WI WI - Lake Geneva Suitcase Murders*** MEDIA and TIMELINE THREAD *** NO DISCUSSION***

[bessie]

“Laura and Mr. Zelich were not strangers:” Police in Rochester provide new details in death of Laura Simonson

Posted 11:02 am, June 26, 2014, by Trisha Bee and Rachelle Baillon, Updated at 08:48pm, June 26, 2014

ROCHESTER, Minn. (WITI) — The Rochester Police Department held a briefing Thursday morning, June 26th, during which they released new information about the deaths of two women who were found in suitcases in the Town of Geneva on June 5th.

The suitcases containing the bodies were discovered on June 5th by a Town of Geneva Highway Department employee who was cutting grass in the area of N. Como Road, east of Co. Rd. H.

[...]

Town of Geneva police say one of the victims has been identified as 37-year-old Laura Simonson from Farmington, Minnesota.

Oregon woman is second body in Wisconsin suitcases

Michael Winter, USA TODAY 9:42 p.m. EDT June 30, 2014


Laura Simonson
USA Today

The second victim, 37-year-old Laura Simonson, of Farmington, Minn., was reported missing in November, and her family had alerted police that they believed she was with Zelich. Her father told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his daughter had placed escort ads on Craigslist.

Second Woman Found In Suitcase

The Huffington Post | By David Lohr
Posted: 06/30/2014 4:32 pm EDT Updated: 06/30/2014 9:59 pm EDT

Jenny Gamez

Authorities have identified Jenny Gamez as the second woman found dead in a suitcase left on the side of a rural Wisconsin roadway.

According to the Walworth County Sheriff's Office, Gamez, 21, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, disappeared in 2012. The positive identification was made using dental records.

Newly-released: Stripper claims she was assaulted by Zelich when he was a police officer

Posted 4:10 pm, July 2, 2014, by A.J. Bayatpour, Updated at 10:01pm, July 2, 2014

Nearly 13 years earlier, in the spring of 2001, a woman told West Allis police that Zelich, an officer at the time, had assaulted her. The woman said she was a stripper, and had agreed to go home with Zelich for a “private show.”

When they went into Zelich’s bedroom, the woman says Zelich “dropped something into his pants pocket” that “sounded like handcuffs.” When she tried to leave, the woman says Zelich “grabbed her and threw her to the ground.”

Zelich was never charged in the incident. Three months later, he resigned from the West Allis Police Department.

Former police officer linked to S&M forum where he went by 'Mr Handcuffs' arrested after bodies of two women found stuffed in suitcases

By Snejana Farberov

Published: 12:45 EST, 26 June 2014 | Updated: 13:16 EST, 27 June 2014

[...]

Investigators searched the suspect's West Allis apartment Wednesday and carried out objects in large, brown paper bags. They also removed a refrigerator.

Chief Hurley issued a statement to assure 'the citizens of West Allis that there is no danger.'

The suspect is a licensed private security officer who has worked for Securitas Security Services USA 2007, according to the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. He also worked on the side as a contractor for a website that offers users legal advice starting at $20 a month.

Mr Zelich was forced to resign from the police force in West Allis in 2001 after allegedly getting into an off-duty fight with a prostitute whom he had accused of stealing from him.

Gruesome find: Highway workers cutting grass outside Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
on this road found two suitcases in tall weeds in a ditch. They were moved them
to the side of the road. Officers investigated and found a body in each suitcase

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2670693/Man-arrested-bodies-suitcases.html#ixzz36fCFBN40

Former West Allis officer charged with hiding bodies in suitcases

By Megan Trimble, Gina Barton and Ashley Luthern of the Journal Sentinel
June 26, 2014

[...]

Family and friends knew Simonson was with Zelich "from the beginning," a family member said. The family contacted authorities multiple times in an attempt to locate her, and one of Simonson's friends placed an ad on SecondCityClassifieds.com that claimed Simonson was mentally disabled and had been enslaved, tortured and abused by Zelich. Richard Wierson said his daughter had sought work as an escort on Craigslist.

