A 2018 murder case against a Joliet sex offender charged with killing and concealing the death of a young woman is scheduled for trial in January.

Since Nov. 5, 2018, Peter Zabala, 49, has been facing charges of the first-degree murder of Ashley Tucker, 25, and the concealment of her homicidal death. Zabala is listed in the Illinois sex offender registry.

Tucker was reported missing on Oct. 14, 2018, and her charred remains were found Oct. 26, 2018, inside a barrel in the backyard of a residence on South State Street in Lockport Township.

A police investigation led to Zabala being identified as a suspect in Tucker’s death when detectives learned the two attended a party before her disappearance.

At the party, Zabala was “very aggressive in his advances” toward Tucker, according to Will County prosecutors.

The jury trial for Zabala has been scheduled for Jan. 12. But before then, the attorneys in the case plan to meet for another court hearing on Nov. 5.

During a 2023 detention hearing, Zabala’s attorney, Chuck Bretz, said the case against his client is an “extremely sketchy murder case,” according to a court transcript in the case.

Bretz said a forensic pathologist could not determine the cause of Tucker’s death, and no one saw his client dispose of Tucker’s body in the barrel.

In the same hearing, Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Fitzgerald said while the cause of Tucker’s death is undetermined, the pathologist indicated she suffered a violent death.

Fitzgerald said Tucker’s blood was also found in two vehicles that Zabala had access to, and one of them was a Ford Thunderbird.

“That [Thunderbird] was processed via search warrant and there was blood found in the trunk, which also was tested by the crime lab and also came back to be Ashley Tucker’s blood,” Fitzgerald said.

Zabala’s case is one of at least three murder cases from 2018 that have lingered for years in pretrial limbo as prosecutors contend with evidence and legal issues raised by defense attorneys.

The 2018 case against Patrick Gleason, 63, of Crest Hill, went to trial on Sept. 23 and led to a jury finding him guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder. The 2018 case against former Joliet teacher Michael Kazecki, 45, is expected to go to trial on July 13, 2026.