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February 14, 2024 48 mins

A sketch of a possible suspect in the brutal Maryland murder of Rachel Morin has now been released.

DNA collected at the scene linked the suspect to another assault across the country in Los Angeles.  A doorbell camera captures the suspect as the left the California home, but it didn't show the suspect's face.  Working with a sketch artist,  investigators interviewed the witnesses of the home invasion in Los Angeles, as well as witnesses in Maryland, especially around the Ma and Pa trail. 

Some new information has been released about where Rachel Morin's body was found and where investigators believe her killer was hiding. Captain Andy Lane says there are drainage culverts along the trail, but most people wouldn't notice them because they are hidden by shrubbery and trees in the summertime. Standing at the scene, there is a bend in the trail near the hidden culverts.

Investigators believe the killer attacked Morin in the bend on the trail, then drug her body through the weeds, trees, and undergrowth to the culverts. That is where Rachel Morin was murdered.

Joining Nancy Grace Today:

  • Matthew McMahon -  Father of Rachel Morin’s oldest child    
  • Jessica Garth – Chief, Special Victims & Family Violence Unit, State’s Attorney’s Office, Prince George’s County, MD
  • Caryn L. Stark – Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych/FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
  • Tim Pappa  - Former FBI BAU Profiler and Supervisory Special Agent, Founder and Behavioral Content Creator for “Storytellers;" X: @storytellerscc (walked the trail and examined Rachel Morin’s crime scene)
  • Dr. Michelle Dupre – Forensic Pathologist and former Medical Examiner, Author: “Homicide Investigation Field Guide” & “Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide”, Ret. Police Detective Lexington County Sheriff’s Department
  • Michael Streed - Forensic Facial Imaging Expert, Former Law Enforcement; X: @thesketchcop/ FB & IG: @TheSketchCopOfficial 
  • Vincent Hill – Anchor/Reporter for FOX 45 in Baltimore, Former Police Officer and Private Investigator; Author: “Playbook to A Murder;” X & IG: @VincentHillTV

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grease, a gorgeous young mom and
I mean absolutely stunning. Of course, one victim is no
more or less important than another victim. But the fact

(00:28):
that Rachel Mourn's killer specifically destroyed her face, I find
highly probative. As we say in the courtroom, he destroyed
her beauty. Why why, in the last hours, bombshell in

(00:52):
the search for this beautiful young mother's killer, we now
have composite sketch of her attacker. How did they do it?
With us the composite sketch artist who created it. Not
only that, we are now learning so many more details

(01:18):
that law enforcement Lee admits they had kept secret. I
Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories. Thank you for being
with us here at Crime Stories and on Serious XM
one eleven. First of all, one of the facts that
have been kept secret till now is the location where

(01:38):
Rachel Morin was killed and where her body was dragged.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Listen off to the along the side of this trail,
there are two large drainage culverts that run under a
local highway. Those drainage culverts are hidden during the summertime
by trees and shrubbery, and aren't something that that most
people would see. I myself would been down that trail
many times and I wasn't aware that those culverts were there.

(02:05):
In this instance, we could see from the scene that
Rachel was ultimately attacked on the trail. That area of
the trail, there was a bend in the trail that
most likely was used by the individual who committed this crime,
who attacked Rachel on the trail, pulled her through the
wooded area into the into this drainage culvert where she

(02:27):
ultimately lost her life.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
You are hearing Captain Andy Lane, commander of criminal investigations
in that division. But there's more about what we now
realize is a secret location. Up until now, we didn't
realize it even existed. Take close to the Sheriff Jeff Gallar.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
There's a little bit of information we've held close to
the chest that we haven't released as far as what
the actual location of the homicide was. Looking back at
everything that we've done, we've been, you know, a little
leary releasing too many details. So this is something new.
A lot of people ask me routinely, is that where

(03:07):
is that where this homicide occurred? And the hiking trail
that goes underneath of twenty four. These drainage tunnels are
north of that a short distance, but as you said
in the summer particularly, you can't really make them out.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
What can we deduce from what we are just now
learning from law enforcement in the search for the brutal
killer of this young mom Rachel morin with me an
all star panel, including Matt McMahon, who is Rachel mourns
the father of her oldest child, her daughter. But first

(03:45):
I want to go straight out to Tim Papa, who
has walked the trail. Former FBI profiler, supervisory special Agent
and founder of story Tellers. Tim Papa, thank you for
being with us. Explain to me the significance of the
two facts we've just le our. Number one that Rachel

(04:10):
was attacked just around a bend. What does that mean
to me? That means to me that if you're here
on the trail looking forward, she's walking that way, she
can't see her attacker waiting just around the curve. And
also people following her will not see her getting attacked

(04:30):
and dragged down into this culvert area, an area where
you don't even see it during the spring and summertimes.
Tell me about it.

