A man who was suspected for decades in the 1979 disappearance of New York first grader Etan Patz has died.
Pedro Hernandez appeared in a Manhattan court Monday morning, nearly three months after a judge declared a mistrial in the his case because of a hung jury.
Pedro Hernandez's first trial ended with a hung jury last month. The 54-year-old confessed in 2012 and told several people over the years he had harmed a child in New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. says in a television interview that he intends to ask for a retrial in the case of Pedro Hernandez, who confessed to choking a 6-year-old boy in 1979.
Just what happened to 6-year-old Etan Patz in SoHo decades ago remains a mystery, but 11 jurors are convinced Pedro Hernandez knows the answer. One juror, however disagreed, forcing a judge to declare a mistrial on Friday. Now, that juror is speaking out about the decision he says will remain on his conscience for life.
The judge in the Etan Patz murder case declared a mistrial on Friday after the jury failed to reach a verdict following 18 days of deliberations.