Hearing set on reporters' notes in Ill. killing

SYCAMORE — A man charged in the 1957 kidnapping and killing of a 7-year-old Illinois girl made a brief court appearance Monday as a legal battle over reporters' notes of a jailhouse interview with him unfolded.

DeKalb County State's Attorney Clay Campbell last week subpoenaed the notes of two reporters with The Associated Press and the Tribune Co., who interviewed 71-year-old Jack Daniel McCullough while he was in custody in Seattle.

McCullough was brought to Illinois last month the faces charges in the killing of Maria Ridulph, whose disappearance and death made national headlines and rocked the small community of Sycamore. McCullough, a former neighbor of Ridulph, has denied any wrongdoing.

The subpoenas sent to the news agencies offered no explanation. Campbell declined to comment Monday after the hearing in DeKalb County Circuit Court.

Attorneys for the news organizations contend the subpoenas violate the Illinois Reporter's Privilege Act and the Illinois and U.S. constitutions.

Sam Fifer, a Chicago attorney representing both the Tribune and AP, said it's not uncommon for prosecutors to seek subpoenas in criminal cases, but there are laws in place to protect reporters and their sources.

Fifer said the subpoenas were issued because of "prosecutors' concern that maybe they missed something," he told reporters after the hearing. "One of the assumptions is that if you heard something really great, you would leave it out of your story."

The judge set a Sept. 29 court date to hear arguments about the subpoenas.

McCullough appeared at the hearing via closed-circuit television from county jail where he was being held on $3 million bond. He wore an orange jumpsuit and briefly talked with his public defender.

A status hearing in the murder case was set for Wednesday.