Speaker 4 (04:40):
These details are definitely importantly, they are pieces to the
puzzle and a good way to approach this as a
former profile of the way we would approach this, of course,
is starting with victimology, that relationship between the offender and
the victim. So even if we don't know who this
offender is, we can approach it from this vantage point

(05:02):
that any kind of action is going to involve some
element of hell.

Speaker 5 (05:06):
Of vulnerable was the victim, how available was the victim,
and how desirable was the victim. So we don't know,
of course it's the defender stalked her, but it's very
possible if he was in that kind of location.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Okay, hold on, I'm trying to determine the significance of
this particular location on the trail and again, and I'm
sure that Jessica Garth, a veteran trinal lawyer, is going
to agree with me. You want to win a case,
you go to the scene and you walk it and
you find out about it. This is telling me that

(05:39):
this perp was either watching her or knew the trail,
had staked it out before, and had selected a prime
location specifically to attack women. So what does it all mean?
Listen to Captain Andy Lane this.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Person obviously took the time to be familiar with the
area because he was familiar with the culrids we spoke of,
and he was also most likely or potentially familiar with Rachel,
who had a time of day she liked to run.
And this individual took an opportunity when Rachel, unfortunately from
the witnesses we spoke to, was briefly out of view
of anyone else for a short period of time.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Okay, joining me an all star panel to make sense
of what we know right now, But I want to
go to a person very close and very dear to
Rachel Woren. This is the father of her eldest daughter,
Matt McMahon. Matthew, thank you for being with us. And
as you know, when I first saw this story, of course,

(06:41):
I was captivated by her beauty, by her story, by
the fact that she's a devoted mom. But I'm really
focused on justice for her children so they don't grow
up thinking what happened to mommy? Nobody ever found out.
They're just children. Do it. We've got to do it

(07:01):
for them. Matt. Let me ask you this, Matt, what
can you tell me about this trail? Have you seen
the trail?

Speaker 6 (07:10):
Oh oh, yeah, I've been on this trail going going
back decades. Rachel and I used to take our daughter
on walks and bike rides down this trail when she
was an infant and a toddler.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Toddler, Hey, right there, you're telling me something I didn't
already know. I think long and hard before I take
the twins anywhere, and if it's camping or on a trail,
I know that it's safe as safe as it can
be before I take them there. So this is the
kind of trail I mean, it's named the Ma and
Pad Trail that you think would be safe families go there.

Speaker 6 (07:45):
Yes, absolutely it was a safe trail, and hopefully it'll
be considered a safe trail sometime in the future. There
are spots in the trail where it feels like you're
in the middle of nowhere, but there is really no
time where you're really too far from homes or businesses.
But in speaking to that one turn, it absolutely was,

(08:05):
in my opinion, a place that was pre selected by
the suspect to attack somebody. There's no doubt in my mind.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
You know another thing, and this reminds me, wait for it,
of Brian Coburger. I flew to Idaho with the freezing
cold and walked the area over and over and over
to try to understand what happened. And I figured out,
along with others who think the same thing, how Coburger

(08:35):
watched above the tree line. Now, that house was on
a slope, so you could be standing above it at
a parking lot and look thirty feet into their third
floor window through the trees. So easy to see straight.
I mean I could look in and tell what kind

(08:56):
of dish washing liquid was on a kitchen windowsill. That's
how well you could see in. Now, listen to what
we think Rachel Mooren's killer did. Listen to Captain Andy Lane.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
And interviewing witnesses and speaking to people on the trail
at that time, it would appear that there was an
individual who was standing within the woodline in an area
that's slightly elevated immediately around the time of this assault.
And I would agree with you, sir, that I don't
know that Rachel was specifically targeted, but I do believe

(09:30):
that that area was chosen as an area that they
wanted to assault someone.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
To Jessica Garth, chief of the Special Victims Family Violence Unit,
in this Jurisdiction of Maryland. Jessica, thank you for being
with us. I've investigated, prosecuted, and covered a lot of cases.
But there's a whole nother element of intent, malice for

(09:56):
lack of a better word. All these street vernacular creepiness,
with a purp that stands in the dark, in the
shadows like I think Brian Coburger did, and watches his
prey in the light. There's something. I'm not a shrink,
of course, but I've noticed in all the cases. It's

(10:18):
certainly not a statistic, it's more anecdotal. I've noticed another
layer of complexity in that purp, and that's what we've
got here. And when I get to the La attack
that he absolutely attacked a whole family in the dark
of the night, it's a whole nother layer because we

(10:38):
know in that case he was watching that house too
before he broke in. So what do you make of this,
Jessica Garth, You've prosecuted a lot of violent crimes.

Speaker 7 (10:47):
Well, I agree with Nancy. I mean, without a doubt,
this man is extremely dangerous and he's extremely brave. And
Eve talking about the La case where he broke into
a home where there were multiple people in the home
and attacks adults, attacked a child. It sounds like broke
into the home, not coming into the front door, but
by some other means the police haven't released. You know,
that's one of the most terrifying things that can happen

(11:09):
to a family. And I think that you're right. I
think he probably did watch that home. I think he
probably knew exactly how he was going to get in
and what he was going.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
To do, which I could get my hands around his neck, Jessica,
just imagining him at the end of that trail, watching
and I don't know if he had been talking her specifically,
but watching for either her or a woman to come
around that band, just waiting, just waiting for the right moment.

