HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — The state called five witnesses to the stand on Wednesday in the Rachel Morin case including the case's lead detective, a digital forensic expert and an eyewitness believed to be one of the last people to have seen the mother of five alive.
Prosecutors also introduced new evidence key to the case: a shovel found in the woods near the Ma and Pa Heritage trail a week after the murder.
"This is the first time we're even hearing about this shovel with this orange cap on it, so this is new evidence to the family and new to everybody else," Morin family attorney Randolph Rice said.
The shovel matches the description of what eyewitness Kyle Stacy says he saw a strange man in the woods holding, just moments before passing Morin heading out on the trail for the last time the evening of August 5, 2023.
It was a brief interaction, but enough to unsettle Stacy so much he and his girlfriend were quick to leave. Stacy testified he heard a branch snap and made eye contact with the man for a couple of seconds, saying it seemed like he had caught him doing something wrong.
The man was wearing a sweatshirt with the hoodie on and sunglasses, in the August heat around 7 p.m.
Defense attorneys were quick to point out that Stacy told detectives the man was big, bulky and had a blonde beard, which does not match the description of defendant Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a shorter man with a black beard.
TRIAL DAY 6 🧵 Rachel Morin case
— Blair Sabol TV (@BlairSabolTV) April 10, 2025
Better late than never! Was on more of a time crunch than usual but here's what happened today in court:
First thing- Judge dismisses juror #46 after speaking w/ several other jurors. Unknown why. 4/6 alternates remain.
Rice says it's still valuable to the case.
“It certainly establishes that he was premeditated, that he was waiting for Rachel to come along the path if he was waiting with his shovel and what we may expect to hear is that there was DNA on that shovel," Rice said.
Later in the day, prosecutors turned back to the investigation that unfolded in the days and months after Morin's death. Lead detective Phillip Golden said the Harford County Sheriff's Office received around 1,000 tips but everything came up empty on leads. Interviews with family and DNA swabs taken of people they learned of through the investigation led nowhere.
It wasn't until the DNA at the crime scene matched to a case out of a California that investigators had a lead for an unknown Hispanic male.
TRIAL DAY 6: Last eyewitness to see Rachel Morin alive testifies, new evidence introduced
Morin's shattered phone and electronics also continue to be central to the case. On Wednesday afternoon, digital forensic expert Megan Waltimyer explained how she recovered data from the phone discovered in shallow water in the same tunnel where the body was found, which helped to narrow down the time frame of the crime to just after 7 p.m. She also worked on Morin's apple watch and air pod.
Waltimyer testified that she was unsuccessful in unlocking the defendant's phone, after his arrest.
Prosecutors will certainly return to this because at some point investigators discovered items related to the case on his phone.
Early in the day, a main juror was excused for unknown reasons after the judge spoke to six other jurors.
Four alternates remain and the trial anticipated to last another week.