The ad in SecondCityClassifieds also provided a cellphone number for Zelich — it matches the contact number on the website for LegalShield, which Zelich works for as an independent contractor — and an email address for him that appears on an online discussion board titled "MasterB Slave Club."

Bodies found in suitcases along Wis. ditch

Associated Press, Associated Press 9:28 p.m. EDT June 6, 2014

City police chief Steven Hurley says a highway worker came across the cases Thursday as he mowed the grass in Town of Geneva, about 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee. Another person alerted police officers who opened the cases and discovered the bodies inside.

 

[bessie]

Steven Zelich and online enslavement interest

by John Cuoco Story Created: Jun 26, 2014

MILWAUKEE- Steven Zelich, suspect arrested after two bodies found in suitcases in Geneva, has also now been linked with several sadomasochistic websites.

CBS 58 did an internet search and turned up a number of results. Zelich has a profile on a website called "Collarspace.Com." It's a site for people into bondage and sadomasochism aka BDSM.

On there, Zelich is pictured sitting on a couch and goes by the name "Mr. Handcuffs"

Former West Allis cop charged with hiding bodies in suitcases

June 27, 2014|Megan Trimble, Gina Barton and Ashley Luthern | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A former West Allis police officer was charged Thursday with two felonies for hiding two women's bodies -- one for more than a year -- that were found in suitcases along a road in the Town of Geneva.

Although Steven M. Zelich, 52, has not been charged with homicide, he admitted to meeting both women online, killing them during their first meetings and hiding their bodies in suitcases, according to the criminal complaint.

Complaint: Ex-cop Hid Women's Bodies for Months

Created: 06/26/2014 10:23 AM KSTP.com - Updated: 06/27/2014 7:35 AM

In this photo taken on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, Walworth County investigators carry bags full of material from an apartment in West Allis, Wis., after picking up a suspect allegedly involved in two murders where the bodies were found in suitcases.

Defense: Deaths may be accidental

by M.L. JOHNSON Associated Press on June 28, 2014 10:20 AM

“It could be anything from premeditated homicide down to accidental death that occurred through a consensual sex-related act,” Walworth County public defender Travis Schwantes said after the bond hearing.

 

[bessie]

Steven Zelich, 52
a/k/a/ Mr. Handcuffs

Bodies of 2 women found in suitcases; ex-cop is main suspect

Posted: Jun 27, 2014 6:12 AM CST Updated: Jun 27, 2014 6:12 AM CST
By Associated Press
Steven M. Zelich is scheduled to appear in court in Wisconsin on Friday afternoon on two counts of hiding a corpse. Authorities say Zelich, a 52-year-old security guard from West Allis, Wisconsin, met his victims online, bound and killed them and kept their bodies for months, either in his vehicle or his home, though he has not yet been charged in their deaths.

One of the women was Laura Simonson, whose family reported her missing last November. Hollatz, a police detective in the Twin Cities suburb of Farmington, Minnesota, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Zelich had been "the No. 1 person on my radar" since January. But the crucial break didn't come until highway workers found the suitcases with the bodies on June 5 in the Town of Geneva, some 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee.

Bail set for Wisconsin ex-cop charged with hiding two corpses

June 27, 2014|By Brendan O'Brien | Reuters

ELKHORN Wisc. (Reuters) - A Wisconsin judge set bail at $1 million on Friday for a former police officer suspected of stashing the bodies of two women in suitcases and dumping them along the road.

Steven Zelich, 52, has been charged with two felony counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County. One of the bodies was found naked with a rope wrapped around her neck and a ball gag strapped into her mouth. The other woman's hands were bound with rope behind her back, according to a criminal complaint.

[...]

Zelich faces up to 10 years in prison on each charge.

Positively identified: Officials in Walworth Co. say unidentified body found in suitcase is Jenny Gamez of Oregon

Posted 1:21 pm, June 30, 2014, by Katie DeLong and Myra Sanchick, Updated at 10:12pm, June 30, 2014

[...]

Jenny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, disappeared in 2012.