Speaker 7 (11:37):
I think it is likely that he had seen her
there before. It sounds like that she had a pretty
regular routine of running that trail around the same time,
and maybe he didn't know it was going to be
her on that day, but I'm almost certain that he
had seen her there before. And it certainly is creepy.
It's the level of premeditation that we don't often see
in cases, even cases is violent in this at this
one point.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Time, stories with Nancy Grace two. Matt McMahon, This is
a person so dear and near to Rachel. He is
the father of her eldest child, a daughter who is
now left to go through her remaining teen years without

(12:32):
a mom. And I gotta tell you, Matt McMahon, I've
got two teenagers. Yeah, I don't have to change their
diapers anymore. I don't have to spoon feed them or
give them a baby bottle. But the teen years so far,
in my mind, are the times they need mom and
dad the most. I really really believe that. And I

(12:55):
am just sick that Rachel is not going to be
the How many children does Rachel have, Matt?

Speaker 6 (13:03):
She has five children that are now aged eight to eighteen.
At the time of the killing, it was seven to eighteen.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
I mean, Karen Stark, my longtime friend and college it
just happens to be a renowned TV radio trauma expert. Karen.
I mean, you've been with me since I was pregnant,
and you know, the teens need mom and dad now
more than ever. She got five children, Karen Stark, and

(13:30):
I think about this poc hiding around the band waiting
for her to innocently walk along and then attack her,
rape her, kill her, smash her face in with a rut.
Who and the hell is this guy?

Speaker 8 (13:51):
Think of that at Nancy.

Speaker 9 (13:52):
The image that you're describing as of a hunter, right
pray and whether he was waiting there for her or
another woman, he was waiting to hunt. He wanted to hunt,
he wanted to kill, and this person was an animal
to him. And there's tremendous anger the fact that he

(14:13):
would smash her face. He didn't want to be able
to look into that face.

Speaker 6 (14:19):
Again.

Speaker 9 (14:20):
This is somebody who maybe feels that beautiful women don't
want him or he can't have them. He has terrible
feelings of inadequacy, and he actually was out there hunting,
even with the people in the home.

Speaker 8 (14:36):
He really thrust it out.

Speaker 7 (14:38):
And decided what he was going to do.

Speaker 9 (14:41):
And they were all animals, not.

Speaker 6 (14:43):
Humans to him.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
You know, Karen Stark, You know, I typically don't care
why does what he does, but I do care in
this case because everything that you just said gives me
a window into his identity. And when we get a
hold of this guy, Jessica Garth, is there a death
penalty in Maryland?

Speaker 7 (15:04):
No, there's not.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
So basically you can just kill as many people as
you want to, and then I got to give you
three hots and a cop for the rest of your life, right, Okay? Hey,
oh darn no, I don't know that he killed anyone
in any other jurisdiction. The attacks in California do not
rise to the death penalty because the victims lived. But
hold on, I'm putting the cart before the horse here.
We're talking about was she specifically stalked? And I want

(15:30):
you to listen to Sheriff Jeff Gawler, Harford County Sheriff.

Speaker 3 (15:35):
My gut tells me she was stalked. Do we catch
this person? I also have been putting out there. You
know the fact that it could have just been a
crime of opportunity. He could have laid it weight on
that trail for Rachel or whichever female decided to come
down that trail at a time when there were no

(15:56):
other people in site, you know, more or less a
crime of opportunity. We don't have information, We developed no
information to say she was specifically targeted.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
So his gut is and I respect this guy, he's
veteranality law enforcement. He says he thinks Rachel Moran was
stalked I don't know that I agree with that, but see,
he knows facts we don't know, so he may very
well be right. But it sounds to me like this
is a guy much like the Purp and the Silvercomet

(16:24):
hiking trail. Remember that Jackie where the victim, Jennifer was
biking and he was at the tree line, watching and
waiting for a woman, any woman, to come along. So
the reason this matters, wouldn't you agree, Tim Pappa, former FBI.

(16:46):
The reason that matters was she stalked or was this
a random attack on any woman? That won't buy because
if she was stalked, then maybe we can place him
at other locations, maybe her yoga studio, her aerobic studio,
maybe where she ate lunch. I don't know, but that
is a window into solving this case if she was

(17:10):
specifically stalked. Yes, no, Tim Pappa, No.

