Etan Patz Murder Suspect Pedro Hernandez Arraigned on Second Degree Murder Charge … Is He Guilty or Just Another Crazy John Marc Karr Type?

KILLER OR KRAZY?

33 years after 6 year old Etan Patz went missing in 1979, 51 year old Pedro Hernandez was arraigned and charged with second degree murder. Hernandez was arraigned Friday via a video link from a hospital ward on a charge of murder.  A judge ordered Hernandez held without bail and authorized a psychological examination to see if he is fit to stand trial.

Pedro Hernandez – confessed killer

Pedro Hernandez confessed to police that he strangled to death Etan Patz in 1979. Pedro Hernandez said he lured Etan Patz, who was walking to a school bus stop by himself for the first time, into the basement of a grocery store where Hernandez worked. Hernandez then said he strangling the child and then putting his body in a bag.

So do investigators have more than a murder confession from Pedro Hernandez? The man who confessed to the murder of Etan Patz has a history of being crazy. As reported at the NY Post, Hernandez had confessed years ago to the crime, but the police deemed him too crazy.Although, the police have denied that Hernandez ever confessed to killing Patz any time before Wednesday.

Etan Patz’s alleged killer tried to confess to cops years ago that he had murdered the long-missing 6-year-old — but he was dismissed as a nutjob and detectives never followed through, the suspect’s sister told The Post yesterday.

“Every time the anniversary of that little boy came up on TV, I would say, ‘Why doesn’t he turn himself in?’ ” recalled Lucy Suarez, 43, the youngest sister of Pedro Hernandez.

“And my sister said, ‘He did, but the police let him go because they said he was too crazy,’ ” Suarez said.

Sources yesterday also revealed that five days after Etan disappeared, cops saw Hernandez at the bodega, where one of the owners explained away his presence by noting he was merely his brother-in-law. There is no record that police ever interviewed Hernandez that day about Etan.

So the question remains, is Pedro Hernandez really guilty of murdering Etan Patz or is he just a crazy lunatic? Hernandez’ court-appointed lawyer, Harvey Fishbein, stated to the judge during the arraignment that his client is bipolar, schizophrenic and has a “history of hallucinations, both visual and auditory.” So did Pedro Hernandez really commit this crime or is he another John Marc Karr? For those who have forgot, John Marc Karr confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey. The only thing that might have been more crazy than the media circus surrounding the confessed killer was John Marc Karr himself. In the end prosecutors never charged Karr with the murder because their was not a DNA match.

So does the prosecution have more evidence than is presently known? Has Hernandez confessed to things and provided details of the murder than have never been disclosed and only the killer would know? That remains to be seen. There are many challenges ahead to convict Pedro Hernandez.

Miller says that now prosecutors have to build their case with police to defend Hernandez’s confession, which the defense lawyer has already started attacking with claims of hallucinations and bipolar disease.

“I think that that is Defense 101,” Miller said. “You have a guy that gives a clear, compelling, detailed confession, you going to have to either say that he was tricked into doing it or that he was making it up, and I think they’re beginning to forge that path.”

Miller said that, despite the confession, prosecutors will need more.

UPDATE I: From the NY Times comes, the police have their man and a confession to a 33 year old crime, now they must prove that Pedro Hernandez did what he claimed he did. Ann Althouse asks the question that many have since the confession of Pedro Hernandez, “People want to believe that at long last, we have the answer and a man to punish, but do we really know?”

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, starting with the body.

With no DNA evidence, no real crime scene and no body what are they to do?

Detectives have most likely returned to Mr. Hernandez’s story.

“You always go back for more detail, more detail, more detail,” Mr. Geberth said. “The confession is usually devoid of a lot of facts. They just want to get it out. Once it’s out, the barrier has been crossed.” The need to confess behind him, the suspect may relax. “Get him something to eat, something to drink. ‘By the way, did you speak to anybody? Did you go to work the next day, or take the day off?’ Important things.”

For more updates, to read other opinions and analysis and to provide your own, go to Scared Monkeys Missing Persons Forum: Etan Patz.