November 2, 2024 • 50 mins
Rachel Morin's mother cried as the man charged in her murder walked into the courtroom. It was the first time Patty Morin had seen Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez in person. Now, a judge has granted a defense request to postpone the trial to April 1, 2025.
The suspect in Rachel Morin's brutal murder was found casually sitting in a Tulsa, Oklahoma bar. During the arrest, Hernandez initially lies to authorities about his true identity and denies any knowledge of the attack on a 9-year-old little girl in Los Angeles and the murder of Morin.
The Morin family and investigators strongly believe that the two known crimes are not the only ones Victor Hernandez committed while in the U.S. The attack on a little girl and her mother in L.A. came just two months after Hernandez allegedly murdered a woman in his native El Salvador.
Rachel Morin’s body was found nearly five months later, and another 10 months passed before Hernandez’s arrest. More than a year of Hernandez’s time in the U.S. is still unaccounted for.
While there is a sense of closure, Morin’s sister, Rebekah, says it also feels like "day one all over again."
Matt McMahon, the father of Morin’s eldest daughter, says the Ma and Pa trail feels like it ‘belongs to Rachel again,’ and is even more grateful for the arrest as their daughter, Faye, is now expecting her own little girl later this year.
McMahon describes the news as bittersweet, knowing how excited Rachel Morin would be to learn she was going to be a grandmother.
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Patty Morin - Rachel Morin’s Mother
- Randolph Rice - Morin Family Attorney - Rice, Murtha & Psoras, LLCPH Website: https://RiceLawMd.com
- Dr. Bethany Marshall – Psychoanalyst (Beverly Hills); X: @DrBethanyLive/ Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall; Appearing in “Paris in Love” on Peacock; BOOK: “Deal Breaker: When to work on a relationship and when to walk away”
- Chris McDonough – Director At the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective; Host of YouTube channel: “The Interview Room”
- Vincent Hill – Anchor/Reporter for FOX 45 in Baltimore, Former Police Officer and Private Investigator; Author: “Playbook to A Murder;” X & IG: @VincentHillTV
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace in the last hours, an
update in the trial for the man charged in Mom
of five, Rachel Morn's murder. I'm Nancy Grace. This is
Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Rachel Moore,
(00:24):
in a beautiful mom of five goes hiking along the
Mad Paw Trail. She's been hiking there since she was
a little girl. This day was no different, except this
day ends in tragedy. This gorgeous mom brutally sex assaulted
and bludgeoned dead we believe, with a rock or a
(00:46):
tree limb, and left in that condition for other hikers
to find then across the country. Amazingly, when the case
seemingly goes cold, a DNA match, a DNA match, a
home intruder that, even though the home is full of people,
goes in and sex assaults a young girl. But even
(01:08):
with DNA, we can't find the killer. As it turns out,
the killer turns out to be, according to police, an
illegal immigrant, a migrant, an ill Salvadorian man, illegally in
our country. In the last hours, over the protest of
(01:32):
Rachel's family, the trial is delayed nearly a year is
just as delayed justice denied. The attack on Rachel Morin
was unlike any other I've ever seen, bludgeoning her dead
and raping her, leaving her naked body lying out on
(01:54):
a public trail.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
When I woke up, it felt like it felt like
a shadow.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It also felt like like profound like sadness, emptiness, like
I just knew that there was something that.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I think it's just mother's intuition.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I just knew there was something that wasn't right, that
there was something terribly wrong, but I didn't know what
it was.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Just over three weeks ago, on May twentieth, on what
should have been Rachel's thirty eighth birthday, and then a
poetic coincidence or perhaps in Rachel's own divine assistance, are
investigators uncovered a lead that led us to this day,
And on this day, I'm here to tell you Rachel's
murder is no longer a free man. Hopefully he will
(02:51):
never have the opportunity to walk free again.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
You were just hearing Rachel's mother telling me the anguish
that has been through and describing the moment that she
learned her daughter, a mother of five, the so called
trail mom, beautiful woman, mother of five found bludgeon dead,
left naked and bloody on a trail. And then we
(03:18):
hear Sheriff of Harford County, Jeff Galler, speaking out in
what an arrest it was busted? Who is he? This
guy is a non citizen migrant some people would call
an illegal alien, a non citizen migrant on the run
(03:44):
from a murder charge in El Salvador. And let me
just remind everybody that he is suspected in the rape
of a girl in La What was the straw that
broke the camel's back for Victor Antonio Martinez here Nandez. Listen.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
The lead we received was related to DNA evidence and
allowed investigators to finally put a name to the image
of the suspect in the video from Los Angeles, which
we released two weeks after Rachel's death. After we had
the video, we knew what he looked like. After we
had we knew he looked like, but we didn't know
(04:25):
who he was. With the new DNA evidence, now we
know who he is, but we still didn't know where
he was.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
And they tracked him. They tracked this guy all around
the world because you remember, Rachel mourn Is found brutally
brutally murdered and very interestingly, her face totally destroyed, half
of her face just beaten in. Of course, I'm just
a trial lawyer, I'm not a shrink, but I know
(04:56):
that means something psychologically that this beautiful one, this mom
of five, is brutalized, her face destroyed. We now know
this is the same guy, according to DNA evidence, that
killed a woman in El Salvador and attacked a young
girl in La oh. This guy was tracked like hounds
(05:20):
from hell. Listen.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Over the past two weeks, investigators continued their diligent investigation
and tracked our suspect all the way from Prince George's
County to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our investigators also obtained an arresta
warrant yesterday afternoon, and as the arrest warrant was being issued,
we met with Rachel's family, many of whom are with
us today, to update them on the case and ask them,
(05:46):
and almost asked of them an almost impossible request, and
that was to keep the information about the identity and
the arrest warrant to themselves and protected to allow investigatators
the opportunity to try to apprehend this suspect. Before it
was made public in the news, so that our suspect
did not have the opportunity to learn that he was
(06:08):
wanted and to once again flee.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah, he was just living his best life, going about
his business. So from what I understand, the sheriff goes
to the family Rachel Samant tells them, we think we've
got him, but you got to keep it a secret,
and then out they go to continue tracking this guy.
They think they've got a line on him. Who is
this guy, this non citizen migrant. When a murder charge
(06:34):
out of El Salvador listened.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Five hours after meeting with the family, and just before midnight,
our time police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, assisted by our federal partners,
located and arrested Rachel's murderer, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez. So far,
we have learned that the suspect now pictured on the
screens is a twenty twenty three year old citizen of
(06:57):
l Salvador who illegally crossed the border into the United
States in February of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Okay, why did he leave El Salvador. There's so much
to figure out. Joining me an all star panel to
make sense of what we know right now, But as
we speak, I want to keep our mind and our
heart on Rachel Morin. We have been working this case,
investigating this case. We knew a lot about this guy,
(07:25):
but we just couldn't get our hands on him. Joining me,
investigative reporter for Crime online dot Com, Alexis Tereschuk. This
guy a non citizen migrant, some say illegal alien. It's
on the run from El Salvador.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Explain so, Nancy, this twenty three year old man is
here illegally, which the police officer said, from El Salvador.
He has been accused of murder in Al Salvador. He
apparently killed another young woman and then fled his country,
came to the United States and on a cross country
(08:01):
crime spree.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I want to go straight out to Chris mcdonna, director
at the Cold Case Foundation, now former homicide detective with
over three hundred homicide inquiries under his belt, star of
the interview room. That's where I found him during the
Coburger investigation. Chris mcdonnaugh, I actually have chills on my
(08:23):
whole body. So number one, let's just put it out there.
He's innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. Bam.
Now can we talk reality. This guy has a murder
charge of a young woman, don't know her age yet
in El Salvador. I got word from a bounty hunter
about the facts surrounding that case, but I don't know
(08:46):
for sure yet, so I'll keep that under my hat
until I know for sure those facts. A woman dad
in El Salvador chalked up to him. He goes on
the run. Then he goes to La and sex assaults
ann year old little girl. There he is Victor Antonio
(09:06):
Martinez here Nandez. There, he goes, doesn't even bother and
he doesn't run. He walks out and inside he's left
behind a wake of pain that will never ever be repaired.