Speaker 6 (17:13):
It's definitely a window.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
I think the significance too, of what happened in La
is more than likely he learned from that experience that
that was probably too risky, it was too breathing, and
perhaps being in the woods where people can't see him
and he can get familiar with the area, that that
was probably a higher chance of success for him to
take advantage of someone. So I think that speaks to

(17:37):
a functionality of say a killer and their behaviors, their
learning behaviors.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
They've got law enforcement stating that they believe she was stalked.
Now we know the LA crime, we know that house
had to be staked out, so that's his mo. He
steaks out the victim, he stakes out the lowcation, and
then he acts. I'm going to circle back to whether

(18:04):
she was being stalked and the new information about the
LA attack that this guy performed. It was very violent
and we're finding out that he attacked a whole family,
assaulting two of the people in the middle of the night.
A lot of people have been wondering, Look, we only

(18:24):
have ring doorbell of him leaving the LA crime scene.
What about coming in, because then I can see his
face on camera. We now know he broke in another way.
He didn't come in through the front door, so we
don't have his face. I've been questioning that over and
over and over. Now I know some of the answers,

(18:44):
but I don't want to bury the lead with us today.
The sketch artist that created this incredible composite, but first
to Vincent Hill, anchor reporter Fox forty five in Baltimore.
This jurisdiction of Maryland and interesting. Former police officer and
private investigator, so he sees reporting in a completely different way.

(19:08):
He's also author of Playbook to a Murderer. Joining us
from Fox forty five Baltimore, Vincent Hill, this, before I
get into the composite, just bring me up to date.
There has been so many revelations in the last hours
in the hunt for Rachel Morn's killer. And this is
as our family, your five children standing by wondering what

(19:30):
happened to mommy? I want to give them that answer.

Speaker 10 (19:32):
Vincent Hill and Nancy well Of relations have certainly been huge.
But I will go back to what Sheriff Gaylor said.
I do believe Rachel may have been stalked.

Speaker 6 (19:42):
And here's why.

Speaker 10 (19:43):
You have a trail that not a lot of people
know about it. I didn't know about it until I
heard about Rachel. You have this curve in the trail
that again, if you are not familiar with it, you're
not going.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
To know about Have you seen it, Vincent.

Speaker 10 (19:56):
Yes, I've seen it.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
Is it the way that Matt McMahon describes it absolutely,
and explain to me about those culverts, how she was
dragged down into this niche area that most people wouldn't
know about. People could have actually walked by Vincent Hill
as she was being raped or killed and not even
know what was happening and.

Speaker 10 (20:17):
Not know exactly exactly, Nancy, because I didn't know about
these culverts. And again, it was eighty two degrees that day,
the sunset.

Speaker 11 (20:24):
Was at eight to fourteen that night.

Speaker 10 (20:27):
This person had a very very small window to grab
Rachel and do what he did.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
Why do you say that because of other people coming
along the trail.

Speaker 10 (20:35):
Potentially other people along the trail. It's eighty two degrees, Nancy,
everybody was out hiking.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
You know what, You're kind of awesome. You know the time,
you know the location, you even know the temp. That's
great because it matters. It matters as to how many
people will be on that trail. If it's you know,
thirty six degrees outside, nobody's going to be on the trail.
But you're right, it's in the eighties, Okay, go ahead, exactly.

Speaker 10 (20:59):
And again, how did this guy know the details of
that trail unless he had been to that trail before.
You're talking about a guy that came from Los Angeles, California,
to wherever in between to end up in bel Air, Maryland,
of all places, nobody thinks of bel Air. When you
think of Maryland, you think of Baltimore, you think of Annapolis.

(21:19):
This guy was doing his homework.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
Well, don't you think he had to know somebody there?
Why would you go to many a little known area
unless you had a contact there, unless.

Speaker 10 (21:31):
You live in the area, your family lives in the area,
someone that this guy knows lives close, or he may
live closer. He may have worked in that area.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
Why are you telling me that? Because there's a thirty
five thousand dollars rewarding, nobody's giving him up.

Speaker 10 (21:45):
Yeah, Dancy, they may not even know, Unfortunately, that it
could be something as simple as, Oh, he did construction
in the area, so he's familiar with it. He spent
a few months working in the area. Oh he went
to the trail. Oh he's seen Rachel there before. Oh
he knows. Oh, this is an easy spot to grab
a victim. It can be something that easy, Nancy. And unfortunately,

(22:07):
there may be someone out there that may know something
and not even realize that they know it.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Vincent Hill, you are so right, and that leads me
perfectly to this a composite You know how happy I
am right now. So far, all we have seen is
this killer's back of the head and a slight part
of the side of his face as he leaves the

(22:33):
LA crime scene. He's been linked to that by DNA,
which I'm going to get into in a moment. This
took a great composite sketch artist and joining me is
Michael Streed st r Eed. Look him up. He's at
SketchCop dot com. Now, we do not want to jeopardize

(22:57):
the investigation. What that means is if and when, god
willing Michael Streed is put up on the stand on
direct examination to describe how he made this sketch, he's
going to be cross examined. We don't want to impinge

(23:18):
upon that cross examination at all. Michael Streed. Let me
just say this is an incredible composite sketch. I've used
composite sketches many many times at trial, including the recreation
of the deceased face when the face was unidentifiable, and

(23:40):
it helped me win a case against a serial killer
because the victim that I had the best evidence on
Michael Streed. Once my sketch artist sketched her face as
it would have been in life, I realized I showed
it to the jury in closing arguments. She looked almost

(24:03):
identical to his former girlfriend that kicked him out, the
mother of his child, and he hated her for that,
so he sought out this woman who looked almost identical
to her as strangled her dead. Think about it. I
put the two of those sketches up in front of
the jury and there was dead quiet and because of you, Streed.

