The Kenosha County trial of a former West Allis police officer who is suspected of killing two women, putting their bodies in suitcases and dumping them in a ditch in the Town of Geneva has been delayed until November.
Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder granted a request to delay the trial of Steven M. Zelich, 53, during a hearing Friday, according to online court records.
Jury selection for the trial in the killing of Jenny Gamez, 19, in a Kenosha hotel had been slated to begin May 5.
Kenosha County District Attorney Robert Zapf requested an adjournment of the May 5 trial in an April 6 letter to the court due to “unresolved issues,” according to court records.
Zelich is suspected of killing Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, in late 2012 or early 2013. He is also a suspect in the murder of Laura J. Simonson, 37, in Minnesota in 2013.
According to a criminal complaint, Zelich told investigators the women died accidently during rough sexual encounters.
Zelich was arrested after the bodies of the women were discovered in suitcases June 5, 2014, off North Como Road. He was first charged in Walworth County with two counts of hiding a corpse while investigations continued in the jurisdictions where the women are believed to have been killed.
Zelich was charged in Kenosha County in August with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in connection with Gamez’s death. A final pre-trial conference is now scheduled in that case for Oct. 16. The trial is slated to begin Nov. 16.
It remains to be seen what impact Friday’s delay will have on the case against Zelich in Walworth County.
Walworth County District Attorney Dan Necci has said the outcome of the Kenosha County case will determine how the case moves forward in Walworth County. The more severe charges in Kenosha County take precedence over the Walworth County charges.
Zelich is currently scheduled for a status conference in Walworth County on May 26. However, that date was set prior to the delay in the Kenosha County trial.
Zelich has not yet been charged in Rochester, Minn., where Simonson is believed to have been killed. Police in Farmington, Minn., where Simonson lived when she was reported missing in November 2013 initially investigated the case, and Zelich was the top suspect throughout the investigation.
Police believe Simonson died during an encounter with Zelich at a hotel in Rochester on Nov. 2, 2013.
Earlier this year, Lt. Casey Moilanen, of the Rochester, Minn., Police Department said the investigation was still open in Rochester. He said his department was waiting for information from the medical examiner in Walworth County where Simonson’s body was found and was still processing and testing other evidence, which he declined to give specifics about.
Moilanen said Zelich will not be extradited to Minnesota until the cases against him in Wisconsin are concluded.
-
-
-
-
-