[Megamel29]

http://abc7chicago.com/news/i-team-n...s-case/141778/

A second victim has now been identified in the bizarre discovery of two bodies in suitcases in southern Wisconsin.

The two corpses were found in luggage along a rural roadway near Lake Geneva. The ABC7 I-Team uncovered new sordid details about the former police officer, Steven Zelich, charged in connection with the deaths.

Police in southern Wisconsin Thursday night have tentatively identified the second corpse stuffed in a suitcase, put there, they suspect, by Zelich. Authorities are not yet releasing her name.

The I-Team first reported Wednesday night that Zelich might have held one of the victims captive as his personal slave. On Thursday, the I-Team uncovered new information to support that.

After authorities in suburban Milwaukee removed a refrigerator from his apartment and inspected bags and boxes full of potential evidence, Thursday morning they charged 52-year-old Steven Zelich with the hiding of corpses in suitcases.

Mummified remains of two women were found in luggage left on a roadside in the town of Geneva, Wis. were found three weeks ago by a grass cutting crew.

One of the victims has been identified as 37-year-old Laura Simonson of Farmington, Minnesota. Simonson, the mother of seven children, was last seen alive at a Rochester, Minn., motel, police say, with Zelich.

"At this time Zelich did confess to being involved in Laura's death here in Rochester," said Capt. John Sherwin, Rochester Police Dept.

Rochester police said they have evidence Zelich murdered her in the motel and took her remains to Wisconsin where he lived. According to court records obtained late Thursday, Simonson had rope wrapped around her neck, had a sexual ball gag strapped into her mouth with a collar and was naked.

The second body was partially concealed in black plastic garbage bags and it was later discovered that her hands were bound with rope behind her back.

Records state Zelich has admitted to both killings. The I-Team has found Zelich was a seasoned traveler in the world of perversion. On a website linked to Zelich's email address, there is an ad for a personal slave at least two years ago, that states: "No release enslavement, imprisonment, captivity, animalization... ideally in a farm/caged environment."

An anonymous web ad six months ago showed personal pictures of Laura Simonson and claimed that Steven Zelich had her imprisoned and was keeping her "naked, handcuffed and shackled... caged... enslaved... whipped and tortured." The anonymous posting claimed that Zelich called himself "Mr. Handcuffs" and on this sado-masochistic web forum, Mr. Handcuffs from Milwaukee was seeking a 24/7 slave to join him for a life of "total enslavement."

Zelich used to work as a police officer in West Allis, Wis., outside Milwaukee, but recently was with a legal services website.

[kellyhound]

West Allis police on Thursday, June 26th confirmed that Zelich is a former West Allis police officer.

Zelich was appointed to the position of patrol officer in February of 1989, and he resigned from the department in August of 2001.

Sources say Zelich’s resignation came under suspicious circumstances.

Investigators are looking into a report that a prostitute accused Zelich of handcuffing her and more. She was apparently so concerned, she contacted police.

Zelich was never charged, but did resign from the force.

Zelich then became a security guard for Securitas.

On Thursday, Securitas said they are surprised to learn of these allegations against Zelich.

Securitas says Zelich worked there full-time since 2007. He passed a thorough background check and had a guard card — requiring further state and federal background checks.

Since his arrest on Wednesday, he has been placed on administrative leave.

West Allis police won’t talk about Zelich or his time with the department.

FOX6 News has learned Zelich’s father was a police officer — a sergeant for Milwaukee.

He passed away several years ago.

MPD says the only incident they have on record with Steven Zelich is when he witnessed a robbery a few years ago.

[gatagato]

Oregon woman is second body in Wisconsin suitcases

enny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Ore., was identified June 30, 2014, as one of two women whose bodies were found in suitcases along a country road in southern Wisconsin.

Wisconsin authorities Monday identified a second body found in two suitcases dumped along a county road as a 21-year-old Oregon woman.

Jenny Gamez of Cottage Grove, Ore., south of Eugene, was identified through dental records. She and a 37-year-old Minnesota mother of seven were found in separate suitcases June 5 in the Town of Geneva, about 35 miles southwest of Milwaukee.

Authorities have not announced how the women died.

Steven Zelich, a 52-year-old former suburban Milwaukee police officer linked to a sadomasochistic online forum, was charged last week with two counts of hiding a corpse and is being held on $1 million bail.

According to the criminal complaint filed last week, Zelich has admitted to killing both women.

Homicide charges could be filed in Kenosha, Wis., and Rochester, Minn., where investigators believe the the women were killed.

Zelich, of West Allis, told investigators he met Gamez online in late 2012 or early 2013 and later at a Kenosha County motel, where she was killed. Gamez, who was 19 at time, was found inside the suitcase with her hands tied behind her back and stuffed partially inside a garbage bag.