(24:25):
You remember, did you hear what Vincent Hill just said?
He said, people may not even realize that they know
the guy because we have never seen his face. And
guess what now we can now tell me what you can.
I can already deduce Michael Streed that you got a

(24:46):
lot of this compositive sketch from the side angle of
the purpse face that we see in the ring camera.
In the La brutal assault, he attacked two people I
think are females, I guess sexually had to get that
DNA from somewhere. It wakes up the whole house. A

(25:08):
little child wanders in. It's like, what's happening. The whole
house wakes up and they get him out. That's what
I know right now. That could change, But you've got
that side view of his face in that ring camera.
But let me ask you this. Did you speak to
any of the LA victims?

Speaker 11 (25:27):
Yeah, I spoke to witnesses that were provided And although
I can't reveal the where they were from in terms
of Maryland or LA.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
I would be mad if you did. So, you spoke
to witnesses that can help you feel in the composite.
Is that correct?

Speaker 11 (25:43):
I did? I did. I spoke to multiple witnesses, and
of course, you know the Sheriff's Department and their podcast
recently talked about myself using the part of the ring
video footage to help assemble DI sketch as well.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
You know what I see you did? This would be
on his left upper lip. You know how there's the
heart shape of the lip in most people, not everybody,
but I notice it goes up on the left side
of his lip. It's a little higher than the one
on the right. You had to get that from somewhere.
That d just fall on your head. His ears are

(26:21):
positioned a little bit higher on his head. I can
see it more in the sketch without the hat. You're
showing me the hat. Did that? Let me look at
that ring video, Jackie. Did the hat come from the
LA scene? Oh? Wait, yeah, they found the hat at
the scene. That's how we got the DNA. Wow. Okay.

(26:41):
So you have him sketched with his night red Nike
hat and without and I see the haircut Michael Street,
and it is amazing the way you have extrapolated the
haircut from that ring video. It's amazing. I'm just looking

(27:02):
at your details. He as a very distinct nose shape
of his nose. So you don't have to tell me.
I understand. You say a witness. It had to be
a witness that saw the guy. So how do you
go about doing something like this? To me? This is
a ving goh my friend.

Speaker 11 (27:21):
Well, you know, the thing is, Nancy, it's not always
about the art. I mean, it helps if you have
strong drawing skills. That way, you're not going to wind
up on evening News as drawing one of the ten
worst composites.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
Oh my goodness. Do you hear what they say about
the Federal court sketch artists. They never look anything like
the people ever, you don't want that on the six Squat.

Speaker 11 (27:40):
News and this and this is what's so great about
you know, composites and so great about what I do
is because it's more of I think you're better artists
out there have really great communication skills because you're dealing
with people who have been traumatized, and you deal with
sometimes people that don't realize what they've seen and who
they've seen. So you're using two different methods to coax

(28:03):
information out of people. You know, people that don't want
to remember and people that can't remember because they don't
realize what they've seen. So, you know, you try to
go in with some sort of plan depending upon the
eyewitness and the victim that you're talking to in terms
of like an interview strategy, and at times that's going
to change, and you have to be able to be

(28:24):
flexible enough to change your communication style. You know, the
words you use, you know, street phrases, depending upon who
comes in. I've talked to, you know, in the Samantha
Runyon case back in two thousand and two, my eyewitness
of that kidnapping was a five year old girl.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
Wow, hold on, Samantha run In was a three year
old little girl who was playing in her grandmother's front yard.
Grandma at the kitchen sink. The prop comes up in
the front yard and takes Samantha takes off with her.
I believe they even went through like a McDonald's dry
before he raped and murdered her mother and Runyon, he

(29:01):
instead of letting it ruin her life as it easily
could have, went on to become an amazing victims' rights advocate.
So Samantha Runyon was playing with little friends in the
front yard. That was your witness. That's amazing.

Speaker 11 (29:19):
So I went in in that case, whereas in this
case they've got DNA, they were able to link to
the la case and CODIS. In Samantha's case, there was
no DNA, nothing left at the crime scene. In that case,
the sketch led to the identity of the killer, in
which case there was a collected DNA from him, and
then match it to the DNA found at the crime scene.

(29:41):
So this is different the fact that they've got the
DNA but they don't he's the person's not in CODIS
at this point. There's no way to identify him at
this point. So they got the DNA, So now it's
time for the sketch to go to work.

