Free Republic

A former SoHo store clerk was convicted Tuesday of murdering 6-year-old Etan Patz, resolving one of the city’s most notorious unsolved crimes after nearly 40 years. A Manhattan jury found Pedro Hernandez guilty of luring the child into the basement of a bodega as Etan walked alone to his school bus stop for the first time — and then strangling the boy on May 25, 1979.

A mistrial was declared Friday in the New York trial of the man charged with the 1979 killing of 6-year-old Etan Patz. The jury sent State Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley a note -- the third since April 29 -- saying it was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the guilt or innocence of bodega worker Pedro Hernandez. On two previous occasions, including Tuesday and Friday, the judge ordered the jury to keep deliberating. A new court date has been set for June 10. It's unclear whether Hernandez will be retried. The case involves a boy whose disappearance more...

The jury in the Etan Patz murder trial went through a seventh day of deliberations Thursday. Pedro Hernandez, 54, confessed to killing the 6-year-old boy in May 1979. He said he lured Patz into a bodega basement and strangled him. The defense, however, says Hernandez is mentally ill and made up the story. The jury asked for a computer with Excel Thursday to create a spreadsheet to organize its thoughts, WCBS 880’s Irene Cornell reported. The judge granted the request joked he’ll say no if they ask for a coffee maker. Jurors were dismissed for the day around 4:45 p.m.,...

I knew that I would start from the presumption of innocence. I knew that because we are told we should start from that presumption. There were certainly plenty of times I think we all had during the trial — moments, just “wow” moments. Like, “Oh, my God, that throws a lot of doubt in it!” Or, “Oh, my God, he did it!” For me, there were moments — different days, different periods of time — when I could have gone either way. That’s the whole point. Then you go into deliberations.

The disappearance of Etan Patz made national headlines, as police and his family called for answers. The boy's mother, Julie Patz, is seen here in 1981 during an appearance on NBC's Today show. A jury in New York City has found Pedro Hernandez guilty of murder in the kidnapping and death of Etan Patz, who was 6 years old when he went missing in 1979. The verdict follows a mistrial nearly two years ago, after a jury became deadlocked. Patz was never again seen by his family after he left home to walk to the school bus stop nearby. His...

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg intends to re-try Pedro Hernandez for the kidnapping and murder of Etan Patz, the boy whose face was the first on a milk carton after his disappearance in the 1970s. "This letter is to notify the Court that after thorough review, the District Attorney has determined that the available, admissible evidence supports prosecuting defendant on the charges of Murder in the Second Degree and Kidnapping in the First Degree in this matter, and the People are prepared to proceed," the district attorney's office said Tuesday. A federal appeals court ordered Hernandez released or re-tried after...

The man breaks down and cries and says yes, I did it. I killed that 6-year-old boy 33 years ago. I did it. It should be a detective’s dream come true. The police have their man, their investigation sewn up with a tidy bow of his own damning words. Far from it, for now the police must try to prove that he did what he said he did. And in the case of the suspect, Pedro Hernandez, and the boy, Etan Patz, that is not going to be easy. In many ways, this confession is a worst-case scenario of corroboration,...

The NYPD is questioning a New Jersey man in connection with the Etan Patz case, the 6-year-old boy who vanished more than 30 years ago as he walked to the school bus from his SoHo home, NBCNewYork.com reported Thursday