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After New York police dug into a SoHo basement in April searching for the remains of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old New Yorker who disappeared on May 25, 1979, Pedro Hernandez did something very unusual, family members told the press: He called his sister in New York, to talk about the case.

Working off a tip from an unnamed source, New York police on Friday arrested and arraigned Mr. Hernandez. It was the 33rd anniversary of the day when the tow-headed Etan, lugging a backpack painted with cartoon elephants, disappeared as he walked alone to school for the first time. The subsequent search for Etan sparked national 鈥渟tranger-danger鈥� fears and turned May 25 into the federally-recognized National Missing Children鈥檚 Day.

The man who had allegedly kept a sinister secret for 33 years broke down during a 3 陆 hour interrogation on Wednesday. He appeared both remorseful and 鈥渞elieved,鈥� New York detectives said.

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According to police, Hernandez, then an 18-year-old stockboy at a SoHo bodega, said he lured Etan into the basement with a soda, then strangled him and put the body into a plastic bag, which was then presumably taken to a city landfill. Hernandez told police that he realized Etan was 鈥渢he one鈥� after feeling an 鈥渦rge to kill.鈥�

While little is known about Hernandez, the story given so far by police is peculiar, experts say, for several reasons, including the apparent lack of sexual assault motive and the fact that Hernandez, described by some as shy and standoffish, appears to have retreated from the act into a quiet middle-class existence in New Jersey, perhaps never hurting anyone again.

But whether as a precursor of the crime or a result, Hernandez, a disabled construction worker, reportedly has wrestled with psychological problems for years. On Friday, as Hernandez remained on suicide watch at Bellevue Hospital, his attorney, Harvey Fishbein, said Hernandez had a 鈥渓ong psychiatric history,鈥� including hallucinations, which a New York judge took into consideration, ordering a psychiatric evaluation to see whether he鈥檚 fit to stand trial.

Hernandez鈥檚 call to his sister and his 鈥渞elief鈥� at unburdening his story hints at a criminal case that strays beyond the standard profile of a killer. For one thing, Hernandez had talked about doing 鈥渁 bad thing鈥� as far back as 1981, though no one ever took him seriously enough to report that.

Especially if reports that Hernandez has a serious illness are true, the confession 鈥渨ould be a revelation that would make sense, given a review of your life,鈥� Mark Safarik, a former FBI profiler, tells the Monitor.

Certainly, Hernandez鈥檚 alleged secret may be more complicated 鈥� and disturbing 鈥� than police are letting on. While investigators say they have no evidence of sexual assault, and Hernandez has given no motive, it鈥檚 unlikely to investigators following the case that there wasn鈥檛 a sexual component to the crime. One explanation given by family is that, especially when he was younger, Hernandez was 鈥渉ot-headed鈥� and temper-prone. But a bad temper alone hardly a murderer makes, says Mr. Safarik.

鈥淲hat they鈥檙e putting out about him, that he had a short fuse and could really fly off the handle, that doesn鈥檛 go with the planning, the luring 鈥� those are things you do when you鈥檙e trying to get a 6-year-old for sexual purposes,鈥� says the former FBI agent. 鈥淭he problem in any case with no physical evidence is that [police are] left with behavioral evidence.鈥�

But that doesn鈥檛 mean Hernandez fits into a neat box, either. Most child killers and molesters are psychopaths who, unlike Hernandez, often don鈥檛 display remorse or sorrow at what they鈥檝e done. At the same time, even child molesters on average only kill 1 out of 100 victims, usually releasing them before anyone even knows they鈥檝e been missing.

"It looks like his crime was spontaneous rather than methodically planned," Northeastern University criminologist Jack Levin told ABC News. "Based on statistics concerning abductions by strangers and acquaintances, I would speculate that his motivation involved a sexual assault."

"It is conceivable that Hernandez never again molested a youngster," he added. "This is particularly likely in light of his confession."

Criminologists warn that, especially considering there are professed mental issues, that Hernandez may also have falsely confessed.

But given the many false leads, as well as several false confessions, in the Patz case already, experts say Hernandez must have given detectives something during the interrogation, which included a tour of the former bodega basement, that was corroborative.

One of his Maple Shade neighbors, Dan Wollick, told the New York Daily News that Hernandez seemed like a regular neighbor, a 鈥渘ice guy鈥� who mowed his lawn and waved hello to passers-by.聽 鈥淚t had to be eating him alive,鈥� Mr. Wollick said.

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