Southwest
Rachel Morin's 'bum' killer mooched off locals before murdering mom of 5: lawyer
The attorney for Rachel Morin’s family says the trial of her murderer is a testament to relentless law enforcement and a devastating indictment of immigration failures that allowed her killer to murder the Maryland mom of five.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was found guilty of raping and murdering Morin in August 2023. The jury returned a unanimous verdict in 46 minutes after a weeklong trial that exposed the graphic details of the crime and the cross-country manhunt that followed.
“After 19 months of going through this nightmare of losing Rachel, we now have a verdict,” Randolph Rice, the Morin family attorney, told Fox News Digital. “Victor Martinez-Hernandez is guilty on all counts.”
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: JURY FINDS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GUILTY OF KILLING JOGGER
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of raping and killing Rachel Morin in Maryland in August 2022. (Tulsa Police Department/Facebook)
The Baltimore-based attorney said the migrant was a “bum” who took advantage of the people he stayed with.
“What we also learned was that he really had no connections to that community, other than he might have had some people that he knew from El Salvador when he was a little child, and apparently he seemed like he was couch-surfing wherever he could find a home,” Rice said.
“He was a troublemaker. He was a bum who didn’t pay for a thing and was ultimately kicked out of that Bel Air home,” he said. “Even though they got him jobs, he was just sitting at the bar drinking.”
Entrance to the Ma & Pa Trail in Maryland (Google Maps)
The Salvadoran migrant’s path led him to the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, a quaint community northeast of Baltimore, on Aug. 14, 2023.
“She was attacked and dragged into a tunnel. Her Apple Watch later became a critical piece of evidence, linking the suspect directly to the crime scene,” Rice said.
Witnesses described following blood trails that eventually led to Morin’s remains. Forensic teams later recovered DNA from her body, the tunnel wall and other surrounding evidence.
RACHEL MORIN’S ALLEGED ILLEGAL KILLER LEFT SLAIN JOGGER’S BODY ALONG 150-FOOT BLOOD TRAIL
They described a trail with flattened leaves before finding rocks with blood on them. The two witnesses walked through two tunnels with overgrown brush, where they found Morin’s body.
“I saw an unclothed human body on her back. At first, I truly thought it might have been a deer or something that had died in there,” testified Evan Knapp, who found Morin’s body. “So, I had to move a bit closer to confirm what I had seen, and it was a human. I feel like time froze for a second, and I didn’t know what I was looking at.”
Evan Knapp testifies in the murder trial of Victor Martinez-Hernandez at the Harford County Courthouse in Bel Air, Md., on April 4, 2025. (Dana Verkouteren)
Knapp and his friend, Cecilia, immediately called 911. Authorities retraced the path where Morin’s body had been dragged after her rape and murder. Police also collected large bloody rocks that authorities said were used to smash her skull.
Autopsy results revealed that Morin had endured 15 to 20 blows to the head and had died from a combination of strangulation and blunt force trauma. Her death was officially ruled a homicide.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was convicted of raping and murdering Rachel Morin in Maryland on Aug. 5, 2023. (Tulsa Police Department/Facebook)
Rice said this was a “preventable crime” that touched on a flash point in the 2024 presidential race with immigration front and center.
“This was a preventable crime because you had an individual who should not have been in the United States.”
“And in fact, he was stopped three times at the border. He was returned to Mexico. And then ultimately he crosses a fourth time in El Paso, Texas. And then he goes on his spree of crimes in the United States, starting in Los Angeles. There, he breaks into a house and he assaults a mother and daughter there, and then he makes his way across the country, presumably on a bus, to Bel Air, Maryland.”
WATCH: VICTOR MARTINEZ-HERNANDEZ ARREST
Rice praised the dedication of law enforcement, noting that investigators combined DNA evidence, digital tracking and social media clues to locate the suspect. He was ultimately arrested at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: FORMER FBI AGENT REVEALS HOW CAPTURE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN KILLING WENT DOWN
“He had screenshots of press releases about Rachel’s murder saved on his phone,” Rice said. “He knew the net was closing in.”
Despite denying ever being in Maryland, Martinez-Hernandez’s DNA was matched to multiple sources at the crime scene.
Rachel Morin was found dead on a hiking trail. She was reported missing by her boyfriend, Richard Tobin, far right. (Facebook)
Morin, 37, left behind five children. Her 14-year-old daughter was the first witness to testify last week, fighting back tears as she described her mother’s disappearance.
“This is a scary reminder of how careful we have to be when we’re out and about,” said Rice. “Rachel never knew this man. It was completely random.”
Martinez-Hernandez is set to be sentenced and could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Fox News Digital reached out to his attorney.