There's no telling, Chris McDonough how many other victims this
(09:30):
guy has. Okay, your turn hit it.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
We know for sure now that in El Salvador he
had a case and that Inner Pol had a what
they call a red notice on him. And what that
is is it's a worldwide alert kind of like a
bol for this individual that they had in the system.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Did you say bol Are you talking about a bolo
be on the lookout?
Speaker 6 (09:54):
Yes, ma'am, like a be on the lookout and what
it is. It's not an international arrest warrant. Basically to
notify all countries that participate in INTERPOL that this is
one dangerous dude. And LAPD gets that hit on the DNA,
they match your name to it, they get this red
(10:15):
notice and boom, they're off to the races and they're on.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
The hunt for this guy.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
You know, Chris mcdona and everybody on the panel, please
jump in. A lot is happening. We're getting information fast
and furious. According to detectives, this guy her Nandez was
waiting lying in wait there at the mon Pau Trail
near Bill Air, Maryland, waiting for a victim. You know
(10:41):
what that tells me to Karen Start, renowned psychologists joining
us out of Manhattan. You can find her online Karenstart
dot com, Karen with a C if you're looking for her, Karen.
That tells me, as we discussed when this first happened,
this is not his first attack. Now we know that
now because of DNA. But what I'm trying to say
(11:03):
is that I think there's going to be other attacks.
I would be looking in Tulsa, I would be looking
everywhere in between La bel Air, Maryland and Tulsa because
a guy, a predator like this non citizen migrant from
El Salvador, a guy that knows how to lie and wait.
(11:24):
And remember we learned Karen Stark that at the time
Rachel was attacked and murdered in her whole face, beaten in,
bludgeoned them, there was a lot of foliage and you
would be going down the man patrail and then it
would turn. And he was knew that and was hiding
in the foliage just around the turn, waiting for a woman,
(11:47):
any woman probably to come around that bend. He wasn't
worried about robbing them. He was there to rape and kill.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
He was Nancy.
Speaker 8 (11:58):
And this is very carefully planned if you think about it.
He left Al Savador and could have just started again
and maybe he wouldn't have been caught. But he can't stop.
He gets pleasure. It derives pleasure from doing this. It
was planned. Although he's pretty indiscriminate because he does a child,
(12:21):
her mother. This person in Al Salvador's a young woman
and then Rachel, so all ages and he doesn't care
as long as he's able to rape and kill. And
it's very fortunate that the nine year old to the
family came and he wasn't able to kill her. I
have no doubt he would have because that's where he
(12:43):
gets his pleasure. And by the way, smash the face
in because he doesn't want her to see him.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Symbolically, a non citizen migrant who has just been busted
in the murder and rape of a gorgeous young mother
of five. Toro Antonio and Martinez here Nandez, a non
citizen migrant running from a murder charging on Salvador. How
the hey did he get here and why is he here?
(13:11):
He has gone unapprehended after attacking a nine year old
girl and her mother in La But guess what He
left a hat behind and in that hat was a
hare that hairs Mitochondrial DNA matches up to DNA taken
(13:32):
from the Rachel mourn rape and murder scene. A huge breakthrough,
huge breakthrough and the murder of a marilynd mom Rachel
morn As cops finally arrest an illegal migrant seen in
eerie doorbell camera footage ten months after Rachel's body was
(13:55):
found naked and beaten on remote hiking trail. At the time,
we analyzed the evidence, and we believed he had attacked
and even killed before we were right.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Listen, we all suspected that perhaps Rachel was not his
first victim. And it's my understanding that this suspect, this monster,
fled to the United States illegally after committing the brutal
murder of a young woman in El Salvador a month
early in January of twenty twenty three. Once in our country,
(14:32):
and likely emboldened by his anonymity, he brutally attacked a
nine year old girl and her mother during a home
invasion in March of twenty twenty three in Los Angeles.
Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better
life for himself or for his family. He came here
to escape the crime he committed in El Salvador. He
came here and murdered Rachel and God willing no one else,
(14:57):
but that should have never been allowed to happen.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last hours, we
learn a judge grants the request of an Salvadorian migrant
now charged in two sex attacks across the country and
(15:26):
one brutal murder, granting the request to delay the trial.
Now nearly a year as it was announced in court.
Rachel's mother, Patty began to cry after she saw Victor
Martinez Hernandez enter the courtroom, seeing the man accused of
(15:48):
raping and murdering her beautiful girl. But there's so much
more to this story, Ms Moran, How did you learn
that Rachel's kill or had been caught? Because this was
a man hunt like no other, crossing borders all the
way to Old Salvador.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Actually, the sheriff department reached out to our family and
had set up a meeting in their office to let
us know that they had identified the suspect and that
they were in the process of trying to locate him.
So at the time we weren't allowed to say anything.
(16:31):
They showed us a picture of him, and then we
were expecting that it would still take some time. But miraculously,
within hours after they informed us, they were able to
locate him and apprehend him.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Looking at this guy, he looks like somebody you might
pass on the way to the subway or at the
grocery store. Little did everyone know, this guy with the
big smile laid in wait to catch Rachel, mother of five,
and she walked around the bend of the Ma and
(17:08):
Paw trail there near bel Air, Maryland. As you can see,
the bend in the trail gives him perfect cover. He's
like a hyena waiting at the waterpool, waiting for the
beautiful gazelle to come by and then pounce, just waiting.
(17:30):
Rachel had no idea what would befall her that day.
Tracking this guy, this guy, Victor Antonio Martinez her Nandez,
was no easy thing. Listen, if he's come.
Speaker 6 (17:44):
Under the radar through Haida, that means they may have
already had pre incident contact with this guy on other
types of crimes, narcotics investigations, or something to that effect.
The fact that the sheriff mentioned them the other day
as a partner who assisted in this case, that threw
me a red flag that, Okay, this guy had been
(18:07):
in this country. And now that big question is what
was he doing. Was he running dope, you know? Was
he working for somebody? And maybe this is what gave
him the availability to travel around the United States and
how he ended up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Joining me in addition to Rachel's mother Patty, is renowned
psychoanalyst doctor Bethany Marshall. Joining us from La Doctor Bethany.
I've tried so many cases where the victim was involved
in wrongdoing. I've tried a lot of drug cases that
turned into homicide cases. But there are those singular cases.
(18:47):
There are those cases that strike me where it's such
a dichotomy of good versus evil. You have Rachel Moren, young, beautiful, happy,
a fantastic mother, and you know how I feel, Bethany,
there is no greater compliment to me than someone saying,
(19:10):
you know what, You're really a good mom. She devoted
herself to five children. You got her, and you got
this guy just trucking a lawn. Martinez Hernandez already killed
one person in El Salvador, sneaks over here, somewhere in
(19:33):
the timeline, he sex assaults a nine year old little girl.
And I'm telling you, Bethany, doctor Bethany, there are more victims.
Be they in Virginia, in California, in Tulsa, where he
was apprehended. I'm not sure, but I do know this.
These are not his only victims. That dichotomy I'm talking about.
(19:55):
You've got Rachel Morin, just beautiful. I love it, by
her family, her mother who is with us, today and
they got this guy. And it makes me wonder this
age old question, why to our very best people fall
victim to people like Hernandez.
Speaker 7 (20:17):
Yes, good and evil, it's right there.
Speaker 9 (20:20):
And what I really am struck by in this case
is that this perpetrator is what I would call poly perverse,
and so this makes this guy very, very dangerous.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
And the other thing Nancy that strikes me is the
enormous amount of energy that goes into these crimes. This
guy is not just you know, in one town or
one village and you know, just sneaking out at night
and killing or raping somebody. This guy is traveling all
over the world.
Speaker 9 (20:50):
So if he hadn't been caught, we could have had
a total killing spree.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Well, I don't know what you mean by could have
had a total killing spree. I'm god a victim and
El Salvador dead, Rachel morn is dead, a nine year
old girl has been raped, and I guarantee you there
are more dead bodies in his wake. And the reason
this guy has been caught before he could kill again
(21:15):
is because of Rachel Moron and the publicity and the
intent the iron will. Her mother had to see this
thing through I don't know how many more victims there
would be, so I do know who and what Rachel
(21:36):
Moron is. She is the lady that moms want their
girls to grow up and be. That's who Rachel Moren is.
Who is this guy? Listen?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Five hours after meeting with the family, and just before
midnight our time, police in Telsha, Oklahoma, assisted by our
federal partners, located and arrested Rachel's murderer, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez.
