Patz Defendant’s Former Boss Saw No Sign of Mental Illness

A witness who testified on Tuesday in the Etan Patz murder trial said he remembered the man accused of killing the six-year-old boy as a reliable worker with no signs of mental illness.

Former building manager, Neil Flax, 56, portrayed Pedro Hernandez, the man charged with the second-degree murder of Patz back in 1979 as a hard worker and reliable employee. Flax managed several buildings in SoHo, including one he hired Hernandez to supervise at 111 Wooster Street in 1987.

“Pedro was good,” said Flax, “and always nice.” He first heard of Hernandez when Juan Santana, a former supervisor of a building Flax managed, recommended his brother-in- law for a job. Santana also helped Hernandez get a job as a clerk at the same bodega he worked on Prince Street and West Broadway.

Flax never imagined that his employee was linked to Patz’s disappearance.

“I remember the time (Etan) he disappeared,” said Flax on cross-examination. He recalled the transition of SoHo in the 1980’s from an industrial factory neighborhood to a trendy area with high-end condos and art galleries.

At 111 Wooster Street, Flax said residences were upstairs and a furniture shop was located downstairs. “He would keep the building clean,” said Flax of Hernandez’s maintenance skills. Pleased with Hernandez’s work ethic, Flax didn’t question Hernandez’s mental stability.

“He never complained of hearing voices or had difficulties doing his job,” said Flax of Hernandez, but he pointed out that he didn’t know why he left his job shortly after 1988.

Questions about Hernandez’s mental illness remain a crucial part of the trial. Hernandez confessed to strangling Patz on a video confession taped on May 23, 2012 and told investigators “it’s something that just happened.” Defense Attorney Harvey Fishbein argues that his client has an IQ of 70 and a personality disorder that limits him to distinguish what is real and what is not.