Steven Zelich Met 2 Women Online, Then Killed Them and Stuffed Their Bodies in Suitcases. Inside the Gruesome Case

Steven ZelichCredit: Jeffrey Phelps/AP Photo

Steven Zelich pleaded guilty to killing Jenny Gamez and Laura Simonson in 2012 and 2013, respectively

Zelich kept their bodies before eventually stuffing them in suitcases and dumping along a highway in rural Wisconsin

The tragic slayings are the subject of an ABC 20/20 episode, which aired on Oct. 16

After Jenny Gamez and Laura Simonson’s bodies were found in suitcases along the side of a Wisconsin highway, Steven Zelich became known as the perpetrator of the “Suitcase Murders.”

In 2012, Gamez vanished after flying from Oregon to Wisconsin to meet with Zelich, a man she’d met on a BDSM website, per the . More than a year later in 2013, Simonson met the same fate after Zelich flew to her home state of Minnesota.

In June 2014, their bodies were discovered stuffed in suitcases along the side of a Geneva, Wis., highway. Zelich was arrested a few weeks later, per WMTV. The former Wisconsin police officer told investigators he met the women online and claimed they accidentally died while he was playing a sexual game that involved choking them, according to court records and testimony reviewed by the .

Zelich was eventually sentenced to a total of 70 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder and reckless homicide in connection with the slayings. The tragic cases are the subject of an ABC 20/20 episode, which aired on Oct. 16.

Here’s what to know about Steven Zelich’s killings of Jenny Gamez and Laura Simonson.

In June 2014, two bodies were found in suitcases along a Wisconsin highway

A suitcase found by police along a Wisconsin highwayCredit: Hulu

In June 2014, two suitcases containing the remains of two individuals were discovered off the side of a road in Geneva, Wis. The suitcases were found by a highway worker who was mowing grass, per the .

Police first had to identify the victims, as they had no identification available and their bodies were too badly decomposed to collect DNA, per 20/20. They expanded their search to neighboring states, including Minnesota, where Farmington Police were investigating the disappearance of mother-of-seven Simonson, 37. She was reported as a missing person by her family in November 2013, per NBC News.

“Her kids were her life,” her friend Kristin Scouton told 20/20. “She would’ve never just voluntarily left her children.”

After police issued a state-wide alert about Simonson’s disappearance, a motel employee in Rochester, Minn., recognized her and contacted police. Through security footage, officials confirmed that shortly before her disappearance, Simonson had been present for motel check-in with a then-unknown man, but not check-out.

However, Gamez was more difficult to identify. Before her 2012 disappearance, the 19-year-old told family she was moving and hadn’t been reported missing. “The few of us who were really, really close with her lost contact and hadn`t heard from her,” friend SonyaSobel told Fox 6.

Authorities in Walworth County released a sketch of the second body, asking for the public’s help in identifying her. Gamez’s loved ones immediately thought it was her, which was later confirmed by dental records.

“I have like, no doubt it was her,” Sobel said. “The black and white picture they have — you can see her crooked bottom teeth, big front top teeth, her little eyes and high cheekbones.”

Steven Zelich met Jenny Gamez and Laura Simonson online

During the initial stages of the investigation into Simonson’s disappearance, a friend told police that she was involved in a community that caters to BDSM, per 20/20. The sexual practice involves bondage, dominance, submission and control, per WebMD.

Investigators found that Simonson had been communicating with someone named “Mrhandcuffs,” a.k.a. Zelich. His profile read, “seeking a long-term (perm) 24/7 slave, for ownership/slavery,” per the 20/20 episode. While police interviewed him, they collected a DNA sample, but didn’t find evidence of a crime and couldn’t connect Zelich to Simonson’s disappearance, per 20/20.

However, when the bodies were recovered in June 2014, DNA recovered from the rope wrapped around one of the bodies matched Zelich.

Previously, Zelich worked as a West Allis, Wis. patrol officer. After 12 years on the job, he resigned in 2001 following an internal investigation that found he was stalking women while on duty and leveraged his position of power to get access to their information, per the . Zelich then became a licensed private security officer, per CBS News.

Zelich was arrested nearly three weeks after the bodies were discovered and charged with two counts of hiding a corpse, per Fox 6.

Zelich claimed he accidentally killed them during sexual encounters

In 2012, Gamez flew from Oregon to meet Zelich after they initially met online. He told investigators that he picked her up at the Milwaukee airport and they drove to Kenosha, Wis., where they spent multiple days in a hotel, per the .

Zelich claimed that during one instance in which they were playing a sexual game that involved him choking her, he lost control and choked her to death, per the publication. He then put Gamez’s body in her suitcase, took the suitcase to his West Allis, Wis., apartment and put her body in the refrigerator, he reportedly told investigators.

In 2013, Simonson died in the same way. After connecting online, Zelich and Simonson met at a hotel in Rochester, Minn., where Zelich claimed he lost control when they were playing the same choking game and killed her, per court documents.

Zelich brought Simonson’s body home and eventually put both of the bodies in suitcases, per the . He stored them in the trunk of his car until they began to smell, so he then dumped them on the side of the road in rural Wisconsin, per the outlet.

When the bodies were discovered, one had rope wrapped around the neck and a ball gag in her mouth, per a criminal complaint reviewed by the Chicago Tribune. The other body’s hands were tied with rope and behind her back, the publication reported.

Zelich was sentenced to a total of 70 years in prison

Steven Zelich in a Walworth County courtroom for a preliminary hearing in Elkhorn, Wis. in 2014Credit: Jeffrey Phelps/AP Photo

In 2016, Zelich pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon and hiding a corpse in connection with Gamez’s death in Wisconsin, per CBS News. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, per Fox 6.

Zelich later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2017 for Simonson’s death in Minnesota, per 20/20, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, which will be served after his Wisconsin sentence. He also received an additional 10 years on two counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County, Wis., according to the outlet.

However, Zelich later filed a post-conviction motion to withdraw his guilty plea in connection with Gamez’s death. Zelich claimed he pleaded guilty after a judge decided evidence from the Minnesota case could be introduced in the Wisconsin case and his attorney erroneously told him he could challenge that ruling on appeal, per CBS News.

It’s unclear if Zelich’s plea has been withdrawn. He is currently serving his sentence at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Kenosha, Wis., per the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

Source: Crime