Rachel Morin Murder Case: Suspect Arrested in Connection to Maryland Woman's Death

Police have arrested a man suspected to have killed and sexually assaulted Maryland woman Rachel Morin last year.

The Harford County Sheriff's Office announced June 15 that with the help of federal law enforcement, Victor Martinez-Hernandez was taken into custody in Tulsa, Ok. on suspicion of murder as well as rape in connection with the 2023 killing of the 37-year-old, a mother of five.

"So far, we have learned that the suspect, now pictured on the screens, is a 23-year-old citizen of El Salvador who illegally crossed the border into the United States in February of 2023," Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said at a press conference, later adding, "The charges in the case are first-degree murder and first-degree rape."

Martinez-Hernandez was booked into a Tulsa County jail just after midnight June 15 and is set to be extradited to Maryland, Gahler said. The suspect was also put on an ICE hold to await possible transfer to custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to legal records obtained by E! News. He is being held without bond on a fugitive from justice complaint. No lawyer was listed for him.

Rachel was found dead near the Ma & Pa Heritage hiking trail in Bel Air, Md. in August 2023, one day after her boyfriend alerted authorities over her not returning home from an evening walk. According to the police, Morin is not the only person Martinez-Hernandez, who Gahler said has ties to "known gangs," is suspected of killing.

"It's my understanding that this suspect, this monster, fled to the United States illegally after committing the brutal murder of a young woman in El Salvador a month early, in January of 2023," Gahler said. "Once in our country, and likely emboldened by his anonymity, he brutally attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a home invasion in March of 2023 in Los Angeles."

Days after Morin's death, investigators shared a surveillance video of the burglary suspect leaving the property, while Gahler had told reporters that DNA collected from that location matched a samples taken at the scene of Morin's murder. The sheriff noted the finding at the recent press conference, adding, "That was our first DNA match linking Rachel's case to the Los Angeles case."

FBI special agent Bill DelBagno, who heads the agency's Baltimore Field Office, mapped out further how authorities were able to make the genetic link to the suspect.

"Our investigative genetic genealogy team in Baltimore worked countless hours to identify the suspect by using crime scene DNA and tracing that DNA to potential family members. Investigators even traveled to El Salvador as part of their efforts to identify this killer."

Morin's mother, Patricia Morin, praised law enforcement for their investigation and the media for bringing awareness to the case and led the room in applause. "I think we should applaud them," she said, "just because I am so grateful that they have brought us to this place."

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