GUILTY WI - LAKE GENEVA SUITCASE MURDERS, Laura Simonson & Jenny Gamez - #2

[OhThatVictoria]

I’m wondering if this is too much of a stretch, but could the WAPD who questioned him about Laura and did the walk through of his apartment have been previous buddies from the job? Could they have conversed about old times and how they used to dabble in the cell phone business? Could they have talked about the good old days when they watched the dancers on the tax-payers dime instead of enforcing the law? Possibly they were too busy giving him the high-five for all the women he chased while on duty to notice anything unusual. As his attorney will say, “It’s not like he was doing anything criminal.” :gathering:

That's hardly a stretch! If they didn't know him (previously), we can be fairly certain it didn't take long for them to learn that he was an ex-cop either from SZ himself or a senior member of the West Allis P.D.. There's a "code", it's known. It's real.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Code_of_Silence

The Blue Code of Silence (also known as the Blue Shield, Blue Wall, Curtain, Veil, or Cocoon[citation needed]) is the idea of an unwritten rule that exists among police officers not to report on a colleague's errors, misconducts, or crimes. If questioned about an incident of misconduct involving another officer (e.g. during the course of an official inquiry), while following the code, the officer being questioned would claim ignorance of another officer's wrongdoing.

Officers who follow the code are unable to report fellow officers who participate in corruption due to the unwritten laws of their "police family."

"Testilying" - a portmanteau of "testify" and "lying" - is a United States police slang term used when an officer gives a false testimony in court in favor of their fellow police officers. If an officer chooses not to lie in court they may be threatened and ostracized by fellow police officers.

 

[OhThatVictoria]

Thanks FBEye! I've been thinking about OhThatVictoria's question, "Overall, I'd like to learn more about SZ's lawsuits. He inherited money yet didn't seem to be able to hold on to it. What was up with that?" Here is what I came up with:

(snipped)

I think he was probably living off his inheritance for much of the time between 2001 and 2007, when that money ran out he started working for Securitas. Then the lawsuits hit and his wages were garnished. It doesn't seem like he much in terms of assets when he was arrested. I think the money was just spent over the years.

Also note, I didn't look into the sale of the condo in 2007. Did both SZ and his sister sell the condo or did SZ sell off his share of the condo to his sister for $85,000. I haven't had much luck finding the actual real estate transactions for properties in Franklin, WI. Has anybody else?

I agree. And, with his track record in LE and the stacked financial lawsuits, he was more than likely hard pressed to find any other form of income (bad work history and a credit risk).

Still thinking that he had some sort of inside info on the hotel he named in Kenosha. Thinking about the logistics of Jenny's trip to the Midwest. If she flew into O'Hare, why didn't he just take her back to Milwaukee to his apt and/or why didn't she fly to Milwaukee (aside from better fares via Chicago). Stopping / staying in Kenosha just seems odd to me unless she came to the Midwest to meet more than one person and he was more like a "date".

 

[Rallygrrl]

I agree. And, with his track record in LE and the stacked financial lawsuits, he was more than likely hard pressed to find any other form of income (bad work history and a credit risk).

Still thinking that he had some sort of inside info on the hotel he named in Kenosha. Thinking about the logistics of Jenny's trip to the Midwest. If she flew into O'Hare, why didn't he just take her back to Milwaukee to his apt and/or why didn't she fly to Milwaukee (aside from better fares via Chicago). Stopping / staying in Kenosha just seems odd to me unless she came to the Midwest to meet more than one person and he was more like a "date".

Typically, we do not fly into Milw. Unless we get a direct flight in. I have traveled a lot and most of the time I just come into O'Hare and either have someone pick me up or take the train or bus back. It is not that far...maybe an hour drive depending upon traffic. It is even quicker on the train.

Most of the time you leave from Milw. and are on a budget...you leave from or come back to O'Hare. That is kinda the "hub" for everything. I cannot say it is that unusual, since I, myself, have done it many times.

Kenosha is on the way up from O'Hare. It is true that there are a bunch of "no-tell motels" on the way back. There also are a bunch of roadside bars, strip clubs, and *advertiser censored* shops/adult *advertiser censored* stores. And a cheese castle. Otherwise, there is not much. But I would not be surprised if SZ stopped in Kenosha on the way back. As a Milwaukeean, it is not really a stretch to make a pit-stop in Kenosha.

