Take Two

Jury Selection Begins in 1979 Murder of 6-Year-Old

Retrial of man who says he killed 6-year-old Etan Patz.

Jury selection has begun for a retrial in the case of the 1979 murder of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy whose disappearance rocked New York City. Patz went missing when he walked to a bus stop alone for the first time. After decades without any leads in the case, and without a body, New Jersey resident Pedro Hernandez, 55, was indicted for murder and kidnapping in the case in November 2012. He reportedly told police that he’d choked Patz at the convenience store where he worked and had thrown his body into the garbage. A 2015 trial against Hernandez failed, with a mistrial declared after the jury repeatedly deadlocked during 18 days of deliberations. The retrial is expected to be just as difficult as the 2015 trial. Police so far have no forensic evidence to support Hernandez’s story, and Hernandez’s lawyer claims he is mentally ill.