It took a Maryland jury 46 minutes to convict illegal immigrant Victor Martinez-Hernandez of first degree murder, first-degree rape and kidnapping. He could now spend the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez, 24, who authorities say unlawfully entered the U.S. multiple times, faces up to life without the possibility of parole in the Maryland prison system. Authorities said he attacked Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, two years ago on a hiking trail in Harford County, about 20 miles northeast of Baltimore...
After a seven-day trial, and only 46 minutes of deliberations, the jury convicted Martinez-Hernandez of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, kidnapping and third-degree sex offense.
This is not Martinez-Hernandez first murder of a woman.
Martinez-Hernandez had crossed into the United States unlawfully after killing a young woman in his home country, according to authorities. The victim in El Salvador, they said, was killed after she had left a bar with him.
After the murder in El Salvador in December 2022, Martinez-Hernandez fled to Mexico and spent the first two months of 2023 trying to enter the US illegally. He was caught and deported twice in January and once in February. But on the fourth try in mid-February he became what the Border Patrol calls a "gotaway." That's someone the Border Patrol knows got across but they weren't able to stop.
Just a month after entering the US illegally for the 4th time, Martinez-Hernandez committed a home break-in in Los Angeles that injured a 9-year-old girl and her mother. The exact crime in that case isn't clear.
Then in August 2023 he raped and murdered Rachel Morin, a mother of five, while she was out for a jog on a Saturday.
Prosecutors said Martinez-Hernandez hid in a drainage culvert and ambushed Morin as she ran by, dragging her body off the trail and killing her by beating her head with rocks, according to CNN. In his initial charging documents, reviewed by PEOPLE, authorities said they tracked Martinez-Hernandez using DNA recovered from Morin’s body that had been connected to him through relatives.
Martinez-Hernandez then went on the run and for a time it seemed he had disappeared. DNA from the scene connected him to the assault in Los Angeles, but no one knew where he was hiding.
Harford County Sheriff’s Office Detective Phillip Golden testified Thursday that police had “no idea” where Martinez-Hernandez was after they issued a warrant for his arrest, so they started with what they believed to be Martinez-Hernandez’s phone number, provided by his family in Prince George’s County.
Investigators worked with the cellphone carrier T-Mobile to ping the number to Tulsa, then worked with Tulsa police to track Martinez-Hernandez. Tulsa police officer Kylee Delmont was assigned to an overnight patrol shift when she responded to the report of a person with outstanding warrants. She was given two photos of Martinez-Hernandez, as well as his height, weight, date of birth and other descriptors, she testified Thursday.
Delmont and Detective Steven Sanders with Tulsa Police, found Martinez-Hernandez at Los Dos Amigos Sports Bar in East Tulsa, sitting at the bar with a friend. They asked Martinez-Hernandez to go outside and searched him. Delmont said Martinez-Hernandez said numerous times that his name was Juan Carlos and that he had no identification or cellphone on him.
But Delmont said she was able to identify Martinez-Hernandez after he smiled because “his teeth were unique.”
He was extradited back to Maryland for the trial this month. Morin's youngest daughter testified.
Morin, 37, left behind five children. Her 14-year-old daughter was the first witness to testify last week, fighting back tears as she described the immediate aftermath of her mom’s disappearance.
Evidence was presented at trial that after the murder, Martinez-Hernandez searched Morin's name on his phone and took screenshots of photos of her from stories about the case. After his arrest, he denied ever having visited Maryland or knowing anyone there. Those claims were proven false by former co-workers and members of his own family who provided investigators with photos and clothing Martinez-Hernandez had left behind after spending five months in Maryland in 2023.
In short, it's not much of a shock he was convicted in less than an hour given the amount of evidence piled up against him. Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said, after the verdict was reached, that the blame in this case rests partly on the failure of the immigration system.
“The failure here is the immigration system that allowed this person to enter our country illegally and remain in our country and commit crimes in Los Angeles and here in Harford County,” Gahler said, calling on government officials to “work together, and take the politics out of it, and fix the immigration system in this country.”
That failure is why the case became part of the national discussion prior to the 2024 election. After Martinez-Hernandez was arrested, then-candidate Trump called Morin's mother to express his condolences.
“I am deeply touched by President Trump’s kindness and concern,” Patty said in a statement about the call.
“He was genuine and truly wanted to know how our family was coping,” she added. “He asked about Rachel and showed honest compassion for her untimely death.
“His words brought comfort to me during this very difficult time.”
Here's a local news report about the trial published last week.
