HARFORD COUNTY, M.d. — The trial in the Rachel Morin case is nearing the end.
After two days of jury selection and six days prosecutors spent building their case the jury is expected to begin their deliberations Monday, deciding defendant Victor Martinez-Hernandez's fate.
The state called 32 witnesses, including Morin's daughters, boyfriend, several law enforcement from Harford County and the Tulsa Police Department.
VIDEO: Jury deliberations for Rachel Morin's murder anticipated to begin Monday
Former roommates, co-workers and family of Martinez-Hernandez also testified against him.
Hundreds of pieces of evidence were introduced, including cellphone records, graphic crime scene and autopsy photos and DNA swabs.
The state is seeking life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 24-year-old from El Salvador who is accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering the Harford County mother of five near the Ma and Pa heritage trail in August 2023.
Martinez-Hernandez has pleaded not guilty.
It will be up to a mostly-white jury of 10 men and two women if he will or won't be eligible for parole. A judge will decide his sentence at a later date.
Attorneys introduced the most crucial piece of evidence in the case on Friday: that Martinez-Hernandez' DNA profile matched the DNA found on Morin's neck, wrist, chest and apple watch.
Closing arguments are also expected Monday but before then the defense has an opportunity to call witnesses including their client but that's unlikely.
The jury did, however, hear in his own words his theory that his DNA was planted at the crime scene.
"Now suppose I did bad to that person, that person could come back could take like a piece of hair or something, or skin or sweat and put it in another part and then they could say it's me," he said through an interpreter during an interrogation video played for the jury.
Throughout the last week, testimony from the defendant's former coworkers place Martinez-Hernandez in Bel Air around the time of the murder despite him telling police he had never been to or lived in Maryland.
Morin sustained significant injuries, between 15 and 20 head wounds. The largest a six by six inch wound.
Medical Examiner Dr. Zabiullah Ali testified that she died by strangulation and blunt force injuries.
In order to convict, the jury's decision will have to be a unanimous one.
Presiding Judge Yolanda Curtain has warned they will be kept late on Monday if they can't come to a consensus.
