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September 14, 2012 12:42 PM

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

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Jack Daniel McCullough (left) and Maria Ridulph

/ Sycamore Police Dept.; CBS

(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

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by Farver4girls September 16, 2012 10:06 PM EDT: I have trouble believing that this man got a fair trial. Fifty years have passed since the crime was committed. I'm sure that a lot of the forensic evidence has been lost and some of the witnesses may be passed.; Reply to this comment


by mh7760 September 16, 2012 10:45 AM EDT: I had to reply to this, because earlier e-mailer also cast doubt on this re-opened case and conviction, and that got on my nerves. Us in Illinois have been following this for a while and know stuff CBS did not think important enough to include. When McCullough was seventeen, when the murder happened, his name was Johhny Tessier. It was actually McCollough/Tessier's half sister. Katheran Caulfied, that was instrumental in re-opening the case, and it was not until then that the former girlfriend was re-interviewed.

Also, from the Trib: "In the days after Maria disappeared, McCullough's mother told law enforcement officials that her son, who was among a group of initial suspects, was home the night of December 3. But two of his half sisters testified that they never saw him that evening or at breakfast the next day".

This quote is from the major Chicago Newspaper yesterday (not the Sun Times" Also.
"Two other sisters [of McCullough]...testified that their mother admitted her deception on her deathbed in 1994. Tessier said their mother urged her to tell others that her son was involved in Maria's disappearance. So, if law enforcement hadn't just taken a mother's word, this would have been solved a long time ago.; Reply to this comment

by vielmann September 16, 2012 1:43 AM EDT

First of all, this case makes me sad. This girl, had she grown up normally, would have probably married and by now have had numerous grandchildren and even perhaps great-grand children. That said, I find the evidence weak. Death bed confessions, supposedly heard by his half sister. Lack of physical evidence, and faded memories don't make me comfortable with such judgments. If he is the guilty man, then good riddance. Enjoy prison. But I'm not comfortable with convictions on this type of evidence. There is a need for justice, but it has to be absolute.

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by mh7760 September 16, 2012 10:31 AM EDT: I had to reply to this, because an earlier e-mailer also cast doubt on this re-opened case and conviction, and that got on my nerves. Us in Illinois have been following this for a while and know stuff CBS did not think important enouch to include. When McCullough was seventeen, when the murder happened, his name was Johhny Tessier. It was actually McCollough/Tessier's half sister. Katheran Caulfied, that was instrumental in re-opening the case, and it was not until then that the former girlfriend was re-interviewed.

Also, "In the days after Maria disappeared, McCullough's mother told law enforcement officials that her son, who was among a group of initial suspects, was home the night of December 3. But two of his half sisters testified that they never saw him that evening or at breakfast the next day".

This quote is from the major Chicago Newspaper yesterday (not the Sun Times" Also.
"Two other sisters [of McCullough]...testified that their mother admitted her deception on her deathbed in 1994. Tessier said their mother urged her to tell others that her son was incolved in Maria's disappearance. So, if law enforcement hadn't just taken a mother's word, this would have been solved a long time ago.


by albertj829 September 15, 2012 12:45 PM EDT: I am happy that Maria's family finally have some justice for her murder, abet 55 years too late. But, gee, now the guy who killed her will go to prison for the rest of his life where he will get 3 meals a day, recreation, a place to sleep and all the health care he needs all at the tax payer's expense. What is wrong with this picture?; Reply to this comment


by rscherf1 September 15, 2012 7:45 AM EDT: Agreed. He broke the law, murder no less, before he even was a cop so that tells you he decided what laws should be obeyed and who the judge should be. Plus he should be made to reimburse the taxpayers all the money and benefits that he was paid. It doesn't matter whether he lived an honest life or not, the fact remains there are many people in jail right now that have lived an honest life. Do they get to be released?; Reply to this comment


by Persiphone September 15, 2012 4:31 AM EDT: A little girl was murdered and now they have bought the killer to justice. Murder is not a "mistake" it is a crime and Justice has been served through the courts by due process.; Reply to this comment


by tmittelstaed September 15, 2012 3:52 AM EDT: His mother shielded him, she knew he did it. He killed the little girl at his house. The mother's deathbed confession to his sister was reported to police by his sister, and the ex girlfriend actually still had the unused train ticket dating from that day that he had bought. there was also an eyewitness to him talking to the girl, and he was the last person who talked to her before she died.; Reply to this comment

by Lerianis4 September 15, 2012 12:53 AM EDT

50 years after the fact? Give me a break here. I personally would have just let this drop while marking the case 'solved'.

