Etan Patz jurors don’t reach verdict in 3rd day of deliberations

The jury in the Etan Patz retrial on Monday completed its third full day of deliberations without a verdict on murder and kidnapping charges against former bodega clerk Pedro Hernandez in the notorious child disappearance case.

Hernandez, 54, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, is accused of luring six-year-old Etan into the basement of a SoHo bodega where he worked in 1979 and strangling the boy. Hernandez was fingered by a relative and confessed in 2012, but now contends the confession was the result of a mental disorder.

Since getting the case last week after a three-month trial, jurors have asked for legal instructions on issues relating to confessions and readbacks of testimony from several witnesses. The jury in Hernandez’s first trial in 2015 deadlocked 11-1 for conviction after deliberations lasting 17 days.

The jury is scheduled to resume deliberations on Tuesday.