Sex offender pals got away with murder spree while wearing GPS tags
Parolees Steven Gordon and Franc Cano shouldn’t have been allowed near each other – yet they formed a twisted bond and killed at least four women
When Steven Dean Gordon and Franc Cano met, they were both homeless and convicted sex offenders, forced to wear GPS ankle tags as conditions of their parole.
The pair, who had a 17-year age difference, should never have been allowed anywhere near each other – yet they managed to associate unchecked and form a dangerous bond that led to a five-month killing spree.
Gordon grew up in California and in 1988 he found work at Disneyland as a handyman, looking after the fast-food restaurants at the site in the city of Anaheim. He became well liked after he started dating a colleague.
But in 1992, he was accused of sexually molesting a young family member. Despite pleading guilty, he insisted the allegation was false. He got 15 months in prison and upon his release, he married and had a daughter.
Gordon left Disneyland and took on two jobs to support his family. His wife would later say he grew increasingly angry and irritable. In 2001, she filed for divorce.
A few months later, Gordon tricked his daughter into his car with sweets and used a stun gun to force his ex to join them. When authorities found them, Gordon was charged with two counts of kidnapping and in April 2002 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
When Gordon, 40, was released in February 2010, he had an ankle tag fitted so the police could track him. Banned from seeing his family, he got a job at a local garage in Anaheim.
It was around this time that he met Cano, 23, who was homeless after being released from prison following a 16-month term for molesting a nine-year-old family member. He claimed he was sexually frustrated because he was a virgin and unpopular with women.
Gordon was sleeping in his Toyota and told Cano he could sleep in it, too. Cano had no job and would meet Gordon for lunch at work.
BODY AT RECYCLING CENTRE
Twice, they cut off their ankle bracelets and fled the state – once making it as far as Las Vegas. They both spent time back behind bars for violating their parole agreements. But, despite being tracked by GPS, the authorities didn’t step in to stop them associating.
Then, in March 2014, the body of a naked woman was discovered on a conveyor belt of rubbish at a recycling centre in Anaheim. She would be identified as Jarrae Nykkole Estepp, 21, a sex worker who had arrived in the area days earlier from Oklahoma City. Jarrae had been strangled then thrown in a dumpster.
A few months later, Anaheim investigators were contacted by the police in Santa Ana regarding three missing women. Josephine Monique Vargas, 34, hadn’t been seen since October 2013. Martha Anaya, 28, had been missing since November 2013. And Kianna Rae Jackson, 20, from Las Vegas, had vanished in October 2013. They thought the cases were connected and feared it was the work of a serial killer.
When rubbish from the conveyor belt was examined, they found a can of foam belonging to a window installer. On the day the body was dumped, the worker was installing a window next to the garage Gordon was employed at. The sex offender database revealed the names of Gordon and Cano, and GPS put them near each victim when they went missing. In April 2014, the pair were arrested and charged with murder. Both denied being involved and investigators believed the bodies of the remaining women were long lost at the landfill. Then, Gordon confessed to killing five women – the four the police had names for and a victim he couldn’t identify. It had started in October 2013. Gordon revealed he and Cano would look for sex workers in Santa Ana and Anaheim and discuss the best way to kidnap and kill them.
The women were raped and strangled then dumped in bins
Kianna was their first victim. They picked her up in Costa Mesa on 6 October, 2013. At first, she hadn’t seen Cano in the back seat. He held her at gunpoint while Gordon drove to a car park near his workplace. After raping and killing her, they stripped and washed her, and destroyed her clothes and belongings.
Then, 20 days later, mum-of-three Josephine was kidnapped after leaving a family birthday party. Victim Martha was a mum, too. Gordon and Cano failed twice to convince her to get in their car, until she finally agreed.
Jarrae was the only victim whose body was found and her remains were identified by a tattoo of her mum’s name on her neck.
DNA evidence, GPS tracking and text messages confirmed Gordon’s confession. He and Cano had exchanged references to their victims and discussed their techniques. On the night Jarrae went missing, Cano wrote to Gordon,“You’re gonna get your hands dirty... get rid of her.”
Each time, they would rape and strangle the woman, then dump the body in a bin behind the garage where Gordon worked.
KILLER BLAMED AUTHORITIES
Cano and Gordon were charged with four murders and tried separately.
Gordon’s trial started in November 2016 and he represented himself. After initially withdrawing his confession and pleading not guilty, he changed his mind and pleaded guilty.
But Gordon was quick to blame authorities for giving him parole and putting him on the streets to kill. And he said he should never have been allowed to associate with sex offender Cano.
Gordon was found guilty of all counts and the jury recommended the death penalty, which was agreed in February 2017. He praised the jury for their decision and said Cano deserved the same, saying,“If you kill four people like this in cold blood you deserve to die.”
Two months later, police announced that the fifth victim had been identified. From Gordon’s description, missing reports led the police to sex worker Sable Alexandria Pickett, 19. She went missing on 14 February, 2014.
While Cano and Gordon weren’t
charged for Sable’s murder, it was accepted that they were responsible.
In December 2022, Cano, now 36, pleaded guilty to four counts of rape and murder. It had been a decade since he and Gordon had embarked on their five-month killing spree and the Covid pandemic had delayed his trial.
Cano’s defence said he had always been a “follower” and he was less culpable than Gordon. The court was told Gordon and Cano were likely lovers and Gordon had been a “master manipulator” and the “alpha dog” in their relationship.
The families of the victims shared their heartache. Melody Anaya was 12 when mum Martha was murdered.“He took away everything from us,” she told the judge.“I wasn’t there when he killed her but I see it in my head every day… I wish the pain would stop.” She revealed she still messages her mum to bring herself comfort.
Kianna’s mum, Kathy Menzies, said her daughter had just turned 20. And she recalled how the police showed little interest in her disappearance due to her prostitution record.
Many family members spoke about how the victims’ cases hadn’t been taken seriously.
Cano said he was “deeply and remorsefully sorry”. He was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole.
After the horror of their crimes and the tragic fates of the vulnerable victims, there was finally some sort of closure for the families. But what remained was disbelief that the pair were able to kill so many women while wearing ankle monitors that were supposed to keep the public safe.