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Join Telegram ChannelNewly released body camera footage captured the arrest of the illegal immigrant accused of killing Maryland mother Rachel Morin.
In footage released by the Tulsa Police Department and obtained by FOX 5, officers meet with Victor Martinez Hernandez at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
His arrest comes ten months after the start of an intense nationwide manhunt.
The mother of five, whose children range in age from 8 to 18, was raped and murdered in August while jogging on the Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County, Maryland.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH RACHEL MORIN'S MURDER, A 'CRUCIAL STEP' ACCORDING TO FAMILY LAWYER
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In the footage, police arrive at a bar where Martinez Hernandez was sitting.
After the first meeting, he complied when taken outside the bar, and the police began asking for his ID.
Martinez Hernandez told police he had no identification and provided a false name.
“Do you live in El Salvador?” asks an officer.
The migrant's identity was revealed and agents took photos to circulate the long-awaited capture of Morin's alleged killer.
Rachel Morin was dragged off a hiking trail on August 5, 2023 and brutally murdered. (Family document)
In a press conferenceHarford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said Victor Martinez Hernandez was arrested in Tulsa and booked into custody.
“Five hours after meeting [Morin’s] “The family and just before midnight local time, Tulsa, Oklahoma police, assisted by our federal partners, located and arrested Rachel’s killer: Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez,” Gahler said.
He was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape.
Maryland Sheriff's 'Gut' Says Rachel Morin Was 'Stalked' By Suspect Before Murder
Victor Martinez Hernandez will be extradited to Maryland on June 20. (Tusla Police Department)
The 23-year-old migrant entered the United States illegally in February 2023, police said.
“We all suspected that Rachel was not his first victim,” Gahler said. “My understanding is 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 earlier, in January 2023.
WATCH THE ALLEGED ATTACK ON MARTINEZ HERNANDEZ AT:
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND POLICE LINK CRIME SCENE DNA TO LOS ANGELES ASSAULT AND HOME INTRUSION
Gahler said the first DNA match for Martinez Hernandez came from an attack in Los Angeles in March 2023.
“Once in our country, and likely emboldened by his anonymity, he brutally attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother in a home invasion in March 2023 in Los Angeles,” Gahler said. “And as everyone knows, that was our first DNA match linking Rachel’s case to the Los Angeles case.”
The sheriff turned his attention to the crisis on the southern border, directing his remarks to the white house and to the “two members of Congress.”
“We are 1,800 miles from the southern border,” Gahler said. “And American citizens are not safe because of their failed immigration policy.”
Rachel Morin (Harford County Sheriff's Office)
“This is the second time in two years that an innocent Harford County woman has lost her life at the hands of a criminal illegally in our country,” he said. “In both cases, the suspects were from El Salvador with ties to criminal gangs. This should not be happening.”
“Victor Hernandez did not come to this country to improve his life or that of his family. He came here to escape the crimes he committed in El Salvador. He came here to murder Rachel and, God willing, no one else. But this should never have happened.”
Murder of Rachel Morin
Morin, 37, was reported missing in August 2023 by her boyfriend, who said she never returned after going for a run on the Ma & Pa Trail, a walking path in Bel Air, a quiet and generally safe town about 28 miles away. northeast of BaltimoreAugust 5, 2023.
His body was found on a trail the next day.
The Harford County, Maryland, Sheriff's Office posted signs at trailheads on the Ma & Pa Trail on June 17, 2024, announcing the arrest for the August 2023 murder of Rachel Morin. (Harford County Sheriff's Office/Facebook)
In February, police released new portraits of Martinez Hernandez.
The sketches were made after DNA evidence linked Martinez Hernandez to the scene of a home invasion in Los Angeles.
Police used the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which led them to a single DNA match for an unidentified Hispanic male.
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND SHERIFF'S OFFICE RELEASES NEW SKETCHES OF SUSPECT
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has recovered an abandoned hat at the site of a March 2023 home invasion that escalated into violence, leaving several people injured, including minor children.
Richard Tobin, far left, denied playing any role in the death of his girlfriend Rachel Morin after her body was found on a hiking trail in Maryland on Sunday. (Facebook)
The suspect allegedly broke into the home in the middle of the night and assaulted the family before being chased away. Surveillance footage showed the man leaving the house, shirtless, through the front door.
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“I’m going to keep this short because I’m very emotional,” said Patricia Morin, Rachel’s mother. “I just want to take this moment to thank all the parents who helped Rachel.” law enforcement for all their hard work.
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“They really cared about our family and our daughter,” she said. “They were going to work diligently to find the person who murdered her.”