Apparently, Gamez wasn’t reported missing initially. She told her family she was moving, and police say the young woman’s family just thought she was moving on with her life.

Investigators are still working on the time frame involving when she disappeared and when she was killed, but they believe it was in late 2012 or early 2013.

“No doubt it was her:” Friends & family of Jenny Gamez were just waiting on dental records to prove it

Posted 4:44 pm, June 30, 2014, by Katie DeLong and Derica Williams, Updated at 10:11pm, June 30, 2014

WALWORTH CO./KENOSHA CO. (WITI) — After seeing the sketch put out by officials in Walworth County after two bodies were found in suitcases in the Town of Geneva, friends and family members of Jenny Gamez in Oregon say they knew it was her. They were just waiting on dental records to prove it.

Jenny Gamez

 

[bessie]

Ex-cop to stand trial after bodies found in suitcases following alleged rough-sex deaths

Thursday, July 03, 2014 - WLS-TV Chicago
ELKHORT, Wis. --
A former police officer charged with dumping two bodies hidden in suitcases along a rural Wisconsin highway said he killed the women during separate meetings at hotels to have rough sex, a detective testified Thursday.

[...]

Authorities there have said they expect homicide charges to be filed in the counties where the women died, but Zelich's public defender Travis Schwantes said Thursday in court that the deaths were accidents that may not merit additional charges.

Judge Phillip Koss disagreed, saying hiding the bodies, first in Zelich's home and car and then in tall grass along the road, indicated Zelich knew a crime had occurred.

"If there's purely no crime, I'm not sure why one doesn't call 911 immediately, but beyond that, if there's no crime, it's not clear why these need to be hid at all," Koss said as he ordered Zelich held for trial on the hiding a corpse charges.

Suspect in suitcase slayings wanted bodies to be found, attorney says

James Queally, Chicago Tribune
12:46 p.m. CDT, July 3, 2014

The former Wisconsin cop charged in the grisly slayings of two women he met on bondage websites wanted their bodies to be found by police, his attorney argued during a probable cause hearing Thursday.

[...]

"It appeared that he was actually trying to have the suitcases be discovered based on where they were placed," [public defender] Schwantes said.

Former cop Zelich faces trial for hiding corpses; told police deaths accidental

Posted: Jul 03, 2014 11:26 AM CST Updated: Jul 03, 2014 3:55 PM CST
By Tony Galli
During testimony by Walworth County Sheriff's detective Jeffrey Recknagel during Zelich's preliminary hearing, Recknagel said Zelich maintained the women's deaths were the result of bondage type sex.

[...]

But Judge Phillip Koss doubted Zelich's explanation.

"The defendant says they (the deaths) were accidental. Perhaps once, but twice, it's not likely to be accidents when this happens two times," Koss said.

Probable cause found for charges that man hid women's bodies in suitcases

Tribune wire reports
11:04 a.m. CDT, July 3, 2014

Zelich told investigators he met both women online, according to a criminal complaint. Zelich told investigators he caused Gamez's death when he met with her in Kenosha County in southeastern Wisconsin in late 2012 or early 2013, and caused Simonson's death at a Rochester, Minnesota, hotel in November, the complaint said.

He is accused of keeping the suitcases with the women inside at his apartment in a Milwaukee suburb and in the trunk of his vehicle before dumping the luggage on the side of a road.

Attorney: Steven Zelich likely wanted bodies to be found

By Ashley Luthern And Megan Trimble
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
July 4, 2014

[...]

Schwantes hurriedly left court after Koss' ruling, saying there is "a lot of work to do on (the case) right now, and I am eager to do it."

After the court hearing, Schwantes alluded to building a case of the deaths resulting from a reckless accident.

"If it's a reckless act involving two people, which one is being reckless?" Schwantes said. "If two people are involved in a reckless act, can one be charged for accidental death by reckless behavior?

