Missing Person Flier In Apartment Where Murder Defendant Peter Zabala Barricaded Self: Prosecutor

JOLIET, IL — Joliet criminal defense attorney Chuck Bretz has dragged out the first-degree murder case of his client Peter Zabala into the start of the case's eighth year, but the Will County Courthouse docket indicates Zabala will indeed have his jury trial start next Monday in Courtroom 502 of Will County Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre.

In preparation for the jury trial, Will County State's Attorney's Office prosecutor Alexandra Molesky just filed a motion asking to admit other crimes as evidence against Zabala, who is now 50 years old. Zabala has been kept in the Will County Jail since his Joliet police arrest on Oct. 22, 2018. He faces three counts of first-degree murder and two crimes of concealment of a homicide that occurred on or about Oct. 13, 2018.

Joliet homicide victim Ashley Tucker was reported missing by her family on Oct. 14, 2018, and an arrest warrant against Zabala for violations of the Illinois Sex Offender Registration Act, was issued on Oct. 17, 2018.

According to the prosecutor's motion, Zabala knew by Oct. 19, 2018, that he was a suspect in Tucker's disappearance. Zabala and Ashley Tucker's aunt, Lakisa, were friends who regularly talked over the phone. The two discussed Ashley Tucker's disappearance on Oct. 14-15; however, "by October 17, defendant inexplicably ceased contact with Lakisa Tucker, who unsuccessfully attempted to contact him."

On Oct. 19, 2018, Joliet Police Detective Pat Schumacher spotted Zabala visiting a Joliet business at 1527 N. Raynor Ave. before Zabala "walked out and then fled the business with Detective Schumacher, who exposed his badge while in pursuit and calling defendant by name and telling him to stop. Defendant disregarded this directive and as he fled, discarded several pieces of clothing along his path of flight. As Detective Schumacher lost sight of (Zabala), he was not apprehended that day," Molesky's filing revealed.

By Oct. 21, Joliet police went to 1006 Hickory St., confirming Zabala was inside the residential dwelling. When the officers requested Zabala exit, "instead defendant barricaded himself and other civilians inside the residence ... Joliet Police Department officers forcibly gained entry into the residence where they located and arrested defendant," the prosecutor's court documents outline.

"When officers finally located defendant, he was barricaded in an apartment in the immediate vicinity of the Ashley Tucker Missing Person's flier and a phone he used which contained evidence of a search history from that day of an article relating to this investigation," Molesky's motion revealed. "Viewing the totality of the circumstances, defendant's flight from Detective Schumacher on Oct. 19, 2018, and his refusal to exit the residence of his own accord on Oct. 21, 2018, should be admissible as a continuing narrative and as circumstantial evidence of defendant's consciousness of guilt."

According to Molesky's motion, "the other crimes evidence relates to the continuing narrative because on Oct. 19 and Oct. 21, 2018, officers were still investigating the disappearance of Ashley Tucker and were attempting to locate and interview defendant as part of that investigation. Detective Schumacher's call for backup when he saw defendant was reasonable given his intent to arrest defendant based on the outstanding warrant.

"Defendant's headlong flight and refusal to comply with Detective Schumacher's directives heightened officers' suspicions and led to continued efforts to locate him, which they did on October 21, 2018," Molesky continued. "When Joliet Police Department officers arrived at the residential building on Hickory and confirmed that the defendant was inside, defendant refused to exit, and instead, barricaded himself and other civilians inside an apartment. Defendant's outstanding warrant explains why they utilized force to enter the apartment, locate defendant and immediately arrest him."

Moments later, Molesky indicated in her motion, "officers located the Missing Person's flier related to the disappearance of Ashley Tucker on the kitchen table inside the apartment where defendant was located along with a phone defendant utilized which showed a search history related to the detectives' ongoing investigation into her disappearance."

Molesky further revealed in her motion that one of the persons inside the apartment with Zabala furnished Joliet police with information "which led them to recover a bag of defendant's clothing that person discarded at defendant's request.

"When defendant was arrested for the warrant, he was transported to the Joliet Police Station where officers photographed and fingerprinted defendant ... Joliet Police Department certified latent print examiner Michael J. Murphy utilized defendant's fingerprint card ... which led to a confirmatory identification of defendant's latent print collected from evidence processed in this investigation. Consequently, the people seek to admit this necessary evidence because it is relevant to facts at issue in this trial and the probative value of this evidence outweighs any undue prejudice."