Missing boy suspect in hospital

A man who New York police say has confessed to choking to death a six-year-old boy in a landmark US missing-child case has been admitted to hospital on the day of his first court appearance after he told psychologists he wanted to kill himself.

Police say Pedro Hernandez, 51, confessed this week to strangling Etan Patz in the basement of a Manhattan convenience store in 1979.

Hernandez was taken to Bellevue Hospital to receive medication for an existing health problem.

While he was there, psychologists questioned him about his mental state.

Police say doctors later ordered him to be admitted to the hospital after he made suicidal statements.

A court spokesman said arrangements were being made to conduct the arraignment hearing via a video link from his hospital room.