Ex-cop pleads guilty to killing woman, ditching body
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) -- A former Wisconsin police officer has pleaded guilty to killing an Oregon woman and ditching her body in a suitcase along a highway.
Steven Zelich pleaded guilty Monday, just as his trial was set to begin in the death of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Her body was found along a Wisconsin highway in 2014, but authorities believe she died in August 2012.
The former suburban Milwaukee police officer also is accused of killing a Minnesota woman whose body was found in a suitcase along the same highway.
In Gamez's case, Zelich pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon and hiding a corpse. Sentencing is scheduled in March.
Gamez's case was filed in Kenosha County, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee.