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Convicted man makes new claims Judge must rule on petition in Ridulph slaying by Sept. 17 By BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Convicted child murderer Jack McCullough wants another chance to prove his innocence, claiming that his 2012 trial and subsequent appeal were tainted by prosecutors’ misconduct and that a new witness will support his alibi. In a petition filed June 19 in DeKalb County Circuit Court, McCullough writes that Janice Edwards, his girlfriend at the
More coverage Head to Daily-Chronicle.com to view documents from the trial of Jack McCullough. time, would testify she received a collect call from him at 7 p.m. from Rockford on Dec. 3, 1957, the day 7-year-old Maria Ridulph disappeared, saying he’d be late for their date. He said Edwards can testify McCullough was dropped off at her Syca-
more home at 9 p.m. that day. McCullough has claimed phone records, FBI investigation reports and comments from military recruiters showed he was in the Rockford area when Maria Ridulph was abducted. “Janice Edwards was not known to be alive as a witness available to the defense at trial or before trial, and is crucial to the defendant’s alibi,” McCullough wrote in the 14-page handwritten petition. Clay Campbell, the former DeKalb County State’s Attorney
who prosecuted McCullough, dismissed his claims as a lastditch attempt to escape prison. “Mr. McCullough is a cold-blooded killer serving a life sentence,” he said. “This is a desperate effort to convince a court he’s innocent.” McCullough has maintained he was in Rockford when Maria Ridulph was kidnapped, and he has presented FBI documents that he says back up his claims. Campbell said there was
See EVIDENCE, page A6
Shaw Media file photo
Jack McCullough is escorted into the DeKalb County Courthouse by Sheriff’s deputies Ray Nelson (back left) and David Rivers (front right) in 2012.
MOVE-IN DAY ‘LIKE CLOCKWORK’
Comcast reveals subscriber in comments case By DAVID MERCER The Associated Press
Photos by Mary Beth Nolan – mnolan@shawmedia.com
New Residence Hall East community adviser Nate Marple (right) greets freshman O’Rayn McAvoy (center) as she moves into her room Friday with help from her sister, Desteny Little, at Northern Illinois University.
Volunteers help students get settled in NIU residence halls By the numbers
By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com DeKALB – O’Rayn McAvoy had dropped off two of her older sisters at college, but Friday finally was her turn. McAvoy, 18, was one of 2,200 NIU students who moved in to on-campus housing Friday as part of the annual Move-in Day, signaling the start of a new school year. “It’s a little nerve-wracking,” McAvoy, of Elk Grove Village, said about starting college. “But it’s great how they help you.” When McAvoy and her family pulled up to New Residence Hall East, three volunteers helped unload the car and used their muscles and a shopping cart to haul her creature comforts up to her new room. The longest wait was in the lobby for an elevator going to her floor. NIU President Doug Baker said Friday’s move-in event was a logistical win for the university. He credited the student affairs department with helping to come up with what parents and students said was as an “orderly” and “highly organized” process for getting the caravans of vehicles carrying the students, their belongings and family members from the roads they used to get into town to
2,200 students moved into one of five residence halls; 1,300 volunteers helped students move into the dorm rooms; 40 campus police officers were staffed for the day; 20 campus police student employees assisted with directing traffic
Source: NIU rived earlier in the week. By late afternoon Friday, another 2,200 students – mostly freshmen and sophomores – arrived. As vehicles coming into town from Interstate 88 exited at Annie Glidden Road, campus police routed them away from the city’s other major streets. Vehicles headed to the dorms were diverted around the rim of the city, and they entered the campus from the west. Fleets of cars meandered traffic cone-lined Junior Alex Koss, a volunteer from Delta Chi fraternity, helps carry items Friday paths through the NIU Convocafor incoming Northern Illinois University freshman Madison Roan of Gurnee. tion Center parking lot to the curb Volunteers from sports teams, clubs, sororities and fraternities helped stu- outside the dorms. Risha Fennel stood back and dents move into their dorm rooms. surveyed the heap of items she unstreets outside the dorms. families move in,” Baker said. “I loaded from her van for her daughFrom there, it was up to the stu- thought it went like clockwork.” ter. This was Leah Raven’s second dents’ new living quarters. About 1,250 NIU athletes, band “It was a lot of fun helping the members and other students arSee MOVING IN, page A6
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CHAMPAIGN – Comcast Cable Communications has given a northern Illinois politician the identity of an Internet service subscriber whose account was used to post an anonymous comment online suggesting the politician molests children. Comcast turned over the name of the subscriber on Aug. 14, attorney Andrew Smith said Thursday, almost two months after the Illinois Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that Internet service providers have no obligation to withhold the identity of a commenter if their comments could be considered defamatory. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case, which has played out in an environment of increasing concern about potentially damaging online comments made by anonymous Internet users. Experts generally agree that Internet commenters should know their identity won’t be protected if their comments cross the line into defamation. In the case, the commenter using the identity “Fuboy” was responding to a 2011 article in the Freeport Journal Standard about now-Chairman Bill Hadley’s candidacy for the Stephenson County Board. “Hadley is a Sandusky waiting to be exposed. Check out the view he has of Empire (Elementary School) from his front door,” the commenter wrote. The comment was a reference to former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted of numerous counts of child sex abuse in 2012. A Stephenson County court, a state appellate court and the Illinois Supreme Court have all agreed the commenter’s identity wasn’t protected. The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 7 declined to take it up. According to a letter sent from Comcast to Smith and obtained by The Associated Press, the Comcast subscriber is Franklin Cook of Freeport. Hadley, a 57-year-old retired corrections officer, said Thursday he was relieved but particularly angry given that he knows Cook, a Freeport attorney, from previous county business. “I know him, and I’m very disappointed,” Hadley said, estimating that he’s spent $36,000 so far trying to learn Cook’s identity. “This has been a nightmare for me.” Smith said he now intends to name Cook as the defendant in Hadley’s lawsuit and continue to pursue a civil defamation case against a man Smith claims has “been hiding in the shadows for three and a half years.” An attorney for Cook acknowledged that Cook owns the account. But the attorney, Robert Fagan, said Hadley and Smith now will have to prove Cook actually wrote the comment. Fagan wouldn’t say whether Cook was the writer. “He’s the gentleman that pays for the Internet access and the IP address,” Fagan said of Cook. “But many, many people can use an IP address. He has a family and he has a wireless router.” Cook didn’t return a call to his office from The Associated Press. Fagan also believes established case law will make it difficult for Hadley, as a politician, to win any damages.
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