Judge Maxwell Wiley Declared a Mistrial in the Etan Patz Missing Child/Murder Case … Single Holdout Said He Could Not Vote to Convict Pedro Hernandez

JUDGE DECLARES MISTRIAL EVEN THOUGH SUSPECT HAD CONFESSED TO THE CRIME …

On Friday, the Judge Maxwell Wiley declared a mistrial in the Etan Patz missing child/murder trial as the jury after deliberating for three weeks could not reach a unanimous verdict. In the end, a lobe juror was the hold out as the jury was deadlocked, 11-1. The lone holdout juror, Adam C. Sirois, said to reporters following the trial, “Ultimately I couldn’t find enough evidence that was not circumstantial to convict.  I couldn’t get there.” The lone juror, Juror #11, could not find it in himself to convict the kidnapping and murder suspect, Pedro Hernandez, who confessed to the murder? Etan Patz was the 6 year old boy who vanished while walking to a school bus stop in SoHo, NYC in 1979. His body has never been found.

A judge declared a mistrial in the Etan Patz case on Friday after jurors said for a third time that they could not reach a verdict despite three weeks of deliberation, leaving unresolved a missing-child case that vexed New York City for decades and led to a sea change in the way Americans view the security of their children.

After a four-month trial and 18 days of deliberation, the jury of seven men and five women said they were firmly deadlocked, 11 to 1, with a single holdout saying that he could not vote to convict Pedro Hernandez, 54, a disabled factory worker from New Jersey, of murder and kidnapping.

“Ultimately I couldn’t find enough evidence that was not circumstantial to convict,” the juror, Adam C. Sirois, told reporters during a news conference. “I couldn’t get there.”

Making it some what troubling for this mistrial and the decision by one lone juror not to convict Pedro Hernandez, who confessed to the murder. So what happens next? The mistrial leaves District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. with a difficult decision, to  either pursue another costly trial with the same evidence that failed to convince the first jury or allow a man who confessed to murdering a child to go free.

51 year old Pedro Hernandez has confessed to the murder of then 6 year old Etan Patz.  Pedro Hernandez of Maple Shade, NJ, has been arrested in the 1979 death and disappearance of Etan Patz. According to accounts, Hernandez admitted to luring the Etan into the store with candy, strangling him, and placing the body in a box. Hernandez stated that he put the box out with the trash and when he came back later, the box was gone.

A man has been arrested in the 1979 disappearance of a 6-year-old New York City boy. It’s the first arrest ever made in a case that helped give rise to the nation’s missing-children movement.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says Pedro Hernandez of Maple Shade, N.J., has been arrested in the killing of Etan Patz (AY’-tahn payts). It’s not immediately clear whether Hernandez has a lawyer.

Kelly says Hernandez confessed to the crime. Hernandez worked at a convenience store near Etan’s Manhattan home. A law enforcement official says Hernandez told investigators this week he suffocated the boy and left his body in a box in an alley

Post Mistrial News Conference

Stanley Patz, the father of Etan, said following the judge declared a mistrial in the trial of his son’s murder, “We have come to the conclusion that Pedro Hernandez is guilty to crimes of which he has confessed beyond any reasonable doubt.” Mr. Patz stated following the mistrial that the family was very disappointed and frustrated that the jury was unable to come to a decision, “our long ordeal is not over”.

Sunday, May 25, 2014 is National Missing Children’s Day

Sunday, May 25 is National Missing Children’s Day.

National Missing Children’s Day is an annual observation in the United States designed to highlight the problem of child kidnapping and abduction. It is observed on May 25 because that is the date in 1979 that 6 year old Ethan Patz disappeared on his way to school in New York City, NY. National Missing Children’s Day was first observed in 1983  when it was first proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan.

National Missing Children’s Day is commemorated this Sunday, May 25 and aims to remind the public of the numerous cases of America’s missing children.

The most recent study conducted by The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children states, that approximately 800,000 children younger than 18 were reported missing in one year.

National Missing Children’s Day has been commemorated in the United States on May 25, since 1983, when it was first proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan.

It falls on the same day as the International Missing Children’s Day.

10 Ways to honor National Missing Children’s Day:

1. Share a poster.
2. Take the Pledge.
3. Like us on Facebook and Twitter.
4. Make sure your wireless AMBER Alerts are activated.
5. Get a free lapel pin and wear it.
6. Change your profile cover photo.
7. Give.
8. Bookmark the anniversaries page.
9. Make a Child ID.
10. Know what to do if you see a missing child.

Key facts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:

• The most recent, comprehensive national study for the number of missing children estimated in 1999:
• Approximately 800,000 children younger than 18 were reported missing.
• More than 200,000 children were abducted by family members.
• More than 58,000 children were abducted by nonfamily members.
• An estimated 115 children were the victims of “stereotypical” kidnapping. These “stereotypical” kidnappings involved someone the child did not know or was an acquaintance. The child was held overnight, transported 50 miles or more, killed, ransomed or held with the intent to keep the child permanently.
• To find the number of children missing from a specific state or territory contact the state’s Missing Child Clearinghouses.
• The first three hours are the most critical when trying to locate a missing child. The murder of an abducted child is rare, and an estimated 100 cases in which an abducted child is murdered occur in the U.S. each year. A 2006 study indicated that 76.2 percent of abducted children who are killed are dead within three hours of the abduction.
• The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 193,705 missing children since it was founded in 1984. Our recovery rate for missing children has grown from 62 percent in 1990 to 97 percent today.
• The AMBER Alert program was created in 1996 and is operated by the U.S. Department of Justice. As of April 2, 2014, 688 children have been successfully recovered as a result of the program. [3]
• As of Dec. 2013, NCMEC’s toll free, 24 hour call center has received more than 3,899,964 calls since it was created in 1984. Information about missing or exploited children can be reported to the call center by calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

