EXCLUSIVE: Could A Possible Motive Be Emerging In Etan Patz Case?
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two weeks have passed since the big break in the Etan Patz disappearance. Pedro Hernandez was arrested in the little boy's murder.
But what was the motive?
CBS 2's Pablo Guzman teamed up with CBS This Morning's John Miller, an original reporter on the story, for an exclusive interview to break down the answer to that elusive question.
Norma Hernandez, Pedro Hernandez's sister, has already told detectives about the strange animosity her brother had toward her 3-year old nephew, Sammy Santana.
"Pedro had come and, he hated my nephew. Um, Sammy. And, that he saw the devil on his face," Norma Hernandez said.
Norma Hernandez told CBS This Morning's Miller that she heard Pedro hated Sammy so much, he hurt the boy.
"That Pedro --- a smack in the face, and then tell him, 'You're like the devil,'" Norma Hernandez said, referring to her nephew.
Detectives are still looking for a motive. Sammy Santana told CBS 2's Guzman since he is waiting to talk to detectives he would not talk on camera. He said he does not remember anyone telling him, "Pedro thought you had the devil in you and hit you."
But Miller has learned that when detectives first questioned Pedro Hernandez in Camden, N.J., and put Patz's picture in front of him he allegedly said, "He reminds me of a snot-nosed 3-year-old nephew I had back then. The devil was in his face."
"The detectives were very deliberate in saying what could we learn about his contact and conduct with other children in the family, because the investigator said it would be very unusual for him to commit the murder of a small child and for that to be his only incident with a child over a period of three decades," CBS' John Miller said.
When CBS 2's Guzman spoke to Sammy Santana, he said, "I don't know one way or the other if my uncle did it," but added if Pedro Hernandez did indeed kill Patz, thenhe should pay the price.
Pedro Hernandez is still being held at Bellevue Hospital.
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