 

[bessie]

Woman who escaped suitcase murders suspect speaks out

By Jermont Terry. CREATED Jul 1, 2014 - UPDATED: Jul 2, 2014

“I wanted to live. I wanted my life,” those are the words from a woman who claimed she encountered a tight choke hold of Steven Zelich. Zelich is arrested in charged in “The Suitcase Murders.”

The woman who did not want to be identified told the I-Team she met Zelich at a bar in May 2001. The two talked and agreed to come to back to Zelich’s West Allis apartment on National Avenue.

Woman: “The deal was I was going to give him a private show at his place.”

Reporter: What were you going to get in exchanged for this private show?

Woman: $500.00

But once at the apartment the she claimed Zelich began to act strange.

“When I took off my clothes he decided he wanted to leave the room I was concerned why he was leaving,” explained the woman.

So she followed him and quickly spotted handcuffs.

“The moment he realized I saw the handcuffs that's when he attacked me,” she explained.

Woman: “He grabbed me and wrestled me to the ground.”

Reporter: What did he say to you?

Woman: “He told me that he was going to kill me. I said please stop what are you doing?”

[cont. at the link]

Zelich 'went ballistic' when questioned about handcuffs, report

By Ashley Luthern of the Journal Sentinel
July 3, 2014

According to the incident report from West Allis police:
West Allis officers were called for a report of a woman, wearing only a bikini, banging on a door, and were told that the woman was last seen walking east on W. National Ave. about 3:40 a.m. May 13, 2001.

[...]

When she questioned him about the handcuffs, she said "he went ballistic, I was trying to get out of his room, but he would not let me get out."

She said they wrestled and he began to choke her.

"Are you going to kill me?" she said she asked Zelich.

"Are you going to have sex with me?" was Zelich's reply, she said.

"I'll do whatever you want, I have condoms in my purse," she said.

"I thought he was going to kill me, I was thinking today ... you are going to die. I kept asking him why are you doing this to me?" she told officers.

[cont. at the link]

 

[OkieGranny]

Preliminary timeline, linked to sources:


Oct 29, 1961: Zelich was born

1976?: Laura was born

1979: Zelich graduated from St Thomas More High School in Milwaukee

Jan 30, 1984: Zelich was hired by the Mequon Police Department

Feb 25, 1989: Zelich resigned from the Mequon Police Depart

Feb 1989: Zelich was hired as a patrol officer with the West Allis Police Department

Apr 9, 1993: Jenny was born

About 1998: Jenny began living in foster care with a series of families

May 13, 2001: LE was called to Zelich's apartment in the 11200 block of W National Ave in West Allis due to an altercation with a woman he brought home from a bar; the case was never referred to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office for possible prosecution

Aug 2001: Zelich resigned from the West Allis Police Department

Oct 27, 2002: Zelich's father passed away

Jan 13, 2004: Zelich created a profile on Bondage.com, expressing his desire for a permanent "24/7 slave, for absolute ownership/slavery" (link NSFW)

2006: A former girlfriend and her children moved to Milwaukee to live with Zelich

Jun 28, 2007: Zelich began working for Securitas Security Services USA

Jul 2, 2007: Zelich was issued a Wisconsin private security license

Aug 2007: The former girlfriend and her children secretly moved out while Zelich was at work

2007: A former business partner cut all ties with Zelich, accusing him of embezzlement from Comprehensive Title LLC

Jun 24, 2008: Household Finance filed suit against Zelich in civil court and was awarded $16,345.26

June 28, 2008: Jenny gave birth to a child

May 4, 2009: Livingston Financial filed suit against Zelich in civil court and was awarded $11,360.21 plus $3,979.70 interest

Nov 4, 2009: Zelich created a profile on ThailandSexy.com, expressing his desire for a permanent "24/7 slave, for absolute ownership/slavery" (link NSFW)

2010: The father of Jenny's child gained sole custody of him

2010: Laura's seven children were placed in foster care with her father

Apr 6, 2010: Midland Funding filed suit against Zelich in small claims court and was awarded a judgment of $2,170.85

Jun 4, 2010: First American Title Insurance, underwriter for policies written by Comprehensive Title, sued Zelich for unpaid premiums and was awarded $53,797.75 plus $3,598.65 interest

