When Richard Schmack became DeKalb County State’s Attorney in December 2012, his plate already was full of cases.
The 2010 murder of Northern Illinois University freshman Antinette “Toni” Keller still was awaiting resolution, and nine NIU employees were facing charges in what was known as the “coffee fund case.”
Moreover, Jack McCullough was awaiting sentencing for his conviction a couple of months earlier in the 1957 murder of Sycamore schoolgirl Maria Ridulph -- and maintaining that he was innocent of the crime.
That case would occupy a great deal of Schmack’s time over the next four years as he sought to deliver on his campaign promise to “do the job right.”
Schmack lost his bid for re-election and will leave office Dec. 1. In an interview with WNIJ News, Schmack offered his views on various aspects of being a state’s attorney and the cases that his office handled in that time.
On the role of a State's Attorney
Schmack sees a state's attorney as more than just the chief prosecutor for the county, and he believes there are special obligations inherent in the prosecutor role.
Diversion programs that benefit the courts and community
Among his accomplishments, Schmack worked on so-called "diversion programs" that will allow persons charged with lesser offenses to stay out of jail and work to have their charges dismissed on completion.
Some things remain to be accomplished
A big concern for the outgoing prosecutor is the amount of time it takes for many cases to work their way through the courts, but he is pleased at the prospect of a new "Swift, Certain and Fair" probation program that is nearly ready to launch.
Other cases with successful resolutions
Four murder cases brought before the State's Attorney's office have been resolved successfully -- three of them through negotiated solutions. One of them was the murder of NIU freshman art student Antinette "Toni" Keller.
At the other end of the spectrum is the NIU Coffee Fund case.
The case that may have ended Schmack's tenure
The conviction of Jack McCullough for the murder of Maria Ridulph, a Sycamore schoolgirl who disappeared from her neighborhood in December 1957, cropped up repeatedly during Schmack's four years as DeKalb County State's Attorney. McCullough maintained his innocence from the start, and a controversial report by Schmack in early 2016 is what got him released.
There are other issues to resolve related to the McCullough case
Cases involving certain witnesses for the prosecution in the McCullough trial are pending. Inmates who shared jail space with McCullough told their tales and are seeking their days in court over whether they are owed something for their testimony.
A Seattle, Wash., police detective who interviewed Jack McCullough after his arrest there in 2011 may have to answer for some discrepancies in her testimony. Richard Schmack has requested a special prosecutor, and a decision has not been issued.
Also pending is whether the State's Attorney's office will continue to support McCullough's petition for a declaration of innocence and how it will follow up on various other threads.
Even though community anger over Schmack's actions may have led to his loss in the November election, the outgoing prosecutor doesn't regret following his conscience or his professional code of conduct.
“I’m especially proud of doing the right thing in the case of Jack McCullough,” he told the Daily Chronicle as returns came in on election night. “If that’s why I lost, then I’m very proud of that loss.”