The date for solving 'cold cases', those unsolved murders from the past, has just been pushed back a little farther. 72-year-old Jack McCullough has been found guilty edit after a DNA breakthrough placed him at the scene of the abduction of seven-year-old Maria Ridulph in 1957.
McCullough, 18 at the time, was initially considered a suspect but was out thanks to an alibi, which turns out to have been fabricated. Maria's remains were exhumed from her grave in July 2011 so that modern-day forensic scientists could try to find DNA evidence to implicate McCullough that could not be detected in 1958.
McCullough was indicted on one count of child sexual assault and four counts of indecent liberties with a child in October last year according to the Illinois State Police and the Dekalb County State's Attorney's Office. The victim had told investigators that McCullough raped her when she was 14 in Sycamore, the statement said. He was convicted of unlawful communication over his interaction with the girl and fired from his job with the police in Milton, Washington.
