Chasing Johnny

Abstract

Chasing Johnny examines the nation’s coldest case tried to conviction, the 1957 abduction and murder of seven-year-old Maria Ridulph in Sycamore, Illinois. The crime remained unsolved for more than half a century; a tip rekindles the investigation, leading to the arrest and conviction of a retired police officer who lived for years under a different identity. Unlike other cold cases, forensic science played no role; instead, stories told by members of two dysfunctional families created a compelling but false narrative. What happens when an emotionally powerful story outruns the evidence meant to support it? Through close reading of trial transcripts, police files, and witness accounts, this thesis challenges the trial’s version of events and suggests this prosecution was shaped by human failings—confirmation bias, groupthink, and noble cause corruption. It illustrates how well-intentioned people can embrace a flawed narrative without malice. The lens then widens to revisit the long-marginalized abuse allegations by McCullough’s sister and asks what justice means when one victim’s story eclipses another’s. Readers first become convinced of a man’s guilt, grow uncomfortably uncertain, and finally are convinced he couldn’t have done it. This manuscript reflects a slice of the work I completed in Goucher’s MFA program and sets up the stakes. When completed, the project will first make, and then unmake a murderer, asking what justice means when the demand for accountability eclipses the pursuit of truth. The accused insisted we “look in the box” of records for the truth and, indeed, it was there all along. As for the whole truth, his were crimes of sex, not murder, and the women and girls her victimized were denied justice when nobody heeded their cries.