Bill Pavelic served as the defense team's private investigator from the day after the murders, conducting witness interviews and gathering evidence throughout the case. He became a central figure in a discovery dispute over alibi witness Rosa Lopez, having conducted and tape-recorded interviews with her in July and August 1994 that were not timely disclosed to the prosecution. When Judge Ito questioned him under oath about the missing materials, Pavelic acknowledged the tape recording and notes might be "either in the office or at my residence," prompting the judge to order him back to court the next day with the items — a sequence that led to defense sanctions and a continuance.