[WA] Man arrested in murder of 7 year old Maria Ridulph later worked as a Lacey and Milton Police Officer

Maria Ridulph

...She was a "screamer," her mother said, and afraid of being alone in the dark...

...[Jack Daniels] McCullough, who changed his name from John Tessier in 1994, is a longtime Washington state resident who served as a police officer in Lacey and Milton... A former Lacey police officer charged with the 1957 slaying of an Illinois girl has a history of sexual and emotional abuse claims against him... An ex-wife also reported he emotionally abused her... Other witnesses and an ex-wife of McCullough's claim he sexually or emotionally abused them... In addition, an ex-wife says she found nude photos of a young relative of his taped to a drawer in his desk...

RETIRED COP ARRESTED IN 1957 SLAYING OF CHILD

Seattle Times

By Christine Clarridge and Mike Carter

July 1, 2011

[Excerpts] Authorities say an unstamped train ticket found among an ex-girlfriend's belongings unraveled a half-century-old alibi and led to the arrest of a Seattle man in connection with the slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl in 1957. Jack Daniels McCullough, 71, is being held in King County Jail in lieu of $3 million bail and is awaiting extradition to Illinois, according to a statement by the Dekalb County State's Attorney Clay Campbell. He has been charged with murder in the death of Maria Ridulph in Sycamore, Ill. McCullough, who changed his name from John Tessier in 1994, is a longtime Washington state resident who served as a police officer in Lacey and Milton, according to a document of probable cause. When he was arrested this week, he was working as the night watchman at The Four Freedoms House of Seattle, a 300-unit retirement home in North Seattle... McCullough, who was 18 at the time, was an early suspect but had an alibi... After McCullough got out of the military, he became an officer at the police departments in Lacey and Milton, according to the court documents. According to the document of probable cause, McCullough was dismissed from the Milton Police Department after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl... [Full article here]

NEW COURT DOCUMENTS SHOW COLD CASE SUSPECT LED DOUBLE LIFE

NWCN.com, KING 5 News

By Natasha Ryan

July 3, 2011

[Excerpts] ...Old childhood friends told police McCullough was "strange" and one called him a liar. In the court documents revealing this information, it also talked about a history of sexual abuse. A relative of McCullough told police he sexually abused her and other neighborhood girls. In addition, an ex-wife says she found nude photos of a young relative of his taped to a drawer in his desk. After his military service, McCullough worked for the Lacey and Milton Police Departments. While working in Milton, a scandal broke. A 14-year-old accused McCullough of sexually assaulting her. He plead guilty to a lesser charge and left the department... [Full article here]

COURT PAPERS: RETIRED COP HELD IN 1957 KILLING HAD TROUBLING HISTORY

Seattle Times

By Linda Shaw

July 2, 2011

[Excerpts] The 71-year-old Seattle man arrested last week in connection with the 1957 murder of a 7-year-old Illinois girl has a history of sexually abusing young girls, according to documents filed in King County District Court. Jack Daniels McCullough, a former policeman in two Western Washington cities, was arrested Wednesday at his home... The affidavit of probable cause, however, paints a picture of a man who, when he was growing up, allegedly molested a female relative as well as girls who lived in his neighborhood in the town of Sycamore, Ill... After he moved to Washington state as an adult, the papers also say he was fired from the Milton Police Department after he was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage runaway... A former wife told authorities that McCullough took nude photos of women for a photography business that didn't seem to make any money, and that she found nude photos of a young female relative taped to the bottom of a drawer... McCullough also worked at the Lacey Police Department... McCullough, then known as John Tessier, told authorities that on the day Maria disappeared he was in Chicago... He joined the Air Force shortly after... [Full article here]