Speaker 1 (29:53):
How do you do a sketch? Just tell me how
do you? Just you sketch a little bit like the
person says, okay, he had dark hair and his ears
were up high. So you start and then they say no,
they weren't that high. And then what do you do?
Do you do? You start it and show it to
them and then they go no, no, no no or yeah

(30:14):
yea yeah yeah. How do how do what's the process?

Speaker 11 (30:17):
This whole process starts with trying to build rapport quickly,
try to build a relationship with them quickly, get them
to relax and trust you. When we start talking and
I take them through the crime and I get them
to focus.

Speaker 1 (30:30):
On the face so they tell you about the actual crime.

Speaker 11 (30:34):
Yes, I like to talk to them about the crime
minus the gory details, especially in sexual assault cases, so
I can get some context in terms of how long
they saw the person, what angle of observation, what the
lighting was like, all things that can influence the final
sketch in terms of how it shapes their memory. You know,
for example, you know, parking lot lights, depending upon the

(30:57):
bulb that's in there, will oftentimes affect the color of
a suspect vehicle. It may not always be correct. A
person who's you know, laying down and looking up at
the suspect the foreshortening the face may cause the forehead
to look higher, in the chin to look lower. So
all these things are important in terms of how I
developed the sketch. And then after they've described the face,

(31:18):
then we go through and look at some reference pictures,
pictures of previously arrested people having nothing to do with
the case, and they pick out the most similar looking
facial features and from that we assemble the sketch and
go through their finding process. And all that time we're talking.
We're talking about what they saw, we're talking about their children,
we're talking about their careers, their life, and you know,

(31:39):
things that just kind of keep them relaxed, you know,
so they don't so they can keep that mind open
and keep that information flowing. And right up until the end,
you know, it takes maybe a couple hours, you know,
door to door, and we come up with something that
we hope that they're happy with.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
And at the end, do you say it's just him?
And you asked them, is the nose ride or the
eyes ride or the eyebrows right, there's a chin right,
because I noticed he's got a square chin. That's significant.

Speaker 11 (32:09):
I asked them if they believe that this sketch that
we worked hard, that they provide information for, is a
sketch that they believe will be helpful to detectives in
their investigation, because I don't want to put I want
to I want to get some honest feeds back from them,
and we work until they're happy. Because besides being a
piece of evidence, it's also a psychological first aid tool

(32:33):
for eyewitness and victims are traumatized. They feel like they're
doing something affirmative to help the case. They're not sitting
on the sidelines, you know, they're they're they're they're helping
work on the case. And you know you talk about
people looking at this sketch and knowing the person. Yeah,
about three decades Agohen the Nightstalker was ravaging La. His

(32:55):
roommate actually saw the sketch and he commented said, Hey,
you think the sketch looks like me? And she said, yeah,
but I don't think it's you because you don't have
the guts to do what they're saying that you allegedly did.
And she dismissed it, and he went on to continue
raping and killing. So now he's compiled of sketches, especially

(33:15):
in cases like Rachel Moren's, become the signature image.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
You know, one thing I noticed, Michael, is that in
the ring video he's wearing a gold chain that's not
in the sketch. Also, I've looked and looked and looked
at it as is reflected in your sketch. I don't
see him wearing an ear ring or a ring or
anything on his hands. I don't see any tattoos, and

(33:43):
there's no evidence that we've heard that he had as
a tattoo, which would have really helped us locate him.
Time stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, you're hearing Michael Street,

(34:06):
the sketch artist in this case, who went through an
exhaustive interview and sketch process. He can't reveal who he
spoke with. But did you hear him say it's a witness.
He didn't say a victim. He said a witness, and
that witness had the opportunity to view the purp. This

(34:31):
purp is the killer of Rachel. Mourn him. Now you
see him with his Jordan hat on. That's significant. If
he's wearing it, then I guarantee you he's wearing a
similar hat now right Think about it. People do the

(34:52):
same thing over and over, Karen start I wear athletic
tights every day and tennis shoes a certain kind of
tennis ues Brooks and for reasons. And this guy, I
guarantee you is somewhere right now with an athletic logo

(35:13):
hat on his head, laughing because he hasn't been caught.
He's a creature of habit. Karen Stark.

Speaker 9 (35:20):
Oh, I definitely agree, Nancy. And he's organized, he knows
exactly what he wants to do. Somebody who understood that
he could take Rachel and put her in a place
where nobody would know where she was. This is somebody
who really researched what he was about to do entering
that home, and the sketch is just I hope everybody

(35:44):
gets to.

Speaker 7 (35:45):
See it, you know what.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
I don't think we're really doing it justice about what
happened to Rachel Mooren. And I don't like going into
this kind of detail in front of a family member.
Matt McMahon, but he knows that, and he is here
with us today to help find her killer. Doctor Michelle

(36:07):
Dupree is with US renowned forensic pathologists who shot to
fame during the Alexian Murdog trial. Author of Money, Mischief
and Murder, The Murdog Saga the rest of the story.
I have her here today because she literally wrote the
book Homicide Investigation Field Guide, Doctor Dupree. Let's get down

(36:28):
to what this case is really about. What happened? What
did this guy? This guy right here Michael Street has
drawn for us in incredible detail. What did he do
to Rachel.

