Zelich declines plea in Minnesota

Local cases delayed prosecution there

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

Steven Zelich, a 55-year-old man convicted of first-degree reckless homicide in Kenosha County, entered a not guilty plea Dec. 22 for an alleged murder he committed in Minnesota.

According to WXOW in Rochester, Minn., Zelich declined a plea deal in the murder of 37-year-old Laura Simonson, whom he met in November 2013 and allegedly killed her during a sexual encounter at Microtel Inn and Suites in Rochester.

Minnesota prosecutors have charged Zelich, a former West Allis police officer, with first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder and second-degree unintentional murder in Simonson’s Nov. 2013 death, according to online court records.

Previously, Zelich accepted a plea bargain in Kenosha County Circuit Court, where he originally faced first-degree intentional homicide of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez in August 2012.

Steven Zelich

But, after a Kenosha County judge granted a prosecutor’s motion to admit evidence of the Simonson murder into a scheduled March 30 jury trial, Zelich chose to forego a trial and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree reckless homicide.

Zelich, also convicted in Kenosha County of hiding a corpse, received a 35-year sentence for the August 2012 death of Gamez at a Comfort Inn and Suites on Highway 50 and Interstate 94.

Wisconsin Court proceedings, including two pending charges in Walworth County, where he allegedly stashed suitcases containing the bodies of both victims on North Como Road in the Town of Geneva in 2014 reportedly hampered Minnesota’s prosecution attempts.

“Mr. Zelich was found in Wisconsin. There was another case in Wisconsin, and because of anti-shuttling rules and things like that, Wisconsin needed to complete that process before we could bring Mr. Zelich back here,” Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem told WXOW. “There’s been a significant delay in our case simply because we need to wait for Wisconsin to complete their process.”

Wisconsin’s case involving Gamez started when Zelich, then 49, allegedly met then 16-year-old Gamez through an online sexual bondage website, according to Kenosha County prosecutors.

After six months of dialogue, Zelich ceased discussions, until she turned 18 years old, when he convinced her to fly to Mitchell International Airport for an August 2012 meeting.

Jenny Gamez

Zelich and Gamez went to the Comfort Inn and Suites on Interstate 94 and Highway 50 in Kenosha, where she died during what Zelich said was “breath play.”

In Zelich’s sentencing hearing, Kenosha County prosecutors contend that Zelich selected Kenosha to minimize the Gamez “footprint.”

However, Zelich’s defense attorney, Jonathan Smith, argued that his client chose the hotel based on familiarity.

Smith added that Zelich was not accustomed to any hotels near Mitchell International Airport.

According to the criminal complaint, Zelich stated it was an accident that resulted in her strangulation during consensual sexual relations.

In an effort to conceal the homicide, Zelich stored Gamez’s body in a suitcase and put it in a refrigerator of his West Allis home.

Zelich then came in contact with Simonson, of Farmington, Minn., through a similar online site.

Zelich met Simonson in person in November 2013 in Rochester, Minn. He said she also died accidentally during the sexual encounter, according to the criminal complaint.

He also stored her body in a suitcase and placed it in his West Allis home.

When odor became a problem, Zelich allegedly placed both suitcases in the trunk of his car, until his supervisor at Johnson Controls complained about the smell coming from his car.

Laura Simonson

Then, Zelich allegedly stashed both suitcases on North Como Road in the Town of Geneva in Walworth County in 2014, where a highway worker discovered them while mowing grass June 5.

Gamez was partially covered in a garbage bag with her hands bound with a rope behind her back, according to the earlier reports.

With no missing persons complaint filed in the Gamez disappearance, it took authorities weeks to identify her using dental records.

In Simonson’s case, the Waukesha County medical examiner found her naked with a rope wrapped around her neck and a ball gag in her mouth.

Zelich still faces two felony counts of hiding corpse in Walworth County Circuit Court, where he is scheduled for a Jan. 17 status hearing.

However, the status hearing could get delayed, because Zelich is held without bail in Olmsted County and slated to appear at a Jan. 18 conference.


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