Maria Ridulph Case: Jack McCullough to be sentenced for the 1957 murder of Illinois girl

(AP) CHICAGO - A 73-year-old man convicted this fall in the 1957 slaying of a 7-year-old girl is scheduled to return to court for sentencing.

Jack McCullough faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he stands before the judge on Monday in the DeKalb County community of Sycamore, where Maria Ridulph was abducted more than a half century ago.

During the trial, prosecutors contended that McCullough, who was 17-year-old John Tessier at the time, approached Maria and a friend as they were playing in the front yard of Maria's home.

Prosecutors said when the other girl ran home to get her mittens, McCullough dragged Maria into an alley where he choked her and stabbed her before dumping her body in a wooded area.

McCullough was convicted in September.

Complete coverage of the Maria Ridulph cold case murder on Crimesider