So far, we have learned that the suspect is a
twenty three year old twenty three year old citizen of
(22:12):
El Salvador who illegally crossed the border into the United
States in February of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Ms Moran, could you tell to our listeners who is Rachel?
I guess the backdrop of who is this guy Hernandez?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Well, Rachel from birth on has been this little spark,
like a little fireball. I remember her being like fourteen
fifteen months old, and she's very petite, fair skin, bright
orange hair, and she just loved life. She loved learning
(22:55):
new things. Everything excited her. The excitement wasn't learning, but
also she was very sensitive. She cared about people. She
cared about people's feelings. She was very compassionate. She grew
up to be just a wonderful woman. Balanced. I loved
(23:20):
her because she had she has a strong sense of herself,
and she didn't have a problem disagreeing with mom because
Mom's a little older and more traditional than she was.
But that's what made her who she was. She knew
who she was. She loved her children. She devoted herself
to her children. She was a hard worker.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Ms. Mouren, Can you tell me about Rachel's children and
how they have been responding to mommy being gone.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yes, in the beginning, it was they lived in denial.
They couldn't understand why she was gone. They couldn't stand
why she couldn't come back. She has an autistic daughter
who's high on the spectrum, and her daughter just kept saying,
(24:09):
I just want my friend back, and she couldn't understand
that she couldn't come back to her. I know that
they've been getting a counseling and help in processing this,
but I think that it's going to be a long
time because they're still so young and so at different
(24:29):
points in their growth and in their maturity. They're going
to come back to this and kind of reprocess it.
So I think this is going to be a long
term thing for her children.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Patty. How old is her youngest eight years old? There
are five of them. Have they been tipped together or
did they have to be separated?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
There's five, they're all separated. Her oldest daughter has been
living with her and say for the past two years
or so, and they're actually expecting their first baby, so
Rachel's missing the birth for first granddaughter. Then two of
(25:13):
her children, the next two in age, are with their father,
which is about an hour away from the rest of
the family, and then the youngest live in the area,
so they live with their fathers in separate places. But
they do try to come together a couple of times
(25:35):
a month to hang out for a weekend and to
be with each other. But it's very, very disheartening to
have such a broken up family.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
You know, until I had the twins, I you know,
I would hear people talk about the best thing that
ever happened to them was having a grandchild and being there.
The significance of being there when grandchild came. The thought
that I wouldn't be there to help my daughter when
she has a baby or to help my son. It's
(26:10):
devastating the most important thing that happens to them in
their life, and she's not going to be there, and
that child is not going to have her. And when
I think about this woman, when I think about Rachel Moore,
and I was first when I heard about her murder,
I was just struck by her incredible physical beauty. But
(26:35):
the more I learned about her, she was completely devoted
to those children. And who is he listened?
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better
life for himself or for his family. He came here
to escape the crime he committed. No Salador became here
and murdered Rachel and God willing no one else. But
that should have never been.
Speaker 10 (27:00):
Allowed to happen.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. An emotional day in a
court of law when the man accused and the murder
of mom of five, Rachel Morin appears, Rachel's mother breaks
down in tears, and shortly thereafter it's announced the trial
(27:27):
for murder will be delayed. Nearly a year. Is justice delayed?
Justice denied for Rachel's family. Patty Mooren, along with her lawyer,
also joining us Randolph Rice, who is the family lawyer.
I might add Vincent Hill joining me in addition to
doctor Bethany Marshall. Vincent Hill investigative reporter of Fox forty
(27:49):
five in Baltimore and former police officer in Private Eye.
He's the author of Playbook to a Murder. Vincent, thank
you for joining us. I want to try and explain,
but you're very familiar with the path. How this guy,
a predator, already murdered one woman back in El Salvador,
(28:10):
already attacked a mother and a nine year old little girl.
How he is waiting along this trail. And this is
not a trail where nobody can say, you know, Vincent,
how people love to say, oh, I would never have
gone walking on that trail by myself, or everybody feels
in the blank right there. It drives me crazy. So
they can differentiate themselves from a violent crime victim because
(28:35):
it makes you feel safe. That's not going to happen
to you. But this trail, Ma and Pa trail, it's
a family trail. Families are on it all the time.
If you look past those trees, there's an apartment complex
and people access it all the time. And I just
want to point out there is no way to insinuate
(28:59):
that Rachel Moore and in any way was acting negligently
or recklessly. I wanted to dispel that myth because I've
heard it. It's not true. Yeah, that's right, Nancy.
Speaker 10 (29:11):
I mean, if Rachel had any inkling that something would
have been bess on that trail, given her size, given
the fact that she was alone, she wouldn't have been there.
But on that particular day, I'm sure there were hundreds
of people out because the weather was nice. This guy
was lying in wait, he had been to that trail,
he'd maybe even seen Rachel before, because we know that
(29:33):
he had been in Maryland for quite some time before
he did what he did. So Rachel was just going
about her day and unfortunately she was in the wrong
place at the wrong time, and she came across Victor Martinez,
which ended her life.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
You know, Vincent, I want to address something that you
just said. Of course, everything you said is usual is accurate,
But you said, and I think it's because Rachel's mother
is with us. You said, he and you paused did
what he did. I've had to look jury's in the face.
Little old ladies sitting on the jury and tell them
(30:12):
what happened. Rachel's mother knows what happened. You think I
want to hurt her. We have to be blunt. What
he did. He did, what he did, you said, after
a long pause. He stalked her, he saw her. He
bludgeoned her, He beat in her face, and he raped her.
(30:35):
And he left her on that trail naked. He stole
this mother from her children in the most brutal fashion,
like an animal. That is what he did. And there's
no way to sugarcoat it. There's no way to airbrush
(30:57):
it or massage it into something else. And because of Rachel,
we know who he is and he is behind bars.
This is what happened. Listen.
Speaker 11 (31:12):
There was a bend in the trail that most likely
was used by the individual who attacked Rachel in the
trail pulled her through the wooded area into this drainage culvert,
where she ultimately lost her life.
Speaker 12 (31:24):
DNA evidence was collected by our Forensic Services Union. That
DNA was analyzed by the Maryland State Police and it
was ran through the National Code System DNA evidences.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
I mean, this DNA.
Speaker 12 (31:37):
Evidence has come back as a match tied to a
home invasion and insult and an assault of a young
girl in Los Angeles this past March. Unfortunately, that suspect
has not been positively identified, but he did leave behind.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
His DNA and that was then. This is now We
got him due to an extensive manhunt and incredible work
by lab scientists in genetic genealogy cutting edge DNA, we
have Hernandez. I want to go to our special guest,
(32:13):
Patty Moren. This is Rachel's mother, Ms. Mouran. Yes, I'm
so sorry what you've lived through, but I know you're
going to be front and center when this goes to trial.
How many times have you let yourself lived through what
(32:37):
Rachel experienced?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
It's an everyday thing. Sad to say, it's I know.
Part of grieving is you have to face the facts
and you have to process them. And until they apprehended
(33:04):
the suspect, it was easy to kind of live and
deny a little bit. But now that they have a suspect,
it makes all the facts true and you have to
face the truth and accept it. And so you have
(33:28):
to rethink what you've been told and process those thoughts
and put a timeline to it. And it's very it's like,
it's so painful and grieving to think what my daughter
(33:50):
experienced and that there was no one there to help her.
You know, as moms, we want.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
To protect our children, and I have.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Something so unexpected to happen, and for us just not
to be there, not able to help, it's been a
very it's it's been very hard. It's my plan to
be there because I wasn't there to protect her or
(34:23):
to help her, but I want to be there after
the fact, I guess to make sure that absolutely everything
is done for her and that nothing is left undone.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Randolph, I'm so glad you're there with Ms morn, I'm
just so glad you're there. Randolph Rice, high profile lawyer
that's working with the Moron family. Just let me go
to Chris McDonough. He is the director of the Cold
Case Foundation. He has been working on this case and
investigating on his own, as we all have been. Former
(34:59):
homicide detective with no less than three hundred homicide investigations
under his belt. I found him on YouTube on the
interview room during the Coburger investigation and was struck by
his knowledge, his intimate familiarity with not only that case,
but the workings of a courtroom. And Chris McDonough, I
(35:20):
don't know if you ever let yourself think about the
suffering of the victims that you and I have represented
our whole careers, if you can call what we do
a career. But Chris, I'm listening to Ms. Morin and
I have never been quite as brave as she is
(35:41):
being today because when I think about my fiance's murder,
what happened in those moments that he was killed, I
stopped myself because to this day it gives me an
intense headache, a horrible headache when I start reliving what
(36:02):
I think happened. Crime victims never get away from it,
and I can't. Now that I've got children, I can't
imagine what a parent goes through. You heard Rachel. You
heard Rachel's mom describing you can't be there for your child,
your baby, you can't help them. It's excruciating. How do
(36:28):
you separate yourself from that? Chris?
