The jury trial of a Joliet sex offender charged with the 2018 murder of a woman has been delayed once again to Oct. 13.

The trial of Peter Zabala, 49, has now been delayed three times in the past three months.

For the past seven years, Zabala 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.

Last October, Zabala’s case was scheduled for jury trial on Jan. 12.

Then prosecutors made an offer to Zabala in January, which he rejected.

Zabala’s case was rescheduled to Monday.

However, an agreement for a new trial date of Oct. 13 was reached on Monday between Zabala’s attorney, Chuck Bretz, and prosecutors with Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s Office.

Attorneys on both sides plan to meet on June 26 to confirm that “all outstanding issues have been resolved,” according to Will County Judge Jessica Colón-Sayre.

In a 2023 court hearing, Bretz contended that the case against his client is “extremely sketchy,” as a forensic pathologist could not determine the cause of Tucker’s death, and no one saw his client dispose of her body in a barrel.

In the same hearing, Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Fitzgerald said Tucker’s blood was found in two vehicles to which Zabala had access, and one of them was a Ford Thunderbird.

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