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Ex-officer to plead in bodies-in-suitcases case

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 MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A former suburban Milwaukee police officer accused of killing two women and ditching their bodies in suitcases along a rural Wisconsin highway is facing extradition to Minnesota where he's charged in the death of one of the victims.

The Wisconsin case against Steven Zelich is expected to wrap up Wednesday when he enters a plea and is sentenced on two counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County. The 54-year-old Zelich has already been sentenced to 35 years in prison in the 2012 death of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Details of the Wisconsin case are similar to accusations Zelich faces in the death of Laura Simonson, who was killed in Rochester, Minnesota, in 2013. Authorities say he met both women online, choked them at hotels during sexual encounters and hid their bodies in suitcases.