NEW YORK — For decades, the father of Etan Patz believed he knew who killed his 6-year-old son on the way to school in 1979, and it wasn’t the man whose trial he just endured.
But after hearing every word of nearly three months of testimony, Stan Patz is sure that Pedro Hernandez kidnapped and killed Etan — even if the jury wasn’t.
“The family of Etan Patz has waited 36 years for an explanation as to what happened to our sweet little boy,” his father said after a hung jury spurred a mistrial Friday. After hearing prosecutors’ case against the former corner-store clerk who gave what his defense called a false confession in 2012, Patz said, “I’m convinced. … It makes sense, from beginning to end.”
As the trial ended unresolved, even Patz’s new certainty marked another twist in his family’s painful trajectory in trying to get answers and justice.