A mistrial has been declared in the
New York murder case of a six-year-old boy who went missing in 1979
after the jury could not reach a verdict.
Defendant Pedro
Hernandez confessed in 2012 to killing the boy. But Mr Hernandez's
lawyers say the confession was false and claim he is mentally ill.
Mr Hernandez will remain in jail as prosecutors set a new trial date.
The boy vanished while walking to a school bus stop, in a prominent case that baffled authorities for decades.
Etan's
father, Stanley Patz, expressed his frustration over the jury's
inability to decide but added, "I think we have closure already."
Etan's
disappearance was one of most prominent missing person cases of the
1980s. He was the first missing child to appear on milk cartons.
Pedro Hernandez has confessed to killing Etan Patz
In 2012, Mr Hernandez admitted
choking the boy in the basement of the shop where he worked, putting the
body in a bag, putting the bag in a banana box and eventually dumping
the body about two blocks away from the store.
But Etan's body was never found, and no physical evidence was uncovered to link Mr Hernandez to the crime.
Defence
lawyer Harvey Fishbein said during closing arguments: "Pedro Hernandez
is the only witness against himself. The stories he told over the years,
including in 2012, and since, are the only evidence. Yet he is
inconsistent and unreliable.'' Mr Hernandez's lawyers pointed to another suspect Jose Ramos, a convicted paedophile.
According
to a former prison informant with whom lawyers were working, Ramos
claimed he was with Etan the day the boy vanished and admitted molesting
the child.
During 18 days of deliberations, the jury was deadlocked three times before the judge declared the mistrial.
District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Friday thanked the Patz family for their "courage and determination" over the years.
"The
challenges in this case were exacerbated by the passage of time, but
they should not, and did not, deter us," Mr Vance said.
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