Ashley Tucker Slaying: Bretz Questions Physical Evidence

JOLIET, IL — The private law firm for first-degree Joliet murder defendant Peter Zabala has asked a Will County judge to authorize the use of county funds to hire an independent arson expert in connection with the October 2018 death of Ashley Tucker.

Last week's pretrial motion was submitted by criminal defense lawyer Neil Patel of Charles Bretz & Associates in downtown Joliet. Joliet Police investigators arrested his client in connection with the disappearance and death of Tucker, 24, whose remains were recovered from a burning barrel kept on a property just north of Joliet, in Lockport Township.

According to Patel's motion, his client is indigent and Zabala "seeks funds to his own forensic pathologist to see if conclusions can be reached regarding the cause of death in this case that would suggest either a natural cause of death, an overdose or other manner of accidental death or even the actual mechanism of death."

As for the rationale of the motion, Patel writes, "the defendant is of very limited means. He has no savings, assets or income to pay for the retention of an expert."

Bretz's law firm aims to challenge the case put forth by the Will County State's Attorney's Office.

"The heart of any murder case is that the State would first prove a homicide," Patel's motion argues. "The State's case is entirely circumstantial. There is no eyewitness putting the defendant and the victim together at the time of her death, no confession, no forensics linking the defendant to the victim.

"The evidence suggests there was no physical evidence or trauma prior to the burning or autopsy."

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Police and prosecutors had the remains of Ashley Tucker sent to a forensic anthropologist and those anthropologists found "fractures and modifications induced by the burning and cuts made during autopsy," Patel's motion indicates. "The forensic pathologist for the State was unable to determine the cause of death in this case and rendered an opinion that the cause of death was undermined."

Patel informed Will County Judge Dave Carlson that his firm wants to use the county funds to hire Dr. Judy Melinek, a pathology expert in San Francisco.

She graduated with a bachelor's in biology in 1991 from Harvard University. Since 2004, Dr. Melinek has worked as an independent consultant with PathologyExpert Inc.

Zabala's next pretrial hearing is Wednesday, Dec. 18 in front of Carlson.

Now 44, Zabala has remained in Will County's Jail without bail since Joliet Police arrested him in connection with Tucker's disappearance on Oct. 22, 2018.