Suspect In Rachel Morin Killing Hid In MD For Months During Investigation: Court Documents

BEL AIR, MD — Charging documents filed in Rachel Morin's homicide investigation have been released and shine a light on how detectives identified Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, as the suspect. Hernandez was living in Maryland with relatives during most of the investigation into Morin's death.

Morin, 37, whose body was found along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air in August 2023, was a mother of five. She frequently jogged the trail near where she was found raped and beaten to death.

Hernandez will appear in a bail review hearing Friday at 1 p.m. He was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 14, on unrelated charges. He was extradited from Oklahoma to Maryland June 20 and booked into the Harford County Detention Center. The bail hearing Friday afternoon will be conducted via Zoom with Hernandez participating in the proceedings from the detention center.

Currently, Hernandez faces six charges: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree rape, second-degree rape, first-degree assault and second-degree assault.

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Charging documents show that by using DNA, unknown genetic material and other forensic evidence, a genetic profile was generated and confirmed that all material was from the same suspect. By using investigative genetic genealogy, investigators were able to identify a possible relative of the suspect. By investigating the family lineage, detectives were able to identify Hernandez as the suspect, charging documents stated.

On June 13, detectives interviewed family members of Hernandez. They learned that he had been staying with the family members in Maryland from December 2023 to May 2024. The family also told investigators that Hernandez left at the beginning of May 2024 and never returned. Detectives asked if he had left behind any belongings and the family turned over two bags of clothing and a pair of shoes. DNA swabs were taken from those items and matched the DNA recovered from the crime scene, charging documents stated.

WBFF obtained court records that showed Hernandez had been renting a brick home in the 8100 block of East 15th Street in Tulsa, located not far from several schools, churches and an airport. A search warrant showed that investigators found a laptop, sketchbook and El Salvador driver's registration in the suspect's home, along with bus tickets and a metro card.

Hernandez, who is from El Salvador, also has been linked by DNA to a home invasion and sexual assault in southern California of a 9-year-old girl and her mother. Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said at a news conference following the suspect's arrest that Hernandez also is a suspect in the homicide of a young woman in El Salvador in July 2023, one month before Morin's death.

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