Jurors have started deliberations in the case against a man accused of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz , whose 1979 disappearance while on his way to school helped galvanize the national missing-children 's movement . Etan Patz 'is larger than his very little , important life , ' Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said in closing arguments at the Manhattan murder trial of Pedro Hernandez . She asked jurors to convict Hernandez of murder , saying he was a calculated killer who committed a terrible crime and then spent three decades trying to hide from it . Shira Patz and Stanley Patz , the sister and father of Etan Patz , arrive for court , in New York , Wednesday : Jurors have started deliberations in the case against Pedro Hernandez . Pedro Hernandez , left , is accused of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz , right , who vanished in 1979 . Hernandez confessed in 2012 in a case that has confounded law enforcement for decades . Etan 's body was never found , nor was any trace of clothing or his belongings . He had never been considered a suspect - his name appears only once in law enforcement paperwork at the time Etan disappeared . The defense says the admissions are made up , the ravings of a mentally ill man who sees visions and has a low IQ . A teenage stock clerk at the corner shop , Hernandez knew there were children in and out of the store , and Etan had been there countless times , the prosecutor said . She said Hernandez saw Etan with a dollar and calculated he wanted a drink , so he asked him to the basement . 'Day after day he saw this beautiful little boy , ' she said . 'One day , he acted on an impulse and did something terrible to this little boy . ' She said the motive was sexual , and Etan likely fought back . 'The quickest and easiest way to shut him up and shut him up permanently was to choke him to death , ' she said . Rosemary Hernandez , left , and Becky Hernandez , the wife and daughter of Pedro Hernandez , arrive for court in New York , on Wednesday . Stanley Patz , left , the father of Etan Patz , arrives for court on Wednesday , although his estranged wife Julie , right , has n't been pictured at court in recent days . Illuzzi-Orbon said his first confession to a prayer group shortly after the boy disappeared was the most accurate - he was confessing to God , and he was trying to unburden himself . Prayer circle members testified that Hernandez made tearful admissions during a 1979 retreat that matched some of what he told authorities on video 33 years later : He gave a child a soda , took him to the store basement and choked him . Two said Hernandez also admitted abusing the boy ; when talking to police , Hernandez denied molesting Etan . A former neighbor and his ex-wife also testified he told them about killing someone in New York . The Maple Shade , New Jersey , man made the stunning admissions to police after authorities received a tip from a relative who saw news reports of the case in 2012 . Site : Hernandez was working in 1979 at this corner convenience store , near where Etan was last seen where the man said he threw the boy 's body into trash . ' I grabbed him by the neck and started choking him , ' said Hernandez , now 54 . ' I was nervous . My legs were jumping . I wanted to let go , but I just could n't let go . I felt like something just took over me . ' Defense attorney Harvey Fishbein said the confession video shows ' a man sitting there convinced he killed a child - on a day that he does n't know , at a time he does n't know , at a location near a bus stop that he does n't know . ' The defense has suggested that the real killer is a convicted pedophile jailed in Pennsylvania who was the longtime suspect in the case . That man , Jose Ramos , denies involvement . However , a former federal prosecutor and FBI agent testified that Ramos told investigators he was '90 percent ' sure a boy he took from a park was Etan , and Hernandez 's former prison cellmate testified that Ramos admitted molesting the boy . 'Two confessions , ' Fishbein said . 'Which person is more likely to have been a predator ? ' Etan 's photo was one of the first on milk cartons . The day he went missing , May 25 , became National Missing Children 's Day . Etan Patz 's 1979 disappearance while on his way to school helped galvanize the national missing-children 's movement .
Jurors have started deliberations in the case against Joan Illuzzi-Orbon , the man accused of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979 . Assistant District Attorney Pedro Hernandez asked jurors in the ten week trial to convict Hernandez of murder . She described him as a calculated killer who committed a terrible crime and then spent three decades trying to hide from it . The defense says Hernandez 's admissions are made up , the ravings of a mentally ill man who sees visions and has a low IQ .