Ashley Tucker's Murder: Here's Why Joliet Arrested Peter Zabala

JOLIET, IL — Nearly three-and-a-half years after 25-year-old Joliet resident Ashley Tucker vanished during the night, Will County prosecutors are revealing how Joliet police detectives linked Peter Zabala, a convicted sexual predator, to her disappearance and grisly homicide.

Less than two weeks after Tucker disappeared, Joliet police found Tucker's charred remains inside a burn barrel on the outskirts of Joliet, in Lockport Township.

Zabala, now 46, has remained in the Will County Jail without bail, since Oct. 22, 2018. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder plus one count of concealment of a homicide.

This month, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow filed a 16-page motion seeking to introduce expert testimony against Zabala.

Based on the following court documents from prosecutors, here is how Joliet police detectives connected Zabala to Tucker's killing:

Housewarming Party, Oct. 13, 2018

Ashley Tucker drove to her father's housewarming party in the 1000 block of Joliet's Loren Drive, which was a Saturday night.

Meanwhile, around 7:45 p.m., Zabala drove to Stang Kelly Liquors at 712 West Jefferson St. and "video surveillance showed (Zabala) drove a Buick Lacrosse to Stang Kelly Liquors."

At 8:55 p.m. Zabala attended the housewarming party for Ashley Tucker's father. Ashley Tucker got there between 9 and 9:30 p.m.

She left at 10:45 p.m. Zabala left around 10:50 p.m.

Ashley Tucker dropped off a woman and a man at their apartment building in Joliet's 2200 block of Oneida Street. Tucker's passengers got to their apartments at 11 p.m.

From there, Ashley Tucker called one of her two roommates to let her know she was ordering fast-food at the Mr. Submarine on West Jefferson Street. Tucker made a food purchase at Mr. Submarine at 11:04 p.m. Zabala, according to Joliet police, also drove to Mr. Submarine.

Afterward, Tucker drove to the city's far east side, where she lived, in the 2100 block of Tamarack Drive. She pulled into her driveway around 11:30 p.m.

Her two roommates never saw her enter their residence.

Ashley Tucker Disappears, Oct. 14, 2018

At 5 a.m., Oct. 14, 2018, one of the roommates saw Tucker's car parked in her driveway, but she was missing.

Around 1 p.m., video surveillance showed Zabala driving a Buick Lacrosse south along Joliet's Mission Boulevard. Around 3:10 p.m. Zabala turned into a private driveway in the 3500 block of South State in Lockport Township, between McBride's Collision and his uncle Joseph Zabala's residence at 3502 South State Street.

About 30 minutes later, Peter Zabala left, driving the Buick Lacrosse southbound along South State. At 3:50 p.m. Joseph Zabala, the uncle, drove a GMC Sierra north along State Street.

By 4:40 p.m. Peter Zabala and Joseph Zabala went to the Menards at 2524 West Jefferson Street in Joliet. After leaving Menards, Joseph Zabala followed his nephew to Peter Zabala's house at 3105 Arborsedge Drive.

By 5:20 p.m. Peter Zabala was driving a Ford Thunderbird northbound on State Street, and he turned into the private driveway between McBride's Collision and his uncle Joseph Zabala's house. Joseph Zabala was driving right behind him in the GMC Sierra.

Peter Zabala parked the Ford Thunderbird at his uncle's house, followed by his uncle.

By 6:10 p.m, Joseph Zabala drove his GMC Sierra southbound on Mission Boulevard with his nephew Peter Zabala as his passenger.

Two days pass.

Oct. 16-17 2018

Cell phone records show Peter Zabala back at his uncle's on Oct. 16, 2018.

Joseph Zabala drove Peter Zabala to Peter Zabala's residence that day. On Oct. 17, 2018, Peter Zabala returned to his uncle's and the two men later drove in separate vehicles to the 500 block of Joliet's Dover Street. There, Peter Zabala parked the Ford Thunderbird on the street, and got inside his uncle's vehicle as they drove away together.