Speaker 6 (36:32):
You know I lost a child in two thousand and three,
and I don't think anybody quite understands like Nancy's explaining
about the death of her fiance, what depth of pain
you can get to. But here's the other good news.
You can get through it, and you can empower yourself
(36:53):
that her life makes a difference to perhaps somebody else's family,
that this never happens again to anybody else, that they
have to experience what you're experiencing. So it does. You
will be able to get through it.
Speaker 13 (37:09):
And you know, I know.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
That Nancy's given you an amazing platform here to tell
the nation. You know how you're going to do that,
and I commend you for saying what you've said even
this morning.
Speaker 14 (37:23):
I will personally be leading the prosecution of this case.
While the defendant is innocent, until and unless he has
proven guilty, Arford County and our neighboring communities can rest
assured that my office will take all steps necessary to
ensure that justice is served for Rachel Morin and her family.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Thank Heaven, there is a prosecutor with some backbone that
will go after this case. But the case isn't done.
The case is still being built. Listen.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
We're still looking for information. He was in this area
for at least some period of time, and when I
say the area, he was in the bel Air area
for some period of time before or right after the homicide.
Were both so if people still have information, and now
that there's a name to put with the face, the
investigators still want to talk to you. We still want
to know. We still want to build that timeline because
(38:15):
there is a case to prosecute. We want to put
all the pieces together so that Miss Healy can do
her job most successfully and again ensure this guy never
sees the light of day.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
And in that Vein says, the case is still being built.
Here's the tip line toll free eight eight eight five
four zero eight four seven seven repeat eight eight eight
five four zero eight four seven seven. This case has
got to be fleshed out. There's got to be more
(38:45):
than DNA to present to a jury. Eyewitnesses, someone that
knew him before leading up to the murder of this
mother of five. Where did he go when he left
that trail? What did he do with his clothing? Where
did he wash his clothes? Where was he living? These
(39:08):
and other facts are very very important. Did he have
scratches to his face, his neck, his arms? What can
we find out? We've all seen cases that are strictly
DNA cases that have been eviscerated by a good defense attorney.
That cannot happen in this case, that cannot happen in
(39:33):
this case, I want to go to special guests joining
us in addition to Rachel's mother, it's Randolph Rice, high
profile lawyer who is helping the Moran family through this. Randolph,
thank you for being with us. It's the fingerprint nature
of the crimes, the similarities. In both cases, he lie
(39:56):
in wait for the right moment. In both cases, he
had tacked a female. In both cases, he's wearing the
same thing. In both cases, there was physical brutality. In
both cases, he makes off casually. He walked out of
that house like he owned it. And I guarantee you
he did the same thing in Rachel's murder. The similarities
(40:20):
of these cases, and there's going to be more. I
just wonder if the case in El Salvador is as
similar and that can be brought in at trial as
a similar transaction. I mean, if we're going to go,
Randolph Rice, let's go all the way.
Speaker 9 (40:35):
Now.
Speaker 13 (40:35):
You're right, and it's you as a former prosecutor and
back in the day when I had a little less
gray hair, I remember prepping for these types of cases.
Speaker 10 (40:44):
And you're right.
Speaker 13 (40:45):
You have got to put together a timeline of where
he was leading up to this and where he was
after because there could be patterns, there could be similarities.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
Bombshell. In the case of a El Solvadorian man charged
and the murder of mom of five, Rachel Mooren, a
delay a delay has been announced in a court of law.
Why this case is one of the most brutal attacks
I've ever seen. I'm just wondering how you're getting through
(41:19):
each day. How do you put your head on the pillow,
how do you make yourself fall asleep when you wake
up in the morning, What makes you get out of bed?
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Actually I haven't really slept at all in the last
ten months, because you just you think about Rachel's life,
You think about all the details before she was murdered,
and you think, is there any any little detail that
I missed that could help in some way? And so
(41:56):
up until the suspect was apprehended, that's the way my
days were like, literally day and night. Is there anything
that I've missed in her life that could have been
helpful in finding the suspect? And now that they have
apprehended him, there is now a sense of relief, where before,
(42:22):
to be honest, I was afraid to go to sleep
at night. Not that I look like my daughter anyway,
but I was just as a woman. I just felt afraid,
and I know our community did as well, especially the women,
and so we've feel a sigh of relief, but now
(42:43):
it's still feeling exhausted and thinking what more can I
do to help my daughter on this side of the investigation.
Is there is there anything that law enforcement might need
(43:05):
from me that would be of help. But I think
the most important thing is just letting people know that
if you've seen this person, have any interaction with him
in any way over the past year, to contact our
local law enforcement, the sheriff department, so that they can
(43:26):
put the last couple of puzzle pieces together to make
this a very solid and concise case. I'm sure that
it's going that it's very well put together now. I
just don't want anything left undone. I hope that answers
(43:48):
your question.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
It does? It does chrism Donald joining me veteran law enforcement.
I'm thinking about what Patty Rachel Moren's mom is just saying.
Know there are going to be other crimes to connect
him to, but I want to focus right now on
the prosecution in the Rachel Moren murder, and we need
(44:09):
to fill in all the blanks leading up to and
after the time of Rachel's murder and attack. The best way,
of course is DNA, and his DNA has already been
entered into the National DNA Data Bank. But there is
also the fingerprint data bank where he may not have
left DNA or the DNA may not have been preserved.
(44:32):
There's a possibility of a fingerprint match. Offer instance, a
burglary that turned into an aggravated assault or rate, a
fingerprint on a car, a fingerprint anywhere that I can
connect him to a crime, and also a digital fingerprint. Okay,
this guy is, as we say now, a migrant, that's
(44:58):
what we're saying. Nobody is saying illegal alien apparently, so
we're not going to track him through his credit card
or his Social Security number. That's not happening. But I
guarantee you this. I guarantee you he had a top
of the line iPhone or Android. Okay, this guy is
(45:19):
involved with a gang. He is in a gang notorious
for crime. I'm sure you prosecuted gang cases I did.
They're like a pack of animals. Human life means nothing
to them, and I guarantee you he was tricked out
(45:40):
with the best phone to keep in touch with his
gang buddies. All right, that's a way to trace him
where he has been, what he has been doing. Yes, No,
you are.
Speaker 6 (45:51):
One hundred percent right, Nanti that if this guy, you know,
we first of all, we have some good information here.
Number one, he committed this ferocious crime in El Salvador
and then at some point he must have crossed into
this country. The question is how many times and did
(46:11):
they ever have contact with him? And if so, how
does he make it to la And that gang connection
that you're talking about is probably the most logical connection
to this thing, because that neighborhood where that first attack
occurred is in the seventy seventh division of LAPD. That
is one rough neighborhood. Let me tell you, I've been
(46:35):
there and we've served many search warrants there. And so
how does he blend into that circumstance and that gang
affiliation is probably the most likely that would make him
a chameleon within that environment, and why he was hidden
for as long as he has while on the run.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
When you walk through the park and you see a
little squirrel or ra run across your path. Is your
instinct to pounce upon it, grab it and bite its
throat out. No, your instinct may be to pet it
or try to throw it a treat. This guy is
(47:16):
not like you. This guy's instinct is to attack. He's
crossed the border three times that I know of in
two months. He's been from Tulsa to La to bel Air, Maryland,
and everywhere in between. You want to tell me he
could fight his impulse to attack. No way. Joining me
(47:41):
is a very special guest. Patty morn is with us.
Rachel's mother, Ms.
Speaker 14 (47:49):
Moran.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
You are speaking to thousands and thousands of parents who
are suffering, and I want you, as best as you
can to explain what you do when you feel overwhelmed
by the loss of your girl.
