Conviction in Etan Patz Killing Overturned, Reviving an Agonizing Case

Source: New York Times

Conviction in Etan Patz Killing Overturned, Reviving an Agonizing Case

Pedro Hernandez, a former bodega stock clerk, had confessed years after the 1979 crime to luring Etan Patz, 6, into a basement in SoHo. The case shook New York City.


Pedro Hernandez confessed to the crime, but later recanted. His lawyer argued that the confession was the product of psychotic hallucinations and delusions. Pool photo by Louis Lanzano

By Hurubie Meko and Jonah E. Bromwich
July 21, 2025
Updated 6:53 p.m. ET

His face was everywhere. ... Etan Patz, who disappeared in 1979 at the age of 6, gazed at American households across their breakfast tables every morning, his grinning photo prominently featured on milk cartons as police in Manhattan pursued thousands of tips in their futile efforts to find him. … It would take more than three decades before a man, Pedro Hernandez, was arrested and eventually convicted in Etan's killing.

But on Monday, Mr. Hernandez's conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court, reopening a case that had finally appeared resolved. A three-judge panel found that the trial judge had improperly instructed the jurors, who had asked about the several confessions that Mr. Hernandez had made, including one that he offered without being read his Miranda rights.

The judges ordered that Mr. Hernandez be released or a new trial be held within a "reasonable period," a timeline to be determined by a federal judge.

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Mr. Hernandez’s first trial in 2015 ended after 18 days of deliberation with a hung jury. A lone holdout, Adam Sirois, (1) declined to convict. In an interview Monday, Mr. Sirois said that his primary reason had been Mr. Hernandez’s initial confession, which to the juror seemed “coerced.” … “There just was zero evidence, in my opinion, that was compelling enough to get beyond that,” he said. “It was so obvious to me that there was enough doubt that this man should not be convicted.”

{snip}

Susan C. Beachy and Alain Delaqurire contributed research.

Hurubie Meko is a Times reporter covering criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney's office and state courts.

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region for The Times. He is focused on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area's federal and state courts.

A version of this article appears in print on July 22, 2025, Section A, Page 13 of the New York edition with the headline: Conviction Overturned in Killing of Patz in 1979. Order Reprints Today's Paper Subscribe

(1) https://nypost.com/2015/05/10/etan-patz-jurys-lone-pro-acquittal-holdout-speaks/

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/nyregion/etan-patz-conviction-overturned.html