A surveillance camera outside an Ontario home caught this image of someone arriving just hours before the body of Billy C. Tucker was found. The Ontario Police Department is seeking tips to solve the November 2019 murder. (Ontario Police Department photo)
HAVE A TIP? Anyone with information can call Esplin at 541-881-3244 or Detective BJ Snyder at 541-881-3202.
ONTARIO – A year ago, Billy C. Tucker was found dead on the back porch of his home, killed by intruders.
Since then, Detective Ben Esplin of the Ontario Police Department has worked steadily to identify and prosecute the killers.
“This is an active investigation,” Esplin said, but the trail has gone cold.
The police department wants the public help to solve the murder they suspect is linked to drug trafficking.
“There is someone out there who knows who the killer is,” said Chief Steven Romero.
Romero and Esplin provided basic information about the murder but withheld key details for investigative reasons, such as how Tucker was killed.
Tucker, 56, lived alone in a small rental house reached by an alley in northeast Ontario. He worked a block away as a diesel mechanic for a local auto repair business.
A friend found his body on the evening of Nov. 17, 2019 – a Sunday.
Video surveillance film from the home showed at two people arriving at the home sometime between midnight and 2 a.m. on the day Tucker was found. The grainy images show the people dressed in hooded clothes with their faces covered by masks – long before the pandemic made masks commonplace.
Police say the two are “people of interest” in the killing.
Romero said Tucker was already under investigation for drug trafficking because of “suspected drug activity” at his home, including visits by other people police believe were involved in the drug trade.
Court and prison agency records show Tucker has been convicted of felonies in Oregon and Idaho dating back 30 years. He had been convicted of forgery, theft and drug charges.
He served two years in prison beginning in 1994 for conspiring to deliver a controlled substance. In 2001, he was convicted in Kootenai County in Idaho for attempted drug trafficking, serving three years in prison. Idaho records show he was paroled to Oregon in 2004. Court records show that year, he was living in Hermiston when he was arrested on drug charges and in 2005 was sentenced to two years in prison for possession of a controlled substance.
Tucker was released in 2008 and in 2015 he was convicted of possession of a controlled substance in Payette County, sentenced to three years’ probation. He completed his probation in early 2018.
Romero and Esplin say they hope someone with information that could solve the case will come forward. Romero said tips that could identify the killer could be provided anonymously. Anyone with information can call Esplin at 541-881-3244 or Detective BJ Snyder at 541-881-3202.
“We’re hoping someone out there will help,” Romero said. “Please do the right thing.”
A surveillance camera outside an Ontario home caught this image of someone arriving just hours before the body of Billy C. Tucker was found. The Ontario Police Department is seeking tips to solve the November 2019 murder. (Ontario Police Department photo)
A surveillance camera outside an Ontario home caught this image of someone arriving just hours before the body of Billy C. Tucker was found. The Ontario Police Department is seeking tips to solve the November 2019 murder. (Ontario Police Department photo)
Contact Editor Les Zaitz by email at [email protected]
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