Man found guilty of murdering six-year-old boy who was one of first missing children to appear on milk cartons
Footage shows the scene in Birkenhead as hunt for
Family of missing Kamiyah Mobley react to her dis
Tignes avalanche: At least four killed and three
The video will start in 8 Cancel
Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
A former deli worker has been found guilty of murdering a six-year-old boy who became the first missing child to appear on milk cartons.
The disappearance of Etan Patz has been one of the highest-profile unsolved cases in the United States for nearly 40 years.
The little boy vanished on his way to school in New York's SoHo neighbourhood on May 25, 1979.
It was the first time the youngster had been allowed to walk to his school bus stop alone.
Former delicatessen worker Pedro Hernandez, 56, was convicted of murder and kidnapping by a jury in New York on Tuesday.
The guilty verdict came during his second trial in state court.
It followed a 2015 mistrial that occurred after a single juror refused to go along with the 11 others who were convinced of his guilt.
Jurors found Hernandez guilty of murder and kidnapping but acquitted him on a second murder charge.
After the verdict was read in court, Patz's father, Stan, shared hugs with prosecutors.
Speaking softly as he sat alongside prosecutors in the courtroom, Mr Patz said: "The Patz family has waited a long time, but we have finally found some measure of justice.
"I'm really grateful this jury finally came back with what I've known for a long time: that this person, Pedro Hernandez, did a really terrible thing."
Etan's disappearance raised awareness of the plight of abducted children and their parents.
The boy became one of the first missing children to appear on milk cartons seeking information, and his disappearance also helped bring about a national database of such cases.
Hernandez confessed to police in 2012, saying on videotape that he had lured the child to the basement of the deli where he worked near the Patz home and strangled him.
He later recanted, and his lawyers argued the confession was the product of mental illness, including hallucinations, and coercion by the police.
(Photo: Reuters)
Patz's body was never found despite a massive search, and prosecutors had no physical evidence tying Hernandez to the disappearance.
Instead, they relied largely on Hernandez's confession and on statements he had made to others over the years referring to the kidnapping.
Hernandez's court-appointed lawyer, Harvey Fishbein, said he would challenge the verdict.
He told reporters: "There will be an appeal, because over the years we have established serious legal errors in this case, and I hate to say it, but I'm confident we will be back here someday."
Hernandez will be sentenced on February 28.
Hernandez's defence lawyers also implicated another suspect, an imprisoned child molester named Jose Ramos who was long considered a prime suspect in Etan's disappearance.
(Photo: Getty)
The verdict came on the ninth day of deliberation, following a three-month trial.
Jurors in the 2015 trial deliberated for 18 days without reaching a unanimous verdict, which is required for conviction.
Some of the jurors in the first trial returned to observe the second trial.
Several jurors told reporters the deliberations were difficult but that they had resolved disagreements respectfully.
One juror, Mike Castellon, said the jury accepted that Hernandez suffered from mental illness but concluded he could still tell "right from wrong."
"The defence threw a lot of theories out there - I call it spaghetti on the wall," he added.
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the case had "haunted" families across the country for decades.
"Etan's legacy will endure through his family's long history of advocacy on behalf of missing children," he said.