Etan Patz Suspect Had 'Intimate Details'

Pedro Hernandez may or may not be mentally ill, but cops think his confession to Etan Patz's murder is the real deal, sources tell the New York Post, because he had "intimate details" that only the child's killer could have known. Back in 1979, the sources say, police assembled facts—likely family details or identifiers including birthmarks and scars—that they kept quiet. “His parents shared with us confidential information that would only have been known by Etan or his sister,” says an FBI agent who worked the case in the early '80s.

Hernandez knows whatever those details might be, but police aren't talking yet just in case. Says a source: “Pretty seasoned detectives are confident this is the guy based on information he had. And the circle of people who know is very narrow. They’re not even telling other people in the unit.” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, however, is said to be livid that Hernandez was overlooked all these years, notes the Post. “Kelly is pissed," says a source. "The heat is on.” Says Kelly's predecessor: “I don’t second-guess good detectives, and we put good homicide detectives on this case. (But) I have no way of knowing if anyone overlooked the guy.” (More Etan Patz stories.)