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ARTICLE AD BOX
(NewsNation) — Maryland Sheriff Jeff Gahler is "satisfied" Rachel Morin's killer will never see the light of day but believes he deserved the death penalty.
On Monday, Victor Martinez-Hernandez was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for raping and murdering Morin, a single mother of five, while she was jogging along a trail in Baltimore on Aug. 5, 2023.
"Personally, I believe that's too good for him," Gahler said of the sentence. "It's a shame we don't have a death penalty, because anything so horrific, that person forfeits their right to live amongst a civilized society, in my opinion."
In full, Martinez-Hernandez was sentenced to life without parole for the charge of murder, life for the charge of rape in the first degree, 10 years for the charge of third-degree sex offense and 30 years for the charge of kidnapping. The judge ordered the charges to be served consecutively.
"We are still not sure to this day how he initially decided to target her, but effort was made obviously to be on the trail at a time when she was on the trail," Gahler said. "He thought this through; he had a plan."
Martinez-Hernandez is originally from El Salvador and was in the United States illegally. He was arrested in June 2024 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after a search that lasted nearly a year.
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