Speaker 15 (48:08):
Honestly, I cry, I cry, and I pray.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
I know that different people have different religious affiliations, but
I believe in the Lord, and I believe that God
has a plan and a purpose even if we don't
understand it. And I believe that God is good and
that he loves me. And so when things are very
(48:42):
hard to the I go to the rock. I ease
my solace, and I just pray and pour my heart
out to him and he comforts me. But then I
also have a close group of friends and that have
(49:02):
been such a support these last few months, praying for
our family, giving encouraging words. Mister Rice, what an awesome
man he is. He is so good and so kind
and so generous, just really very good supportive people. And
(49:25):
so I would encourage anyone that's feeling pain from a
loss to get counseling, to have a support group, a
group of friends, maybe grief share, and just to keep
your friends close and don't be afraid to feel your
(49:47):
feelings and to process them because you don't want to
be stuck.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
And it's.
Speaker 2 (49:54):
Healthy, even though it's very very painful, healthy to process them.
And I want to make sure that I'm healthy for
my family. So I'm willing to feel the pain now
so that I'm not stuck and not moving forward for
(50:16):
my grandchildren.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
We wait as just as unfolds Nancy Grace crime story
signing off goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace in the last hours, an
update in the trial for the man charged in Mom
of five, Rachel Morn's murder. I'm Nancy Grace. This is
Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Rachel Moore,
(00:24):
in a beautiful mom of five goes hiking along the
Mad Paw Trail. She's been hiking there since she was
a little girl. This day was no different, except this
day ends in tragedy. This gorgeous mom brutally sex assaulted
and bludgeoned dead we believe, with a rock or a
(00:46):
tree limb, and left in that condition for other hikers
to find then across the country. Amazingly, when the case
seemingly goes cold, a DNA match, a DNA match, a
home intruder that, even though the home is full of people,
goes in and sex assaults a young girl. But even
(01:08):
with DNA, we can't find the killer. As it turns out,
the killer turns out to be, according to police, an
illegal immigrant, a migrant, an ill Salvadorian man, illegally in
our country. In the last hours, over the protest of
(01:32):
Rachel's family, the trial is delayed nearly a year is
just as delayed justice denied. The attack on Rachel Morin
was unlike any other I've ever seen, bludgeoning her dead
and raping her, leaving her naked body lying out on
(01:54):
a public trail.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
When I woke up, it felt like it felt like
a shadow.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It also felt like like profound like sadness, emptiness, like
I just knew that there was something that.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I think it's just mother's intuition.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I just knew there was something that wasn't right, that
there was something terribly wrong, but I didn't know what
it was.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Just over three weeks ago, on May twentieth, on what
should have been Rachel's thirty eighth birthday, and then a
poetic coincidence or perhaps in Rachel's own divine assistance, are
investigators uncovered a lead that led us to this day,
And on this day, I'm here to tell you Rachel's
murder is no longer a free man. Hopefully he will
(02:51):
never have the opportunity to walk free again.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
You were just hearing Rachel's mother telling me the anguish
that has been through and describing the moment that she
learned her daughter, a mother of five, the so called
trail mom, beautiful woman, mother of five found bludgeon dead,
left naked and bloody on a trail. And then we
(03:18):
hear Sheriff of Harford County, Jeff Galler, speaking out in
what an arrest it was busted? Who is he? This
guy is a non citizen migrant some people would call
an illegal alien, a non citizen migrant on the run
(03:44):
from a murder charge in El Salvador. And let me
just remind everybody that he is suspected in the rape
of a girl in La What was the straw that
broke the camel's back for Victor Antonio Martinez here Nandez. Listen.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
The lead we received was related to DNA evidence and
allowed investigators to finally put a name to the image
of the suspect in the video from Los Angeles, which
we released two weeks after Rachel's death. After we had
the video, we knew what he looked like. After we
had we knew he looked like, but we didn't know
(04:25):
who he was. With the new DNA evidence, now we
know who he is, but we still didn't know where
he was.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
And they tracked him. They tracked this guy all around
the world because you remember, Rachel mourn Is found brutally
brutally murdered and very interestingly, her face totally destroyed, half
of her face just beaten in. Of course, I'm just
a trial lawyer, I'm not a shrink, but I know
(04:56):
that means something psychologically that this beautiful one, this mom
of five, is brutalized, her face destroyed. We now know
this is the same guy, according to DNA evidence, that
killed a woman in El Salvador and attacked a young
girl in La oh. This guy was tracked like hounds
(05:20):
from hell. Listen.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Over the past two weeks, investigators continued their diligent investigation
and tracked our suspect all the way from Prince George's
County to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our investigators also obtained an arresta
warrant yesterday afternoon, and as the arrest warrant was being issued,
we met with Rachel's family, many of whom are with
us today, to update them on the case and ask them,
(05:46):
and almost asked of them an almost impossible request, and
that was to keep the information about the identity and
the arrest warrant to themselves and protected to allow investigatators
the opportunity to try to apprehend this suspect. Before it
was made public in the news, so that our suspect
did not have the opportunity to learn that he was
(06:08):
wanted and to once again flee.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah, he was just living his best life, going about
his business. So from what I understand, the sheriff goes
to the family Rachel Samant tells them, we think we've
got him, but you got to keep it a secret,
and then out they go to continue tracking this guy.
They think they've got a line on him. Who is
this guy, this non citizen migrant. When a murder charge
(06:34):
out of El Salvador listened.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Five hours after meeting with the family, and just before midnight,
our time police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, assisted by our federal partners,
located and arrested Rachel's murderer, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez. So far,
we have learned that the suspect now pictured on the
screens is a twenty twenty three year old citizen of
(06:57):
l Salvador who illegally crossed the border into the United
States in February of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Okay, why did he leave El Salvador. There's so much
to figure out. Joining me an all star panel to
make sense of what we know right now, But as
we speak, I want to keep our mind and our
heart on Rachel Morin. We have been working this case,
investigating this case. We knew a lot about this guy,
(07:25):
but we just couldn't get our hands on him. Joining me,
investigative reporter for Crime online dot Com, Alexis Tereschuk. This
guy a non citizen migrant, some say illegal alien. It's
on the run from El Salvador.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Explain so, Nancy, this twenty three year old man is
here illegally, which the police officer said, from El Salvador.
He has been accused of murder in Al Salvador. He
apparently killed another young woman and then fled his country,
came to the United States and on a cross country
(08:01):
crime spree.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I want to go straight out to Chris mcdonna, director
at the Cold Case Foundation, now former homicide detective with
over three hundred homicide inquiries under his belt, star of
the interview room. That's where I found him during the
Coburger investigation. Chris mcdonnaugh, I actually have chills on my
(08:23):
whole body. So number one, let's just put it out there.
He's innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. Bam.
Now can we talk reality. This guy has a murder
charge of a young woman, don't know her age yet
in El Salvador. I got word from a bounty hunter
about the facts surrounding that case, but I don't know
(08:46):
for sure yet, so I'll keep that under my hat
until I know for sure those facts. A woman dad
in El Salvador chalked up to him. He goes on
the run. Then he goes to La and sex assaults
ann year old little girl. There he is Victor Antonio
(09:06):
Martinez here Nandez. There, he goes, doesn't even bother and
he doesn't run. He walks out and inside he's left
behind a wake of pain that will never ever be repaired.
There's no telling, Chris McDonough how many other victims this
(09:30):
guy has. Okay, your turn hit it.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
We know for sure now that in El Salvador he
had a case and that Inner Pol had a what
they call a red notice on him. And what that
is is it's a worldwide alert kind of like a
bol for this individual that they had in the system.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Did you say bol Are you talking about a bolo
be on the lookout?
Speaker 6 (09:54):
Yes, ma'am, like a be on the lookout and what
it is. It's not an international arrest warrant. Basically to
notify all countries that participate in INTERPOL that this is
one dangerous dude. And LAPD gets that hit on the DNA,
they match your name to it, they get this red
(10:15):
notice and boom, they're off to the races and they're on.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
The hunt for this guy.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
You know, Chris mcdona and everybody on the panel, please
jump in. A lot is happening. We're getting information fast
and furious. According to detectives, this guy her Nandez was
waiting lying in wait there at the mon Pau Trail
near Bill Air, Maryland, waiting for a victim. You know
(10:41):
what that tells me to Karen Start, renowned psychologists joining
us out of Manhattan. You can find her online Karenstart
dot com, Karen with a C if you're looking for her, Karen.
