Maryland, El Salvador Murder Suspect Arrested In Tulsa

Tulsa Police and the FBI arrest a Maryland murder suspect in Tulsa, who is in the country illegally.

They found Victor Hernandez at a Tulsa bar. He was wanted for an international crime spree where he's accused of murdering a woman in El Salvador, then fleeing to the United States and brutally attacking a woman and her daughter in Los Angeles, then murdering a mother of five in Maryland.

Related: Man Accused Of Murders In Maryland, El Salvador Arrested By Authorities In Tulsa

Hernandez had been on the run for more than a year until the FBI tracked him to Tulsa. They got help from the Tulsa Police Special Investigations Division and together they found Hernandez at a bar near 21st and Garnett, just casually having a drink.

“I didn't think we were ever going to have an end, and it was going to be a cold case. I would like to applaud them,” said Patty Morin, the victim’s mother, after she learned Hernandez had been arrested in Tulsa last Friday night.

Patty’s daughter Rachel, was murdered in August of 2023, while Rachel was walking ON a trail in Harford County, Maryland. Witnesses saw a man matching Hernandez' description, hiding in the woods days earlier.

The sheriff's department there connected the case to Hernandez when DNA at that scene, matched DNA from a home invasion and assault in Los Angeles.

"1,800 miles from the southern border and this is the second woman in our county to be killed by an illegal alien,” Sheriff Jeff Gahler with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office said.

Investigators say Hernandez murdered a woman in his home country of El Salvador in January 2023, then fled to the U.S. where they say he brutally attacked a woman and her nine-year-old daughter.

They say Hernandez then made it across the country to Maryland where they say he murdered Rachel Morin. The FBI tracked Hernandez to Tulsa this month and called Tulsa Police.

"They were able to pin him down, and think they know where he's at, however they do it and contact some of our patrol guys who were able to go into a bar somewhere around 21st and Garnett. Sure enough there he was. He was sitting at the bar, just causally having a drink like nothing ever happened,” Officer Danny Bean with Tulsa Police said,

Police say Hernandez initially denied who he was but they got him into custody, quickly.

"It kind of shows how cocky he was thinking he was just going to travel around and not get caught,” said Bean.

"Rachel's murderer is no longer a free man. Hopefully, he will never have the opportunity to walk free again,” Sheriff Gahler said.

Hernandez is now in the Tulsa County jail and will be extradited to Maryland.

Investigators haven't said if Hernandez has any ties to Tulsa or said why he was here.