NEW YORK – A lawyer for a man accused of strangling 6-year-old New York City boy in 1979 says his client is mentally ill and has a history of hallucinations.
Pedro Hernandez was arraigned on a murder charge Friday, the 33rd anniversary of Etan Patz’s disappearance. He has been held without bail.
The 51-year-old Hernandez appeared in court via video camera from a conference room at Bellevue Hospital, where he was admitted after making comments about wanting to kill himself.
Court-appointed lawyer Harvey Fishbein told the judge Hernandez is bipolar and schizophrenic.
He didn’t enter a plea. A judge ordered a psychological examination.
Hernandez was arrested Thursday after telling police he strangled Etan, when he was an 18-year-old stock boy at a convenience store near where the boy waited for his school bus.
Lawyer: Man accused of killing NYC boy Etan Patz in 1979 mentally ill, hallucinates
The Associated Press
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