Crime & Safety

Defendant In Rachel Morin Murder Case Seeks To Move Trial Out Of Harford County

The defendant in the Rachel Morin murder case has asked that his trial be moved out of Harford County, in part because of media coverage.

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In a motion filed Dec. 30, the attorneys for defendant Victor Martinez-Hernandez wrote that the case has been the subject of “numerous inflammatory and prejudicial reports in both legacy and social media,” and his trial should be moved.
In a motion filed Dec. 30, the attorneys for defendant Victor Martinez-Hernandez wrote that the case has been the subject of “numerous inflammatory and prejudicial reports in both legacy and social media,” and his trial should be moved. (Photo courtesy of the Morin family)

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — The man charged in the rape and murder of Bel Air mom of five Rachel Morin, 37, has asked that his trial be moved out of Harford County because of the volume of media coverage and social media commentary.

Morin's 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 assaulted and beaten to death. Officials have said the man charged in her death, Victor Martinez-Hernandez, 24, of El Salvador, entered the United States as an undocumented immigrant.

His attorneys say he cannot receive a fair trial in Harford County because an impartial jury cannot be seated, according to The Baltimore Banner.

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In a motion for change of venue filed Dec. 30, Martinez-Hernandez’s attorneys said the case has been the subject of “numerous inflammatory and prejudicial reports in both legacy and social media.”

“Public reaction to these reports has been uniformly derogatory against the defendant, the numerous comments which accompany media reports indicate that the defendant has been the subject of nationwide public hatred and vilification, notwithstanding that no trial has yet occurred,” assistant public defenders Marcus Jenkins, Sawyer Hicks and Tara LeCompte wrote.

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A hearing on the motion has been scheduled for Jan. 31 in Harford County Circuit Court.

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 Martinez-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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