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New York Post
Migrant gangbanger extradited to Maryland to face murder charges in Rachel Morin’s slaying
By Jorge Fitz-Gibbon,
26 days ago
The migrant gangbanger charged in the brutal rape and murder of mother of five Rachel Morin was back in Maryland Thursday after being extradited to face murder charges in the vicious slaying.
Victor Martinez Hernandez, a 23-year-old El Salvadoran national, has been held in an Oklahoma jail since he was nabbed there on June 14 – but now has a court date in Maryland, Morin’s attorneys said.
“Under Maryland bail review standards a judge evaluates numerous factors to determine if a defendant should be held or released pending trial,” attorney Randolph Rice said in a statement.
“In the Rachel Morin murder investigation, the judge will consider recommendations from pretrial release services, the severity of the offense and the evidence against the defendant,” he said.
Rachel Morin, 37, was out for a hike in Maryland on Aug. 4 when she was brutally raped and murdered, police said. MEGA
Victor Martinez Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, is being extradited to Maryland to face murder charges in the vicious rape and murder of mom Rachel Morin. Tulsa Police Department
Rice said the judge will also consider “the potential danger the defendant poses to the community.”
The bail hearing will be rescheduled for Monday if the accused killer’s public defender files a motion to delay it until then.
Heavy security at Martin State Airport as 23 year old Victor Hernandez is returned to Md after waiving extradition… from El Salvador, arrested in Tulsa, Ok., charged in the August 6, 2023, murder of Rachel Morin. Her body was found along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air. pic.twitter.com/nJK0sqKvlo
According to police, the fatal assault was so brutal that her heartbroken family said it appeared as though “her head had been smashed with a rock.”
About a month later, police matched Hernandez’s DNA from a home invasion and assault of a young girl in Los Angeles – which includes surveillance video of the brute leaving the scene of the crime – to the Maryland crime scene, authorities said.
Hernandez arrived at Martin State Airport in Maryland on Thursday under heavy security, according to reports.
Rachel Morin’s violent death went unsolved until DNA from the crime scene tied her death to illegal immigrant Victor Martinez Hernandez, police said. TNS
Rice said he is due to be hauled in front of a judge in Hartford County after being extradited from Tulsa and is scheduled for a bail hearing on Friday, with the case to be presented to a grand jury.
Authorities said Hernandez entered the US illegally in February 2023, and was known to be affiliated with violent street gangs in El Salvador, where he is suspected in the murder of another woman .
The state attorney’s office in Hampton County, which is handling the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post on Thursday.
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