Former West Allis police officer Steven Zelich has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for the first of the two “Suitcase Murders” he was accused of committing.
If he’s alive after his prison term, the 54-year-old Zelich will be put under extended supervision for killing 19-year-old Jenny Gamez of Oregon in 2012 in Kenosha. Zelich is also awaiting charges in Minnesota, where he’s accused of killing Laura Simonson in 2013 in Rochester.
His attorney says Zelich engaged in rough sex with both women, and the deaths were not intentional.
Zelich pleaded guilty to reduced charges in Kenosha County that include reckless homicide. He still faces two Walworth County charges of hiding corpses, after he allegedly dumped suitcases containing the bodies along a roadside near Lake Geneva.
Contributed by WRJN