MetaFilter posts tagged with il Posts tagged with 'il' at MetaFilter. Mon, 02 Sep 2013 10:44:32 -0800 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 10:44:32 -0800 en-us 60 "We got him." "Maria Ridulph was 7 when she was kidnapped from a street corner in Sycamore, Illinois, on December 3, 1957. Her kidnapping and murder is the nation's oldest cold case to go to trial. It required family members to turn against one of their own and haunted a small town for 55 years. Even now, the case may not be over." CNN: <a href="">Taken: The Coldest Case Ever Solved</a> <b><u>Chapters</u></b><em> (This is a special report divided into six sections)</em> 1) <a href="">A child vanishes.</a> <i>(Linked above.)</i> 2) <a href="">A trail of women wronged</a>: <em>"He left Sycamore to become a soldier, then a cop. "My DNA is protector," Jack McCullough says. But some women who crossed his path see him as a sexual predator."</em> 3) <a href="">Bulldogs on the Case</a>: <i>"It's not every day the cops get a tip about a 1957 murder based on something a dying mother said. Tony Rapacz knew this wasn't a whodunit. It was a</i> canweproveit." 4) <a href="">"That's Him"</a>: <i>"Her mother told her: "Remember his face." Half a century later, Kathy Sigman Chapman nailed the man she believes snatched her best friend."</i> 5) <a href="">The Whole Truth?</a>: <i>"A 55-year-old murder mystery is solved. But was there justice for all?</i> <b><u>Additional Reference Material</u></b> * <a href="">8 questions from armchair detectives about the oldest cold case ever solved</a> * <a href="">Cast of Characters</a> (click on each image for more info) * <a href="">Timeline</a> * <a href="">Evidence</a> <em>(Includes video, photos and documents)</em> * Chicago Tribune: <a href=",0,841969.photogallery">1950's Ridulph Case Photos</a> and <a href="">Witnesses remember anxious night when Maria Ridulph went missing</a> <strong><u>Other Coverage</u></strong> * <a href="">A blog defending Mr. McCullough</a> * <a href="">The New York Times</a>: <em>"It was the coldest of cold cases — a crime so old that when the director of the F.B.I. requested regular updates on the investigation, it was J. Edgar Hoover who did the asking."</em> * CBS <a href="">48 Hours Mystery</a> report on the case. * Jim Fisher True Crime: <a href="">The Jack McCullough Case: Reasonable Doubt?</a> * AP Big Story: <a href="">"Man convicted in 1957 murder of 7-year-old girl"</a> * Chicago Sun-Times: <a href="">Former neighbor found guilty of 1957 murder of 7-year-old girl</a>,2013:site.131552 Mon, 02 Sep 2013 10:44:32 -0800 zarq "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history": Illinois abolishes the death penalty IL Gov. Pat Quinn—formerly a strong supporter of capital punishment—today signed into law the <a href="">abolition of the death penalty in Illinois</a>. This comes eleven years after Gov. George Ryan—also a former supporter of capital punishment—signed a <a href="">moratorium</a> on the death penalty, commuting the sentences of 167 death row inmates to life (including ten men who had made false confessions under torture directed by police commander <a href="">Jon Burge</a> <small>[previously <a href="">here</a> and <a href="">here</a>]</small>). Between 1977 and 1999, Illinois executed 12 inmates, while <a href="">freeing 13 innocent men from Death Row</a>. One of the 13 men freed from Death Row, <a href="">Anthony Porter</a>, came within two days of execution amid growing public protests; a stay was issued based on the question of Porter’s IQ, during which journalism students at Northwestern University were able to conduct their own investigation and find the man who actually committed the crime. Of the 12 men executed between 1977 and 1999, at least one, <a href="">Girvies Davis</a>, is widely considered to have been innocent, having been convicted and sentenced based on a false confession. Illinois now becomes the <a href="">16th state</a> to ban the death penalty. Nationwide, <a href="">opposition to capital punishment</a> continues to <a href="">grow</a>. <small>(final link requires a little bit of a scroll-down.)</small> <small><small>(Disclaimer: I was an activist around the Death Row 10 case and a founding member of the organization in the second-to-last link.)</small></small>,2011:site.101375 Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:09:01 -0800 scody Elegant Chaos <a href="">This next Monday, </a>watch for the <a href="">first race</a> of <a href="">Il Palio Di Siena</a>. For several weeks before the race the streets are filled with parading, feasting, practice races in the afternoons and lots of <a href="">hyped up Italians</a>. Each neighborhood of the city trains a horse to represent it and is <a href="">much rivalry</a> that stems back to medieval times. A riderless horse can win, unless the feather on top of the bridle is knocked off, there are no rules once the race begins, <a href="">may the Madonna let the best horse win. </a>,2007:site.62490 Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:55:03 -0800 Viomeda <b>Pre-Fab George</b>. In a fascinating sidelight, it turns out George Harrison and his brother Pete actually <a href="">visited the U.S. for a couple of weeks in 1963</a>, visiting George's sister, who lived in a small town in rural southern Illinois. Lots of history was made there: He bought the album containing the original version of "Got My Mind Set On You," which he would cover 25 years later; he bought his first <a href="">Rickenbacker guitar</a>, the sound of which would change <a href="">rock </a><a href="">music</a>, and little WFRX, West Frankfort, became the first U.S. radio station to play the Beatles, thanks to lobbying by George and his sister. Not to mention he played a nearby VFW dance, sitting in with local rockers the Four Vests. There's a Tom Hanks <a href="">movie </a>in here somewhere. Not to mention the obligatory "George Slept Here" <a href="">bed and breakfast</a>.,2001:site.12839 Mon, 03 Dec 2001 09:40:49 -0800 luser