Rachel Morin murder trial begins: Illegal immigrant from El Salvador charged with rape, murder

BEL AIR, Md. - The highly-anticipated trial regarding the murder of Rachel Morin is set to begin this week with jury selection beginning Monday and opening arguments set to begin on Friday. 

Who was Rachel Morin?

The backstory:

Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, left her Maryland home to go hiking the evening of August 2023 and never returned. Her boyfriend reported her missing later that night and her car was found near an entrance to a trail she frequented, officials have said.

Her body was discovered the following day after her disappearance was widely reported.

RELATED: WATCH: Body cam video shows Rachel Morin murder suspect arrest

DNA evidence recovered from Morin’s body matched another sample in a national law enforcement database.

Morin suffered savage injuries that her mother told House members during a congressional hearing were so severe she was unrecognizable even after morticians tried to make her up for the funeral.

Who is her suspected killer, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez?

Dig deeper:

Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, an El Salvadoran migrant, faces charges of first-degree murder and first-degree rape after police allege he beat, raped and killed Morin on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland.

According to FOX News, Martinez-Hernandez came to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador in 2023. Police in his home country suspect him in another woman's murder there, and before his arrest in Morin's case, California authorities allege he raped a woman and her 9-year-old daughter in a home invasion attack there.

Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, is escorted from a plane at Martin State Airport by members of the Harford County Sheriff's Dept. after being arrested in Oklahoma. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

There was an Interpol warrant out for his arrest at the time he came to the U.S. Border Patrol agents had blocked his entry to the country three times before he finally snuck in.

Police captured him in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June 2024, 10 months after Morin's murder. He was extradited to Maryland days later and is also the subject of an ICE detainer.

Trump meets with Morin family 

President Donald Trump met with the family of Morin last summer while campaigning. 

What they're saying:

"The reason I came here today and I accepted the invitation is because I really want our words to be heard, and I really want you to take to heart what we're saying," Patty Morin previously said. "We're not here for a political stand, although we are. We're here because we're losing our moms, our daughters, our children, to criminals, and that shouldn't happen. We should be taking care of our country, our people, and the only way I think that's going to happen is if President Trump is reelected as president."

Laken Riley Act 

Big picture view:

Rachel Morin's case also brings to light the case of Laken Riley. 

RELATED: Trump orders Guantanamo Bay detention center for migrants after signing Laken Riley Act

Riley, 22, was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing when she went out for a run on Feb. 22, 2024. Prosecutors said she was encountered by Jose Antonio Ibarra, who killed her during a struggle. Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial and was found guilty in November of murder and other crimes by a judge, who alone heard and decided the case. He was sentenced to life without parole.

Trump and other Republicans blamed former President Joe Biden for her death because Ibarra had been arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, amid an unprecedented surge in migration and released to pursue his case in immigration court.

The Laken Riley Act will require the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes. The bill won bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.