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Victor Hernandez, murder suspect in Rachel Morin murder, arrested in Tulsa

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Victor Hernandez, murder suspect in Rachel Morin murder, arrested in Tulsa

More than ten months after Maryland mother Rachel Morin was found raped and beaten to death on a popular jogging trail, police used her DNA to arrest a man accused of the crime in Oklahoma.

The nationwide manhunt for the man who killed a 37-year-old Maryland woman on a popular hiking trail last year may have ended over the weekend in Oklahoma with the arrest of a suspect in connection with the death of Rachel Morin.

Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape in the death of Morin, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said Saturday during a news conference in Maryland.

“The violent death of a young mother of five in a public place, one of the safest places in the state, should not happen,” Gahler said. “… I’m here to tell you that Rachel’s killer is no longer free. Hopefully he will never have the opportunity to walk free again.”

Morin’s body was found on August 6 near the popular Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, sparking a nationwide investigation that led investigators to a home invasion in Southern California and locations in South America before Martinez-Hernandez was arrested in the middle of the country.

Martinez-Hernandez was arrested by Tulsa police shortly before midnight Friday on charges of trespassing outside a business, Gahler said. Tulsa police, who knew of a murder warrant signed Friday afternoon in Maryland against Martinez-Hernandez, arrested him on charges of trespassing and the killing and rape of Morin, the sheriff added.

“At one point, when things seemed grim and hopeless, the lead investigator said to me, ‘Patience will win in the end,'” Morin’s mother, Patricia Morin, said of authorities. “… I’m so grateful they brought us to this place.”

It is unclear whether Martinez-Hernandez currently has a defense attorney.

Here’s what we know about the case:

A chronology of events in the Rachel Morin case

  • 5 August 2023: Morin was reported missing at 11:20 p.m. by her boyfriend, who told officers she had not returned from her walk. Morin was last seen on the trail around 6 p.m. and her vehicle was found near the walkway, the sheriff’s office said.
  • 6th of August: Harford County Sheriff’s officials found Morin’s body near the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, and said she was “the victim of a brutal murder.”
  • 9 August: During a news conference, the sheriff’s office showed video of a man in California who authorities believed was Morin’s killer. The clip, taken from a security camera outside a Southern California home, showed the shirtless man leaving the house without his face visible.
  • 17.August: Authorities announced a DNA link between Morin’s suspected killer and a man who attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a burglary in Southern California on March 26.
  • 7th of September: The Harford County Sheriff’s Office released a video update saying they have “collected and reviewed hours of video footage from and around the trail where she disappeared” to search for additional witnesses and evidence. Gahler also said the Sheriff’s Office plans to patrol the trail appropriately and plans to install cameras along the walkway since the trail is less used in the winter.
  • February 12th: The Harford County Sheriff’s Office has released a final sketch of the suspect, but the name has not been officially released.
  • 14th June: Tulsa police arrested Martinez-Hernandez in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on suspicion of trespassing outside a business and killing and raping Morin.

What happens now with Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez

Martinez-Hernandez remains in custody in Oklahoma while awaiting extradition to Maryland, which could take 30 to 60 days, District Attorney Alison Healey said during the news conference.

Martinez-Hernandez, a Salvadoran citizen, is also accused of murdering a young woman in El Salvador in January 2023, according to Gahler. He fled the country and investigators believe he entered the United States without authorization in February 2023, the sheriff added.

“But it is my hope and the hope of everyone working on this case that the arrest of the suspects will bring some peace to their families and to our community in Harford County,” Gahler said.

Whether Morin’s murder was accidental or deliberate is still unclear, Gahler said.

“I don’t know if we have that answer explicitly or completely, but at this point there is nothing to suggest that anyone other than (Martinez-Hernandez) was involved,” the sheriff said. “We believe he spent some time in the Bel Air area, so he may have seen (Morin) in her more or less routine operations.”

The sheriff’s office continues to ask the public for information to help bring justice to Morin and her family, Gahler said. Charges against Martinez-Hernandez are still pending in California, Tulsa and El Salvador, but Morin’s murder takes precedence, the sheriff added.

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