Man pleads not guilty in Hoffman Estates teen's death

Seven young people wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the smiling face of 19-year-old Joseph Ziegler listened Tuesday as the man charged with killing him entered a not guilty plea in a Rolling Meadows courtroom.

Matthew Zucco, of the 8000 block of Applewood Court in Hanover Park, faces charges of first-degree murder, home invasion, attempted armed robbery and residential burglary in the 2008 death of the Hoffman Estates teen.

Authorities say Zucco and co-defendant Clinton Johnson, of the 100 block of Crestwood Drive in Streamwood, entered Ziegler's house the morning of Sept. 4, 2008 intending to rob him. Instead, Zucco, 21, shot the victim, after which the defendants fled the house, disposed of the gun and bullets in a sewer and burned their clothes in a firepit at Johnson's home, authorities said.

The April arrests resulted from a tip that came from last month's "Dial-A-Rock" drug sweep in the Northwest suburbs.

Johnson, 23, was extradited from Cherry Point, N.C., where he was with the Marine Aircraft Group, earlier this month and charged with first-degree murder. Both men remain in Cook County Jail.

During a hearing before Cook County Circuit Court Judge John Scotillo, prosecutors tendered to the defense voluminous discovery, including a 439-page police report and 45 pages of lab.

Zucco's defense attorney objected to authorities subjecting his client to two separate X-rays, saying they amounted to "improper protocol." Attorneys will litigate the issue at the next court date.

Prosecutors have until Sept. 25, to determine whether they will seek the death penalty for Zucco. He next appears in court on June 9.