Cops release video of Rachel Morin’s suspected killer, 2 weeks after Maryland mom of 5 was murdered on hiking trail
Maryland police have video and DNA evidence on, but have not yet identified, the man they believe murdered Rachel Morin — whose body was found naked and severely beaten after she went missing during a run on a trail near her home.
Authorities said a DNA sample analyzed by Maryland State Police matched DNA found at the scene of a home invasion and assault of a young girl in Los Angeles in March, Col. William Davis of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office told reporters at a press conference Thursday.
“Unfortunately that suspect has not been identified, but he did leave behind his DNA,” Davis said.
“Based on the DNA evidence, we consider the individual in the video we obtained from the Los Angeles Police Department … to be the person that murdered Rachel Morin.”
Police released video of the shirtless suspect, described as a Hispanic man about 5 feet 9 and 160 pounds, as he closes the front door and walks down the steps of the Los Angeles home he’s suspected of robbing.
Davis claimed that at this point in the investigation, police believe the suspect acted alone and did not know Morin.
The murder appears to be “a random act of violence,” he said.
Davis said police “don’t have any clue” where the suspected killer could be.
Morin, 37, vanished on Aug. 5 after going for a run on a popular trail near her home in Bel Air, Md.
Police discovered the mother of five’s body in the park the following day, and immediately ruled it a homicide.
A man who claimed his stepdaughter found the body said it was naked, appeared to have been severely beaten over the head with a heavy object, and had been dragged naked into a culvert. Police have not confirmed that account.
Just four days before Morin was murdered, she and 27-year-old Richard Tobin had gone Facebook official with their new relationship in a post on the platform.
Shortly after Morin was reported missing, Tobin sprang to his own defense, declaring in a comment on the relationship status post that he was innocent.
“I love Rachel, I would never do anything to her, let the family and I grieve. Yes, I have a past but I also have 15 months clean and have changed as a person. Please,” he wrote.
Tobin was alluding to a lengthy history with law enforcement — which included two arrests for criminal second-degree assault, violating restraining orders, malicious destruction of property, and drug possession, court records showed.
Police confirmed Tobin was the first person to report Morin missing, and he has not been labeled a person of interest in the case.
“I hope they found this scum of the earth,” Tobin posted on Facebook when police announced they were identifying a suspect. “Justice for Rachel Rip love you rach.”
Despite her recent relationship status, sources close to a tanning salon Morin frequented told The Post she often talked about being on “multiple dating sites” just prior to her death.
Morin ran her own cleaning service, and friends and relatives recalled her as a hardworking mother, devoted friend, and a fitness fanatic.
“She loved her kids, she was a hard worker,” Matthew McMahon, the father of Morin’s oldest, told The Post. “She was a hardworking single mom that was really into fitness.”
Morin had her kids, ranging from 8 to 18 years old, with three different fathers.
“She was very warm and above all she loved her children,” one of Morin’s clients, 69-year-old Margaret Woltz, told The Post.
“She raised them very well. She had a flexible work schedule that allowed her to make sure her kids were always taken care of.”