Speaker 8 (36:42):
Well, Nancy? He did horrific things. He obviously dragged her
into this culvert against her will. He beat her. He
hit her head with a rock, and he killed her
right there.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
You know what, you're certainly sugar coating it, air brushing it.
Beat her her face was caved in, doctor Dupree, with
a rock. He is an animal, He is a savage.
He didn't beat her like no, he beat her face

(37:16):
in with a rock, Doctor Dupree, Yes.

Speaker 8 (37:20):
Nancy, he did. And that is a horrific way to die.
It is a horrific crime, unimaginable that somebody can do
that to another person.

Speaker 1 (37:29):
Visit Hill. What is her actual coeod cause of death.
Is it strangulation? Is it stabbing? What is it?

Speaker 10 (37:36):
Nancy? The Harford County Sheriff's Office has not released that information,
so we don't know exactly what her calls it death.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
Is well, it seems to me, doctor Michelle Dupree, you're
the medical examiner, that if you're the orbital bones and
the side of your skull are literally carved in, it
would be too massive brain injury and bleeding.

Speaker 8 (37:56):
Yes, Nancy, would probably be blunt force trauma to traumatic
brain injury.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
Matt McMahon, I'm sorry because you're going through so much
and having to hear the details over and over. How
has that been explained to her children or has it.

Speaker 6 (38:16):
Been well the details to my daughter where we're lead
directed to her from the Harvard County Sheriff's Department. My
daughter and I went in and sat on the table
with three of the investigators, so one of them was
mister Lane, and they explained everything to Fay. She actually
refused to leave the room to avoid any details because

(38:40):
I did ask some pretty direct and pointed questions. So
my daughter has heard all of the details. I'm not
sure about how this was explained to the other children,
just because they're not my children, and they were discussions
that they had with their father.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
And they're so young too. The other children are so young.

Speaker 6 (38:58):
Matt, they are you know, eight, ten, twelve, and thirteen.

Speaker 1 (39:02):
I don't know that not a shrink, but I don't
know that I would tell them all of that. I mean, Matt,
even now, do you know. I have never gone back
to the scene where my fiance was murdered because I
think it would just be an emotional and mental overload
for me because it was so devastating to me when

(39:23):
he was murdered that I don't want to go back
to that place. I mean, I've got children to raise.
It's the emotional toll.

Speaker 6 (39:31):
My daughter, Fay, has not gone back to that trail
since this has happened. Once she did, it was Memorial
Walk where flowers real lead along the trail. That's the
only time that she's gone back.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
Guys, the law enforcement are they've been holding a lot
close to the vest I don't fault them for that.
There are reasons that they've done that, reasons that directly
relate to the investigation and the integrity of the investigation.
How did we get the d listen to Captain Lane.

Speaker 2 (40:02):
In processing the scene, we recovered genetic material. That genetic
material ultimately was entered into a system called COTIS, which
is a national DNA database. COTIS contains not only no defenders,
but it also contains DNA samples from other unsolved crimes
with unknown suspects. COTIS was a huge break for us,
and what we were able to do was link this
crime to another unsolved crime in Los Angeles, which was

(40:26):
a home invasion, and in that instance, that suspects left
behind a hat and that hat was collected by the
Los Angeles Police Department and DNA was located on that hat,
and that DNA was entered into COTIS when we entered
our sample in from our crime scene. Those two matched.
So that allowed us ultimately to be able to recover

(40:47):
video evidence that showed us who our suspect was and
allowed us to link to crimes that occurred on opposite
sides of the country.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Vincent Hill with May Fox forty five there in Maryland,
Vincent Hill on TV and big movies. The props are
always so smart. This guy is not that smart. He
left behind a hat and they are perfect vehicles for DNA.

Speaker 10 (41:10):
Yeah, it wasn't too smart. Nancy, I think he was
trying to get out of that location there in Los
Angeles in the hurry and not realizing, oh my god,
I left my hat. They can figure out who I
may be based on this hat. But on the flip side, Nancy,
when you think about it, he mentioned CODs and unknown suspects.
This guy has not been arrested for felony, whereas DNA

(41:33):
would have been collected. So until he does that, he,
like you said earlier, is watching and laughing and just
going on about his life because he knows his name
is not anywhere in his system until he gets caught
for a felony.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Tim Papa, do you agree for her FBI. I mean,
he's not that smart and it maybe he's eluded us
because he's left the country.

Speaker 6 (41:56):
I mean, I personally agree.

Speaker 4 (41:57):
I think part of it is we might just have
a pretty and experienced defender. Maybe the plausible storyline is
he committed the sack in La, learned from it, fled
to the other side of the country, and so him
being active in the woods and looking for a victim
might be his response to breaking into a house doesn't work.

