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McCullough out of prison after 4 years
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Campus Crime The following was taken directly from the NIU Police Department. Anyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proved guilty in a court of law. The NIU Police Department provides police reports online at niu.edu/publicsafety/. April 9 1. At 1 a.m., possession of cannabis 30 grams and under was reported to have occurred at Stevenson North. This case was closed by exception. 2. At 5:10 p.m., criminal defacement of property was reported to have occurred at the Holmes Student
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Center. This case was suspended. April 10 3. At 12:01 a.m. Feb. 19, theft $500 and under was reported to have occurred at the Holmes Student Center. This case was referred to another agency. 4. At 12:01 a.m. April 8,
harassment by telephone was reported to have occurred at Grant North. This case is open. April 11 5. At 7 p.m. Feb. 1, battery was reported to have occurred at Stevenson North. This case was opened April 11.
76, of Seattle, has been released from jail with no bond after being charged with the murder of 7-year-old Maria Ridulph, of Sycamore. On Sept. 14, 2012, McCullough, a retired security guard, was convicted in Ridulph’s 1957 killing and sentenced to life in prison. Jack McCullough After 55 years, its one of the oldest unsolved U.S. cases ever to go to trial. McCullough’s conviction was dismissed Friday granting him a new trial and the case is to be continued on April 22. Richard Schmack, DeKalb County State’s Attorney, is currently reviewing the impact of the ruling, according to a news release. “[McCullough] is pleased that the court undertook a very careful and thoughtful analysis of the issues he presented in his petitions,” said Gabe Fuentes, attorney for McCullough, in a news release. “The court’s granting of his petitions was a very positive step for him as was his release [Friday] on bail. [McCullough] also
ecutor in this case, [Schmack], for having acknowledged the errors that were the basis for the court’s decision [Friday].” Schmack conducted a sixmonth review and concluded that McCullough couldn’t have killed Ridulph. Schmack found no evidence of McCullough being in Sycamore during the time of the crime as he was found to have been making a phone call in downtown Rockford. This backed up McCullough’s claim that he had been 35 miles away from Sycamore in Rockford when Ridulph was abducted. Thousands of pages of improperly excluded police reports more than 20-years old contain a wealth of information pointing to McCullough’s innocence and absolutely nothing showing guilt, Schmack said in a news release. In a 2012 letter, McCullough said he thought it was unfair how FBI records, which supposedly proved he was in Rockford at the time of Ridulph’s disappearance, could not be used because witnesses were dead and could not be examined. The reports were then treated as though “they did not exist” at the trial.