Patty Morin, left, mother of Rachel Morin, is shown during the daily press briefing at the White House on April 16, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
With visible emotion, Morin’s mother, Patty Morin, spoke as a special guest at Wednesday’s press briefing at the White House, sharing personal testimony about the urgent need to remove criminal migrants from the country.
“These are the kind of criminals President Trump wants to remove from our country. These are the kind of criminals that we need removed from our country. We are American citizens,” she said. “Why should we allow people like this, violent criminals that have no conscience at all, to murder our mothers, our sisters, our daughters?”
“I don’t understand why there’s even any kind of problem with this. … We need to protect our families, our borders, our children,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, joined by Patty Morin, mother of Rachel Morin, left, holds a briefing on April 16, 2025. (Pool)
Justice Department attorneys said they were unaware of Maryland immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts after he was deported to an El Salvadoran prison last month. (Fox News)
Rice slammed Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., for traveling to El Salvador on Wednesday to check on the condition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 39-year-old who was deported to the El Salvadoran mega prison called the Terrorism Confinement Center for being an alleged MS-13 gang member, though his attorneys maintain he does not have any gang ties.
“So it seems that he is giving more attention to an illegal immigrant than he is to a Maryland and American citizen, Rachel Morin,” Rice said. “That’s crazy … it is just a no-brainer. You’re here to protect Americans and Marylanders. And he’s more worried about going to El Salvador and bringing an illegal immigrant back who is a gang member.”
After Martinez-Hernandez was convicted of Morin’s murder, Van Hollen said in a statement he was grateful to law enforcement and calling for “meaningful action” to reform “our broken immigration system.”
“We can do this while also supporting our immigrant communities and respecting the rights of individuals who are here legally – I am committed to doing both, and I will continue pressing my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move forward on this issue,” Van Hollen said.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has endorsed Texas state Rep. Steve Toth, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw in the Lone Star State’s 2nd Congressional District Republican primary.
“I am proud to endorse @SteveTothTX for Congress in Texas’s 2nd Congressional District. Steve faithfully served the people of Texas in the Texas House of Representatives, championing our Texas values of liberty, limited government, and constitutional governance,” Cruz said in a post on X.
“Steve is an unwavering fighter for school choice, fiscal responsibility, and the next generation of Americans. Washington needs bold leadership and representatives who will stand up for Texans at every turn,” Cruz continued.
Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw speaks during a showcase hosted by TerraFlow in Houston Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
“Steve has the experience, the courage, and the conviction to do just that. I’m honored to support his campaign and urge voters in Texas’s 2nd Congressional District to join me in electing Steve Toth to Congress,” he added.
While President Donald Trump has not made an endorsement in the race, he previously backed Toth for Texas state House in 2022 and 2024.
EXCLUSIVE: DAN CRENSHAW’S GOP CHALLENGER SAYS ‘DAYS IN CONGRESS ARE NUMBERED’ AS RACE HEATS UP
Texas House incumbent Rep. Steve Toth gives a brief statement before the start of a gubernatorial debate held at Grace Woodlands Church and put on by the True Texas Project on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022 in Spring, Texas. (Michael Wyke/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
“State Representative Steve Toth is doing a fantastic job representing Texas State House District 15. A Small Business Owner and an Ordained Minister, Steve is fighting tirelessly to Secure our Elections, Grow the Economy, Eliminate Needless Regulations, Strengthen the Border, Support our Great Military/Veterans, and Protect and Defend our under siege Second Amendment. Steve Toth has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump wrote in a 2024 Truth Social post.
The last day of early voting for Texas’ March 3 primary contests is Friday, according to the Texas Secretary of State website.
CRUZ WARNED MEXICO OFFICIALS ‘PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS GOING TO’ ACT IF THEY DIDN’T FIGHT CARTELS
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, arrives for the cloture vote on the government funding bill in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Crenshaw has served in Congress since early 2019.
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EXCLUSIVE: TUCSON, Ariz. — A resident in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood has a street-facing Ring camera that caught 12 cars passing by on the morning of Nancy Guthrie’s suspected abduction.
The recordings took place between midnight and 6 a.m. on Feb. 1, and some of the activity occurred near the 2:30 a.m. mark, which is around the time authorities said the 84-year-old Guthrie’s pacemaker device last synced with her iPhone.
The homeowners, Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas, told Fox News Digital that police had not canvassed their neighborhood in the 25 days since Guthrie is believed to have been taken from her bed in a home invasion kidnapping. The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been alerted to the video. It was not immediately clear whether the video is of any use to the investigation or whether the vehicle had ever been on Guthrie’s street.
Guthrie is the mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, a Tucson native.