Speaker 11 (42:17):
Look what happens.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
There's cameras there's ways traces of me can be left.
I mean, even looking at what you did to her,
we don't know. Again, I see somebody who's panicking and
thinks I need to take her life as quickly and
aggressively as I can.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
Or maybe he realized he left witnesses behind and he's
not going to leave witnesses to testify again in this case,
and therefore murdered Rachel Moren. But we're getting also a view,
a little more of a view of what exactly happened
in la and it is violent. Listen to Captain Lane.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
This case is actively mistigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.
That was also a violent attack. There's nothing that would
point us the belief that it was anything other than
a random attack. There were multiple people within that home
who were injured, and there were minor children who were

(43:16):
injured as well. I think that case, along with this case,
highlight how dangerous this individual is and how important it
is to locate him for public safety.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
Matt McMahon is joining us someone very near and dear
to Rachel Lauren, a mother of five. He's the dad
of her oldest daughter. Matt, I'm learning more about the
attack in la have police shared with you that knowledge.

Speaker 6 (43:46):
I knew that it was an attack and that the
suspect was forced from the home. I do understand that
they're not only witnesses, but they're also victims as well.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
Two family members were assaulted. We haven't been told it
was a sex attack, but I believe that it was.
A child wakes up. Here's something horrible going on. As
a matter of fact, take a listen to Captain Andy Lane,
Commander Criminal Investigation Division.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
The suspect, when he's in the home, winds up assaulting
two family members who were unable to defend themselves. A
third family member, who is a younger person, enters that
room and manages to surprise that person and manages to
surprise the suspects and begin to force him out of

(44:35):
the home. As the suspect flees the home, this individual
who is frightened and is scared and is a younger
person and doesn't understand why someone's in his home attacking
his family members. The suspect other people in the home
begin to wake up and he realizes now that there's
multiple people in the home. They're yelling at him. He's
trying to just exit the home, so as soon as

(44:55):
he leaves the door, that younger person who actually interrupted
the crime scene slams the door shut and locks it
and then immediately calls the police.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
Karen Stark, he even left without a shirt on.

Speaker 9 (45:05):
Yeah, Nancy, and that makes you wonder like, was there
seems to be something under his arm?

Speaker 7 (45:10):
Was he wearing a jacket and they pulled it off?

Speaker 9 (45:13):
But if you look at that video, Nancy, this guy
has ice in his veins, not blood, because he's not
even running away from the house. He's kind of sauntering off.
He has no feelings. It's like, Okay, I got caught
this time, but you know I'll do it again.

Speaker 1 (45:31):
Yeah, he's not in a hurry at all, which is
an incredible observation and gives me another window into his identity.
Jessica Garth, chief of the Special Victims' Family Violence Unit
in Prince George County. There in Maryland this jurisdiction. Can
you compare and contrast what we know about the lay
attack Brazen, what we know about the attack on Rachel

(45:53):
Mooren Brazen to add to his identity, what does it tell.

Speaker 7 (46:00):
One hundred percent? Braven is the first thing I think
that we can land on here the attack in La
is on he'd breaks into a home in the night
where you know people are home and they're sleeping, And
I agree with you, Nancy. We don't think they've released
what kind of attack it was, but there are only
so many reasons why you break into somebody's home at night.
Certainly a sexual assault at the top of that list.

(46:20):
If he did attack women in the home, and he
attacked Rachel Moore, and here, you know, we can compare
that he's attacking vulnerable victims. In our society. Women are
still more vulnerable than then when it comes to physical attacks,
certainly when we're talking about a male attacker. But breaking
into that home in the middle of the night, he
picked a time when they were unlikely to be people
on the street, people unlikely to see him breaking into

(46:41):
the home. Looking at the attack here in Maryland, you
know he picked a spot on the trail where he'd
be able to surprise Rachel and get her quickly off
the trail, where even if there were other people around,
he'd be able to get her to that private area
without them being able to see what he was doing.
And some of the other commenters have mentioned that he's
seems to be evolving, and I also agree with that one.

(47:03):
Leaving his hat behind at the first scene was a
huge mistake. Leading his DNA behind with Rachel is another
huge mistake, and it's the only reason why with any
idea who he is. But I fear what he might
do if there is a third attack or another victim,
because we might not be as lucky getting the evidence
that we have in these two cases.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
My experience with random attackers, they can't stop, They cannot
stop themselves until he's caught. He is a threat. If
you have information or think you have information on this man,
as drawn by Michael Street, beautifully drawn. I might add,

(47:48):
there is a thirty five thousand dollar reward. This guy
was in and about Hartford. He ate there, he shot there,
he went to the gas station. Who is see somebody
knows him. Thirty five thousand dollars reward tipline toll free

(48:09):
one eight eight eight five four zero eight four seven
seven repeat eight eight eight five four zero eight four
seven seven. Rachel Morin's children me justice so they can
live their lives. Goodbye.
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Nancy Grace

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