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Luigi Mangione’s shifting defense strategy. A victim’s lover takes the stand. Plus, Keith Morrison's new podcast.
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Dateline Roundup: Supreme Court Reinstates Pedro Hernandez's Conviction in Etan Patz Case
At 29:27 · chapter starts 28:30
Alex Laray and Andrea Canning close the Dateline Roundup with a major development in one of America's most iconic cold cases. Etan Patz disappeared from New York City in 1979 at just six years old — one of the first missing children to appear on milk cartons — and his case went unsolved for decades until Pedro Hernandez confessed. After a 2015 mistrial and a 2017 conviction, Hernandez's 25-years-to-life sentence seemed settled, until a federal appeals court overturned it on the grounds that the trial judge gave a prejudicial answer to a juror's question about his confession. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that the appeals court had exceeded its authority in overturning the state court conviction. Hernandez, who has maintained his confession was made during a period of mental illness, will not receive a new trial [1] — Alex Laray "The Supreme Court reversed the federal appeals court that had overturned Pedro Hernandez's conviction for killing six-year-old Etan Patz. H…" 28:20 .
Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared on his way to the bus stop in New York City on May 25, 1979, becoming one of the first missing children to appear on milk cartons.
Pedro Hernandez was convicted of killing Etan Patz in 2017 after a 2015 mistrial and sentenced to 25 years to life — a sentence the Supreme Court has now upheld.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal appeals court exceeded its authority in overturning Pedro Hernandez's state conviction, reinstating his prison sentence.
Keith Morrison returns to a case he first covered in 2013 — the murder of teen track star Mickey Costanzo in a tiny Nevada casino town. It has obsession, jealousy, a love triangle, and a jailhouse interview. Morrison calls it Shakespearean, and he's not wrong.