Left: A still image from Ring camera video shows a vehicle passing a home near Nancy Guthrie’s on Feb. 1, the morning she is believed to have been abducted. Right: Nancy in an undated family photo. (Courtesy of Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas, Courtesy of NBC)
The Stratigouleas house is on a back road that leads out of Guthrie’s neighborhood, avoiding major intersections. And they live about 2.5 miles away from the crime scene, which is outside the 2-mile radius of neighbors who received a Ring alert asking for video taken from Jan. 1 to Feb. 2.
Their house is roughly a seven-minute drive from Guthrie’s address, according to Google Maps. One of their videos was recorded at around 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, which is roughly eight minutes after Guthrie’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone, according to the sheriff’s timeline.
WATCH: Ring video shows vehicles on outskirts of Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood morning of abduction
Danielle Stratigouleas said the number of cars passing that night was not unusual, but she and a friend found it “odd” that no one from law enforcement had visited her neighborhood.
NANCY GUTHRIE SUSPECT’S DIGITAL ‘BLACKOUT’ MAY BE KEY TO CASE, SAYS EXPERT WHO PROBED KOHBERGER PHONE
A map details the neighborhood surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s home on Camino Escalante in Tucson, Arizona, and a secondary route through the Catalina Foothills down Camino Real leading to East River Road. (Fox News)
A Ring camera image taken from video shows a vehicle driving south on Camino Real at 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, the morning Nancy Guthrie is believed to have been abducted from a home nearby in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, Arizona. (Courtesy of Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas)
The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been alerted to the video. It was not immediately clear whether it is of any use to the investigation.
Retired NYPD detective and national security expert Pat Brosnan reviewed the video with his team. He tells Fox News Digital they believe the vehicle seen at 2:36 a.m. is a Kia Soul, based on its slanted roof, window design and rear-quarter glass. He also noted the vertical brake lights.
The rewards are still outstanding, and anyone with information they think may be relevant is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The route itself had been flagged to Fox News Digital by another neighbor — who said she also saw a suspicious man walking in the area on Feb. 2, around the corner from what appeared to be an abandoned car. The young mother asked not to be named due to concerns for her children’s safety amid the unsolved kidnapping investigation.
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WATCH: Path out of Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood avoids major intersections
She described him as about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, Hispanic, with a close-trimmed beard and wearing a silver bracelet. He was smoking a cigarette near the intersection of Camino Juan Paisano and Piedra Seca, which is between Camino Real and Guthrie’s home.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department did not return multiple phone calls and emails about the man or the vehicle, a dark red Honda SUV that the neighbor said was moved after three days.
A neighbor of Nancy Guthrie’s spotted this dark red Honda near Camino Real on Feb. 2, the day after Nancy Guthrie’s suspected abduction nearby. She told Fox News Digital that it remained in place for a couple of days after deputies examined it. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
A neighbor of Nancy Guthrie’s spotted this dark red Honda near Camino Real on Feb. 2, the day after Nancy Guthrie’s suspected abduction nearby. She told Fox News Digital it remained in place for about three days before it was moved. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
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Another unidentified man was spotted in mid-January, according to neighbor Aldine Meister.
“He didn’t have your typical walking gear on, and he had his hat pulled really far over his eyes,” she told Fox News Digital.
She said she saw the man walking in the neighborhood, near an intersection leading to Guthrie’s home — and hadn’t encountered him before or after.
Deputies examine a flyer taped to Nancy Guthrie’s mailbox on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
“He was kind of younger, and he just didn’t look like he was going out for a walk,” she added.
She mentioned it to her husband but did not report it to investigators until after Guthrie’s disappearance.
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FBI agents canvass homes near Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
Danielle Stratigouleas told Fox News Digital that she did see deputies searching what locals call a wash, a common terrain feature in the region, near her office, which is on Skyline Drive, another main road that borders Guthrie’s development.
North Campbell, which was extensively searched by authorities and volunteers, connects to both main arteries. Camino Real connects only to East River Road.
“I think it sounds smart, and if they even sort of knew the area or actually cased the area beforehand, that road behind Camino Real called Camino Escuela would be an even better idea,” she told Fox News Digital. “There’s never anybody on it, and never a police car to be seen.”
Fox News Digital approached five other homes with street-facing cameras on Camino Real. Three of the homeowners said they had not been visited by law enforcement, either. No one answered the door at the other two.
None said they had any notable video from Feb. 1.
Campbell also runs past the University of Arizona and is a much busier road, she said.
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An undated photo of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie was provided by NBC in response to the disappearance of the 84-year-old. (Courtesy of NBC)
“It’s always buzzing even on a Saturday night,” she added. “Camino La Brinca and Camino Piedra Seca also lead to Camino Real, and they’re a good way to get from Camino Zorella.”
The residents said they’re hoping more people outside the radius will check their cameras and submit anything that could help the FBI.
Guthrie is believed to have been forcibly abducted from her home on North Camino Escalante, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
In more than three weeks, police have not publicly identified any suspects, persons of interest or vehicles connected to the case. They briefly detained but later released several people and have towed multiple vehicles, including those belonging to family members and the detainees.
