More than two years after Pedro Hernandez admitted to abducting and murdering 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979, a hearing set to start on Monday will determine whether his confession is admissible in the upcoming murder trial. Hernandez, who has a low I.Q. and suffers from mental illness, was questioned for seven hours in a prosecutor’s office in Camden, New Jersey, before he made an incriminating statement. At that point, NYPD detectives read Hernandez his rights and began recording the interrogation. Later, Hernandez pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer said detectives pressured him into making a false confession. If the judge determines that the confession was coerced, that could be the end of the case, as police have not revealed that they have any other evidence connecting Hernandez to the crime.
