Franc Cano: The Orange County Serial Killer
Overview
Franc Cano is an American serial killer and convicted sex offender who, together with fellow registered sex offender Steven Dean Gordon, kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered four women in Orange County, California, between October 2013 and March 2014. The killings occurred while Cano was being monitored by authorities with a GPS ankle device, a circumstance that would ultimately become one of the most important pieces of evidence used to identify him.
Cano and Gordon targeted vulnerable women in areas of Santa Ana and Anaheim associated with street prostitution. Prosecutors said the men abducted their victims and took them to an Anaheim paint and body shop where the two men were staying. The women were sexually assaulted and murdered, and their bodies were then disposed of in an attempt to prevent investigators from discovering what had happened. Three of the four victims have never been found.
The murder series remained largely hidden because the first three women simply disappeared. The case finally began to unravel in March 2014, when the body of the fourth victim, 21-year-old Jarrae Nykkole Estepp, was discovered at an Anaheim recycling facility. Her death gave detectives the physical evidence they needed to connect Cano and Gordon to a series of previously unexplained disappearances.
Franc Cano and Steven Dean Gordon
Cano and Gordon knew each other before the murders and had histories as convicted sex offenders. Both men had also demonstrated a willingness to evade supervision. In 2012, the pair removed their electronic monitoring devices and fled California together, traveling to Las Vegas under false names before federal authorities arrested them.
After their release from custody, the two continued associating with one another. By 2013, Cano and Gordon were spending considerable time around Santa Ana and Anaheim. They were described as transients and were staying in or around the rear portion of a paint and body shop in Anaheim. The business and surrounding industrial area would later become central to the murder investigation.
Despite their criminal histories, Cano and Gordon were again living in the community under government supervision. Cano was wearing a GPS monitoring device during the period in which the murders occurred. Rather than preventing the crimes, however, the electronic tracking records eventually provided investigators with a detailed record showing that Cano had been in important locations connected to the victims.
...
MEMBER ACCESSContinue reading the complete profile
Unlock the full profile for Franc Cano, complete victim information, available sources, videos, and member discussions.
Unlock Full Access — $3.97/month Already a member? Log in