 

[Rallygrrl]

There is not much in Kenosha. It is a city with an identity crisis. It is between Milwaukee and Chicago...and it is not quite sure which parent it wants to live with. Mostly, if you are on the interstate...you do not see much but seedy hotels, liquor stores, roadhouses, fast food restaurants, and *advertiser censored* shops. Maybe the occasional fireworks place. We just pass right through it...maybe stop and have a burger at Wendy's or A&W...but really, there is not much to stop for. The only thing I DO know from having friends from Kenosha is 6 Flags IL pretty much employs everyone around there. It seems that everyone has or still does work at 6 Flags. So that (I assume) is a huge part of their economy. So that would explain why there are so many hotels on that same stretch of road...tourists.

 

[ClaireNC]

I agree. And, with his track record in LE and the stacked financial lawsuits, he was more than likely hard pressed to find any other form of income (bad work history and a credit risk).

Still thinking that he had some sort of inside info on the hotel he named in Kenosha. Thinking about the logistics of Jenny's trip to the Midwest. If she flew into O'Hare, why didn't he just take her back to Milwaukee to his apt and/or why didn't she fly to Milwaukee (aside from better fares via Chicago). Stopping / staying in Kenosha just seems odd to me unless she came to the Midwest to meet more than one person and he was more like a "date".

I agree how and why Jenny ended up in Kenosha is a big mystery. Though the news reported a few days ago that Kenosha might be ready to file murder charges as early as next week, so it sounds like she really did die there. If he did have some kind of tie to the hotel in Kenosha, maybe it was along the lines of getting a discount or he knew the owners would be discreet. We don't know much about Jenny or even where she was living before she went to meet him - Oregon, California or someplace else? For all we know, she could have been living in the Chicago area and Kenosha was a half-way point for them to meet. It seems like it was common for him to meet his online hook-ups in hotels rather than bringing them back to his apartment.

Why a beautiful, young woman like Jenny would even agree to meet him is beyond me. I don't generally see him as being involved with human-trafficking, but in the case of Jenny, it would explain a lot.

 

[Sos]

The distance between Kenosh and West Allis comes up a approximately 45 minutes to an hour on Google maps - it will be interesting to see if the DA can prove premeditation based on the fact that SZ went to the Motel as opposed to going to his home when he was so close.
If SZ did not have ill intent prior to meeting Jenny then why not take the supposedly willing partner to his home ?

 

[OhThatVictoria]

But I would not be surprised if SZ stopped in Kenosha on the way back. As a Milwaukeean, it is not really a stretch to make a pit-stop in Kenosha.

Rally ~ I make that drive at least once a month. I know all the stops (and clean bathrooms!) between Chicago and Milwaukee. He made more than a pit-stop though. I do believe they spent three days there.

 

[Rallygrrl]

The distance between Kenosh and West Allis comes up a approximately 45 minutes to an hour on Google maps - it will be interesting to see if the DA can prove premeditation based on the fact that SZ went to the Motel as opposed to going to his home when he was so close.
If SZ did not have ill intent prior to meeting Jenny then why not take the supposedly willing partner to his home ?

Right. That is what I was trying to say (but maybe I am not that eloquent). It is NOT that far. I live here in Milw. but I have a bunch of friends who live in Milw. and drive to Kenosha for work every day. It is actually about 20 minutes if traffic is okay. It is not that far. I have family that lives near the county border and when I drive, it is roughly 20 minutes or so. Okay, maybe I drive like a nutbag...but it really is not that far in reality.

Why he did not just bring the victims home to his place in West Allis? Well, that is a question I doubt anyone can answer but SZ. I am trying to wrap my head around this and maybe come up with some logical explanation. But, fact is, there is no logical reason. Nothing is logical about this case. See...we have to remember, SZ is a nutbag. Chances are that you and I are pretty normal and boring. So when you run across something that does not make any sense you kinda have a handful of ""Errr?"

 

[Rallygrrl]

Rally ~ I make that drive at least once a month. I know all the stops (and clean bathrooms!) between Chicago and Milwaukee. He made more than a pit-stop though. I do believe they spent three days there.

True. I mean, really? I get it. It is one thing to stop for a burger at A&W and use the restroom. It is totally another thing to stay 3 days when your home is 20 minutes away. I got cha. That is just weird.

 

[Rallygrrl]

I know the drive. I have traveled quite a bit in my life and I KNOW the drive back from O'Hare. I usually stop in Kenosha for food or gas before I travel on back home. THAT is where you stop on the way back from O'hare.

