A federal judge ruled Thursday that Pedro Hernandez, the man convicted in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz, must be retried by June 2026 or released from custody. Hernandez, 64, was found guilty of kidnapping and murder in 2017 after confessing to luring Etan into the basement of a SoHo bodega, where he said he killed the child. He was sentenced to 25 years to life, but a federal appeals court overturned his conviction in July, citing flawed instructions given to the jury regarding his confessions, NBC News reports.
Judge Colleen McMahon of Manhattan's federal district court acknowledged that prosecutors face significant challenges in mounting a new case, including the difficulty in locating the 50 witnesses who testified seven years ago. She also noted that prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to review the appeals court's decision. But McMahon was unequivocal on both points: "It is not my job to read the tea leaves and make predictions or estimates about when or how the Supreme Court will act on any petition for certiorari that may be filed," she wrote.
"The mandate—my marching orders—simply directs that I set an end date by which any retrial must commence, and order Hernandez freed if a retrial does not commence by that date." According to court documents, Hernandez's confession came after about seven hours of questioning, and he was only then read his Miranda rights, at which point the police had him confess again on camera and then for a third time hours later. His defense has argued that he is mentally ill and that his statements were coerced. The AP reports that in overturning the conviction, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals found the judge should have given the jury a more detailed explanation of its options, which could have included disregarding all of the confessions.
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Etan Patz disappeared on May 25, 1979, while walking to his bus stop in Manhattan. His case prompted a nationwide search and led to the widespread practice of putting photos of missing children on milk cartons. Despite extensive efforts, Etan's body was never found, and he was declared dead in 2001. Police identified Hernandez as a suspect decades later after a tip from his brother-in-law in 2012. His first trial in 2015 ended in a hung jury; in February 2017 he was convicted of felony murder and kidnapping after nine days of deliberation.
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