Jun 2011: Jenny graduated with honors from Al Kennedy Alternative High School in Cottage Grove, OR, earning a two-year scholarship to Lane Community College in Eugene, OR

2011-2012: Jenny attended Lane Community College for one year

Dec 19, 2011: Zelich's landlord filed an eviction suit against him in small claims court and was awarded a judgment of $6,569

Jan 19, 2012: Zelich placed a message on MasterB Slave Club seeking an owner for "no limit no release enslavement"

May 13, 2012: Jenny's foster mother last saw her on Mother's Day when Jenny stopped by to bring her a plant

Mid-2012: According to her foster mother, Jenny abruptly decided to move to California to live with friends and fell out of touch with everyone close to her

Late 2012-Early 2013: Zelich claimed he spent days with Jenny before killing her in Kenosha County, WI

Apr 23, 2013: Household Finance filed a Garnishment-Large Claims suit against Zelich in civil court

Jun 20, 2013: One of Laura's children died suddenly

Nov 1, 2013: Laura was last seen by family members

Nov 2, 2013: Laura parked her van at her mother's house

Nov 2, 2013: Laura was picked up from the parking lot of the Akin Road Elementary School in Farmington

Nov 2, 2013: Laura was last seen alive when she and Zelich checked in to the Microtel Inn in Rochester, MN

Nov 3, 2013: Zelich checked out of the Microtel Inn alone

Nov 22, 2013: Laura was reported missing by her mother

Jan 2014: A friend of Laura's posted on her Facebook page that Laura was taken from her mother's house on November 2, 2013 by Steven Zelich

Mid-Jan 2014: Farmington LE accessed Laura's online chats and located two e-mails accounts registered to Zelich

Jan 17, 2014: At the request of Farmington LE, West Allis LE went to Zelich's apartment but found no sign of Laura

Early 2014: After Zelich failed to respond to a letter from Farmington LE, FBI and Wisconsin DCI agents spoke to him

Apr 18, 2014: A classified ad was placed in Wisconsin Super Ads, accusing Zelich of holding Laura captive

May 15, 2014: Zelich created a profile on Alt.com, expressing his desire for a permanent "24/7 slave, for absolute ownership/slavery" (link NSFW)

May 25, 2014: Zelich posted a Legal Shield ad on CraigsList

First week of June 2014: Zelich said he took both bodies to the Town of Geneva and dumped them in tall grass on the side of a road

Jun 5, 2014: A Town of Geneva highway worker cutting grass discovered two suitcases in a ditch along North Como Road just east of County Road H in the Town of Geneva, WI

Jun 5, 2014: Farmington LE was notified that a body matching Laura's description had been found

Jun 6, 2014: Autopsies were conducted on the unidentified remains

Jun 9, 2014: The Waukesha County ME's office revealed that the remains belonged to two females

Jun 10, 2014: Rochester LE first became aware of the connection between the suitcases and Laura's disappearance when they were contacted by Wisconsin LE

Jun 12, 2014: Investigators processed the room Laura and Zelich occupied at the Microtel Inn in Rochester for traces of evidence

Jun 24, 2014: LE discovered physical evidence that connected Zelich to the bodies of Laura and Jenny

Jun 25, 2014: Steven Zelich was taken into custody for questioning related to the two bodies

Jun 25, 2014: Zelich's apartment at 8011 W Lincoln Ave was searched and potential evidence seized

Jun 25, 2014: Zelich was arrested on two counts of hiding a corpse and booked into the Walworth County Jail

Jun 25, 2014: One of the bodies was identified as Laura Simonson, 37, of Farmington, MN; a description of the other body was released

Jun 26, 2014: A former girlfriend of Zelich's said he claimed he'd once had a girl for seven years and kept her caged 90% of the time

Jun 27, 2014: Zelich appeared via video for his initial hearing on two felony charges of hiding a corpse; his bail was set at $1,000,000

Jun 27, 2014: Cottage Grove LE said they were working with Wisconsin LE to obtain Jenny's dental records

