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 Steven Zelich, 52, is charged with two felony counts of hiding a
corpse in Walworth County, where the suitcases were found, and
investigations are continuing in another Wisconsin county and in
Minnesota into the deaths of the women.
On Thursday, a Walworth County judge is expected to decide during a
preliminary hearing whether there is probable cause to proceed with
the charges against Zelich of hiding the corpses.
A road crew cutting grass found the suitcases on June 5 and moved
the luggage out of the way. Authorities were called later and found
the naked and decomposing bodies when they opened the suitcases.
The women were identified as Jenny Gamez, 21, of Cottage Grove,
Oregon, and Laura Simonson, 37, of Farmington, Minnesota.
Zelich told investigators he met both women online, according to a
criminal complaint.
Zelich told investigators he caused Gamez's death when he met with
her in Kenosha County in southeastern Wisconsin in late 2012 or
early 2013, and caused Simonson's death at a Rochester, Minnesota,
hotel in November, the complaint said. He is accused of keeping
the suitcases with the women inside at his apartment in a Milwaukee
suburb and in the trunk of his vehicle before dumping the luggage on
the side of a road.
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If convicted, Zelich would face up to 10 years in prison on each
charge of hiding a corpse. He is being held in Walworth County jail
on a $1 million bond.
Zelich could face more charges, including homicide, stemming from
the ongoing investigations into the women's deaths in Kenosha County
and Rochester.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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Wisconsin
man accused of hiding corpses in suitcases due in court
