A former FBI special agent gave an inside look at how federal and state authorities detained the suspected migrant from El Salvador in the multi-state Rachel Morin homicide investigation.
Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Scott Duffey told Fox News Digital that at the beginning of any homicide investigation, law enforcement starts with the people closest to the victim.
“First, you start with your loved ones, whether it's a spouse, partner or romantic partner,” he said. “And then once you exclude them, you move out.”
Duffey, who met with Morin's family in Harford County, Maryland, after his murder, said the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) allowed law enforcement in every state to stay on the same page. as the 10-month investigation progressed.
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Víctor Martínez Hernández, 23, was arrested for the murder of Rachel Morin. (Harford County Sheriff's Office)
CODIS is a database used by federal and state authorities to compile DNA profiles of convicted criminals, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing persons.
A break in Morin's murder case came after DNA evidence turned up thousands of miles from Morin's Maryland hometown in Los Angeles weeks after her disappearance.
Scott Duffey, a retired former FBI special agent, spoke about the murder of Rachel Miron with Fox News Digital. (Fox News Digital)
“Lo and behold, the two DNA matches from Rachel Morin's crime scene and the DNA from Los Angeles matched through CODIS,” he said.
Morin said CODIS operates under “strict guidelines,” which gave him peace of mind about the legitimacy of the DNA match.
“They have very strict guidelines, and the fact that you had two DNA matches was very comforting to me as a former investigator,” he said.
Rachel Morin disappeared after taking a walk on a trail in Maryland. (Harford County Sheriff's Office/FB)
The former special agent said the unexpected turn came after investigators discovered that Morin's alleged killer, later identified as Víctor Martínez Hernández, an illegal migrant from El Salvador, was not a U.S. citizen.
Martínez Hernández's immigration status led authorities to rely on the FBI's international offices, called legal attachés.
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“What's your next stop out of the country to El Salvador?” Duffey said. “Now, it's one thing when you have a family tree and you can say, 'Okay, we're getting closer,' and the DNA experts are able to say : “Hey, this is compatible.”
“But when you leave the country, you lose some ownership of an investigation.”
Her family posted a photo of Rachel Morin in a tree along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, on August 10, 2023. The 37-year-old woman was killed while walking on the trail. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
The FBI's international office in El Salvador was used to “close that gap” with U.S. authorities in the Morin case,” Duffey said.
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“But by having an FBI office in El Salvador, they can close that gap with American law enforcement and with Salvadoran authorities,” he said.
Víctor Martínez Hernández, 23, was arrested for the murder of Rachel Morin. (Harford County Sheriff's Office)
El Salvador authorities then told U.S. authorities that Martínez Hernández had fled his home country after brutally killing someone in the Central American country.
The news led the FBI to issue a “red notice,” telling all law enforcement agencies involved in Interpol to be on the lookout for Martínez Hernández.
“That red notice would have alerted authorities: 'Don't let this guy go any further. Stop him and take him into custody,'” Duffey said. “All of those things are falling into place, not to mention the hard work that Harford County investigators did with Los Angeles authorities.”
Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was found dead on a hiking trail. Her new boyfriend, far right Richard Tobin, reported her missing. (Facebook)
Duffey said he believes authorities used Martinez Hernandez's “forensic digital fingerprint” to put the finishing touches on their investigation.
“A cell phone, an email address, something with which this individual communicates with anyone else and therefore has such a footprint that law enforcement can locate, pinpoint a relatively small and very narrow area where the surveillance could go out and investigate.” he said.
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Duffey said it was “surprising” that Martinez Hernandez, a wanted fugitive, managed to evade capture for 10 months after Morin's homicide.
“It will be interesting to see what their means were,” he said. “Who supported this individual who was already a fugitive from justice in his country of origin?”
Far-left Richard Tobin denied having any role in the death of his girlfriend Rachel Morin after her body was found on a hiking trail in Maryland. (Facebook)
MURDER OF RACHEL MORÍN
On Saturday, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler announced the arrest of Martinez Hernandez.
Gahler said the 23-year-old was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape.
The 23-year-old migrant crossed into the United States illegally in February 2023, police announced.
“We all suspected that Rachel was not his first victim,” Gahler said. “I understand that this suspect, this monster, illegally fled to the United States after committing the brutal murder of a young woman. in El Salvador a month before, in January 2023.”
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Gahler said a first DNA match for Martínez Hernández was 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 during a home invasion in March 2023 in Los Angeles,” Gahler said. “And as I think you all know, that was our first DNA match linking Rachel's case to the one in Los Angeles.”
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Morin, 37, was reported missing in August by her boyfriend, who said she never returned after going for a run on the Ma & Pa Trail, a walking trail in Bel Air, a quiet and typically safe town about 28 miles away. northeast of Baltimore, August 5, 2023.
His body was found on a trail the next day.
