Rachel Morin Murder Case Has Hearing Bumped, Trial Starts In April 2025
HARFORD COUNTY, MD — On Friday, a scheduled motions hearing in the case against Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, the suspect charged in the rape and murder of Bel Air mom of five Rachel Morin, was converted to a postponement hearing.
Escorted by Harford County sheriff’s deputies into the courthouse, Martinez-Hernandez avoided eye contact with the family and prosecutors, according to Randolph Rice, attorney for Morin’s mother, Patty Morin.
“(The) postponement was not unexpected. We’ve been preparing the family for a lengthy legal process,” Rice said. “The family is strong and taking this in stride, knowing that justice will take time. We remain committed to ensuring that Rachel’s memory is honored and justice is served.”
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Rachel Morin, 37, was a mother of five whose body was found along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air in August 2023. She frequently jogged the trail near where she was found raped and beaten to death. The suspect in Morin’s murder, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, is from El Salvador and officials said he entered the United States as an undocumented immigrant.
Martinez-Hernandez 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 in Oklahoma 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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All communication with the defendant during the hearing was conducted through a court-appointed interpreter. The defendant wore a headset to receive real-time translations of the proceedings in Spanish. During the hearing, which lasted less than one hour, the court addressed several matters, including a waiver of conflict by the defendant regarding his representation by the public defender’s office, noting the office’s prior involvement with Rachel Morin’s then-boyfriend, Richard Tobin.
Matt McMahon, father of one of Rachel Morin’s daughters, sat in on the hearing and told Patch that the presiding judge didn’t believe that the public defender’s office previously representing Tobin would have an impact on the case, because it was for “an unrelated matter.” Martinez-Hernandez agreed to keep his three public defenders who have not had their caseload decreased, McMahon told Patch.
The defense also requested more time to review evidence, including DNA and surveillance footage, which also led to their request for a postponement.
“There’s a voluminous amount of evidence to review, including 1 TB of video evidence. Other evidence … are digital, electronic and chemical (DNA), “McMahon told Patch. “Their DNA expert has not been able to evaluate the reports and provide their conclusions.”
During the hearing, the defendant waived his right to a speedy trial under Maryland’s “Hicks Rule,” which requires that a trial occur within 180 days. By waiving Hicks, the defendant agreed to allow the case to proceed beyond this timeframe, which would have expired on Jan. 4, 2025.
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During questioning, those in attendance at the hearing learned that Martinez-Hernandez finished the 7th grade in El Salvador before moving the United States. He currently receives psychological care at the Harford County Detention Center where he meets with a psychologist, although he hasn’t been prescribed medication at the present time. All meetings with him must be held at the detention center.
The court granted the postponement, citing “good cause” for the defense’s need for additional time.
New dates have been set for the motions hearing on Jan. 31, 2025, the pretrial conference on March 31, 2025, and the trial is scheduled to begin on April 1, 2025, lasting until April 16, 2025.
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