 

[Rallygrrl]

Ya get to the oasis. Look around. It is fast food restaurants, gas stations, , seedy hotels, and *advertiser censored* shops. I hate to be truthful, but really? Any old fart would want to stop there. I am a lesbian female, but hey...I would probably stop there too just for kicks. I do not know why anyone thinks it is such a mystery that SZ ended up in Kenosha...it is not that far and right on the interstate from O'Hare.

 

[Rallygrrl]

Okay...Stop. I work in construction. I am not a security guard...I am a construction worker. But I have worked in many hotels, including the Brookfield Sheridon SZ said he was employed at. I am serious....they do not just give you keys. I am serious, hotels are really strict about their key policy. You basically have to cry the entire chorus of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and hit every note with perfection before you get a key. It is not that easy. People keep saying "he worked in a hotel"...yeah. I worked in the same one. So? They did not just "give us" keys. It was a nightmare to ask for a keypass...like George Orwell 1984...I had to give DNA and do some sort of strange yoga stance to get a pass. They keep track of that. So, it is not that easy.

And no, we do not know anyone in other hotels. There is no secret illuminati of hotel workers. Sorry to break that, but no. I worked at that Sheridon for almost a year...and if I end up in Iowa and say, ""I worked at Sheridon in Brookfield!" you know what happens? Nothing. It does not work that way. There is not some "I worked here so give me a discount" sort of code. It does not happen. He just got a motel room. Lets not read more into it than it really is.

I agree how and why Jenny ended up in Kenosha is a big mystery. Though the news reported a few days ago that Kenosha might be ready to file murder charges as early as next week, so it sounds like she really did die there. If he did have some kind of tie to the hotel in Kenosha, maybe it was along the lines of getting a discount or he knew the owners would be discreet. We don't know much about Jenny or even where she was living before she went to meet him - Oregon, California or someplace else? For all we know, she could have been living in the Chicago area and Kenosha was a half-way point for them to meet. It seems like it was common for him to meet his online hook-ups in hotels rather than bringing them back to his apartment.

Why a beautiful, young woman like Jenny would even agree to meet him is beyond me. I don't generally see him as being involved with human-trafficking, but in the case of Jenny, it would explain a lot.

 

[Rallygrrl]

I f I could walk around and be like, "Gimme a discount because I worked at "blah, blah blah" I would not have to pay rent. C'mon! No, there is no secret society of hotel workers.

 

[ClaireNC]

If you read through and follow the discussion about the hotel in Kenosha, you will see that I was responding to another poster. I never said he could be getting a discount because he worked at a hotel. The speculation was that he might have known the owners of the hotel because they used to live in the same town.

 

[KDub]

I lived in Kenosha for years and the picture that is being painted isn't fair, Kenosha does have its own little "ghetto" area if you will, but it is a very nice town actually. There is a *advertiser censored* shop right off the highway in the middle of everything, it is a *advertiser censored* and smoke shop....it has been there literally forever....it is not far from the hotel SZ stayed at but that area is not a seedy area, it just has one business that is oddly there because its always been there...before that area was built up. The Woodmans grocery store (that everyone shops at) is a 30 second drive from that shop. The *advertiser censored* shop is on one side of the highway and the hotel in Kenosha that he stayed at with Jenny is on the other side of the highway. Rallygrrl--since you are mentioning the A&W, maybe you are thinking about Racine? The A&W is in Franksville, which is in Racine County....Racine does have a less then stellar reputation and is right up the road from Kenosha. I am not saying nothing bad ever happens in Kenosha, but it's not a place with a bad reputation per se. It is definitely located right off the highway and a place that could be stopped at without issue if he picked up Jenny from O'Hare, as Rallygrrl stated...the fact that the *advertiser censored* shop is very close to that hotel, leads me to believe that may have been why he picked it, but who knows what goes through his mind.

 

[KDub]

Hmmm....a quick google search just informed me that the *advertiser censored* shop I mentioned above has a sister store with the same name in West Allis.

 

[Judy]

The distance between Kenosh and West Allis comes up a approximately 45 minutes to an hour on Google maps - it will be interesting to see if the DA can prove premeditation based on the fact that SZ went to the Motel as opposed to going to his home when he was so close.
If SZ did not have ill intent prior to meeting Jenny then why not take the supposedly willing partner to his home ?

