1957 murder goes cold again as judge reverses conviction
CHICAGO — A 76-yearold man who a prosecutor says was wrongly convicted in the 1957 killing of an Illinois schoolgirl was released Friday shortly after a judge vacated his conviction, meaning one of the oldest cold cases to be tried in U.S. history has officially gone cold again.
Jack McCullough was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 in the death of 7-yearold Maria Ridulph in Sycamore, about 70 miles west of Chicago. In a review of documents last year, a prosecutor found evidence that supported the former policeman’s long-held alibi that he had been 40 miles away in Rockford at the time of Maria’s disappearance.
Judge William P. Brady said Friday that Maria’s murder had haunted the small town of Sycamore for decades, and that he had also lost sleep over the case.
“I’m not blind to the importance of this proceeding to many people,” he said, minutes before ordering McCullough’s release.
McCullough, in handcuffs, appeared shaken by the decision, rocking back and forth, then taking a deep breath. Family members behind him hugged and cried.
On the other side of the room, Maria’s brother and sister displayed little emotion.
A few hours later, McCullough’s stepdaughter, Janey O’Connor, drove McCullough away from a jail near the courthouse. McCullough, wearing street clothes, smiled broadly to reporters from the back seat.
DeKalb County State’s Attorney Richard Schmack, who pushed hard for McCullough’s release, told Brady earlier that his office wouldn’t retry McCullough if a retrial was ordered.
Schmack, elected as state’s attorney as McCullough’s 2012 trial was coming to an end, filed a scathing report with the court last month. He had conducted a six-month review of evidence, including newly discovered phone records, and his report picked the case apart, point-bypoint.
Maria’s brother, 70-yearold Charles Ridulph, said at the hearing that he would continue to push for a special prosecutor in the case. Brady will consider that motion at an April 22 hearing.
Maria’s disappearance made headlines nationwide in the 1950s, when reports of child abductions were rare.
She had been playing outside in the snow with a friend on Dec. 3, 1957, when a young man approached, introduced himself as “Johnny” and offered them piggyback rides. Maria’s friend dashed home to grab mittens, and when she came back, Maria and the man were gone.
Forest hikers found her remains five months later.
McCullough has maintained his innocence throughout, saying he had “an iron-clad alibi” that he had been in Rockford, attempting to enlist with the U.S. Air Force at a military recruiting station, on the night Maria disappeared.