MILWAUKEE—A former suburban Milwaukee police officer pleaded guilty to Monday to killing an Oregon woman and ditching her body in a suitcase along the same Wisconsin highway where he also is accused of dumping another woman’s body.
Steven Zelich pleaded guilty in the death of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, whose body was found in 2014, though authorities believe she died in 2012. The plea deal was announced on the same day Zelich’s trial was set to begin.
Zelich pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon and hiding a corpse in the Gamez case, which is being handled in Kenosha County, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee.
The former West Allis police officer also is charged with killing a Minnesota woman.
