One other thing to put out there: he resigned from West Allis Police Department on Aug. 17, 2001, just a few weeks before 9/11. After then, FBI shifted millions of bucks in resources to fighting terrorism (which often has meant manufacturing plots, see Trevor Aaronson's work on that for more: http://www.amazon.com/The-Terror-Factory-Manufactured-Terrorism/dp/1935439618).
I bring that up because it has meant real menaces to society like Zelich have flown under the radar during that time as the FBI has cut back resources to do something about them. Any good storyline has to include this type of data and these trends.
Just something to think about as you think about how FBI Fusion Centers didn't catch something like this but have been pouring resources into monitoring activists, for example. Pretty sad state of affairs.
Great post! And so very true. I'm glad you are doing some heavy investigating journalism into all aspects of this story.