Police said Zelich admitted causing her death, stuffing her in a suitcase and then hiding it at his home in West Allis. Sometime this year he put the suitcase in his car and moved it, according to the criminal complaint.

Gamez was not reported missing, because she had told her family she was moving and "they thought perhaps she was on with her life," Town of Geneva Police Chief Steven Hurley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Gamez's former foster mother said she last spoke with her on Mother's Day 2012.

"We're just stunned by all of this. Shocked," Lorraine Eriksen told the Eugene Register-Guard.

Gamez gave birth to a son in 2008, and the boy's father gained sole custody in 2010, court records show. Eriksen could not explain who or what brought Gamez to Wisconsin.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...fied/11812099/

[Megamel29]

So sad. Such a young girl. I wonder if this guy has more victims.

[Kelseecat65]

Originally Posted by Megamel29 ↗

So sad. Such a young girl. I wonder if this guy has more victims.

Scary thought

[Megamel29]

http://www.kgw.com/home/Detective-Wo...265739341.html

A former police officer suspected in the deaths of two women whose bodies were found in suitcases dumped on a rural Wisconsin highway said he killed the women during separate meetings at hotels to have rough sex, a detective testified Thursday.
Steven Zelich, a 52-year-old security officer, has been charged with two counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County, where the suitcases were found June 5 by highway workers cutting grass. 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 the fact that Zelich hid the bodies, first in his 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 charges of hiding a corpse.
Walworth County Sheriff's Detective Jeffrey Recknagel testified that Zelich told him that he met both women in online chat rooms, set up dates for sex at hotels and killed the women after bondage sessions.
Recknagel said one woman, Jenny Gamez, 19, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, spent several days with Zelich at a hotel in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, before he killed her in 2012. The other woman, Laura Simonson, 37, of Farmington, Minnesota, died in November at a hotel in Rochester, Minnesota, authorities said.
Zelich kept the bodies hidden in suitcases before discarding them in early June, the detective said.
"He told me that he had been storing these bodies in the trunk of his vehicle and the smell was so strong that he decided he had to get rid of them," Recknagel said.
Zelich worked for the West Allis Police Department from February 1989 until his resignation in August 2001. He had been working as a private security officer when he was arrested June 25, the same day detectives wearing hazmat suits removed a refrigerator and large brown bags of evidence from his apartment in West Allis, a Milwaukee suburb.

[Megamel29]

http://abc7chicago.com/news/i-team-e...ith-inteSTEVEN ZELICH CHARGED WITH INTENTIONAL HOMICIDE IN WISCONSIN SUITCASE DEATHSntional-homicide-in-wi-suitcase-deaths/243055/

Two months ago Tuesday the bodies of two women were found in luggage left along a rural Wisconsin highway and the former police officer charged with their killings was in court Tuesday.

The one-time suburban Milwaukee cop who is charged as the suitcase killer was into sex that went too far, according to police. Steven Zelich was officially charged Tuesday with intentional homicide in Kenosha County and then hiding the corpse, first in his refrigerator and then in some luggage.

He is also charged in Walworth County with concealing a homicide. Both of the female victims ended up dead after meeting Zelich on internet sites.

The 52-year-old Zelich was in shackles Tuesday in Kenosha County Circuit Court for the short hearing.

It was two months ago Tuesday that two women were found stuffed inside suitcases along a highway in Walworth County.

Detectives say Zelich told them one of the women, Jenny Gamez from Oregon, died during sex play in a Kenosha motel in August of 2012.

"I have gone through the matter with Mr. Zelich. I advised him of the charges and the maximum possible penalties. I reserve my right to bring challenges concerning probably cause," said Zelich's attorney Jonathan Smith in court.

Walworth County police say that Gamez died after Zelich was involved in a sadomasochistic choking game with her, so-called "breath play" according to law enforcement, during which she was handcuffed behind her back, with a gag in her mouth and a rope around her neck.

Zelich has told authorities that after the 21-year-old woman died in the motel, he brought her body back here to his suburban Milwaukee apartment and stored her remains in his refrigerator for more than a year. The suitcase where her corpse was found was the one she had brought on her trip from Oregon.

"We believe that this case is extremely aggravated, a high risk," said Kenosha County District Attorney Robert Zapf.

Zelich is also charged with hiding the corpse of 34-year-old Laura Simonson of Minnesota who vanished late last year. Authorities say it is likely he will be charged with her murder as well.

"The description by the defendant's own words, frankly, of what occurred, and how it occurred, certainly warrants a high cash bond, recognizing the risk of his fleeing the jurisdiction before any resolution of this case," said Judge Barbara A. Kluka, Kenosha County Circuit Court.

The judge then set Zelich's bond at $2 million. Police in Minnesota are leading the investigation of Simonson's case because she was murdered there and her body brought down here.

In January, Minnesota authorities actually requested suburban Milwaukee police to pay a visit to Zelich's apartment, which they did. He said he hadn't seen her for months.