That tells me, as we discussed when this first happened,
this is not his first attack. Now we know that
now because of DNA. But what I'm trying to say
(11:03):
is that I think there's going to be other attacks.
I would be looking in Tulsa, I would be looking
everywhere in between La bel Air, Maryland and Tulsa because
a guy, a predator like this non citizen migrant from
El Salvador, a guy that knows how to lie and wait.
(11:24):
And remember we learned Karen Stark that at the time
Rachel was attacked and murdered in her whole face, beaten in,
bludgeoned them, there was a lot of foliage and you
would be going down the man patrail and then it
would turn. And he was knew that and was hiding
in the foliage just around the turn, waiting for a woman,
(11:47):
any woman probably to come around that bend. He wasn't
worried about robbing them. He was there to rape and kill.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
He was Nancy.
Speaker 8 (11:58):
And this is very carefully planned if you think about it.
He left Al Savador and could have just started again
and maybe he wouldn't have been caught. But he can't stop.
He gets pleasure. It derives pleasure from doing this. It
was planned. Although he's pretty indiscriminate because he does a child,
(12:21):
her mother. This person in Al Salvador's a young woman
and then Rachel, so all ages and he doesn't care
as long as he's able to rape and kill. And
it's very fortunate that the nine year old to the
family came and he wasn't able to kill her. I
have no doubt he would have because that's where he
(12:43):
gets his pleasure. And by the way, smash the face
in because he doesn't want her to see him.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Symbolically, a non citizen migrant who has just been busted
in the murder and rape of a gorgeous young mother
of five. Toro Antonio and Martinez here Nandez, a non
citizen migrant running from a murder charging on Salvador. How
the hey did he get here and why is he here?
(13:11):
He has gone unapprehended after attacking a nine year old
girl and her mother in La But guess what He
left a hat behind and in that hat was a
hare that hairs Mitochondrial DNA matches up to DNA taken
(13:32):
from the Rachel mourn rape and murder scene. A huge breakthrough,
huge breakthrough and the murder of a marilynd mom Rachel
morn As cops finally arrest an illegal migrant seen in
eerie doorbell camera footage ten months after Rachel's body was
(13:55):
found naked and beaten on remote hiking trail. At the time,
we analyzed the evidence, and we believed he had attacked
and even killed before we were right.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Listen, we all suspected that perhaps Rachel was not his
first victim. And it's my understanding that this suspect, this monster,
fled to the United States illegally after committing the brutal
murder of a young woman in El Salvador a month
early in January of twenty twenty three. Once in our country,
(14:32):
and likely emboldened by his anonymity, he brutally attacked a
nine year old girl and her mother during a home
invasion in March of twenty twenty three in Los Angeles.
Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better
life for himself or for his family. He came here
to escape the crime he committed in El Salvador. He
came here and murdered Rachel and God willing no one else,
(14:57):
but that should have never been allowed to happen.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last hours, we
learn a judge grants the request of an Salvadorian migrant
now charged in two sex attacks across the country and
(15:26):
one brutal murder, granting the request to delay the trial.
Now nearly a year as it was announced in court.
Rachel's mother, Patty began to cry after she saw Victor
Martinez Hernandez enter the courtroom, seeing the man accused of
(15:48):
raping and murdering her beautiful girl. But there's so much
more to this story, Ms Moran, How did you learn
that Rachel's kill or had been caught? Because this was
a man hunt like no other, crossing borders all the
way to Old Salvador.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Actually, the sheriff department reached out to our family and
had set up a meeting in their office to let
us know that they had identified the suspect and that
they were in the process of trying to locate him.
So at the time we weren't allowed to say anything.
(16:31):
They showed us a picture of him, and then we
were expecting that it would still take some time. But miraculously,
within hours after they informed us, they were able to
locate him and apprehend him.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Looking at this guy, he looks like somebody you might
pass on the way to the subway or at the
grocery store. Little did everyone know, this guy with the
big smile laid in wait to catch Rachel, mother of five,
and she walked around the bend of the Ma and
(17:08):
Paw trail there near bel Air, Maryland. As you can see,
the bend in the trail gives him perfect cover. He's
like a hyena waiting at the waterpool, waiting for the
beautiful gazelle to come by and then pounce, just waiting.
(17:30):
Rachel had no idea what would befall her that day.
Tracking this guy, this guy, Victor Antonio Martinez her Nandez,
was no easy thing. Listen, if he's come.
Speaker 6 (17:44):
Under the radar through Haida, that means they may have
already had pre incident contact with this guy on other
types of crimes, narcotics investigations, or something to that effect.
The fact that the sheriff mentioned them the other day
as a partner who assisted in this case, that threw
me a red flag that, Okay, this guy had been
(18:07):
in this country. And now that big question is what
was he doing. Was he running dope, you know? Was
he working for somebody? And maybe this is what gave
him the availability to travel around the United States and
how he ended up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Joining me in addition to Rachel's mother Patty, is renowned
psychoanalyst doctor Bethany Marshall. Joining us from La Doctor Bethany.
I've tried so many cases where the victim was involved
in wrongdoing. I've tried a lot of drug cases that
turned into homicide cases. But there are those singular cases.
(18:47):
There are those cases that strike me where it's such
a dichotomy of good versus evil. You have Rachel Moren, young, beautiful, happy,
a fantastic mother, and you know how I feel, Bethany,
there is no greater compliment to me than someone saying,
(19:10):
you know what, You're really a good mom. She devoted
herself to five children. You got her, and you got
this guy just trucking a lawn. Martinez Hernandez already killed
one person in El Salvador, sneaks over here, somewhere in
(19:33):
the timeline, he sex assaults a nine year old little girl.
And I'm telling you, Bethany, doctor Bethany, there are more victims.
Be they in Virginia, in California, in Tulsa, where he
was apprehended. I'm not sure, but I do know this.
These are not his only victims. That dichotomy I'm talking about.
(19:55):
You've got Rachel Morin, just beautiful. I love it, by
her family, her mother who is with us, today and
they got this guy. And it makes me wonder this
age old question, why to our very best people fall
victim to people like Hernandez.
Speaker 7 (20:17):
Yes, good and evil, it's right there.
Speaker 9 (20:20):
And what I really am struck by in this case
is that this perpetrator is what I would call poly perverse,
and so this makes this guy very, very dangerous.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
And the other thing Nancy that strikes me is the
enormous amount of energy that goes into these crimes. This
guy is not just you know, in one town or
one village and you know, just sneaking out at night
and killing or raping somebody. This guy is traveling all
over the world.
Speaker 9 (20:50):
So if he hadn't been caught, we could have had
a total killing spree.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Well, I don't know what you mean by could have
had a total killing spree. I'm god a victim and
El Salvador dead, Rachel morn is dead, a nine year
old girl has been raped, and I guarantee you there
are more dead bodies in his wake. And the reason
this guy has been caught before he could kill again
(21:15):
is because of Rachel Moron and the publicity and the
intent the iron will. Her mother had to see this
thing through I don't know how many more victims there
would be, so I do know who and what Rachel
(21:36):
Moron is. She is the lady that moms want their
girls to grow up and be. That's who Rachel Moren is.
Who is this guy? Listen?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Five hours after meeting with the family, and just before
midnight our time, police in Telsha, Oklahoma, assisted by our
federal partners, located and arrested Rachel's murderer, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez.
So far, we have learned that the suspect is a
twenty three year old twenty three year old citizen of
(22:12):
El Salvador who illegally crossed the border into the United
States in February of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Ms Moran, could you tell to our listeners who is Rachel?
I guess the backdrop of who is this guy Hernandez?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Well, Rachel from birth on has been this little spark,
like a little fireball. I remember her being like fourteen
fifteen months old, and she's very petite, fair skin, bright
orange hair, and she just loved life. She loved learning
(22:55):
new things. Everything excited her. The excitement wasn't learning, but
also she was very sensitive. She cared about people. She
cared about people's feelings. She was very compassionate. She grew
up to be just a wonderful woman. Balanced. I loved
(23:20):
her because she had she has a strong sense of herself,
and she didn't have a problem disagreeing with mom because
Mom's a little older and more traditional than she was.
But that's what made her who she was. She knew
who she was. She loved her children. She devoted herself
to her children. She was a hard worker.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Ms. Mouren, Can you tell me about Rachel's children and
how they have been responding to mommy being gone.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yes, in the beginning, it was they lived in denial.
