Kenosha Sheriff's Office Trying To Verify If Oregon Missing Woman Was Zelich's First Murder Victim

Zelich confessed to killing a woman in late 2012 or early 2013 in Kenosha County after engaging in BDSM sex acts.

By H. Nelson Goodson

June 29, 2014

Kenosha, Wisconsin - The Kenosha County Sheriff's Office has requested for the Cottage Grove Police Department in Oregon to release the dental records for Jenny Gamez, 22, of Oakridge, Oregon to determine,  if she was the first victim of confessed sadistic sex killer Steven Mark Zelich, 52. Gamez was reported missing from Oregon in 2012 by her family.

Zelich told homicide investigators that he killed an unidentified woman in late 2012 or early 2013 in Kenosha County. Zelich had been engaging in BDSM sex (BD) Bondage and Dominance, (SM) Sadism and Masochism with the alleged woman. Zelich hasn't identified the woman.

Zelich also admitted to Rochester police in Minnesota that he killed Laura Jean Simonson, 37, of Farmington, Minnesota on November 2, 2013 at a local hotel. He then hid the body in his vehicle and left to Wisconsin. Zelich also confessed to killing an unidentified women who he met online and killed her in Kenosha County after having BDSM sex with her in late 2012 or early 2013. 

He kept both bodies and later discarded them inside several suitcases. The bodies were discovered on June 5, 2014.

Simonson's body still had a sex mouth gag ball tied to her mouth and was strangled during BDSM sex. The unidentified women had her hands tied behind her back and both bodies had been in a decomposing stage when they were found in several suitcases in Walworth County.

Zelich was charged on Thursday with two felony counts of hiding a corpse and a $1M cash bail was set on Friday during a bond hearing in Walworth County.

A homicide charged is expected to be filed in Minnesota and another one in Kenosha County.

Zelich had used Collarspace with the name "Mr. Hancuffs" to promote his desire to have sex with submissive women who enjoy BDSM sex and liked to be tortured, placed on a cage, handcuffed and used as sex slaves.

In 2001, Zelich was given the option to resign from the West Allis Police Department after a naked prostitute ran into the street in handcuffs from his apartment. He was facing a misconduct disciplinary charge from the department, but after he resigned the charged was dismissed.

Zelich then went to work at Johnson s Control in Glendale as a security guard contracted by Securitas Security Services USA. He was hired by the security agency in 2007 and has been placed on administrative leave on Wednesday pending the outcome of the criminal charges.