Man arrested after bodies found in suitcases

Published 11:26 am Thursday, June 26, 2014

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Detectives wearing hazmat suits removed bags of evidence and a refrigerator from the suburban Milwaukee apartment of a man arrested in connection with two suitcases found stuffed with the remains of two women.

Prosecutors have not charged the 52-year-old security officer. Investigators searched his West Allis home Wednesday.

Highway workers discovered the suitcases June 5 on a rural highway in the Town of Geneva, about 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee.

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Police have identified one of the women found in the suitcases as 37-year-old Laura Simonson who was reported missing in November. Her father, Richard Wierson, said that the Farmington woman struggled with mental illness and that he has cared for her seven children since 2010.

Authorities have not identified the other remains.