They couldn't understand why she was gone. They couldn't stand
why she couldn't come back. She has an autistic daughter
who's high on the spectrum, and her daughter just kept saying,
(24:09):
I just want my friend back, and she couldn't understand
that she couldn't come back to her. I know that
they've been getting a counseling and help in processing this,
but I think that it's going to be a long
time because they're still so young and so at different
(24:29):
points in their growth and in their maturity. They're going
to come back to this and kind of reprocess it.
So I think this is going to be a long
term thing for her children.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Patty. How old is her youngest eight years old? There
are five of them. Have they been tipped together or
did they have to be separated?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
There's five, they're all separated. Her oldest daughter has been
living with her and say for the past two years
or so, and they're actually expecting their first baby, so
Rachel's missing the birth for first granddaughter. Then two of
(25:13):
her children, the next two in age, are with their father,
which is about an hour away from the rest of
the family, and then the youngest live in the area,
so they live with their fathers in separate places. But
they do try to come together a couple of times
(25:35):
a month to hang out for a weekend and to
be with each other. But it's very, very disheartening to
have such a broken up family.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
You know, until I had the twins, I you know,
I would hear people talk about the best thing that
ever happened to them was having a grandchild and being there.
The significance of being there when grandchild came. The thought
that I wouldn't be there to help my daughter when
she has a baby or to help my son. It's
(26:10):
devastating the most important thing that happens to them in
their life, and she's not going to be there, and
that child is not going to have her. And when
I think about this woman, when I think about Rachel Moore,
and I was first when I heard about her murder,
I was just struck by her incredible physical beauty. But
(26:35):
the more I learned about her, she was completely devoted
to those children. And who is he listened?
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better
life for himself or for his family. He came here
to escape the crime he committed. No Salador became here
and murdered Rachel and God willing no one else. But
that should have never been.
Speaker 10 (27:00):
Allowed to happen.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. An emotional day in a
court of law when the man accused and the murder
of mom of five, Rachel Morin appears, Rachel's mother breaks
down in tears, and shortly thereafter it's announced the trial
(27:27):
for murder will be delayed. Nearly a year. Is justice delayed?
Justice denied for Rachel's family. Patty Mooren, along with her lawyer,
also joining us Randolph Rice, who is the family lawyer.
I might add Vincent Hill joining me in addition to
doctor Bethany Marshall. Vincent Hill investigative reporter of Fox forty
(27:49):
five in Baltimore and former police officer in Private Eye.
He's the author of Playbook to a Murder. Vincent, thank
you for joining us. I want to try and explain,
but you're very familiar with the path. How this guy,
a predator, already murdered one woman back in El Salvador,
(28:10):
already attacked a mother and a nine year old little girl.
How he is waiting along this trail. And this is
not a trail where nobody can say, you know, Vincent,
how people love to say, oh, I would never have
gone walking on that trail by myself, or everybody feels
in the blank right there. It drives me crazy. So
they can differentiate themselves from a violent crime victim because
(28:35):
it makes you feel safe. That's not going to happen
to you. But this trail, Ma and Pa trail, it's
a family trail. Families are on it all the time.
If you look past those trees, there's an apartment complex
and people access it all the time. And I just
want to point out there is no way to insinuate
(28:59):
that Rachel Moore and in any way was acting negligently
or recklessly. I wanted to dispel that myth because I've
heard it. It's not true. Yeah, that's right, Nancy.
Speaker 10 (29:11):
I mean, if Rachel had any inkling that something would
have been bess on that trail, given her size, given
the fact that she was alone, she wouldn't have been there.
But on that particular day, I'm sure there were hundreds
of people out because the weather was nice. This guy
was lying in wait, he had been to that trail,
he'd maybe even seen Rachel before, because we know that
(29:33):
he had been in Maryland for quite some time before
he did what he did. So Rachel was just going
about her day and unfortunately she was in the wrong
place at the wrong time, and she came across Victor Martinez,
which ended her life.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
You know, Vincent, I want to address something that you
just said. Of course, everything you said is usual is accurate,
But you said, and I think it's because Rachel's mother
is with us. You said, he and you paused did
what he did. I've had to look jury's in the face.
Little old ladies sitting on the jury and tell them
(30:12):
what happened. Rachel's mother knows what happened. You think I
want to hurt her. We have to be blunt. What
he did. He did, what he did, you said, after
a long pause. He stalked her, he saw her. He
bludgeoned her, He beat in her face, and he raped her.
(30:35):
And he left her on that trail naked. He stole
this mother from her children in the most brutal fashion,
like an animal. That is what he did. And there's
no way to sugarcoat it. There's no way to airbrush
(30:57):
it or massage it into something else. And because of Rachel,
we know who he is and he is behind bars.
This is what happened. Listen.
Speaker 11 (31:12):
There was a bend in the trail that most likely
was used by the individual who attacked Rachel in the
trail pulled her through the wooded area into this drainage culvert,
where she ultimately lost her life.
Speaker 12 (31:24):
DNA evidence was collected by our Forensic Services Union. That
DNA was analyzed by the Maryland State Police and it
was ran through the National Code System DNA evidences.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
I mean, this DNA.
Speaker 12 (31:37):
Evidence has come back as a match tied to a
home invasion and insult and an assault of a young
girl in Los Angeles this past March. Unfortunately, that suspect
has not been positively identified, but he did leave behind.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
His DNA and that was then. This is now We
got him due to an extensive manhunt and incredible work
by lab scientists in genetic genealogy cutting edge DNA, we
have Hernandez. I want to go to our special guest,
(32:13):
Patty Moren. This is Rachel's mother, Ms. Mouran. Yes, I'm
so sorry what you've lived through, but I know you're
going to be front and center when this goes to trial.
How many times have you let yourself lived through what
(32:37):
Rachel experienced?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
It's an everyday thing. Sad to say, it's I know.
Part of grieving is you have to face the facts
and you have to process them. And until they apprehended
(33:04):
the suspect, it was easy to kind of live and
deny a little bit. But now that they have a suspect,
it makes all the facts true and you have to
face the truth and accept it. And so you have
(33:28):
to rethink what you've been told and process those thoughts
and put a timeline to it. And it's very it's like,
it's so painful and grieving to think what my daughter
(33:50):
experienced and that there was no one there to help her.
You know, as moms, we want.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
To protect our children, and I have.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Something so unexpected to happen, and for us just not
to be there, not able to help, it's been a
very it's it's been very hard. It's my plan to
be there because I wasn't there to protect her or
(34:23):
to help her, but I want to be there after
the fact, I guess to make sure that absolutely everything
is done for her and that nothing is left undone.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Randolph, I'm so glad you're there with Ms morn, I'm
just so glad you're there. Randolph Rice, high profile lawyer
that's working with the Moron family. Just let me go
to Chris McDonough. He is the director of the Cold
Case Foundation. He has been working on this case and
investigating on his own, as we all have been. Former
(34:59):
homicide detective with no less than three hundred homicide investigations
under his belt. I found him on YouTube on the
interview room during the Coburger investigation and was struck by
his knowledge, his intimate familiarity with not only that case,
but the workings of a courtroom. And Chris McDonough, I
(35:20):
don't know if you ever let yourself think about the
suffering of the victims that you and I have represented
our whole careers, if you can call what we do
a career. But Chris, I'm listening to Ms. Morin and
I have never been quite as brave as she is
(35:41):
being today because when I think about my fiance's murder,
what happened in those moments that he was killed, I
stopped myself because to this day it gives me an
intense headache, a horrible headache when I start reliving what
(36:02):
I think happened. Crime victims never get away from it,
and I can't. Now that I've got children, I can't
imagine what a parent goes through. You heard Rachel. You
heard Rachel's mom describing you can't be there for your child,
your baby, you can't help them. It's excruciating. How do
(36:28):
you separate yourself from that? Chris?
Speaker 6 (36:32):
You know I lost a child in two thousand and three,
and I don't think anybody quite understands like Nancy's explaining
about the death of her fiance, what depth of pain
you can get to. But here's the other good news.
You can get through it, and you can empower yourself
(36:53):
that her life makes a difference to perhaps somebody else's family,
that this never happens again to anybody else, that they
have to experience what you're experiencing. So it does. You
will be able to get through it.
