Detective says woman found dead on Md. trail suffered 'a massive attack,' demonstrated by crime scene evidence

Matt Hubbard, Baltimore Sun on Apr 8, 2025

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BALTIMORE — Tuesday morning testimony in the trial of Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a Salvadoran national charged with first-degree murder in the 2023 killing of Bel Air mother Rachel Morin, began with more graphic crime scene information from Detective Michael Wilsynski, of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.

“It was obvious this wasn’t a slip-and-fall injury,” said Wilsynski, a latent fingerprints expert who photographed the crime scene and collected evidence, such as DNA. “It was a massive attack.”

Defense attorneys cross-examined Wilsynski, asking whether the detectives wore gloves while collecting evidence and how often they changed them between swabs, as well as whether they used the same swabs for the same areas of Morin’s body and who touched and interacted with Morin’s body both inside and outside of the tunnel where it was found.

“I went through many gloves that day,” Wilsynski testified.

Wilsynski said that bags were put on Morin’s hands to preserve evidence. After Wilsynski testified that he could not remember whether another detective wore gloves when he touched the outside of the bags, the defense showed body cam footage in which the detective was not wearing gloves. Wilsynski said that the outside of the bags would not have come in contact with Morin’s body and that the bags are made of material that acts like the “insulation of a house,” keeping moisture and the outside environment away from the contents inside.

Wilsynski also testified that officials swabbed areas of Morin’s body for DNA that appeared to be areas of contact with her assailant — her wrists, breasts and ankle.

Wilsynski testified that Morin’s left and right breasts were swabbed with the same swab for DNA, then her left wrist was swabbed with a separate swab. Another swab was used on both her right hand and her fingernails on her right hand. Then her left ankle was swabbed.

Deputy First Class Christopher McGann testified that Morin’s Apple Watch was found in the woods on the opposite side of the trail from the culvert, which he said was about 75 to 100 feet off of the trail.

Wilsynski detailed several other points of data related to evidence found, including:

—17 feet inside the tunnel – ripped cardboard with a shoe print

—19 feet inside the tunnel – human feces

—52 feet inside the tunnel – a right-side Apple Airpod, in water

—225 feet inside the tunnel – a smashed cellphone, in water

Martinez-Hernandez, 24, was arrested in June in Oklahoma and is facing first-degree rape and first-degree murder charges in Morin’s August 2023 death. Morin disappeared after going for a run on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air.

Testimony on Friday from the man who found Morin’s body while participating in a search party showed that Morin’s body was found in a culvert located hundreds of feet off a dirt path, leading from the trail.

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