Summary A trial is set to begin Friday in a 35-year-old murder and kidnapping case
NEW YORK: (AP) - A trial is set to begin Friday in a 35-year-old murder and kidnapping case that shaped America s approach to missing children.
The defendant, Pedro Hernandez, was a teenage shop worker in 1979 when New York police jotted down his name among those of many people they met while searching fervently for a missing 6-year-old boy named Etan Patz.
But it wasn t until 2012 that Hernandez emerged as a suspect. The apparent breakthrough in the case was based on a tip and a videotaped confession that prosecutors say was foreshadowed by remarks he made to friends and relatives in the 1980s.
His defense hinges on convincing jurors that the confession is false, along with suggesting that the real killer may be a convicted Pennsylvania child molester who was a prime suspect for years.
Opening statements are set for Friday.
In considering evidence that reaches back to 1979, jurors will delve into a missing child case that helped inject a new protectiveness into American parenting. Last seen walking alone to his school bus stop, Etan became one of the first missing children featured on milk cartons. His parents helped advocate for legislation that created a nationwide law-enforcement framework to address such cases, and the anniversary of his disappearance became National Missing Children s Day.
The trial is expected to last up to three months and feature witnesses including Etan s mother, psychologists, an inmate informant who knows Hernandez, and possibly other informants testifying against the earlier suspect.
The seven-man, five-woman jury was chosen from a pool of about 700 people. Some openly wondered about bringing a case to trial after so many years.
"A lot of time has elapsed, and a lot of things have probably changed. ... It s 35-year-old memories," one man said during questioning earlier this week. He was not selected.
