Victor Martinez Hernandez
Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez is a Salvadoran convicted murderer. After an arrest warrant was issued against him for suspected murder in El Salvador, he illegally immigrated to the United States in February 2023 and raped and murdered Rachel Hannah Morin along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland. His trial began on April 1, 2025, and he was found guilty 14 days later; he was sentenced to two back-to-back life sentences plus 40 years on August 11.
Biography
Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez was born on September 19, 2000. He has one daughter.El Salvador
An arrest warrant was issued for Martinez Hernandez in January 2023, after he was accused of murdering a young woman.United States
Martinez Hernandez had been arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol and deported under Title 42 three times in early 2023: on January 19 and February 6 near Santa Teresa, New Mexico; and on January 31 near El Paso, Texas. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Martinez Hernandez successfully illegally immigrated near El Paso on February 13.According to investigators, Hernandez assaulted a nine-year-old and her mother during a home invasion in Los Angeles on March 26.
Murder of Rachel Morin
Victim
Rachel Hannah Morin was born on May 20, 1986. She owned a house cleaning business. She had five children; she announced the beginning of a relationship with Richard Tobin through Facebook on August 1, roughly five days before the murder. Morin's 5-month-old niece died of sudden infant death syndrome the week before her murder.Murder
According to the Harford County Sheriff's Office and Tobin, Morin went to the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, around 6:58 p.m. on August 5, 2023. Per Morin's phone and smartwatch, she was murdered between 7:04 and 7:10. Tobin reported her missing around 11:20 p.m., when she failed to return home.Her car was found at the Ma and Pa trailhead the next day. Evan Knapp – a volunteer – called 911 at 1:07 p.m. after discovering her body. The HCSO confirmed that the body was Morin's on August 8.
Michael Gabriszeski – a volunteer who had heard of the case from social media – claimed to several sources that he had found Morin's body in a drainage tunnel alongside his stepdaughter, describing it as "a terrible mess", and believing she had died of blunt trauma to the face from a baseball bat or rock. He claimed that his stepdaughter saw a large rock covered in blood near the scene. This account was rebuked by Harford County sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, who confirmed that Gabriszeski helped search for Morin, but claimed that he was not "within eyesight of the crime scene" when the body was found.
Aftermath
After Morin's murder, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office increased patrols of the trail. Gahler encouraged people on the trail to be aware of their surroundings and said he could not claim that there was no threat to the public. Morin's sister Rebekah made a GoFundMe for her funeral, saying that "this was not an accidentally death, and she did not go willingly and she deserves a funeral worthy of her her beauty". By August 9, the GoFundMe had raised of its $65,000 goal. Tobin – who had a criminal record – denied responsibility for the murder, attributing the record to a previous drug addiction and claiming he had not used drugs in 15 months.On August 8, Harford County councilwoman Jessica Boyle-Tsottles organized the Women's Walk Along, a community walk along the Ma and Pa Trail to commemorate Morin. Morin's family did not wish to be affiliated with the walk; while Boyle-Tsottles acknowledged their wishes, stating that she "had absolutely no intentions of upsetting the family or anyone that's involved in this terrible tragedy", the walk was still held and attended by dozens. Morin's family announced their intention to hold a celebration of her life and a 5K run to commemorate her.
Morin's family held a walk of the Ma and Pa Trail – known as the "Trail of Life" – on August 19, with flowers and candles placed around the trail. A nearby cupcake shop held a fundraiser on the same day, where 20% of their sales for the day were donated to Rebekah's GoFundMe. The walk began at 11:30 a.m. and was attended by hundreds. During the walk, walkers performed Save a Place for Me, a song by Matthew West.
On August 16, Harford County executive Robert Cassilly announced plans to install cameras along the Ma and Pa Trail, although he claimed it was too early to provide detailed plans. He worked with Baltimore Gas and Electric and contractors to draft plans. While the cameras may have required approval from the Harford County Council depending on the cost, Cassilly said he was "confident the council members would support this".
Appearances by Morin's family
Michael Morin – Rachel's brother – addressed the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 17. During the address, he criticized Biden's immigration policy, saying that Rachel's murder was avoidable and that Trump would be a better leader as president.Investigation
Early investigation
The case was investigated as a homicide; Gahler cited indicators at the scene that showed "no doubt" that the death was a homicide, although he declined to elaborate on the indicators. No suspect was immediately identified and it was unclear if the attack was targeted or random. Investigators had received over 200 tips by August 11. 10 investigators were assigned to the case and Tobin and other friends of Morin were interviewed; Tobin surrendered his phone and a DNA sample to the investigators. Gahler encouraged a group of people – either three men and two women or three women and two men – who were on the trail when the murder happened to provide information; they were later identified and questioned.Identification of suspect
DNA was extracted from Morin's body and was submitted into the Combined DNA Index System, where it matched with the home invasion in Los Angeles. After the match was found, doorbell camera footage of Martinez Hernandez leaving the home after the invasion was released. William Davis, the chief deputy of the Harford County Sheriff's Office, said that Martinez Hernandez's location was unknown and hoped that a person in Los Angeles would recognize him. He also said Martinez Hernandez had likely worked alone in a random attack and warned that the video was not recent and Martinez Hernandez's appearance may have changed. Detectives described Martinez Hernandez as a muscular Hispanic male who was tall, weighed 160 pounds, had dark hair, and was 20 to 30 years old.After the footage was released, Tobin wrote on his Facebook that he "hope they found this scum of the Earth". Gahler warned that Martinez Hernandez had an "absolute disregard" for lives and he would likely kill again if he is not caught. Metro Crime Stoppers offered a bounty for information leading to an arrest; the HCSO increased the bounty to $10,000 on August 24.
