Shivangi Sinha
In June 2014, some passersby in Geneva, Wisconsin, reported finding a pair of discarded suitcases. When the police arrived and investigated, they found the remains of two women inside them. One of them was quickly identified as Laura Simonson through dental records, and after a while, the second was identified as Jenny Gamez. The detectives started working on the case, but little did they know that following the trail of one killing would lead them to find the perpetrator of the second as well. ABC’s ’20/20,’ especially the episode ‘The Suitcase Murders,’ details the case and the hard work that went into nabbing the person responsible for the crimes.
Jenny Gamez and Laura Simonson’s Remains Were Found Together in Two Suitcases
On April 9, 1993, Jenny Marie Gamez was welcomed into the world by her parents. There is not much information about her childhood, other than the fact that she was about 5 years old when she entered the foster care system. It was not an easy life for her, but she pushed herself and graduated from Oakridge High School in Oregon. She was last seen in 2012 in Cottage Grove, and it was believed that she had moved to be closer to a community college in Eugene. She was never reported missing. Laura Jean Wierson was born on March 29, 1976, to Richard and Mary Wierson. She and her sister, Niki Carlson, grew up in a loving and happy home in Minnesota. As Laura grew older, she found love with Benjamin Carroll. In March 1995, their daughter, Kaylee Wierson, was born. However, their relationship didn’t last long,
Eventually, Laura and Benjamin went their separate ways. Laura found love for the second time with a man named Troy Simonson. They got married, and soon, their home was filled with six children: Alyssa, Sarah, Emily, Josephine, Hunter, and Ashton. Laura was happy with her large family, but by 2007, her marriage had come to an end. Laura and Troy had a good relationship and co-parented with the utmost respect for one another. However, their world was shaken when their daughter, Alyssa, passed away on June 20, 2013. Laura suffered immensely from grief and went through a very tough period in her life. On November 2, 2013, she left a note for her family telling them that she was going away for a bit, but she never came back.
When none of Laura’s friends or family could get in touch with her, they grew worried. She was reported missing on November 22, 2013. Her family knew something was wrong, as she had left her car and other personal belongings behind, and they knew she would never abandon her children. On June 5, 2014, passersby on a small road in Geneva, Wisconsin, found two suitcases emitting a foul smell. When the police opened them, they found the remains of Laura and Jenny Gamez inside. Laura was identified through her dental records, while Gamez was identified only after some time due to the advanced state of decomposition. Both women showed signs of restraint and bondage, and their cause of death was believed to be strangulation.
The Killer Kept Jenny and Laura’s Remains Inside His House For Months
When Laura Simonson was reported missing, the police tried to trace her last movements. They learned that, before her disappearance, she had been talking to some people online and had also been active on a sadomasochism website. Investigators learned that she had been communicating with a person who operated under the username “mrhandcuffs.” The detectives were able to follow her movements, which led them to the Microtel Inn and Suites in Rochester, Minnesota. The manager told them that they had seen Laura with a man on November 2, 2013. Upon checking the CCTV footage, they found that the said man had left the hotel the following morning, but there was no sign of her. The man the detectives identified was Steven Zelich, a former police officer who had been working as private security personnel since 2005.
In January 2014, a search warrant was executed at his home in West Allis, Wisconsin, but there was no trace of Laura or anything untoward. In March 2014, the detectives searched his home again and collected a DNA swab. Furthermore, the alias of “mrhandcuffs” was later traced to Zelich. The case broke open only in June 2014, when the remains were found in the suitcases. The DNA found on one of the ropes used to tie up Jenny Gamez matched Zelich’s. According to police reports, he confessed to meeting Jenny Gamez at a hotel. Investigative records mention that Zelich told police that they engaged in consensual bondage, claiming that he had accidentally killed her. These claims were contradicted by his subsequent guilty pleas to homicide charges.
Zelich confessed that he had kept Jenny’s remains in a suitcase and then taken them to his apartment in West Allis. He admitted to a similar occurrence when he met Laura as well. He said that he kept both women’s remains at his home until they started smelling, after which he placed them in suitcases and dumped them in Geneva. The police noted that he had continued to be active on BDSM websites even after the two women had passed away. Zelich was charged in both jurisdictions. In March 2016, he pleaded guilty in Wisconsin to first-degree reckless homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon and hiding a corpse. He pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Laura in Minnesota in February 2017. He remains incarcerated, serving a combined 70-year sentence.
Read More: Dorothy Lou Thompson Murder Details and Investigation Timeline
You must be logged in to post a comment.