The trial of the illegal immigrant accused of killing a Maryland mother of five entered its third day Tuesday as medical officials described some of the grisly injuries Rachel Morin endured when she was dragged off a running trail, raped and beaten to death two years ago.
Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a 24-year-old Salvadoran national with alleged ties to MS-13, faces rape and murder charges in the killing that brought intense scrutiny on the Biden administration’s decision to essentially open the U.S. southern border.
The suspect was arrested in Oklahoma last summer, 10 months after the August 2023 slaying in which Morin’s battered remains were found in a drainage culvert along the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air.
On Tuesday, Dr. Zabiullah Ali, who worked as a forensic pathologist with the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner before retiring, said the case stood out to him in his 20-plus year career because of the number of injuries found on Morin.
He took the witness stand to say the 37-year-old mother suffered well over a dozen blows to her head, including a deep gash on the back of her skull. Morin had also been strangled in the attack, the doctor said.
It’s the latest detail in a trial that has had witnesses recounting the horror of the crime scene and prosecutors sharing gruesome photos of Morin’s corpse.
Some of those photos, which were shown Monday in the Harford County courtroom, included close-ups of her bloodied head and face. She was found lying face up near the entrance to the drainage tunnel and was missing some of her clothing.
Flies and larvae can be seen in the images as investigators said the humid summer weather accelerated her decomposition.
Prosecutors also played the 911 call from witness Cecilia Occorso, who went looking for Morin with a friend a day after her killing on Aug. 5, 2023.
Ms. Occorso was aghast while speaking with the dispatcher, saying Morin was so badly wounded she might pass out.
Harford County Detective Michael Wilsynski testified Monday that it was clear Morin did not slip and fall to her death, calling her the victim of a “massive attack.”
Mr. Martinez-Hernandez has denied ever being in Maryland, but prosecutors said he used his phone to search for information and photos about Morin.
At the time of the suspect’s arrest, police said he was linked to the assault of a mother and child in Los Angeles and to the slaying of a woman back in El Salvador. Authorities said Mr. Martinez-Hernandez illegally crossed into the U.S. in 2023.
The defendant is currently being held at the Harford County jail. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of the charges, which also include murder, rape, kidnapping and another sex offense.
