Nov. 25 (UPI) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said his office will retry Pedro Hernandez for the 1979 kidnapping and murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
Bragg’s office on Tuesday notified the New York County Supreme Court in Manhattan that Hernandez will be tried again, which will be his third trial in the matter after the first ended in a hung jury before he was convicted during the second trial, WABC-TV reported.
“After thorough review, the district attorney has determined that the available, admissible evidence supports prosecuting defendant on the charges of murder in the second degree and kidnapping in the first degree in this matter, and the people are prepared to proceed,” the Manhattan DA’s office said in the letter of notice.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled on Monday in the state courthouse in Manhattan.
Hernandez, 64, was found guilty and sentenced 25 years to life in prison after he admitted to luring Patz into a store basement in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood and killing the boy and was convicted in 2017.
A federal appellate court overturned the conviction in July and ordered Hernandez to be retried or released from custody.
The appellate court said the judge who presided over Hernandez’s second trial erred when responding to jury questions regarding his confessions to the police.
Patz’s disappearance led to the boy’s image appearing on milk cartons, which was the first time that tactic was used to help find a missing child, and the retrial will be the third time Hernandez is tried in the matter.
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