WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Newly
released records show that a former Wisconsin police officer charged with
dumping two bodies stuffed into suitcases along a highway had a lengthy
disciplinary record, including three suspensions and four reprimands.
Fifty-two-year-old Steven
Zelich is charged with two counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County.
Authorities say he's also a suspect in the women's deaths, although no homicide
charges have been filed.
Zelich worked for the West
Allis Police Department from February 1989 until he resigned in August 2001.
Records obtained Wednesday by
The Associated Press show he was suspended twice in 2001 for lying - for 20
days in May and two days in April.
He also received a one-day
suspension in 1996 for failing to report an accident in which he was involved
while on duty.
Highway workers discovered two
suitcases containing female remains June 5 in the Town of Geneva, some 50 miles
southwest of Milwaukee. Police identified one woman as Laura Simonson, 37, of
Farmington, Minnesota. The second woman was identified through dental records
as Jenny Gamez from Cottage Grove, Oregon.
