He’s accused of hiding corpses of two women along rural road in Town of Geneva; murder charges pending elsewhere, D.A. says
By Kellen Olshefski
Staff Writer
Walworth County Circuit Court Judge David Reddy set a $1 million cash bond today for a 52-year-old West Allis man charged with hiding two corpses in suitcases in the Town of Geneva.
Walworth County District Attorney Daniel Necci said during the hearing that Steven Zelich cannot be charged with homicide in Walworth County, though charges are being considered in Olmsted County, Minn., and Kenosha County.
Necci requested the $1 million cash bond with nonmonetary conditions, which included: no computers, Internet or email, and no contact with the victims’ family members if known.
Zelich appeared at the proceeding via video from the Walworth County Jail and did not speak.
His is accused of placing two suitcases containing the bodies of two women in tall grass alongside North Como Road in the Town of Geneva.
One of the women has been identified as Laura Simonson of Farmington, Minn. The other has not been identified by police, who released an artist’s drawing of the Jane Doe on Wednesday.
Zelich’s court-appointed attorney Travis Schwantes requested during Zelich’s initial court appearance Friday that bond be set without respect to any charges that “might or might not come out in the future.”
Schwantes asked the court to lessen the bond to a $50,000 signature bond with a $1,000 cash component, considering his longtime residency and ties to Southeastern Wisconsin.
Reddy said during the hearing that protecting the members of the involved communities, as well as potential witnesses, is most important.
Because the criminal complaint alleges Zelich admitted to killing both women, Reddy said he adopted the recommendation of the state.
A preliminary hearing has been set for 10 a.m. on July 3 before Walworth County Circuit Court Judge Phillip Koss.
Following the hearing, Necci said Walworth County has been working closely with officials from Minnesota and Kenosha County regarding the case, though he can’t say when prosecutors and law enforcement from the involved counties will issue homicide charges.
Necci said though the county is unable to pursue homicide charges, he requested such a large bond because Zelich has allegedly confessed to committing the homicides.
“I believe that severity requires a severely high cash bond to ensure his appearance in court,” he said.
“We don’t get a lot of hiding a corpse here in Walworth County, so the circumstances always dictate what we’re going to ask for as far as bond and clearly the court agreed with us that was the appropriate bond.”
Though he said he hasn’t spoken with Minnesota prosecutors at this point, Necci said if homicide charges were pressed in either of the involved counties it would require an extradition process, which hasn’t been discusses at this point. If this were the case, Necci said Walworth County would not be opposed to moving Zelich out of the county.
“In the grand scheme of things, if homicide charges are filed in other counties, our charges are kind of small potatoes at this point,” he said. “My office has filed a criminal complaint, we’re prepared to defend it at a preliminary hearing and that’s what we do.”
Click here for a story on the criminal complaint against Steven Zelich.
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