WJZ obtained video from the night police in Oklahoma arrested Victor Martinez-Hernandez, the man charged in the killing of Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five.
Martinez-Hernandez was taken into custody in June at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 10 months after Morin’s body was found off the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Harford County.
The video shows Martinez-Hernandez being escorted out of the bar, put in handcuffs and into the patrol car.
He was later extradited to Maryland, where he is facing charges of first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and kidnapping.
Investigators said they were tipped off that the Martinez-Hernandez was in the Tulsa area after he fled Maryland.
Martinez-Hernandez is being held without bail in the Harford County Detention Center and will stand trial on Oct. 23.
What the video shows
The video starts inside a Tulsa bar on the night of Friday, June 14. Police and FBI agents approach Martinez-Hernandez, who is sitting at a bar.
At first, Martinez-Hernandez denies his crimes. Officers walk him outside and then ask to see his identification. Martinez-Hernandez tells the officers he doesn’t have an ID and provides a fake name.
Moments later, Martinez-Hernandez is placed in handcuffs and into the patrol car after officers uncover his real identity.
A year has passed
Morin, 37, went for a run along the Bel Air trail around 6 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2023, and never returned. She was reported missing later that evening.
Her car was located at the trailhead, and her body was found on Aug. 6 about 60 to 70 feet off the trail, law enforcement officers said.
Martinez-Hernandez had been hiding out in Maryland during some of the months-long nationwide manhunt, according to court documents.
‘Grateful they didn’t give up’
Law enforcement officers say Martinez-Hernandez illegally crossed into the United States after an arrest warrant was issued for a killing in his native El Salvador.
He was also connected to a suspected home invasion and assault of a girl in Los Angeles, where DNA matched what was found at Morin’s crime scene, according to police.
Through the DNA testing and surveillance video of Martinez-Hernandez breaking into the Los Angeles home, he was pinned as the prime suspect.
Days after Martinez-Hernandez was arrested, Morin’s mother spoke with WJZ, saying she is thankful that police never gave up on the search.
“I was just so very grateful that they didn’t give up, that she wasn’t the folder on the desk that I was afraid might happen,” Patty Morin said.
WJZ is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner.
