New Police Photo Surfaces Of Suspect In Etan Patz Killing

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A new mugshot of the man authorities said confessed to killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979 was obtained by WCBS-TV on Wednesday evening.

Pedro Hernandez told investigators that on May 25, 1979, he lured Patz into the basement of a SoHo deli where he worked, choked him, put his body in a plastic bag and threw it out with the trash, police said.

Meanwhile, the boy's mother, Julie Patz, told reporters outside her SoHo apartment building on Tuesday she wishes it could all be over.

It's the first time Julie Patz had spoken out about the case since police arrested Hernandez last week.

"I wish this could end," Julie Patz told the Daily News. "This is taking my freedom away. I just wish this could be over.''

The constant attention from the latest developments in the decades-old case seems to be taking a toll on the Patz family.

"You have managed to make a difficult situation even worse," Stan Patz said in a notice to the media posted on the front of the family's building. "It is past time for you to leave me, my family and my neighbors alone."

When asked if she believed police arrested the right suspect, Julie Patz replied "No comment."

The boy's body was never found.

Hernandez's attorney has said his client has a long history of mental illness, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, factors that could make it difficult for prosecutors.

But relatives said Hernandez confessed to them and to others in his Camden church decades ago. His sister, Norma Hernandez, said Tuesday that she went to police back in the 1980s.

"As soon as I found out, as soon as I heard what was going on, I went to the police station," she said.

Camden police have not commented.

Police have also asked the Sanitation Department for records from May 1979 to possibly trace trash pickups at the Bodega and find out which landfills were used.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said he hopes the developments in the Patz case bring attention to another cold case.

Patrick Alford went missing from a foster home in Brooklyn in January of 2010. The 7-year-old was said to have been miserable in his foster home and often tried to run away.

Several large-scale searches failed to produce any clues. A $12,000 reward has been offered.

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