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Sean Tessier says he's still in shock after his father was convicted in a murder that happened over 50 years ago. (MyNorthwest.com/Josh Kerns)

Son of man recently convicted in 50-year-old murder: 'I'm still shocked'

BY Jamie Skorheim  on December 13, 2012 @ 11:37 am (Updated: 12:43 pm - 12/13/12 )

A Seattle man whose father, a former Washington State policeman, was recently sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 7-year-old girl in 1957, says he's still coming to terms with it.

"I'm still in shock. This whole thing is just too crazy for me," says Sean Tessier, the son of Jack McCullough, 73, who was convicted in September in one of the oldest unsolved crimes in American history to make it to trial.

McCullough was convicted in the murder of Maria Ridulph, a 7-year-old last seen playing with a friend on Dec. 3 in Sycamore, Ill. in 1957, before she was grabbed, choked and stabbed to death in an alley. Her body was found months later, dumped in woods more than 100 miles away.

Tessier tells KIRO Radio's Ross and Burbank Show that he first learned of his father's potential involvement in the crime when his uncle approached him at a family reunion.

"My uncle and I were alone, and he was toying with it. He didn't know if he should do this. He said that, 'I don't know if I should be telling you this, but I'm going to go ahead and do it.' And he told me," says Tessier. "I was floored."

The investigation into the case had been reopened in 2008. Tessier's uncle told him that the police had been questioning the family.

McCullough was one of more than 100 people who were briefly suspects in the original investigation, but he had what seemed like a solid alibi. He told investigators on the day Ridulph vanished he'd been traveling to Chicago for a medical exam before joining the Air Force.

McCulllough spent years in the military, first in the Air Force and then in the Army. He eventually settled in Seattle, working as a Washington state police officer.

McCullough might have lived out his life quietly, but on her deathbed in 1994, his mother told McCullough's half-sister, Janet Tessier, that she'd lied to police when she supported her son's alibi.

Another break in the case came when investigators were interviewing McCullough's high school girlfriend. Tessier says the woman pulled out an old photograph and as she took it from the frame, behind the picture they found an unused train ticket from the day of the murder.

Police also brought an image of McCullough to the little girl that had been playing with Ridulph on the day she went missing. The woman, Kathy Chapman, now 63, told authorities that she recognized McCullough as the man that had approached them that day offering them piggy back rides. McCullough was 17 at the time.

Tessier says he doesn't think his father was expecting authorities to reopen the investigation.

"I don't think he saw this coming. He didn't know there was an investigation pending. It was probably out of the blue to him."

While the case and his father's involvement was a shock to Tessier, he tells Ross and Burbank he believes other members of his family likely suspected his father all along. To him it's still hard to comprehend.

"I worshiped him when I was a kid. How could you not? Mr. Army guy and a police officer," says Tessier. "The family is so great. I come from good stock [...] How this happened, how this came out of him, I don't know."

McCullough still maintains his innocence.

"I did not, did not, kill Maria Ridulph," said McCullough. "It was a crime I did not, would not, could not have done."

His attorneys had argued during the trial that the material supported McCullough's alibi, but the judge ruled it inadmissible because the people in the documents were dead and could not be cross-examined. McCullough's attorneys have said there will be an appeal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jamie Skorheim, MyNorthwest.com Editor
Whether it's floating on Green Lake, eating shrimp tacos at Agua Verde, or taking weekend drives out to the Cascades, she loves to enjoy the Pacific Northwest lifestyle as much as humanly possible.
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Comments (13)


