Etan Patz Murder Case: Third Trial Looms

0:00A New York judge just kept the murder case alive for the 1979 disappearance of six-year-old Aiton Pots, paving the way for a third. Trial against suspect Pedro Hernandez. The 65-year-old former shop clerk has sat in jail since his arrest back in 2012, accused of luring the boy into his store and killing. Him on his walk to the school bus. Hernandez worked at a corner store near Aiton's home and was questioned early on, but cops didn't zero in on him for over 30 years. Then a tip led investigators to him, and after hours of talking, he confessed to strangling the kid in the basement before getting his rights read. Aiton's case blew up nationally, putting his face on milk cartons and turning the anniversary of his vanishing, May 25th, into National Missing. Children's Day. His parents pushed hard for better ways to handle missing kids, changing how police respond nationwide. Defense lawyers call Hernandez's confession a delusion, from a guy with mental health struggles tied to the big news near his job.

1:02Prosecutors push back, saying the tip was solid, and memory gaps are normal after decades. Hernandez heads back to court in June for a status check, with no trial date locked in yet. Meanwhile, the District Attorney's Office wants the Supreme Court to reinstate his earlier conviction, keeping this decades-old mystery in the spotlight. This has been Canada News Today, powered by AI.