Graphic photos shown amid state testimony in Rachel Morin murder trial

    BEL AIR, Maryland (WBAL) -- Jurors and courtroom observers saw graphic evidence Monday in the Rachel Morin murder trial.

Morin, 37, a mother of five, went for a jog on the popular Ma and Pa Trail in August 2023 and never returned. Authorities found her body on Aug. 6, 2023, along the trail.

A jury was seated Wednesday in the trial against Victor Martinez-Hernandez, who was arrested in June 2024 after a nationwide manhunt. He has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, rape and murder charges connected with Morin's killing.

Morin's loved ones have been in the gallery in large numbers for every day of the trial to date. During Monday's court proceedings, some of her friends told 11 News they chose to sit out large sections of testimony because they did not want to see disturbing photos of the victim, her injuries or the crime scene.

The images — some quite gruesome — shown on a pair of big TV screens in the second-floor courtroom during testimony from state witnesses.

Both the state and the defense agreed the photos should be shielded from public view. The judge is making a decision on the matter.

State witnesses included a volunteer searcher who said she and a friend followed a path of bloody rocks and leaves upon discovering Morin's body in a storm tunnel near the trail.

Jurors also heard the volunteer's frantic call to 911, alerting authorities to the scene. There was also testimony from sheriff's detectives who secured the scene and collected evidence that included hair, blood, feces and DNA swabs collected from the victim's body and the walls of the tunnel.

Randolph Rice, an attorney representing Morin's mother, Patty Morin, said seeing the evidence provides some closure, of sorts, for the relatives.

"I just noticed they were crying a little bit, and they certainly, some of them, it's tough for them. Some of them, they can't look at (the evidence). The others want to see because they want to get through this part of the grieving process of seeing how bad it was, and now they have some, I guess, security or knowing in their mind exactly what happened so they can move past it," Rice said.

The state on Monday called five witnesses, who delivered graphic and powerful testimony that the defense tried to chip away at during cross-examination. The defense failed in an attempt to paint DNA evidence as improperly collected.

Testimony continues Tuesday morning.