Frustrated Jury in Etan Patz Trial, but No Rancor for the Holdout
Three weeks ago, seven men and five women entered a windowless room in a courthouse in Lower Manhattan to decide the fate of Pedro Hernandez, who had confessed to killing 6-year-old Etan Patz decades earlier…
Their discussions were rigorous. Some jurors had kept several pads full of notes. A group comprised almost entirely of white-collar professionals, they made seven spreadsheets with details from the case, including Mr. Hernandez’s medical history and timelines from the case. There were times when the discussions grew heated, though never meanspirited.
“It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t torture, either,” [Adam Sirois] said. “I feel all of my fellow jurors were very respectful of my position. I’m proud to be on a jury with all of them, even if I don’t agree with all of them about the decision.”
‘Hermit of the Jungle’ Guards a Brazilian Ghost City Rich in History
If anyone in this remote corner of the Amazon can attest to how dreams unfold in unanticipated ways, Mr. [Shigeru ] Nakayama certainly can…
In one of the hovel’s rooms, Mr. Nakayama has created a museum of sorts to honor Airão Velho. He arrived here in 2001 after homesteading in a nearby part of the Amazon where the authorities created a national park, evicting settlers. Around that time, a descendant of the Bizerra clan, which used to control Airão Velho, asked Mr. Nakayama to care for the abandoned outpost…
“The city didn’t agree with me, and I didn’t agree with the city,” he said, explaining that he viewed tropical agriculture as his calling even as his siblings prospered in urban business ventures.
