By Jason Arndt
STAFF WRITER
When a Kenosha County judge granted a motion made by prosecutors last month, it prompted Steven Zelich’s defense to accept a plea in Kenosha County Circuit Court Monday.
Zelich, a former West Allis police officer, faced two charges of homicide – including one in Minnesota, which a jury in Kenosha would have been able to consider in the trial scheduled to begin Monday.
Instead of face a jury, the 54-year-old Zelich pleaded guilty to the Aug. 28, 2012, death of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez of Cottage Grove, Oregon.
He initially faced life imprisonment without parole, but with the plea bargain, it has been reduced to a maximum of 75 years imprisonment.
The plea surprised Deputy District Attorney Michael Graveley, who said the deal had not been discussed for more than a year.
“I was completely preparing for trial and had absolutely no thought that we would settle this case,” he said.
Graveley said Zelich’s defense attorney, Jonathan Smith, contacted him at a high school basketball game Friday to discuss the plea bargain, which he spent the weekend mulling over. His deliberations included contact with Gamez’s family.
“I was called by the defense telling me they would like to take the original plea agreement,” he said.
“We spent Saturday trying to figure out if we would be willing to let them do that, and finally agreed to do that,” Graveley said. “(Gamez’s) sister was sad, and was again grieving over the loss of her sister, but was happy the case came to final closure.”
Gamez met Zelich through an online sexual bondage website, and he convinced her to fly to Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee for a meeting in August 2012.
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 the criminal complaint, Zelich said it was an accident that resulted in her strangulation.
In an effort to conceal the homicide, he stored her body in a suitcase and put it in a refrigerator of his West Allis home.
After Gamez’s death, Zelich came in contact with 37-year-old Laura Simonson of Farmington, Minn., through a similar online site.
Zelich met Simonson in in person November 2013 in Rochester, Minn. He said she also died accidently 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 from the remains became a problem, Zelich allegedly moved the bodies to his vehicle’s trunk until leaving them on North Como Road in the Town of Geneva in Walworth County in June 2014.
A Walworth County highway worker discovered the two suitcases 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.
Initially, Kenosha County Circuit Court denied two motions made by prosecutors to admit the Simonson homicide into the jury trial.
However, a month ago, the judge granted the motion, according to Graveley.
“I think what happened was Judge Bruce Schroeder ruled in the state’s favor on other motions, where he said the jury would hear about the Minnesota homicide,” Graveley said. “That probably was the key piece…we would be able to tell the jury about the Minnesota homicide, and I do think that changed the defense position in this case.”
Jury selection was scheduled Monday, but now prosecutors are looking ahead to the March 30 sentencing hearing.
Following sentencing in Kenosha County, Zelich could still face two counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County, and a homicide charge in Minnesota.
“Our agreement with Mr. Zelich in no way affects what Walworth County can do,” Graveley said. “They also have hiding of corpses charges available.”
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