MCCULLOUGH, JACK [viz Miscarriages of Justice: McCullough, Jack]: Footsteps in the Snow TV - The Coldest Case Ever Solved TV -
This is the tale of a small town changed for ever. A seven-year-old girl abducted off the streets of Sycamore, Illinois, in 1957. Months turned into years then decades, little Maria’s murder left unsolved until a mother’s shocking deathbed confession. Footsteps in the Snow, LMN 2014
On April 26th 1958 a couple hunting for mushrooms near the town of Galena, Illinois, came upon the little girl’s body. ibid.
After her mother’s deathbed confession that her brother was the killer, Jan Tessier became determined to bring him to justice. It took nearly two decades. ibid.
The coldest case in American history ever to be brought to justice. ibid.
In 2016 a post-conviction review of the evidence determined that McCullough could not have been present at the time and place of Maria Ridulph’s likely abduction. McCullough was released from prison and charged against him were dismissed. ibid. captions
People just really love to know how a story ends. The Coldest Case Ever Solved, 2021
1958: The abduction of Maria Ridulph devastated the town of Sycamore and gained national attention. Ibid.
The investigation was intense and bolstered further by nationwide intrigue. ibid.
Janet Tessier made numerous attempts to bring her mothers’ [deathbed] words [John did it] to the attention of someone who might have the power to do something. ibid.
2012: 55 years after Maria’s life was taken, Jack McCullough was convicted of the crime. ibid.
Jack McCullough did not kill Maria Ridulph. ibid.
MCCURLEY, GLEN: True Crime Recaps 2021 -
Benbrook, Texas, February 16 1974: A 17-year-old Carla Walker and her high-school sweetheart sat in his car outside a popular bowling alley: she was suddenly ripped out of his arms. For 46 years this was a cold case. True Crime Recaps: Carla Walker: A 46-Year-Old Tragic Cold Case, Youtube 12.20, 2021
In the storm culverts under some roads and bridges they finally found her … According to the autopsy she was beaten, assaulted and tortured for two days before he strangled the life out of her. ibid.
The DNA evidence … led them to 77-year-old Glen Samuel McCurley. ibid.
MCDONAGH, PATRICK murder: Rough Justice TV -
His crime: murder. His name: Michael McDonagh. McDonagh was convicted in 1973 of stabbing his brother Francis to death. Francis died of a wound from a thin-bladed knife. That knife was apparently never seen nor found. But we have now uncovered new evidence that the knife was seen on the night of the murder, and more importantly, in the hands of a man who subsequently confessed to two people that he had killed Francis. Yet Michael McDonagh and his son Patrick are still serving life sentences for murder. Rough Justice: ‘The Case of the Thin-Bladed Knife’, Michael & Patrick McDonagh, BBC 1982
Michael, Rose and Patrick all say that they saw another tenant at the rooming house, a coloured man, standing in the hallway with a knife. ibid.
A chorus of doubt which the case now attracted. ibid.
MCDONALD, JESSE: Body in the Bathroom: The Murder of Noami Hersi TV -
17 March 2018: The Metropolitan police are investigating reports of an attack. The man on the phone is 25-year-old Jesse McDonald. He has been living at a hotel in west London for 9 months. Police need to establish where Jesse is and if someone has been seriously hurt or worse. Body in the Bathroom: The Murder of Naomi Hersi, Channel 5 2019
‘We’ve got a body in the bathroom’ … The crime scene is cordoned off and the cause of death confirmed … A 36-year-old Somalian male called Hersi Hersi. ibid.
Jesse’s claims that Naomi spiked his drink with a date-rape drug are disputed … ‘McDonald claimed that he had acted in self-defence and that Naomi had attempted to throttle him.’ ibid.
MCDOWELL, STEVE: Meet, Marry, Murder TV -
14,000 feet in the air and Steve McDowell has arranged a special gift for his wife Crystal. Just a few years later and the high flyer goes missing in a hurricane. Detectives suspect foul play. The glamorous real estate agent was last seen leaving her lover’s house and heading to her former husband’s place. Meet, Marry, Murder s1e25, Netflix 2022
MCFALL, WILLIAM & STEPHEN UNWIN: Freed to Kill Again: The Murder of Quyen TV - Murdered By s2e5: The Murder of Quyen TV - Britain’s Most Evil Killers TV -
15th August 2017: the charred remains of a mother of two are found in a burnt-out car in Tyne & Wear. Prior to her death she had been subjected to hours of torture and sexual assault. A trail of evidence leads detectives to two men both with terrifying criminal pasts. Freed to Kill Again: The Murder of Quyen, Channel 5 2019
At Belfast Crown Court, William McFall was given a life sentence for the murder of Martha Gilmore. ibid.
‘For the murder of Mr Greenwell, Stephen Unwin was given a life sentence.’ ibid. rozzer
While in prison, Unwin & McFall nurtured a friendship which lasted several years. Both men served around fourteen years for their sentences. ibid.
15th August 2017: The charred remains of a mother of two [Quyen Nguyen] are found in a burnt-out car in Tyne & Wear. Prior to her death she had been subjected to hours of torture and sexual assault. A trail of evidence leads detectives to two men: both with terrifying criminal pasts. Murdered By s2e6: Freed to Kill Agains: The Murder of Quyen
Both men are taken into custody and claim that they didn’t leave the house that night. ibid.
At Belfast Crown Court William McFall was given a life sentence for the murder of Martha Gilmore. ibid.
‘Unwin and McFall met whilst in prison.’ ibid. Ruth Bundey, solicitor
McFall was released on licence in 2010 and Unwin two years later in 2012. ibid.
In the early morning hours of 15th August 2017 the Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service responded to a 999 call reporting a car on fire. Inside the car the body of 28-year-old mother of two Quyen Nguyen from Vietnam. Her killers were 50-year-old William McFall and 39-year-old Stephen Unwin, two convicted murderers. The killers had met in prison where they struck up a deadly friendship. In her final hour their victim suffered unimaginable pain and cruelty. Britain’s Most Evil Killers s7e8: Stephen Unwin & William McFall, Sky Crime 2023
McFall battered the frail old woman [Martha Gilmore] three times on the back of the head. McFall was arrested within hours of the murder after police discovered fingerprints on Martha’s front door which matched those held on file for William McFall. ibid.
Unwin set fire to several parts of the house including John’s [Greenwell, 72] body. He stole a television set and a VHS recorder. ibid.
MCFARLAND, RICHARD: Texnews online - Crime Stories: A Deadly Disappearance TV -
San Antonio (AP) – The husband of a woman whose charred remains were found outside San Antonio this week was charged with murder Friday.
Prosecutors said that it was unlikely that the charge against Richard McFarland would be upgraded to capital murder despite the gruesomeness of Susan McFarland’s death.
‘This was in fact a murder,’ said Michael Bernard, Bexar County’s top assistant prosecutor. ‘We don’t have the evidence to indicate that it was a capital murder.
McFarland, 45, of suburban Terrell Hills was arraigned late Friday afternoon at the Bexar County Jail. His bond for the murder count was set at $500,000.
He was already in custody in lieu of a $450,000 bond on a variety of lesser charges linked to his wife’s disappearance in late November. Texnews online article T A Badger 18th January 2003