For one mistake 50+ years ago, they are now going to put him in prison until he dies, that he has likely more than made up for.

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by BWB2020 September 15, 2012 3:28 AM EDT: If the murdered girl is brought back to life by this killer, only then can it be said that such a crime has been "made up for".

As long as she stays dead, her killer should face due process, and receive the prescribed legal sanction.


by gaerlic September 15, 2012 9:10 AM EDT: How do you mistakenly kill a little girl, give me break. A crime was committed, and now the family has some closure. The scum got what he deserved and is going to prison. So dont tell me this was a mistake


by andacar September 15, 2012 9:24 AM EDT: Are you serious? There is no statute of limitations for murder. You call murdering a 7 year old girl "one mistake?" You're either a troll, very young or need some help.


by angelofurnightmare September 15, 2012 10:35 AM EDT: A child dies..she deserved justice...no matter how long it took!


by nhpm900 September 15, 2012 1:02 PM EDT: A mistake he has more than likely made up for?

The closest thing to making up for a murder is to be tried, convicted and sent to prison. That is what just happened and he can now begin to "make up for his mistake".

Moron.


by David_Tampa September 16, 2012 12:52 AM EDT: Mistake? Backing into a guardrail is a mistake.

by djseavy September 14, 2012 11:45 PM EDT

I'm not a cop, but I have to say that this should NOT reflect on law enforcement. He's the one who apparently had a big skeleton in the closet for years. There are many people out and about who've done something horrific in their lives and have been able to fool the world. Hopefully the evidence that convicted him was genuine, and not manufactured just to finally close a cold case. If he's truly guilty (not just because a judge says so 55 years after the fact) then he's not really lived a "free" life. He likely has had to look over his shoulders from the moment of the murder until the verdict. Wondering if - when he got out of bed every day, was he going to be arrested, etc. I hope that's how he lived, scared and paranoid. If so, then at least he's had more pressure on him than if he'd been found out years ago, and not had the opportunity to live amongst the rest of us without fear of capture. I can't imagine what kind of life that would be, but hopefully it was so difficult for him that he didn't sleep well, and never really enjoyed anything, knowing each day of freedom could be his last. Seems fitting to me.

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by askagain September 15, 2012 12:21 AM EDT: Although hard to imagine, McCullough may have straightened out as an adult. As a school teacher in the 1970s, I remember a few students who seemed headed for prison. Somehow, these kids grew-up, matured, and became responsible citizens and raised families of their own. Apparently, there were NAZIS who committed horrible atrocities who became respected citizens after WWII. Again, it is hard to imagine but may be possible.


by Lerianis4 September 15, 2012 12:58 AM EDT: askagain, it's not hard to imagine to me. One horrible event does not totally mean that someone is unable to reform.

Add to this that the old girlfriend could very well be lying about the 'new evidence' she gave (I would seriously question why she hadn't told the cops this 50+ years ago) and you have another reason to be leery of this.

by Jonseen September 14, 2012 6:12 PM EDT

What's hard to believe is that he was only 17 at the time, and this was 1957: a much more innocent era than we have now. The Etan Patz case happened in 1979, more than 20 years later. Violence and perversion are nothing new under the sun, I know that: but it was a very unusual crime for 1957 in my opinion.

If he did it, I hope he confesses and gives closure to the families. It's about time. But nothing can make up for the fact that he lived his entire life: and Marie Ridulph did not.

I agree with one of the other comments: I wonder what else has this guy done?

This does remind me of the BTK Killer too: he was living the life of an upright citizen, even went to church regularly. And he was a perverted serial killer on the side, but nobody suspected.

Reply to this comment


by marcie10000 September 14, 2012 9:09 PM EDT: Well said, Jonseen. Thank you. I too wonder about this killer's path. I great thank you to the prosecutors.


by Lerianis4 September 15, 2012 12:57 AM EDT: With all due respect, why would he 'confess and give closure to the families' if he really didn't do this?
Anyway, even if he did do this, it is one bad act that he has more than made up for in the past 50+ years.

This is why locking someone away for life for murder is not justice.... it's just vengeance and of the "eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind" kind at that.

I could understand if he was a multiple murderer, but there is no evidence of that.


by angelofurnightmare September 15, 2012 10:37 AM EDT: You can't "make up" for killing a child! Imagine if that were your little girl people. I don't care how amazing a person is afterwards...killing a child (or anyone for that matter) should never go unpunished

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