The alleged El Salvadoran gang member accused of raping and murdering a Maryland mom managed to illegally enter the United States three times within two months before successfully evading authorities on his fourth attempt, the New York Post reported on Monday.
According to sources from the Department of Homeland Security, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23 first crossed the southern border near El Paso, Texas, in January 2023. He then re-entered illegally twice more in New Mexico, once later in January and again in February 2023. This comes as Morin's family said they are afraid her attacker might be a serial killer who has murdered other victims while in the United States.
Bombshell New Revelations
Martinez-Hernandez was arrested on Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in connection with the murder of the 37-year-old. Her naked body was found on a hiking trail in Maryland nearly a year ago. The case had puzzled investigators for 10 months after Morin was reported missing by her boyfriend.
Martinez-Hernandez had earlier made three attempts to cross the border. After each of his three illegal entries into the US, border agents caught him and booted him out of the country, according to limited records in his case, the outlet reported.
There is no record of any immigration court case involving the suspected double-murderer seeking asylum in the US.
Department of Homeland Security sources speculate that Martinez-Hernandez was likely sent back to Mexico each time he was caught — only to cross the border again a fourth time as a "gotaway," successfully evading capture and remaining in the US.
Martinez-Hernandez had allegedly killed another woman in El Salvador just days before his first illegal entry into the US. The exact timing of his connection to that case is unclear.
After successfully evading US border patrol and entering the country, he remained in the US for only a few weeks before allegedly committing a violent home invasion and assaulting a 9-year-old girl and her mother in Los Angeles.
10 Months of Mystery
He was not arrested, and about five months later, he allegedly murdered Morin -- a fitness enthusiast who owned a cleaning business -- in August 2023 while she was walking alone on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air.
Her naked body was found with signs of severe trauma. Her family reported that it appeared "her head had been smashed in with a rock."
Morin's sister told The Post on Monday that the family fears her attacker, an illegal immigrant, might be a serial killer responsible for murdering other victims while in the US.
"Something we've been concerned about is that there are other victims out there ... whether they were attacked and it ended the same way as my sister, or maybe there are some out there who are still alive but never came forward," said Rebekah Morin, 43. "Hopefully now they do come forward."
Rebekah pointed out that there are months-long gaps between his known crimes in the US.
"There was a long time period between his last victims and Rachel's attack," Rebekah said.
"Somebody who commits these types of crimes does them because they don't care. They don't think about what they are doing, and a person who doesn't care about human life can easily do this to anybody they come across."
Martinez-Hernandez has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape in connection with her death.
"Our investigative genetic genealogy team in Baltimore worked countless hours to identify the suspect by using crime scene DNA and tracing that DNA to potential family members," said Bill DelBango of the FBI Baltimore Field Office.
"Investigators even traveled to El Salvador as part of their efforts to identify this killer," he said. "To find the suspect, we've provided technical assistance helping to pinpoint his location. That brings us to [Friday night], where Tulsa police and FBI agents were able to successfully apprehend and arrest the suspect in Oklahoma."
Rebekah said that her family was informed about the arrest warrant just before Martinez-Hernandez was captured. She added that Rachel's five children, aged between 8 and 18, have also been notified.
The mother of five was abducted from the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, and dragged into the woods, according to authorities. Her body was found in a culvert on August 6.
It's a relief to have a suspect in custody and to have a name and a face to (put to) somebody ... for this," Rebekah said.
"But it also brings everything back up and makes it feel like it's Day One all over again.
"We want to make sure the [killer] is never able to walk the streets again," she said.
