Retrial of man accused of boy's 1979 disappearance winds down in New York

[January 30, 2017]  By David Ingram

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Closing arguments are expected to begin in New York City on Monday in the retrial of a man charged with killing a six-year-old Etan Patz in 1979, a notorious case that sparked national interest in the plight of missing children.

Defense lawyers are scheduled to deliver their summation first on behalf of Pedro Hernandez, 56, who is on trial in state court for the second time in the death of the boy who vanished in lower Manhattan 38 years ago.

Prosecutors are to address the jury on Tuesday, after which jurors are expected to receive instructions from the judge and begin their deliberations.

Hernandez's first trial in 2015 ended in the judge declaring a mistrial. Those jurors deliberated for 18 days without reaching a unanimous verdict, which is required for conviction. Eleven of them had voted to convict, while one held out for acquittal.

A former delicatessen worker, Hernandez confessed to the crimes in 2012, but his defense attorneys say he is mentally ill and falsely confessed under police coercion. He faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted.

Jurors in the retrial have listened to testimony about the disappearance and Hernandez's mental state since October.

Patz vanished as he walked alone for the first time to a school bus stop in the SoHo neighborhood on May 25, 1979. His body was never found, despite a massive search.

His picture became one of the first to be shown on milk cartons, which in the 1980s became a popular vehicle for seeking leads about missing children. His disappearance also helped bring about a national database about such cases.

Pedro Hernandez (C) appears with his lawyer Harvey Fishbein in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York November 15, 2012. REUTERS/Louis Lanzano/Pool

"It's a cautionary tale, a defining moment, a loss of innocence in this city and in every city where it was written about," Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi said during an opening statement in October.

In 2012, investigators received a tip from Hernandez's brother-in-law, who told police Hernandez had confessed to the crime to a prayer group in the 1980s.

Hernandez, in a videotaped confession to police, said he lured Patz to the basement of the deli where he worked near the child's home, strangled him, placed the child's body in a garbage bag and a box, and dumped him in an alley.

He later recanted, and his attorneys argue he has a history of mental illness including hallucinations.

(Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Frank McGurty and Mary Milliken)

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