Rachel Morin’s Homicide Detailed as Trial Begins, Boyfriend and Daughters Testify

Prosecutors reveal proof discovered on suspected killer Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez’s cellphone, after Morin was brutally raped and murdered whereas out for a run — as his protection says the slaying wasn’t dedicated by “a whole stranger.”

The Rachel Morin homicide trial began Friday, with attorneys on either side making their opening statements, earlier than the primary witnesses had been known as to the stand.

Morin’s physique was discovered on the Ma & Pa Heritage mountaineering path in Bel Air, Maryland in August 2023, after she didn’t return from a run. 37 on the time of her dying, Morin was a mother-of-five.

Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an undocumented migrant from El Salvador allegedly linked to a different homicide there, was arrested for Morin’s slaying on June 14, 2024 at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma … because of suggestions and DNA monitoring. He faces rape and homicide prices.

Video Exhibits Second Rachel Morin’s Suspected Killer Is Arrested In Tulsa Bar

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Opening Statements from Prosecutors

In a gap assertion from prosecutors, Harford County State’s Lawyer Alison Healey known as Morin’s homicide “a mom’s worst nightmare.” Describing the Ma & Pa path the place Morin was operating, per the Baltimore Solar, she mentioned “a spot that she cherished a lot ended up being the place she misplaced her life by the hands of this defendant.”

Per Healey, Morin went operating there day-after-day and, when she stopped responding to relations on August 5, 2023, they grew to become involved. Her boyfriend, Richard Tobin, went to the path to search for her and, when he could not discover her, known as police. These searching for her reportedly discovered a 150-foot path of blood resulting in her physique — with Healey saying Morin was “left to die in a puddle of water” in a culvert, her blood on its partitions, based on the Baltimore Banner.

FOX Information reviews Healey mentioned Morin’s proper shoe and socks had been left on, whereas her bra had been pulled over her breasts. Per the prosecutor, she had 15-20 head wounds, a few of which had been “deep,” whereas she confirmed indicators of strangulation. Blood-covered rocks and sticks had been collected as proof, as had been her smashed mobile phone and smartwatch.

Tulsa Police Division/Fb

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In line with Healey, DNA on the scene helped investigators construct a profile, main them to a house the place Martinez-Hernandez lived with household round December 2023. Members of the family offered authorities with a cellphone quantity and Fb account, earlier than police used the cellphone to trace Martinez-Hernandez to Tulsa, the place he was finally apprehended.

On his cellphone, investigators allegedly discovered searches for “Bel Air,” “Rachel” and an incorrect spelling of Morin’s final identify, per Healey. He additionally allegedly denied ever being in Maryland.

“You may be satisfied past an inexpensive doubt that each one of it’s the defendant’s DNA,” Healey mentioned. “I am sure you’ll be satisfied that he had a plan to seize her off the path and conceal her within the tunnel, drug her in there, bashed her within the head, disrobed her and left his DNA.”

Harford County’s Sheriff’s Workplace

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The Protection Speaks

When Martinez-Hernandez’s attorneys took the ground, they solid doubt on prosecutors’ claims.

“Rachel Morin was brutally murdered. This was a horrible tragedyBut Mr. Martinez-Hernandez shouldn’t be the person that dedicated this offense,” mentioned Assistant Public Defender Sawyer Hicks in opening remarks.

He went on to name Morin’s dying a “crime of ardour,” questioning his consumer’s motive by saying it wasn’t one “dedicated by a whole stranger” however “somebody who had a grievance. Somebody who wished to humiliate Rachel Morin to the best extent doable.” He additionally talked about Tobin, asking the place his DNA was after he reportedly mentioned the 2 had been intimate earlier that day.

Tobin has by no means confronted accusations of wrongdoing and beforehand insisted “I might by no means do something to her.”

Hicks additionally mentioned Morin met Tobin on the identical path, reportedly including that she attracted loads of male consideration — together with from different males who may have been upset she had a boyfriend.

Harford County Sheriff’s Workplace

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The First Witnesses

Two of Morin’s daughters had been the primary to testify on the stand Friday, certainly one of them reportedly crying as she detailed the day their mom went lacking and Tobin calling the police.

Tobin additionally took the stand, reportedly saying he had requested Morin to formally be his girlfriend simply 5 days earlier than her homicide, after speaking for about 5 months. He reportedly admitted his first thought was that Morin was dishonest on him when she failed to reply to his texts and calls. He additionally mentioned he gave his mobile phone and DNA samples to police.

Recalling the second he discovered her physique had been found, he mentioned, “Someone messaged me on Fb and mentioned that they had discovered her. I freaked out. I cried. I screamed.”

Martinez-Hernandez entered a not responsible plea earlier this week. He is additionally accused of a “brutal” assault on a 9-year-old lady and her mom throughout a Los Angeles house invasion.

Prosecutors are calling for the utmost sentence — life with out parole — if convicted. Maryland doesn’t have the dying penalty.