According to the indictment, the shoes and clothing of Rachel Morin’s murder suspect proved to be key evidence in identifying the murder suspect.
Relatives of Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez handed over two bags of clothing and a pair of shoes he left behind at his Maryland home after raping and killing Morin, 37, on Aug. 4 and then fleeing.
DNA samples taken from the clothing were processed at the Maryland State Police Forensic Science Laboratory and matched DNA from the crime scene, according to the documents.
Hernandez is charged with murder, rape and assault for allegedly attacking Morin on Mama & Papa Heritage Hiking Trail in Bel Air.
Police said the fatal assault was so brutal that her heartbroken family said it “felt as if her head had been smashed with a stone”.
About a month later, police matched DNA from surveillance footage that showed Hernandez leaving the scene of a home invasion and assault of a teen in Los Angeles to that from the Maryland crime scene, authorities said.
He was formally identified in May.
Hernandez’s family told detectives that the suspect lived with them from December 2023 to May 2024.
Hernandez was arrested at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 14 and was extradited to Maryland on Thursday under heavy security.
Randolph Rice, an attorney for the Morin family, said Hernandez will appear before a Hartford County judge after being extradited from Tulsa and a bail hearing will be held Friday, when the case will be presented to a grand jury.
Authorities said Hernandez entered the United States illegally in February 2023, has known ties to violent street gangs in El Salvador and is suspected of being involved in the murder of another woman in the country.