Oct. 21, 2018

Joliet police arrested Peter Zabala in the 1000 block of North Hickory Street. Besides the warrant for failing to register as a sex offender, Zabala was charged with two counts of resisting arrest and one count of unlawful restraint. Police say he was detaining a woman at the residence at the time of his arrest.

Oct. 26, 2018

Joliet police discover Ashley Tucker's burnt remains in a barrel located in the backyard of Joseph Zabala's house in Lockport Township.

Nov. 2, 2018. Joliet police have Peter Zabala charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ashley Tucker.

During the homicide investigation, Joliet police obtained Ashley Tucker's cell phone records from Verizon, plus the T-Mobile cell phone records for Peter Zabala as well as Joseph Zabala.

February 2022

Assistant Will County State's Attorney Mark Shlifka Jr. asks Will County Judge Dave Carlson to let Sy Ray, Mike Fegely, Brian Tuckett and Joliet police detective Jeff German offer expert witness testimony in regard to the cell phone data retrieved from Ashley Tucker's phone and the phones of murder defendant Peter Zabala, and his uncle, Joseph.

Sy Ray is president and founder of ZetX. Previously, he worked 20 years in law enforcement including 13 years as a criminal investigator, serving as a detective sergeant in more than 300 death investigations, more than 130 robbery investigations and more than 30 kidnappings.

"Sy Ray ... is able to explain how ZetX performs historical cell site analysis," prosecutors outlined. "This specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand historical cell site analysis."

Fegely previously worked at ZetX and now works at CellX Analytics. Before that, Fegely was a Montana Fish and Wildlife officer for 15 years, spending his last seven years as a detective.

"Mike Fegely became familiar with cell phone records and utilizing cell phone records in his own investigations ... to perform cell phone geolocation and cell phone mapping," prosecutors noted.

Senior Special Agent Brian Tuckett has been with the U.S. Secret Service since 2000, and he worked as a police officer from 1997 to 2000. Tuckett is assigned to the Chicago Field Office and serves as team leader of the mobile wireless investigations team.

"Tuckett, based on his education, training and experience, is able to determine the locations of cell phones at a specific period of time based on call detail records," Will County prosecutors informed the judge.

Joliet Police Detective Jeff German has been an officer for more than 16 years. German has been involved in more than 1,000 investigations involving murder, armed robbery and other felonies. German "uploaded the call detail records provided for Ashley Tucker, defendant and Joseph Zabala to ZetX. Detective Jeff German reviewed the call detail records plotted in ZetX.

"Detective Jeff German, based on his education, training and experience, is able to determine the locations of cell phones at a specific period of time based on call detail records," prosecutors stated. "The opinions and conclusions of the experts are not the types of opinions or conclusions the average juror could reach without the aid of expert testimony.

"Each of the above opinions/conclusions is evidence of, or evidence from which a reasonable inference can be drawn of, who the offender is," Glasgow and Shlifka argued in their filing.

So far, Zabala's criminal defense attorney, Chuck Bretz, has not filed a response to the prosecution's motion regarding the four possible expert witnesses.

"I want to withhold comment until I see what their reports say," Bretz told Joliet Patch on Wednesday.

On the topic of admissibility of cell tower pings into criminal court cases, "it's kind of an inexact science. Some are legitimate, and some are speculation," Bretz said. "Obviously, they consider this a central part of their case."

Peter Zabala's next pretrial hearing is set for March 9. At the moment, a trial date has not been set at the Will County Courthouse.

Zabala is now in his fourth full year of waiting to stand trial. He is the only person charged in connection with Ashley Tucker's homicide.

Other Joliet Patch Exclusives:

48 Murder Defendants In Will County Await Trial

Ashley Tucker Slaying: Different Man's Car Tied To Murder

Ashley Tucker Murder Defendant Hires Chuck Bretz