Internet Safety key facts:

• 93 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 go online.
• Of children five years old and younger who use the Internet, 80 percent use it at least once a week.
• One in 25 children ages 10 to 17 received an online sexual solicitation where the solicitor tried to make offline contact.
• Four percent of cell phone owning teens ages 12 to 17 say they have sent sexually suggestive nude/semi-nude messages to others via text message.
• 15 percent of cell phone owning teens ages 12 to 17 say they have received sexually suggestive nude/semi-nude images of someone they know via text.

Case of Missing Etan Patz … Child Clothes, Matchbox Car Toy Found at Confessed Killer Pedro Hernandez’ Home

The police have finally searched the home of murder suspect Pedro Hernandez two weeks after he confessed to the 1979 murder of Etan Patz. Two weeks? The police search turned up a pair of boys’ white Fruit of the Loom briefs, a yellow Matchbox-style car etched with the word “Stryker” and a pair of blue children’s-size shorts. The items were found in an attic room of the suspect’s Maple Shade, NJ  house.  Investigators are also combing through the computer drive and two satchels removed during the execution of a search warrant at the home of  Pedro Hernandez.

Cops were stunned by the discovery on Wednesday as they executed a search warrant at Hern?ndez’s home in Maple Shade, near Camden.

“When they were found, the air was sucked right out of the room, [it was] a very emotional moment,” a source said.

The clothes and unidentified toy appear to be from the late 1970s. The clothes were worn and “not clean,” the source said. “Imagine what your drawers would look like 33 years later.”

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.

Arrest Made in the 1979 Etan Patz Missing Persons Case, Disappearance & Death … Questioning Suspect NJ Man in Custody … Individual Not New to Case (Update: Pedro Hernandez Confesses to Murder)

Breaking News … Arrest made in the 33 year old missing persons case of Etan Patz.

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has stated that there has been an arrest made in the 1979 Etan Patz missing persons case.  The suspect in question was arrested Wednesday and brought to NYC for questioning. After all this time, could it be true? Could there finally be answers as to what happened to Etan Patz who disappeared in 1979 as we was on his way to school. Etan Patz vanished on May 25, 1979, while walking alone to his school bus stop for the first time just two blocks from his home in New York’s SoHo home. The irony that the arrest was made one day prior to the 33 year anniversary of Etan Patz’ disappearance.  Could there finally be Justice for Etan?

Just a month ago police did a full scale search of the basement of an apartment building in NYC looking for Etan Patz without results. However, this cold case appears to have heated up. We can remember that it was the high profile case of Etan Patz that gave rise to the missing children’s campaign on milk cartons.

As reported at NY4, police are questioning and have arrested a New Jersey man. His name has yet to be released; however, the individual is not new to the case and  his name has been known to investigators and he did live and work in the neighborhood at the time when Patz disappeared in 1979.

The NYPD is questioning a New Jersey man in connection with the disappearance of Etan Patz, the 6-year-old boy who vanished more than 30 years ago as he walked to the school bus from his SoHo home, NBC 4 New York first reported Thursday.

Police picked the man up sometime Wednesday evening and brought him to New York City for questioning, sources said.

The man is known to investigators and not anyone new in the case, law enforcement sources say. He worked and lived in Patz’s neighborhood when the boy disappeared.

As reported at Fox News this morning, police state that He [the suspect] has made statements implicating himself in the case.

UPDATE I: NY Daily News; Etan Patz case: NYPD says New Jersey man implicated self in 6-year-old’s ‘disappearance and death’

“An individual now in custody has made statements to NYPD detectives implicating himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz 33 years ago,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said

UPDATE II: 51 Year Old Pedro Hernandez Confesses to the Murder of Etan Patz.

51 year old Pedro Hernandez has confessed to the murder of then 6 year old Etan Patz.  Pedro Hernandez of Maple Shade, NJ, has been arrested in the 1979 death and disappearance of Etan Patz. According to accounts, Hernandez admitted to luring the Etan into the store with candy, strangling him, and placing the body in a box. Hernandez stated that he put the box out with the trash and when he came back later, the box was gone.

A man has been arrested in the 1979 disappearance of a 6-year-old New York City boy. It’s the first arrest ever made in a case that helped give rise to the nation’s missing-children movement.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says Pedro Hernandez of Maple Shade, N.J., has been arrested in the killing of Etan Patz (AY’-tahn payts). It’s not immediately clear whether Hernandez has a lawyer.

Kelly says Hernandez confessed to the crime. Hernandez worked at a convenience store near Etan’s Manhattan home. A law enforcement official says Hernandez told investigators this week he suffocated the boy and left his body in a box in an alley

For more updates as the day goes on, read others opinions and to provide your own in this 33 year old missing persons case go to Scared Monkeys Missing Persons Forum: Etan Patz.