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Former Police Officer Steven Zelich Gets 35 Years For Choking 2 Women To Death In Grisly Game Of BDSM

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 01:40 PST, Mar 31, 2016

Former Milwaukee police officer Steven Zelich, 54, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for killing Jenny Gamez, 19, and leaving her body in a suitcase along a Wisconsin highway Wednesday. He had killed her in 2012 but ditched her body on the road in 2014.

As ABC News reports, Zelich pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide of using a dangerous weapon and hiding a corpse.

According to a court affidavit, Zelich had met Gamez, based in Oregon, on a sadomasochism and bondage website and invited her to Wisconsin. He had picked her from the airport, and they drove to a Kenosha hotel. During their stay at the hotel, both parties had been playing a sexual choking game. According to Zelich, on the fourth day of their stay at the hotel, he lost control and choked Gamez to death. He stuffed her body in a suitcase and took her corpse to his apartment and kept her in his refrigerator.

Zelich described himself as a dominant male on the site with a post that read, “Seeking a long term 24/7 slave for absolute ownership/slavery…there’s nothing better than a slave tied tight, gagged, blindfolded, hooded, chained, caged…or being lead by her collar leash wearing wrist and ankle manacles.”

He went by the handle “Mr Handcuffs” and was also part of public Yahoo BDSM group.

The former police officer is also culpable in the death of Laura Simonson, 37, who he killed in similar circumstances in November 2013. Court documents say Zelich also met her online and took her to a hotel in Rochester, Minnesota, killing her using the same choking game. He had also dumped Simonson’s corpse in a suitcase on the highway after both corpses started to smell. Highway workers mowing grass in Walworth County discovered the bodies.

Laura Simonson was a mother of seven and struggled with mental illness. She was easily wooed by Zelich and followed him without trouble to his hotel room. Detective Sgt. Lee Hollatz said Zelich was a person of interest but that there was not enough evidence to arrest him. Hollatz said he sought assistance from the West Allis police to search Zelich’s home but said they found no traces of Simonson in the residence.

During investigations, a motel worker was able to identify Zelich and Simonson even though the former registered under a fake name. The motel worker said he remembered Zelich because he had violated motel rules by smoking in his room. Police matched Zelich to Simonson’s disappearance when a surveillance video showed that they had arrived at the hotel in Rochester together. But he was not arrested due to a lack of evidence. He was brought in only after the suitcases were discovered. Investigators who interviewed Zelich had taken his DNA sample and matched it to the ropes he used to tie up Gamez. His attorney, Jonathan Smith, is saying the deaths are accidental but is not sure if Zelich will appeal the sentence.

Kenosha County Deputy District Michael Graveley was pushing for a maximum of 75 years without the possibility of parole. But Zelich ended up getting a 35-year prison term when his defense attorney reached out with a plea deal.

Zelich worked for the police department of West Allis from February 1989 until he resigned in August 2001 following an internal investigation that he used his police position to access personal information and stalked women while on official duty. A prostitute had also accused Zelich of handcuffing her and doing “disturbing things” that made her call the police. Zelich was never charged for the incident.

[Photo by Jeffrey Phelps/AP, File]

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