Tagged: Jack McCullough

"Maria's got her justice."

Jack McCullough heard his guilty verdict Friday in a packed courtroom on the third floor of the DeKalb County Courthouse, less than 10 blocks from where he snatched Maria Ridulph on the snowy evening of Dec. 3, 1957.

Known in those days as John Tessier, the 72-year-old convicted kidnapper and murderer sat through five days of a bench trial before Judge James Hallock and heard a parade of prosecution witnesses detail circumstantial evidence that tied him to the seven-year-old girl’s disappearance from the corner of Archie Place and Center Cross Street in Sycamore.

The state has rested its case at the bench trial of Jack McCullough. The 72-year-old is accused in a DeKalb County cold case that dates back to 1957. Prosecutors say he kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old Maria Ridulph.