I agree - especially since he was already concealing a corpse prior to meeting Jenny. So, are we to assume that meeting Jenny was just another out of town play-date? It shouldn't be that hard to prove he had other intentions - now if we could only get down to what those intentions were.

Power Over?
Control?
Money? (selling?)
Psychological Trauma? (hatred? rage?)
(endless number of things)

Laura and Jenny were not prostitutes, but he may have offered them money for "their sessions." (as I believe he did with the dancer who ran from his place and got away).

This is a short article about what runs through a serial killers mind and how they prey upon women. (an easy/not so easy read).

http://www.boston.com/community/blogs/crime_punishment/2011/04/why_killers_target_prostitutes.html

For a number of reasons, prostitutes are the most frequent victims targeted by serial murderers. Foremost is their easy accessibility to these predators. A sexual sadist can hunt the streets of the city or browse the ads on Craigslist, seeking out an available woman (and sometimes the man), looking selectively for the one who he finds most appealing, the one who can best satisfy his violent fantasies. And for money or drugs, the unfortunate prostitute will willingly participate in making his dream a reality, until it becomes too late to escape.

From the killer's perspective, it is also psychologically easier to prey upon those he devalues. Seeing them as "sex machines," programmed to please, he feels little hesitancy or remorse. By dehumanizing his victims, he is killing someone that he views as beneath humanity.

I don't believe Laura and Jenny were lured by drugs, but possibly money. I do believe (it has been already shared here) part of his fantasy was drugging them. Was his real fantasy drugging them and watching them die a slow death (sadist) - who knows? I only bring this up because one thing is for sure, he KNEW Laura was dead when he set out to meet Jenny.

 

[Judy]

I agree - especially since he was already concealing a corpse prior to meeting Jenny. So, are we to assume that meeting Jenny was just another out of town play-date? It shouldn't be that hard to prove he had other intentions - now if we could only get down to what those intentions were.

Power Over?
Control?
Money? (selling?)
Psychological Trauma? (hatred? rage?)
(endless number of things)

Laura and Jenny were not prostitutes, but he may have offered them money for "their sessions." (as I believe he did with the dancer who ran from his place and got away).

This is a short article about what runs through a serial killers mind and how they prey upon women. (an easy/not so easy read).

http://www.boston.com/community/blogs/crime_punishment/2011/04/why_killers_target_prostitutes.html

For a number of reasons, prostitutes are the most frequent victims targeted by serial murderers. Foremost is their easy accessibility to these predators. A sexual sadist can hunt the streets of the city or browse the ads on Craigslist, seeking out an available woman (and sometimes the man), looking selectively for the one who he finds most appealing, the one who can best satisfy his violent fantasies. And for money or drugs, the unfortunate prostitute will willingly participate in making his dream a reality, until it becomes too late to escape.

From the killer's perspective, it is also psychologically easier to prey upon those he devalues. Seeing them as "sex machines," programmed to please, he feels little hesitancy or remorse. By dehumanizing his victims, he is killing someone that he views as beneath humanity.

I don't believe Laura and Jenny were lured by drugs, but possibly money. I do believe (it has been already shared here) part of his fantasy was drugging them. Was his real fantasy drugging them and watching them die a slow death (sadist) - who knows? I only bring this up because one thing is for sure, he KNEW Laura was dead when he set out to meet Jenny.

Also the way he disposed of the bodies is telling. These were not human beings to him. He most likely objectified them all along, not getting rid of the evidence until he couldn't handle the smell any longer. Also, he knew LE was on to him. He dumped the bodies, not because he did anything wrong, but because he didn't want to get caught. It's totally possible in his mind he did nothing wrong - it was an accident and most likely THEIR fault. No empathy - no remorse. I hope that is coming through loud and clear as they question him because it is key to looking at the psychological profile.

 

[Judy]

Hmmm....a quick google search just informed me that the *advertiser censored* shop I mentioned above has a sister store with the same name in West Allis.

The one on the corner of Lincoln and National (in a little strip-mall...excuse the PUN) is gone now (gone for 2-3 years, I believe). I've been inside and it had a full assortment of S&M clothing and toys. A 2 minute drive from where he lived and where he worked (WAPD). I remember being in awe of the leather clothing, collars, whips and chains but my fantasy only lasted a couple of minutes. anic:

 

[MN Sleuth]

Judy, You have the victims backwards. Jenny was the first victim in this case, not Laura.