Jack McCullough found guilty in 1957 murder of 7-year-old Marie Ridulph

(AP) SYCAMORE, Ill. - A judge has convicted a 72-year-old man in the slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl in 1957 after snatching her from a small-town street corner where she was playing.

Judge James Hallock pronounced Jack McCullough guilty Friday in a crowded courtroom in Sycamore, 60 miles west of Chicago.

McCullough was around 17 when second-grader Maria Ridulph went missing in the small town where they both lived. He later enlisted in the military, and ultimately settled in Seattle where he worked as a Washington state police officer.

The case went cold but was reopened a few years ago after his old girlfriend provided evidence that called McCullough's alibi into question. He was arrested on July 1, 2011, at a retirement home in Washington state where he worked as a security guard.

Complete coverage of the Maria Ridulph cold case murder on Crimesider