Jun 30, 2014: The second body was officially identified as Jenny

Jul 3, 2014: The woman involved in the 2001 altercation with Zelich spoke to a reporter about the events of that night

Jul 3, 2014: Zelich was bound over for trial at his preliminary hearing

Jul 17, 2014: Zelich is scheduled to enter a plea

 

[ClaireNC]

This article mentions that they have video from the Microtel in Rochester of Zelich leaving the hotel. It's a fact that has been discussed, so I decided to post it here.
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4...ng-corpses-into-suitcases-to-appear-in-court/

Hollatz tracked Simonson's last movements to the Microtel Inn and Suites in Rochester, because employees recognized her from a crime alert he sent out. He said they remembered her because someone had been smoking in her room in violation of hotel rules.

Simonson checked in under her own name on Nov. 2. He said the hotel's security video showed a man later identified as Zelich leaving alone the next morning, but Simonson was not seen leaving. In mid-January, Hollatz got a tip that Simonson probably was with a man named Steve Zelich from West Allis.

 

[ClaireNC]

Another article with background on Laura's story. http://www.farmingtonindependent.com/content/missing-farmington-woman-found-dead-wisconsin

Missing Farmington woman found dead in Wisconsin
By Michelle Leonard on Jul 1, 2014 at 2:38 p.m.

Simonson was last seen by family members on Nov. 1, 2013. She had residences in both Farmington and St. Paul, so family members were not initially concerned when they had not seen her for several days. On Nov. 2, she left her van parked at her mother’s Farmington home.

Family members reported her missing on Nov. 22.

 

[nursebeeme]

this is a no discussion time line and media thread only.. if your post is missing it is because it was a comment and not a piece of information that goes here

 

[bessie]

Steven Zelich's West Allis PD personnel files released

by Chris Patterson
by Sandra Torres
Story Created: Jul 9, 2014

WEST ALLIS -- Disturbing details about the career of Steven Zelich while he worked for the West Allis Police Department have emerged. Zelich is the man implicated in the deaths of two women found stuffed in suitcases on the side of a Walworth County highway.

Zelich began working for the West Allis Police Department back in February of 1989. He was once regarded as one of the department's best officers. Zelich's personnel records show he had three suspensions, and four reprimands before resigning from the West Allis Police Department in 2001.

http://www.cbs58.com/news/local-new...is-PD-personnel-files-released-266504021.html

Suitcase Bodies Suspect Dodged Discipline as Cop

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Jul 9, 2014, 5:11 PM ET
By M.L. JOHNSON Associated Press

"Over the last few months, a very distinct pattern has developed," then-Chief Dean Puschnig said in a draft of charges dated Aug. 8, 2001. "Every complaint is very similar in nature and involves young women. He has engaged in inappropriate actions with a known prostitute. While he has been on duty in his police uniform, Officer Zelich has asked numerous young women to go on dates with him. All of these women have felt intimidated and pressured into giving out their phone numbers and other personal information because he is a police officer in uniform."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/cop-tied-suitcase-deaths-suspended-times-24487566

Steven Zelich's Officer Evaluations

by John Cuoco
Story Created: Jul 9, 2014

His final review was written two months before his stint with the department started to spiral in April, with his eventual resignation in August.

In that evaluation, persuasiveness was listed an area of strength, his natural ability to persuaded people to conform to a certain direction of action.

http://www.cbs58.com/news/local-news/Steven-Zelichs-Officer-Evaluations-266526241.html

 

[ClaireNC]

Personnel file out of West Allis PD shows years of allegations against Steven Zelich…from women
http://fox6now.com/2014/07/09/perso...allegations-against-steven-zelich-from-women/

July 9, 2014, by Myra Sanchick and Ben Handelman.
A personnel file…three to four inches thick! FOX6 News has obtained the personnel records for former West Allis police officer Steven Zelich. Zelich has been charged with two counts of hiding a corpse — after the bodies of two women, one from Minnesota, and one from Oregon were found stuffed in suitcases discovered on the side of the road in the Town of Geneva last month.