No one has been charged with a crime as of Thursday morning, however.
Exterior view of the front entrance of Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Arizona, Tuesday, February 3, 2026. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The FBI and Google teamed up to recover doorbell camera footage even though her Nest device is physically unaccounted for, and she did not have a cloud subscription.
FBI Director Kash Patel released still images and video on Feb. 10.
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The video shows a masked individual with gloves on, prowling on her front porch.
These two images were released by the FBI, recovered from Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera. It’s unclear whether they show the same person. (FBI)
According to two sources with knowledge of the investigation, one of the doorbell images was taken on a different date than the others. It shows an individual who may be the same masked intruder at Guthrie’s doorstep, without an Ozark Trail backpack or holstered pistol.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has called the timeline surrounding the images speculation.
Savannah Guthrie is asking anyone with information in the case to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI or contact her directly.
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Southwest
Travis County DA faces renewed ‘soft on crime’ criticism after career criminal charged with murder
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A Texas-based career criminal with a lengthy rap sheet is behind bars in Travis County after he was charged with murdering a father of five outside a 7-Eleven in Austin, reviving scrutiny of Travis County District Attorney José Garza and what critics call his controversial prosecutorial record and “soft on crime” approach.
Caleb Anthony Jenkins, described by police as a career criminal, was charged with murder in connection with a shooting last year that left a 25-year-old father dead outside a 7-Eleven. According to Austin police, Jenkins allegedly shot the victim and drove off.
But critics argue the killing may have been preventable. Garza’s office previously dismissed or declined to prosecute three separate gun charges against Jenkins in incidents dating back to 2022. He was also arrested in 2023 on a domestic violence charge and failed to appear in court, as Fox News reported. Most recently, he was re-arrested and released after his bond was raised.
Taken together, the developments have intensified public criticism of Garza, the Democratic district attorney backed by liberal mega-donor George Soros,
District Attorney Jose Garza in Austin, Texas. (Spencer Selvidge for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Garza, who was elected Travis County DA without prior experience as a prosecutor, has faced criticism from police advocacy groups and victims’ families since taking office. They have accused him of deliberately slow-walking certain cases and embracing lenient sentencing policies.
The criticism has sparked national attention in years past. In 2023, the family of 25-year-old Doug Cantor, who was shot and killed in the 2021 Sixth Street mass shooting in downtown Austin, criticized Garza for slow-walking the trial of the gunman.
Family members told Fox News Digital in an interview at the time that they believed Garza had put the case on the “back burner.”
“It’s very clear that his focus and attention is not on this case,” Nick Kantor told Fox News Digital in an interview reflecting on the two-year anniversary of his brother’s death — and the way Garza, who has been widely criticized for soft-on-crime policies, has handled the case.
AUSTIN DA GARZA CREATES CONFUSION WITH ANNOUNCEMENT OF IMPENDING INDICTMENTS AGAINST MULTIPLE POLICE OFFICERS
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza poses in front of the Austin skyline in a portrait from the county website. Garza has faced criticism for accusations that he aggressively prosecutes police officers accused of wrongdoing while going easy on career criminals. (Travis County DA Website)
“He’s doing things that are clearly causing distress on the trial and on the overall outcome of the case and for getting justice for my brother,” Kantor said.
Other victims’ families cited similar behavior from Garza’s office in interviews with Fox News Digital.
While overall reported crime in Travis County has declined, opponents argue dismissal rates have been “political,” and could further endanger public safety.
It “appears that Garza has now become more of an advocate for the criminal than he has for the victim,” Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officer’s Association, previously told Fox News Digital.
“The prosecution is acting more like defense attorneys than they are prosecutors,” Farris said in an interview roughly one year after Garza took office. “Whatever his skewed view of what criminal justice reform is, it isn’t working. It sure isn’t working for the victims.”
CRIME EXPERTS RESPOND TO SOROS DEFENDING SUPPORT FOR PROGRESSIVE DAS AMID CRIME WAVE: ‘DISASTROUS’
George Soros delivers a speech at the 2022 World Economic Forum in Davos. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
“It used to be that they got the victims’ buy-in before offering plea bargains. Now it doesn’t appear he’s even doing that, because they’re not even communicating with them, and that’s what’s leading to the revictimization of these families.”
Current and former local law enforcement officers have criticized Garza’s actions and his alleged “war on cops,” after the Soros-backed district attorney campaigned on indicting police officers and “reimagining” policing in Austin.
Soros contributed $652,000 to the Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC in the months leading up to the 2020 Travis County DA election, according to campaign finance records.
That same PAC spent almost $1 million on digital and mail advertisements to help Garza’s campaign, as Fox News reported.
The Travis County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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