A former officer is suspected of killing two women that he met online and stuffing their bodies in suitcases. Steven M. Zelich will appear in court to face two charges of hiding a corpse. Authorities believe Zelich, a 52-year-old security guard, met the women online, bound and killed them before hiding their corpses either in his home or car. Highway workers recovered suitcases with the bodies stuffed inside along roadways 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee.
Detective Sgt. Lee Hollatz said Zelich is the primary suspect in the murders of two women in the Minneapolis area that have been reported missing. Zelich told investigators that he killed Laura Simonson at a hotel in Rochester, Minnesota, in November. Officials have not released details about the second woman except she was killed late 2012 or early 2013. Yet, he hasn’t been formally charged with their murders. A fact that may change with the discovery of corpses believed to be those of the missing women.
Simonson, 37, was reported missing by her family November 22. She was last seen staying in Microtel Inn and Suites in Rochester. Hollatz spoke with employees that confirmed she was there the night of her disappearance. Hotel security video shows a man, suspected to be Zelich, leaving the hotel alone. Footage never showed that Simonson exited the hotel. Hollatz suspects evidence from the body will link Zelich to the murder of the second woman.
A previous search of Zelich’s apartment did not turn up either woman’s body or indicate the apartment was used in the murders of the women. However, requests for questioning were evaded by Zelich. Hollatz confirmed that FBI and Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation agents spoke with him. He said after the interview that Zelich was still number one on his radar.
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