 

[ClaireNC]

Steven Zelich, suspect in suitcase bodies case, has checkered past.
By Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel July 16, 2014
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/...has-checkered-past-b99309158z1-267276601.html

There is the woman who tried to back out of giving Steven Zelich a lap dance because she thought she heard handcuffs.

There are the neighbors who recall dealing with a sudden fly infestation, which they now think might have been caused by dead bodies.

There is the checkered job history, the apparent lack of social connections.

But Zelich, now suspected of killing two women whose bodies police say he left in suitcases along a rural Walworth County road last month, remains an enigma even as his case draws national attention. Family, friends and colleagues have little to say about the former police officer. What emerges from public records and a few limited observations is a sketch more than a portrait, a glimpse of someone confident — though largely unsuccessful — with women and business, yet apparently wily enough to keep two dead bodies hidden for months, even as people began asking questions.

His case begs the obvious question: Are there more victims?

 

[bessie]

5 red flags from checkered past of Wisconsin suitcase bodies suspect

---

Posted: Jul 16, 2014 12:00 PM CST Updated: Jul 16, 2014 12:00 PM CST
posted by Mike Durkin

Checkered job history --

Lack of social connections --

Sudden fly infestation --

Scared strippers --

Woman running away in underwear --

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/26034413/steve-zelich-red-flags-wisconsin-suitcase-bodies

---

Much more at the link

 

[bessie]

Not guilty: Zelich enters plea on two charges of hiding a corpse in “bodies in suitcases” case
Posted 6:22 am, July 17, 2014, by AP Wire Service, Updated at 01:46pm, July 17, 2014

ELKHORN (AP) — A former police officer suspected in the deaths of two women has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to hide their bodies in suitcases dumped along a rural Wisconsin road.

---

Steven Zelich pleads not guilty in suitcase bodies
By Megan Trimble
Updated: 1:33 p.m

Steven Zelich pleaded not guilty Thursday to two charges of hiding a corpse during a brief hearing in Walworth County Circuit Court.

Zelich, who appeared from jail via video feed, will have a status hearing in the case Sept. 23.

Zelich, 52, was bound over for trial earlier this month on charges in connection with the discovery of two women's bodies found inside suitcases along a Town of Geneva road June 5. He remains in the Walworth County jail on $1 million bail.

---

More at the links above

 

[bessie]

Steven Zelich charged with homicide in death of woman found in suitcase

By Bruce Vielmetti and Sarah Maslin of the Journal Sentinel
August 5,2014 Updated: 3:03 p.m.

According to a criminal complaint, Gamez died from airway obstruction and neck compression during restraint, according to Linda Biedrzycki, the Waukesha County medical examiner called to examine the remains of Gamez.


A Walworth County investigator said Gamez died during "breath play," choking during bondage and sadomasochistic sex. He said Zelich admitted that he blindfolded and handcuffed Gamez with her hands behind her back, put a ball gag device in her mouth and used a rope around her neck to restrict her breathing.


Zelich said that he brought Gamez's body from the hotel, a Quality Inn on the west I-94 frontage road, back to his West Allis apartment and kept her in his refrigerator until November 2013. He used the suitcase Gamez brought to Kenosha.

---

Steven Zelich charged in death of Jenny Gamez
UPDATED 2:16 PM CDT Aug 05, 2014

Investigators said Steven Zelich, 52, killed one of the women at a hotel off of Highway 50 and Interstate 94 in Kenosha County.

According to a new criminal complaint released Tuesday, Zelich told investigators he lost control while choking Jenny Gamez, 19, of Cottage Grove, Ore., and caused her death.

Read more: http://www.wisn.com/news/man-accuse...n-kenosha-county-court/27305904#ixzz39YnjIiEE

---

 

[SAH128]

Here's a copy of the criminal complaint

http://media.jrn.com/documents/bodiescomplaint080514.pdf

The Journal Sentinel story's the most detailed too

http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/...-found-in-suitcase-b99324684z1-270026691.html