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The evidence in the Etan Patz case in NYC — and why the defense says it falls short
By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Dec 22, 2025
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Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GettyImages
By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Dec 22, 2025
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The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore the conviction of Pedro Hernandez in the 1979 killing of 6-year-old Etan Patz. An appeals court threw out the ruling earlier this year.
Prosecutors are asking for the high court’s intervention as a last-ditch effort at avoiding a new state trial for 64-year-old Hernandez. The federal appeals court ruling said Hernandez must be released from prison unless new jury selection begins by June 1.
Patz vanished on May 25, 1979 while walking two blocks from his SoHo apartment to the bus. Police interviewed Hernandez, then an 18-year-old bodega clerk, as part of their investigation but didn’t identify him as a suspect at the time.
But investigators got a tip that led them to Hernandez in 2012, and he later confessed to kidnapping and killing Patz, according to court records. A jury in the case deadlocked in 2015. After a retrial in 2017, a new jury convicted Hernandez of felony murder and kidnapping.
Patz’s case drew intense scrutiny for decades and had a major impact on public policy. Patz was the first missing child to be printed on milk cartons, and President Ronald Reagan in 1983 declared May 25 National Missing Children’s Day in his honor. Patz’s body was never found.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals found the trial judge erred by giving an improper response to a jury note. The DA’s new filing with the Supreme Court calls the appeals court’s decision “plainly wrong.”
“The Second Circuit undid the conviction based on the purported inadequacy of the state trial court’s response to a single jury note,” the court filing said. “That invalidation of a state jury verdict on such a slender reed flouted (federal law) and warrants summary reversal.”
Here’s a look at both sides of the case:
Prosecutors believe the following evidence ties Hernandez to the kidnapping and murder of Patz:
- At various times in the years following Patz’ disappearance, Hernandez told his neighbor, his first wife and several people at a religious retreat that he had killed someone, according to court papers. But the details changed in different retellings, according to court records.
- Hernandez’s brother-in-law tipped off police in 2012. When police interrogated him, they said, Hernandez paced, cried, lay on the floor and shook after telling detectives that his father abused him as a child.
- After nearly seven hours, Hernandez said he “did it” and told detectives that he choked Patz and put his body in a trash bag. He repeated the confession several times to police, prosecutors and medical professionals, though court records show the specific accounts varied.
Hernandez’s defense attorneys argue the case is riddled with legal issues. They say they include:
- A doctor who evaluated Hernandez while he was detained at Rikers testified that he had schizotypal personality disorder. Court documents show Hernandez has an extensive history of mental illness, including diagnoses of psychotic disorder, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
- Hernandez wasn’t read his Miranda rights until several hours into the interview — at which point his attorneys argue he was suffering extreme psychological distress.
- During the 2017 trial, jurors sent the judge a note asking whether they should disregard several of Hernandez’s confessions to law enforcement, doctors and family if they found that his initial confession to police was “not voluntary.” The judge responded: “the answer is, no.”
- The federal appeals court found the trial judge’s answer was incomplete, and that he didn’t give jurors the instructions they needed to properly evaluate Hernandez’s statements. The appeals court ruled that omission likely affected the outcome of the trial.
Hernandez’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Supreme Court filing. A judge in the state case on Friday set a series of filing deadlines, and prosecutors “reaffirmed” they’d be ready for trial by June, according to a spokesperson for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
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public safety
Walter Wuthmann
Walter Wuthmann is a reporter covering public safety and the legal system.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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