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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Is there always something in these people that WANTS to get caught?
    December 13, 2012 11:47 am
    'Souvenirs'. Gary Ridgeway and Ted Bundy left 'signatures' of some type on or near the bodies. Jack the Ripper taunted police with letters. ... And this guy keeps a ticket he never used. ... A ticket that, had it never been found, would NOT have convicted him and sent him away (finally) for life. ... A souvenir .. or simply forgotten. Strange how the Devil will always have his due.
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  • Newton wrote...
    Its just good people that could no longer go along.
    December 13, 2012 12:55 pm
    This is a Classic case of a control freak that alot of officers are. They want that power to control its a sickness. Even if they are totaly in the wrong officers going agianst the constitution following other power trip control freak thugs. This is the very structure of why are worlds economy is crumbling to the ground. Control freaks highered over intelligent people has been a hiring practice for a very long long time and its time for a change. Its in all sectors of work and it as sick as sick could be. The school system CPS goverment is loaded with them. TSA its a Mess that has to change. It could start with coach leach with letting the coaches know this type of control freak attitude will not be tolerated. It starts in every sector.
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  • Rikki Doxx wrote...
    Keeping A Ticket
    December 13, 2012 1:13 pm
    Why would his former girlfriend keep that ticket? What would that memento mean to her? Saved it all these years behind a picture? For What??
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    strange
    December 13, 2012 1:21 pm
    Maybe she suspected and felt guilt? Strange case!
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  • caseyp1167 wrote...
    Hey Sean, give your dad a call....
    December 13, 2012 2:06 pm
    Sean, you should give your dad a call, maybe Uncle Bob does not have the entire story right... if you would like Sean, I would be more than happy to send you, or anyone that would like the defense motion after the verdict, a few pages of the FBI file showing your Dad did not commit the crime, and a short letter from Janey O'connor (that would be your step sister by the way). If you want more, I will send you a PDF of the motions from October, and other stuff. Jack (your father) did not commit the crime. He is currently in Northern Reception and Classificatio Center in Joliet, IL, you should write... Oh, and I guess I would be your brother in law... how nice for me.
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  • caseyp1167 wrote...
    oh, and were to get the documents????
    December 13, 2012 2:25 pm
    Shoot me an email at casey1167@gmail.com and I will send any documents I have on the case if you would like.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Unbelievable!!!
    December 13, 2012 4:55 pm
    Based on what was in the story that this guy was found guilty. Death Bed admissions from his mother to only one person,a 63 yr old women looking at an old photo and IDing a guy from when she was 7 yrs old,and a unused train ticket (SO WHAT the ticket may have for somebody who was going to the city with him that day.This thing will be reversed on appeal unless the article left out damning info
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Except that he seems to have had a 'thing' for very young girls all his life.
    December 13, 2012 5:23 pm
    Yes, I know that was not admissible but it also wasn't in the printed Ross & what's his name blog. It was on the air, however.

    But you make several points that my legal civil libertarian side would like to agree with. Heck, that ticket could have been for that long forgotten girl friend, for all we know. And the mother simply said she lied for the alibi. Not that she knew he killed the kid.

    But he wasn't convicted in Texas, and he got 15 years, not life or death. So whatever appeals he may have can easily proceed. Truth will out. BUT my money is on the conviction standing.

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  • caseyp1167 wrote...
    So in 73 year there are how many of these "things" for young girls???
    December 14, 2012 6:45 am
    Yes, you have Milton, and therefore he stabbed a girl in the neck three times in 1957. Problem is ALL his time on 12/3/1957 was accounted for by the FBI, all from 3rd parties, and his mom's testimoney was not the key. It was the millitary officers and the phone company.
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    so, appeal your case, casey
    December 14, 2012 7:25 am
    and, BTW, this is a COMMENT page.

    Can you refrain from using it as a 'family' facebook ?

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  • caseyp1167 wrote...
    Sure thing Ron...
    December 14, 2012 6:48 pm
    Ron, sorry to use this a "family" facebook. Glad you are here to keep me in line. Oh, he got life, not 15 years. But I guess you don't have to have facts correct on comment pages....it would give you credibility though if you were correct about facts.
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  • soo purletiv wrote...
    The above article does not tell the whole story
    December 13, 2012 5:55 pm
    There is a lot more to this than what is posted above. No article can capture the whole case... No one on this blog would read the entire thing even if it were posted.

    Me thinks "Casey" is in denial.

    Sean may be in shock, but at least he is coming to grips with reality and accepting it, if even in short segments at a time.

    Putting myself in his shoes would not be easy. But at least he is trying to be honest and accommodating of the truth...

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  • caseyp1167 wrote...
    Oh, let's be honest...
    December 14, 2012 6:45 am
    Soo Purletiv... I read the FBI files, and know the case very, very well. There is no denial here.
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