Two arrested in 2008 slaying of Hoffman Estates teen
Prosecutors today painted a grim picture of the murder of 19-year-old Joseph Ziegler in the basement of his Hoffman Estates home on Sept. 4, 2008.
Jeffery Ziegler, Joseph's father had worried that his son's murder would turn into a "cold case, like on TV," but Arlington Heights police recently developed information on the murder out of the "Dial-A-Rock" drug ring investigation, which resulted in dozens of arrests this week.
Hoffman Estates police used that information as a starting point to find critical evidence and build a detailed case.
Charged Friday with first-degree murder are Matthew Zucco, 21, of the 8000 block of South Applewood Court in Hanover Park, and Clinton Johnson, 23, of the 100 block of Crestwood Drive in Streamwood, Hoffman Estates police Lt. Rich Russo said. Johnson was arrested in North Carolina and awaits extradition, he said.
Zucco was denied bond at a hearing this afternoon in Rolling Meadows.
Assistant States Attorney David Weiner gave this account of what happened and the evidence against Zucco and Johnson, though he referred to the latter only as the co-defendant:
Zucco and his co-defendant entered the house about 9 a.m. intending to rob Ziegler. Zucco put Ziegler in a chokehold, put a gun to his head and fired. The two then fled in a waiting car, dumping the gun and bullets in a sewer.
They next went to the co-defendant's Streamwood home and burned their clothes in a firepit. Zucco then fled to Wisconsin, where he made admissions to three people.
Police have taken statements from the three people and recovered bullets from the sewer, Weiner said.
Zucco received probation and community service for unlawful use of a weapon in 2008, court supervision for a domestic battery charge in 2007 and faced a misdemeanor chrage of resisting a peace officer in 2007, Weiner said.
Jeffery Ziegler said police told him about the arrests this morning while he was on vacation in Las Vegas.
"I have an appreciation for everything the police have done to get this investigation to an arrest," he said. "I know they had to work hard to get to this point and I know it took a lot longer than I wanted and a lot longer than they wanted. They wanted this resolved a long time ago."
Russo said the case never went cold and police tracked hundreds of leads. He added that the suspects somehow knew Ziegler and went to the house for "the sole purpose of robbing him."
"Something went wrong and that's when Ziegler was murdered," Russo said.
Jeffery Ziegler said that he did not recognize Zucco or Johnson's name. He feared, because there were no signs of forced entry to his home on the 300 block of Payson Street, that his son may have known the killers. Ziegler said his daughter's boyfriend recognized one of the names.
Joseph studied criminal justice at Harper College at Palatine. He played football at Schaumburg High School. He was a White Sox fan.
The Zieglers haven't been a stranger to tragedy. Cancer killed Cynthia Ziegler, Joseph's mother, in 2001 when she was 37. Jeffery Ziegler wears a tattoo of a cross in tribute to Joseph and five others for his wife and other deceased family members. The trip to Las Vegas was a way for him to get away from the reminders of the deaths. He'll return home and meet with police on Sunday.
"I'm pretty happy that there's an arrest made, knowing that the people responsible aren't walking the streets enjoying their lives anymore," he said.
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<h2>Related documents</h2>
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<li><a href="/pdf/HomicideArrest416.pdf">Hoffman Estates press release</a></li>
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