© 2024 WNIJ and WNIU
Northern Public Radio
801 N 1st St.
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-9000
Northern Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Inmate Claims Former DeKalb County Prosecutors Broke Their Promises For McCullough Trial Testimony

Joiner History Room

 
 
An Illinois prison inmate says prosecutors broke their promises after he testified in the trial involving the death of Maria Ridulph.

The Sycamore girl was kidnapped in 1957, and her body was found several months later. Jack McCullough was arrested for the death decades later, and his trial was held in DeKalb County in 2012. Earlier this year, a judge vacated McCullough's conviction and freed him from prison.

Recently, Kirk Swaggerty filed a federal lawsuit related to his involvement with the 2012 proceedings.

The Rockford Register Star  reported that situation in the article, Witness in Sycamore cold-case murder sues former DeKalb County prosecutors, lawyer

Register Star reporter Kristen Zambo talked with WNIJ News and provided more information on Kirk Swaggerty and his lawsuit:
 
    

Jenna Dooley has spent her professional career in public radio. She is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois - Springfield. She returned to Northern Public Radio in DeKalb after several years hosting Morning Edition at WUIS-FM in Springfield. She is a former "Newsfinder of the Year" from the Illinois Associated Press and recipient of NIU's Donald R. Grubb Journalism Alumni Award. She is an active member of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association and an adjunct instructor at NIU.
Related Stories