
In August of 2023, while running on the Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County, Maryland, a mother of five named Rachel Morin was brutally attacked and killed.
Thanks to cutting-edge DNA evidence technology, authorities were able to put 23-year-old Victor Martinez-Hernandez at the scene of the crime, and he is the state’s number one suspect. This garnered widespread media coverage. After months of evasion, Hernandez was finally apprehended in Oklahoma last month and extradited to Maryland.
Martinez is accused by law enforcement of unlawfully entering the nation from El Salvador, which has led to questions regarding U.S. immigration policy. Rachel Morin has, tragically, become another face in the mosaic of Americans who have lost their lives due to murderers entering the United States illegally.
Martinez is scheduled to face trial in late October following his arrest at an Oklahoma pub. According to the prosecution, Martinez committed the most heinous crime in Harford County history by raping, bludgeoning, and strangling Morin to death.
An inside look at the interstate homicide investigation into Rachel Morin’s death and the arrest of the Salvadoran migrant suspect was provided by a former special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). According to retired supervisory special agent Scott Duffey, the first people that law enforcement interviews in the aftermath of a homicide are those who were closest to the victim. Throughout the 10-month investigation, the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) maintained coordination among law enforcement agencies from different states.
A small sample of DNA was collected in Los Angeles, across the country from Morin’s hometown in Maryland, weeks after she went missing, providing a breakthrough in the homicide investigation. According to Duffey, the CODIS is highly accurate with its matches, giving him the confidence that they got their man.
Martinez Hernandez’s immigration status necessitated the involvement of FBI legal attachés, who work inside the FBI’s worldwide network. The murder of Rachel Morin has gotten into the presidential campaign, with former president Trump laying the blame at Joe Biden’s feet.