State of Illinois v. Jack Daniel McCullough a/k/a Jack Tessier and John Cherry

Sycamore, IL - Murder Conviction for 1957 Murder Set Aside



The State of Illinois charged Jack McCullough, age 76, with first-degree murder asserting that he killed Maria Rudolph, age 7, in 1957. The child was abducted by a young man who called himself "Johnny" at6:45 p.m. Her remains were found by hikers five months later.



Defendant was charged with the child's death in 2012 and was convicted of her mother.



The evidence that was used to convict McCullough was reviewed by Richard Schmack, who concluded that he was not, in fact, the cause of the child's death.

The judgment and sentence were set aside by the Court when it was shown that Defendant was 40 miles away at the time of the abduction through phone records that showed that the made a collect call to his Mother at 6:57 p.m. on the day of the abduction from Rockford, Illinois.