New York prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they are prepared to retry Pedro Hernandez, a former Manhattan delicatessen worker, in the 1979 murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz. Hernandez’s conviction for kidnapping and murder was overturned four months ago by a federal appeals court.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office stated that “available, admissible evidence supports” a renewed prosecution on the same charges. The decision effectively restores the case to pretrial status, allowing new court proceedings and legal filings.
Hernandez, now in his mid-60s, was first found guilty in 2017 for Patz’s kidnapping and murder. Patz disappeared on May 25, 1979, while walking alone to his school bus stop near his SoHo home in Manhattan. Hernandez, 18 at the time, worked at a nearby bodega. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison and remains in custody.
Etan Patz became one of the first children to have his image widely circulated on milk cartons, a method designed to raise public awareness and generate investigative leads. His case captured national attention and remained one of the most infamous child disappearances in U.S. history until Hernandez’s arrest in May 2012.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Hernandez’s conviction in July, ruling that the trial judge gave incorrect instructions to the jury, which may have influenced the verdict. Following this decision, a different judge allowed the DA’s office until December 1 to decide whether to pursue a new trial. Any retrial must begin by June 1, 2026, to ensure Hernandez remains in custody.
The DA’s office confirmed in Tuesday’s letter to the court that it is “prepared to proceed.”
The 2016-2017 trial, Hernandez’s second after a hung jury in 2015, lacked physical evidence or contemporary eyewitnesses. The prosecution’s case largely relied on Hernandez’s confessions, which were given during hours of police interrogation without a lawyer present.
Hernandez’s appeal challenged the jury instructions related to how the confessions should be considered. The federal appeals court ruled that the trial judge’s guidance to jurors was flawed, contributing to the overturning of the conviction.
In addition to preparing for a third trial, the DA’s office is also considering petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the 2nd Circuit’s decision. This parallel strategy aims to uphold the original 2017 conviction while the retrial process moves forward.
The Patz case remains a defining moment in U.S. law enforcement and child safety history. Its enduring significance has shaped policies around missing children and highlighted the challenges prosecutors face in cases relying primarily on confessions from decades-old events.
Hernandez’s retrial will reopen public attention to one of the most well-known child disappearance cases in American history, nearly five decades after Etan Patz vanished from Manhattan streets.