SUSPECT IN OLD ILL. SLAYING ACCUSED OF MOLESTATION

Associated Press

By John O'connor

Sunday, July 3, 2011

[Excerpts] A Washington state man charged with the 1957 slaying of an Illinois girl [7-year-old Maria Ridulph] has a history of sexual and emotional abuse claims against him - one of which cost him his job as a police officer... McCullough, as a police officer in the early 1980s, was accused of sexually molesting a runaway who was 13 or 14... Other witnesses and an ex-wife of McCullough's claim he sexually or emotionally abused them and that at one time he allegedly had a photography business in which he invited prostitutes into his home to photograph them nude. Maria disappeared in the early evening of Dec. 3, 1957 from a street corner in Sycamore. Playmate Kathy Chapman, now 61 and living in St. Charles, Ill., has said a man who called himself "Johnny" approached and offered piggyback rides to the girls... Maria's body, so decomposed a cause of death could not be determined, was discovered in April 1958 in Jo Daviess County, about 120 miles away. McCullough, who at the time went by the name John Tessier, claimed he was in Rockford and Chicago that da... The affidavit includes several accusations of sexual abuse... Another girl claimed he "habitually molested her outdoors behind tall bushes." According to the affidavit, the girl said she knew he was "doing that to other neighborhood girls as well, because he would bring her along to act as a lookout while he did so." McCullough served in the Army at Fort Lewis, Wash., and later worked as a police officer for two Washington cities... An ex-wife also reported he emotionally abused her...... [Full article here]

GIRL KIDNAPPED: 20 FBI AGENTS HUNT CHILD

The Daily Mirror

Larry Harnisch

December 6, 2007

[Excerpts] ...Maria was the youngest of four children born to Michael and Frances Ridulph, who lived in a white frame house with blue shutters at 616 Archie Place ** in Sycamore, a rural town of 7,000 people 68 miles west of Chicago. The Ridulphs had two older daughters, Patricia 16, and Kay, 15, and a son, Charles, 11. Although many people lived or worked on farms, Michael had a job at one of the few factories in town. The missing girl was a second-grader with dark brown hair and brown eyes, the Chicago Tribune said. She was 44 inches tall, weighed 53 pounds, got good grades and received awards for perfect attendance in Sunday school at Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. John. According to her mother, Maria was high-strung. "My daughter was a nervous girl and if she got in any trouble would become hysterical," Frances said. "Someone would probably have to kill her to keep her quiet. I am the only one who could calm her down." She was a "screamer," her mother said, and afraid of being alone in the dark... According to Mrs. Thomas Cliffe and a neighbor, Stanley Wells, Maria and Cathie were screaming as they chased each other around the trunk of a huge elm tree a little before 7 p.m., Dec. 3, 1957... Cathie said that a young man about 24 who called himself Johnny introduced himself to the girls... No photographs of the crime scene were taken... Maria E. Ridulph, born March 12, 1950, died Dc. 3, 1957, is buried at Elmwood Cemetery... [Full article here]

TACOMA WASHINGTON UPDATE:

COULD SUSPECT IN 1957 ABDUCTION, SLAYING BE TIED TO UNSOLVED CASES LOCALLY?

News Tribune

Stacey Mulick

July 5, 2011

[EXCERPTS] Tacoma detectives are looking into the background of a 71-year-old Seattle man arrested recently in the abduction and slaying of a young Illinois girl more than 50 years ago to see whether he could be tied to any similar types of unsolved cases in the city.... Among the city's unsolved slayings are the 1986 deaths of JENNIFER BASTIAN and MICHELLA WELCH. Welch, 12, was found slain in the North End's Puget Park on March 26, 1986; Bastian, 13, was found slain in Point Defiance Park in Aug. 28 after she'd been missing for nearly a month. Both had been riding their bikes at the time they disappeared... Besides Welch and Bastian, there are several other unsolved slayings and disappearances involving girls in Pierce County. Among them:

• ADRE'ANNA JACKSON, 10. Her remains were found in April 2006 in a vacant lot in Lakewood, four months after she'd disappeared while on her way to Tillicum Elementary School.
• ANNA LEE CHEBETNOY, 14. Her body was found in September 1991 near Enumclaw, more than a year after she was last seen at a Puyallup shopping center.
• KIMBERLY DELANGE, 15. Her body was found in August 1988 near Enumclaw, a month after she disappeared. She also had been last seen at the same shopping center in Puyallup as Chebetnoy, and her body was found in the same location where Chebetnoy's would be found in 1991.
• SHANNON L. PEASE, 15. Her body was found in April 1988 in a field in Lakewood. She's believed to have disappeared from Ponders Corner in the Tacoma area.
• TEEKAH LEWIS, 2 1/2. She disappeared Jan. 23, 1999, from a Tacoma bowling alley, where she was last seen playing near the video games. She's not been found.
• MISTY D. COPSEY, 14. She was last seen Sept. 17, 1992, at a bus stop in Puyallup after a day at the Puyallup Fair. Her jeans, a pair of panties and a sock were later found near Highway 410 in February 1993 but she's never been found.

[Full article here]

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