Steven Zelich
Quick Facts
Biography
Steven Zelich is a convicted murderer and a former police officer for Milwaukee who was dubbed the "Wisconsin Suitcase Murderer" by the press.
Murders
Zelich went on the internet a lot with the alias as "Mr-handcuffs." He frequently visited S&M sites often using that code name asking for a type of "slave sex partner" That's where he met his two victims, 19-year-old Jenny Gamez and 37-year-old Laura Simonson. Gamez was killed in Oregon in late 2012 and Simonson was killed in Minnesota mid 2013. Zelich claimed both died during sex and he hid their bodies in his home, in suitcases. Until he decided to dump their bodies elsewhere a month later. Both their bodies were found on 5 June 2014 and he was arrested 20 days later.
Investigation
Laura Simonson was immediately identified from her dental records. But Gamez body wasn't identified until the 28 June due to her not being reported missing and they couldn't compare dental records. On the 25 of June 2014, Zelich was charged with two counts of hiding a corpse and had a million dollar bail. He was later charged with murder.
Trial and imprisonment
Zelich pleaded guilty to Gamaz murder in early 2016 and got 35 years for that murder. In February 2017 he was sentenced to 25 years to life in the murder of Simonson and later got another ten for the hiding corpses in October of 2017.
In the media
The story has appeared in Crime Watch Daily where it features how the Wisconsin police identified Gamez using Forensic science.