Video Shows Detectives Comforted Suspect While Confessing To 1979 Case Of Missing Etan Patz
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - The man suspected of killing a 6-year-old boy in one of New York City's most notorious missing children's cases burst into tears during a videotaped confession as detectives hugged and comforted him.
The video played Thursday in Manhattan state Supreme Court was the first taped confession by Pedro Hernandez. He was arrested in May 2012 for the killing of Etan Patz who disappeared May 25, 1979. But it's the second tape viewed by Judge Maxwell Wiley, who must decide whether the confessions will be used as evidence in Hernandez' upcoming murder trial, not whether the admissions are true.
Detective David Rosario testified that on first questioning, Hernandez denied knowing anything about Patz. He said he had never seen the child at the bodega where he worked on the day of the boy's disappearance, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported.
Video Shows Detectives Comforted Suspect While Confessing To 1979 Case Of Missing Etan Patz
Then Detective Rosario noticed the cross he wore around his neck and asked Hernandez, if he died that day, would he go to heaven?
Hernandez said, yes and that he hadn't done anything wrong and he repented for his sins.
He then asked the detectives, "Don't you have the guy that did that kid? The guy that's in jail?"
But as Cornell reported, within a couple of hours, Hernandez broke down and was confessing. He said, "I'm sorry, it shouldn't have happened, I did it."
The boy's body has never been found. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty and his attorney, Harvey Fishbein, says the confessions are false and his client didn't understand his rights.
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