A judge is considering whether 50 pounds of potatoes and a produce box can be used as evidence in the trial of a man accused of killing six-year-old Etan Patz in Manhattan in 1979 . The suspect , Pedro Hernandez , told authorities that he choked Etan in the basement of the convenience store where he worked after luring the boy down the stairs with a promise of a soda . He told investigators he put the boy 's body in a plastic garbage bag , then put the bag inside a banana box and walked it about a block and a half away and put it down in an alcove with other trash . The body was never recovered . Part of Hernandez 's job at the store was to lug boxes of produce , soda and beer up and down the basement stairs into the shop in SoHo . Bizarre request : The defense for Pedro Hernandez ( pictured in court in November 2012 ) have asked to use 50lbs of potatoes in court to show he would not have been able to life Etan Patz 's body as he claimed . ' I put it on my shoulder . I walked to the right , ' he said of the box during his videotaped confession . ' I was strong at the time . I was 18 . I was strong . ' Victim : Etan Patz was just six when he vanished while walking to his school bus in Manhattan in 1979 . But attorneys for Hernandez , now 54 , say the confession was made up and Hernandez is mentally ill. Attorney Harvey Fishbein suggests Hernandez was scrawny , weighing only about 115 pounds , and could not have carried a heavy box that far . He is asking to bring in the 50 pounds of potatoes and the produce box for jurors to demonstrate the weight of the body . On the missing-child poster , Etan 's weight was listed as 50 pounds . But prosecutors say the measurement was a mistake made by frantic parents , and medical records from just a few months before Etan vanished have the boy weighing about 37 pounds . His mother , Julie , testified that he was very small for his age . Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon argued that the method for showing how heavy the box would be is unscientific and should not be shown to jurors because it would be wrong . 'It is incompetent evidence and unscientific because carrying a body is vastly different than potatoes , ' she said . It would be the second piece of unconventional evidence on whether the confession is plausible . Earlier in the trial , prosecutors showed jurors a photo of a little boy crouching in a produce box , intending to show that Etan 's body would have fit into such a box . The boy is Etan 's size and shape but is n't identified . Defense attorney Alice Fontier argued that the photos were equally as unscientific . 'The people have been given free reign , ' she said . 'We need to be allowed to introduce ' the box . In court : Hernandez 's family leave court in his trial earlier this month . His daughter Becky Hernandez , left , testified earlier this week about the negative effect her father 's arrest has had on her . Seeking justice : Stanley Patz , Etan 's father , and his daughter Shira Patz , left , arrive in court on March 9 . The judge said he would decide on Thursday . Hernandez made the surprising confession in 2012 to authorities who were interviewing him based on a tip from a relative . No physical evidence has been recovered , but at least five people have testified that over the years , Hernandez said he had killed a child in New York City . He moved from SoHo , where he had been staying with his sister and brother-in-law shortly after Etan disappeared , to New Jersey , where he has been living ever since , most recently in Maple Shade . Etan 's parents helped galvanize the national missing-children 's movement . May 25 , the day he disappeared , is National Missing Children 's Day .
Suspect Pedro Hernandez previously told authorities he put the boy 's body in a banana box and carried it on his shoulder before dumping it . His defense team , who say he falsely confessed to the 1979 murder because he is mentally ill , want to show that his claims are not possible . They are asking a judge if they can enter 50lbs of potatoes - the weight Etan was said to be when he disappeared - and a produce box as evidence . Etan Patz , six , vanished while walking to the school bus alone for the first time and his body has never been found .