Bail denied for alleged murderer of Rachel Morin

BEL AIR, Md. — Victor Martinez Hernandez watched stoically from the Harford County Detention Center during a closed-circuit hearing as the judge recited a series of charges he faces in connection with the death of Rachel Morin , including charges of first-degree murder and rape.

“I was sitting next to Patty the whole time and the only thing she said to me was, 'We shouldn't be here today,'” said Randolph Rice, the Morin family's attorney. . “I definitely think it’s difficult the first time. I thought it was difficult the first time to look into the eyes, even if it was on video, to look into the face of the man who would have taken the life of your daughter, of your sister.

Prosecutors called it one of the most brutal and heinous crimes in Harford County history.

At this point they revealed to the court that during the attack Rachel suffered 10 to 15 head injuries and that her death was from strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Martinez Hernández's lawyer argued in court that he financially supported his parents and three-year-old daughter, and they added that he had no previous convictions.

It's a point that rings hollow since he has yet to be charged with the alleged sexual assault of a mother and her nine-year-old daughter in Los Angeles, as well as the murder of a young woman in his home country, El Salvador, before entering this country.

“We didn't know the details, it was a young woman coming out of a bar,” Rice said. “The defense objected and the state stopped talking about the facts of the murder in El Salvador.”

State's Attorney Alison Healey also told the court that Martinez Hernandez was seen leaving the bar with that victim before she was found dead.