed to return from a run. 37 at the time of her death, Morin was a mother-of-five.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an undocumented migrant from El Salvador allegedly linked to another murder there, was arrested for Morin’s slaying on June 14, 2024 at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma … thanks to tips and DNA tracking. He faces rape and murder charges.
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Opening Statements from Prosecutors
In an opening statement from prosecutors, Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey called Morin’s murder “a mother’s worst nightmare.” Describing the Ma & Pa trail where Morin was running, per the Baltimore Sun, she said “a place that she loved so much ended up being the place she lost her life at the hands of this defendant.”
Per Healey, Morin went running there every day and, when she stopped responding to family members on August 5, 2023, they became concerned. Her boyfriend, Richard Tobin, went to the trail to look for her and, when he couldn’t find her, called police. Those looking for her reportedly found a 150-foot trail of blood leading to her body — with Healey saying Morin was “left to die in a puddle of water” in a culvert, her blood on its walls, according to the Baltimore Banner.
FOX News reports Healey said Morin’s right shoe and socks were left on, while her bra had been pulled over her breasts. Per the prosecutor, she had 15-20 head wounds, some of which were “deep,” while she showed signs of strangulation. Blood-covered rocks and sticks were collected as evidence, as were her smashed cell phone and smartwatch.
Tulsa Police Department/Facebook
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According to Healey, DNA at the scene helped investigators build a profile, leading them to a home where Martinez-Hernandez lived with family around December 2023. Family members provided authorities with a phone number and Facebook account, before police used the phone to track Martinez-Hernandez to Tulsa, where he was eventually apprehended.
On his phone, investigators allegedly found searches for “Bel Air,” “Rachel” and an incorrect spelling of Morin’s last name, per Healey. He also allegedly denied ever being in Maryland.
“You will be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that all of it is the defendant’s DNA,” Healey said. “I’m certain you will be convinced that he had a plan to grab her off the trail and conceal her in the tunnel, drug her in there, bashed her in the head, disrobed her and left his DNA.”
Harford County’s Sheriff’s Office
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The Defense Speaks
When Martinez-Hernandez’s attorneys took the floor, they cast doubt on prosecutors’ claims.
“Rachel Morin was brutally murdered. This was a horrible tragedy, but Mr. Martinez-Hernandez is not the man that committed this offense,” said Assistant Public Defender Sawyer Hicks in opening remarks.
He went on to call Morin’s death a “crime of passion,” questioning his client’s motive by saying it wasn’t one “committed by a complete stranger” but “someone who had a grievance. Someone who wanted to humiliate Rachel Morin to the greatest extent possible.” He also mentioned Tobin, asking where his DNA was after he reportedly said the two had been intimate earlier that day.
Tobin has never faced accusations of wrongdoing and previously insisted “I would never do anything to her.”
Hicks also said Morin met Tobin on the same trail, reportedly adding that she attracted a lot of male attention — including from other men who could have been upset she had a boyfriend.
Harford County Sheriff’s Office
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The First Witnesses
Two of Morin’s daughters were the first to testify on the stand Friday, one of them reportedly crying as she detailed the day their mother went missing and Tobin calling the police.
Tobin also took the stand, reportedly saying he had asked Morin to officially be his girlfriend just five days before her murder, after talking for about 5 months. He reportedly admitted his first thought was that Morin was cheating on him when she failed to respond to his texts and calls. He also said he gave his cell phone and DNA samples to police.
Recalling the moment he learned her body had been discovered, he said, “Somebody messaged me on Facebook and said they had found her. I freaked out. I cried. I screamed.”
Martinez-Hernandez entered a not guilty plea earlier this week. He’s also accused of a “brutal” attack on a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a Los Angeles home invasion.
Prosecutors are calling for the maximum sentence — life without parole — if convicted. Maryland does not have the death penalty.
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