Steven Zelich
Charges have been filed in Olmsted County, Minnesota, District Court against a Wisconsin man accused of killing two women and hiding their bodies in suitcases.
According to the County Attorney’s Office, 54-year-old Steven Zelich of West Allis has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree intentional murder and second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony offense.
According to a criminal complaint, Zelich, a former police officer, is accused of killing a college student, 19-year-old Jenny Gamez from Oregon, at a Kenosha hotel in August of 2012.
In November of 2013, Zelich allegedly killed Laura Simonson from Farmington, Minnesota, at the Microtel Inn and Suites in Rochester.
Zelich told investigators he killed both women accidentally during a sexual act, where he wrapped rope around the women’s necks. He told investigators that he hid the bodies of the two women in suitcases, which he later dumped along the highway. The suitcases were found by a road crew along a highway in Lake Geneva in June of 2014.
Zelich is being held in Wisconsin, where he’s charged with two counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County and counts of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in Kenosha County. Trial in Kenosha County is scheduled to start in January of next year.
WTAQ