Speaker 13 (37:09):
And you know, I know.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
That Nancy's given you an amazing platform here to tell
the nation. You know how you're going to do that,
and I commend you for saying what you've said even
this morning.
Speaker 14 (37:23):
I will personally be leading the prosecution of this case.
While the defendant is innocent, until and unless he has
proven guilty, Arford County and our neighboring communities can rest
assured that my office will take all steps necessary to
ensure that justice is served for Rachel Morin and her family.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Thank Heaven, there is a prosecutor with some backbone that
will go after this case. But the case isn't done.
The case is still being built. Listen.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
We're still looking for information. He was in this area
for at least some period of time, and when I
say the area, he was in the bel Air area
for some period of time before or right after the homicide.
Were both so if people still have information, and now
that there's a name to put with the face, the
investigators still want to talk to you. We still want
to know. We still want to build that timeline because
(38:15):
there is a case to prosecute. We want to put
all the pieces together so that Miss Healy can do
her job most successfully and again ensure this guy never
sees the light of day.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
And in that Vein says, the case is still being built.
Here's the tip line toll free eight eight eight five
four zero eight four seven seven repeat eight eight eight
five four zero eight four seven seven. This case has
got to be fleshed out. There's got to be more
(38:45):
than DNA to present to a jury. Eyewitnesses, someone that
knew him before leading up to the murder of this
mother of five. Where did he go when he left
that trail? What did he do with his clothing? Where
did he wash his clothes? Where was he living? These
(39:08):
and other facts are very very important. Did he have
scratches to his face, his neck, his arms? What can
we find out? We've all seen cases that are strictly
DNA cases that have been eviscerated by a good defense attorney.
That cannot happen in this case, that cannot happen in
(39:33):
this case, I want to go to special guests joining
us in addition to Rachel's mother, it's Randolph Rice, high
profile lawyer who is helping the Moran family through this. Randolph,
thank you for being with us. It's the fingerprint nature
of the crimes, the similarities. In both cases, he lie
(39:56):
in wait for the right moment. In both cases, he
had tacked a female. In both cases, he's wearing the
same thing. In both cases, there was physical brutality. In
both cases, he makes off casually. He walked out of
that house like he owned it. And I guarantee you
he did the same thing in Rachel's murder. The similarities
(40:20):
of these cases, and there's going to be more. I
just wonder if the case in El Salvador is as
similar and that can be brought in at trial as
a similar transaction. I mean, if we're going to go,
Randolph Rice, let's go all the way.
Speaker 9 (40:35):
Now.
Speaker 13 (40:35):
You're right, and it's you as a former prosecutor and
back in the day when I had a little less
gray hair, I remember prepping for these types of cases.
Speaker 10 (40:44):
And you're right.
Speaker 13 (40:45):
You have got to put together a timeline of where
he was leading up to this and where he was
after because there could be patterns, there could be similarities.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
Bombshell. In the case of a El Solvadorian man charged
and the murder of mom of five, Rachel Mooren, a
delay a delay has been announced in a court of law.
Why this case is one of the most brutal attacks
I've ever seen. I'm just wondering how you're getting through
(41:19):
each day. How do you put your head on the pillow,
how do you make yourself fall asleep when you wake
up in the morning, What makes you get out of bed?
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Actually I haven't really slept at all in the last
ten months, because you just you think about Rachel's life,
You think about all the details before she was murdered,
and you think, is there any any little detail that
I missed that could help in some way? And so
(41:56):
up until the suspect was apprehended, that's the way my
days were like, literally day and night. Is there anything
that I've missed in her life that could have been
helpful in finding the suspect? And now that they have
apprehended him, there is now a sense of relief, where before,
(42:22):
to be honest, I was afraid to go to sleep
at night. Not that I look like my daughter anyway,
but I was just as a woman. I just felt afraid,
and I know our community did as well, especially the women,
and so we've feel a sigh of relief, but now
(42:43):
it's still feeling exhausted and thinking what more can I
do to help my daughter on this side of the investigation.
Is there is there anything that law enforcement might need
(43:05):
from me that would be of help. But I think
the most important thing is just letting people know that
if you've seen this person, have any interaction with him
in any way over the past year, to contact our
local law enforcement, the sheriff department, so that they can
(43:26):
put the last couple of puzzle pieces together to make
this a very solid and concise case. I'm sure that
it's going that it's very well put together now. I
just don't want anything left undone. I hope that answers
(43:48):
your question.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
It does? It does chrism Donald joining me veteran law enforcement.
I'm thinking about what Patty Rachel Moren's mom is just saying.
Know there are going to be other crimes to connect
him to, but I want to focus right now on
the prosecution in the Rachel Moren murder, and we need
(44:09):
to fill in all the blanks leading up to and
after the time of Rachel's murder and attack. The best way,
of course is DNA, and his DNA has already been
entered into the National DNA Data Bank. But there is
also the fingerprint data bank where he may not have
left DNA or the DNA may not have been preserved.
(44:32):
There's a possibility of a fingerprint match. Offer instance, a
burglary that turned into an aggravated assault or rate, a
fingerprint on a car, a fingerprint anywhere that I can
connect him to a crime, and also a digital fingerprint. Okay,
this guy is, as we say now, a migrant, that's
(44:58):
what we're saying. Nobody is saying illegal alien apparently, so
we're not going to track him through his credit card
or his Social Security number. That's not happening. But I
guarantee you this. I guarantee you he had a top
of the line iPhone or Android. Okay, this guy is
(45:19):
involved with a gang. He is in a gang notorious
for crime. I'm sure you prosecuted gang cases I did.
They're like a pack of animals. Human life means nothing
to them, and I guarantee you he was tricked out
(45:40):
with the best phone to keep in touch with his
gang buddies. All right, that's a way to trace him
where he has been, what he has been doing. Yes, No,
you are.
Speaker 6 (45:51):
One hundred percent right, Nanti that if this guy, you know,
we first of all, we have some good information here.
Number one, he committed this ferocious crime in El Salvador
and then at some point he must have crossed into
this country. The question is how many times and did
(46:11):
they ever have contact with him? And if so, how
does he make it to la And that gang connection
that you're talking about is probably the most logical connection
to this thing, because that neighborhood where that first attack
occurred is in the seventy seventh division of LAPD. That
is one rough neighborhood. Let me tell you, I've been
(46:35):
there and we've served many search warrants there. And so
how does he blend into that circumstance and that gang
affiliation is probably the most likely that would make him
a chameleon within that environment, and why he was hidden
for as long as he has while on the run.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
When you walk through the park and you see a
little squirrel or ra run across your path. Is your
instinct to pounce upon it, grab it and bite its
throat out. No, your instinct may be to pet it
or try to throw it a treat. This guy is
(47:16):
not like you. This guy's instinct is to attack. He's
crossed the border three times that I know of in
two months. He's been from Tulsa to La to bel Air, Maryland,
and everywhere in between. You want to tell me he
could fight his impulse to attack. No way. Joining me
(47:41):
is a very special guest. Patty morn is with us.
Rachel's mother, Ms.
Speaker 14 (47:49):
Moran.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
You are speaking to thousands and thousands of parents who
are suffering, and I want you, as best as you
can to explain what you do when you feel overwhelmed
by the loss of your girl.
Speaker 15 (48:08):
Honestly, I cry, I cry, and I pray.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
I know that different people have different religious affiliations, but
I believe in the Lord, and I believe that God
has a plan and a purpose even if we don't
understand it. And I believe that God is good and
that he loves me. And so when things are very
(48:42):
hard to the I go to the rock. I ease
my solace, and I just pray and pour my heart
out to him and he comforts me. But then I
also have a close group of friends and that have
(49:02):
been such a support these last few months, praying for
our family, giving encouraging words. Mister Rice, what an awesome
man he is. He is so good and so kind
and so generous, just really very good supportive people. And
(49:25):
so I would encourage anyone that's feeling pain from a
loss to get counseling, to have a support group, a
group of friends, maybe grief share, and just to keep
your friends close and don't be afraid to feel your
(49:47):
feelings and to process them because you don't want to
be stuck.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
And it's.
Speaker 2 (49:54):
Healthy, even though it's very very painful, healthy to process them.
And I want to make sure that I'm healthy for
my family. So I'm willing to feel the pain now
so that I'm not stuck and not moving forward for
(50:16):
my grandchildren.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
We wait as just as unfolds Nancy Grace crime story
signing off goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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