Suspect in Etan Patz Case Transferred to Detention Center
The man who confessed to killing a 6-year-old New York City boy who went missing in 1979 has been transferred to a detention center.
Pedro Hernandez was transferred to the Manhattan Detention Complex on July 18. He had previously been held at Bellevue Hospital Center's psychiatric ward, but was moved to Rikers Island jail in late June.
Prosecutors say the 51-year-old Hernandez admitted two months ago to killing Etan Patz in a surprise confession in one of the most baffling missing children's cases nationwide.
Hernandez is being held without bail. He was arraigned at Bellevue in May after Hernandez made suicidal comments and his attorney raised a mental illness claims, as WNYC reported:
His attorney, Harvey Fishbein, asked for a competency exam to be held at a later date. Â Fishbein told the judge his client is bipolar and schizophrenic and known to have hallucinations.
In the criminal complaint, prosecutors say Hernandez lured Etan into the bodega, strangled him, stuffed his body in a bag and placed it among other trash bags about a block and a half away. He has been formally charged with second degree murder.
His next court date is Oct. 1. The Manhattan district attorney's office said the appearance was pushed to the fall so that both sides could investigate "in a measured and fair manner."
There is no physical evidence or motive linking Hernandez to the crime, police said.
With the Associated Press
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