Like the rest of the Etan Patz disappearance, the murder confession of Pedro Hernandez is not an open-and-shut case.
Lack of evidence, inconsistencies in the suspect’s story, and mental health issues are bringing Hernandez’s confession into doubt, according to the NY Daily News.
Since the 6-year-old Patz went missing in 1979, there has been an emotional parade of suspects and revived searches, including the recent deconstruction of a SoHo basement that revealed no new evidence. When Hernandez, an 18 year old neighborhood bodega worker at the time of the disappearance, confessed in great detail last Wednesday, it appeared something had finally gone right. Hernandez was charged Thursday, and arraigned Friday for second-degree murder.
Several witnesses reported that Hernandez confided to them about hurting a child in the years since Patz went missing. Hernandez said he lured Patz into the bodega by promising treats, only to strangle him to death and discard the body in a garbage bag. However the bipolar suspect appears to be an unreliable source and there is no material evidence linking him to Patz. The child’s body has never been recovered.
“The bosses are very skeptical,” a police source in contact with the FBI told the Daily News. “They don’t believe him. He’s got mental problems and there’s no other evidence. They think we moved too fast.”
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