Man Convicted in Etan Patz Killing Wins in Appeals Court

It's a major surprise in one of the most well-known child murders in the nation: An appeals court has ruled that the man convicted of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City in 1979 should get a new trial, reports the New York Times. The federal court said that if Pedro Hernandez doesn't receive one, he should be set free. It's now up to the Manhattan district attorney's office on whether to move forward with a new trial, and the office has not yet said what it will do.

The decision—described as "shocking" by the New York Post—reopens one of the city's most haunting cases, starting when Etan vanished while walking to his school bus stop in SoHo in 1979. Prosecutors said Hernandez, who worked in a convenience store, lured the boy into the shop's basement and killed him. The boy's body was never found, and he was one of the first children to show up on milk cartons. His disappearance led to new laws, a national hotline, and other initiatives to help search for missing children.

Hernandez was convicted of murder in 2017 after he confessed to luring Etan into the store basement, per the Times. His first trial in 2015 ended without a verdict, but he was convicted two years later in a second trial after nine days of jury deliberations. The appeals court found that the trial judge issued flawed instructions to the jury, potentially influencing the outcome.