After the match was made, Morin's family worked with criminal profiler Pat Brown to determine potential traits of Martinez Hernandez. After traits were identified, Brown made posters in English and Spanish; thousands of posters were sent to Los Angeles.
The HCSO released a sketch of Martinez Hernandez.
Arrest of Martinez Hernandez
According to Gahler, investigators found a lead for Martinez Hernandez through genetic genealogy on May 20. Gahler described the discovery as "a poetic coincidence or perhaps Rachel's own divine assistance". He was arrested at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, bar on June 14, 2024. According to the arresting officers, Martinez Hernandez lied to them about his identity and activities.Martinez Hernandez was extradited to Maryland on June 18. He was sent on a plane from Oklahoma to Martin State Airport and then driven to the Harford County Detention Center. After the extradition, county executive Robert Cassilly criticized the immigration policy of the Joe Biden administration, while Gahler said he felt a "continued sense of relief that this monster poses no threat to our Harford County community or any community in the world". Maryland governor Wes Moore said that "we have an immigration policy that needed to have been dealt with and was not". Donald Trump – who was then the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 U.S. presidential election – called Patty Morin, Rachel's mother, to offer his condolences.
Trial
Preparations
Martinez Hernandez's trial was set to begin on April 1, 2025. A judge denied Martinez Hernandez's request to move the trial from Harford County on January 31, where he claimed that a fair trial would not be possible in Harford County due to the political tensions around the murder.Patty Morin hired Randolph Rice as her attorney. Rice was accused of undermining jury selection by repeatedly speaking to the press about the trial on March 31; according to WBFF, judge Yolanda Curtin and both the defense and prosecution asked Rice to stop speaking publicly about the case, which he ignored. Martinez Hernandez was represented by three public defenders: Sawyer Hicks, Marcus Jenkins, and Tara LeCompte.
Before the trial, the Bel Air Police Department increased security around the courthouse and closed Courtland and Office streets – which surrounded the entrances to the courthouse – to vehicles. During a pre-trial hearing on March 31, Martinez Hernandez's defenders voiced concerns that jurors knowing of his other suspected crimes and illegal immigration would cause bias against him and requested that Curtin provide a detailed description of the case to potential jurors. Curtin denied their request, believing that a simple description would be sufficient. Curtin also denied requests from the defense to sequester the jury – believing it would be excessive and hard to enforce – and require extra questions for the jurors, most of which she described as redundant, while some were "fishing expeditions". She said she had not yet decided on a request from the defense to ask jurors if they watched the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Jury selection
Jury selection started in the morning of April 1, and was set to last until April 4. Curtin planned to call 120 to 130 jurors per day due to the high profile of the case and select 18 jurors. When jury selection began, Martinez Hernandez was shackled and in a jumpsuit. Two interpreters translated the proceedings for Martinez Hernandez. Curtin announced the conclusion of general questioning around 12:25 p.m. ; she would begin individual questioning in private after the jurors returned from lunch at 1:15 p.m. The first day of selection adjourned around 7:45 p.m.; 59 of the 124 potential jurors from that day were eliminated.Curtin denied Morin's family and the press access to the first day of selection, citing a maximum capacity of 124 in the courthouse; 125 were inside the building. A live stream was not available. Per the Maryland Court of Appeals ruling in Watters v. State, blocking the public from watching jury selection violates the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Baltimore Banner reporter Dylan Segelbaum criticized the Maryland judiciary office for failing to accommodate spectators, despite the trial's date being set months before. Reporters were later allowed to sit on the courtroom steps to listen to selection.
On the second day, 60 potential jurors were questioned. Curtin issued an order that space be made for reporters, and audio of the selection was transmitted to an overflow room. Reporters were not allowed to report on the case while inside the courthouse. By the end of the questioning, there were 79 candidates, which Curtain declared sufficient to select a jury. The jury was seated by 3 p.m., and proceedings were set to begin on April 4. The jury had 14 men and four women, of which five were of color. It was unclear if any of the jury were Latino.
Proceedings
After the jury was selected, proceedings began on April 4. As capital punishment is abolished in Maryland, the prosecution sought life in prison without the possibility of parole for Martinez Hernandez.Both sides gave opening statements on April 4. The defense warned the jury to be impartial and denied Martinez Hernandez's involvement in the murder. They said that Morin had "attracted male attention" and questioned Tobin, who they claimed had sex with Morin on the day of the murder.
After the defense, one of Morin's daughters spoke and recounted the day of her murder. Tobin then spoke, where he said that after Morin stopped responding to his texts, he searched her home, the trail, and nearby restaurants. After he failed to find her, he called 911. He spoke with officers that night, and said that he "freaked out, screamed, and cried" when he learned of the murder.
Justin Knapp, who found Morin's body, also gave an opening statement. He said that after locating a "deer path" off the trail, he found a rock covered in blood, and found her body in a storm drain. He said her injuries "looked bad" and he could not recognize her face.
On April 14, after under 50 minutes of deliberation, Martinez Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sexual assault, and kidnapping. After the verdict, Harford County state's attorney Alison Healey said that prosecutors will seek the maximum sentence at sentencing; he received two back-to-back life sentences for murder and rape and a further 40 years for a sex crime and kidnapping on August 11. As Maryland judges lack authority to imprison criminals outside of the state, he will serve his sentence in Maryland and not be returned to El Salvador.