A California serial killer was brought to tears by testimony from his victims’ families before a judge sentenced him to the death penalty on Friday.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick H. Donahue sentenced Steven Dean Gordon to death for the kidnapping and murder of four women who worked as prostitutes between 2013 and 2014, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The 54-year-old killer, who has repeatedly expressed his desire to be executed, teared up as he listened to statements from his victims’ relatives at the Friday sentencing, according to the newspaper.
“I’m sorry for everything, but those are hollow words compared to what those women went through,” Gordon said. “I truly am sorry. I know that doesn’t mean anything, but I’m sorry.”
During his trial, Gordon admitted to jurors that he and co-defendant Franc Cano — who, like Gordon, is a registered sex offender — picked up prostitutes in Santa Ana and Anaheim and then forced them to return to a business park where he had sex with them behind a paint and body shop. The pair, both homeless, camped out in the area, according to the OC Register.
Gordon said his partner was the one who strangled the women, but he also admitted to helping Cano dispose of their bodies in a trash bin.
The remains of Jarrae Estepp were found in an Anaheim recycling plant in March 2014 — authorities were able to identify the 21-year-old victim by the tattoo on her neck.
The discovery launched an investigation that led authorities to both Cano and Gordon, but their remaining three victims — Kianna Jackson, 20, Josephine Vargas, 34, and Martha Anaya, 27 — were never found.
Prosecutor Larry Yellin compared Gordon and his comrade to Jaws, the famous great white shark in the hit 1975 film, during the trial.
“‘Jaws’ is about a predator,” Yellin said in November. “This case is about two. You are about to see the hunt.”
Police used GPS and mobile phone data to track the killers. Both Gordon and Cano were wearing ankle monitors as they worked together to target prostitutes.
Cano is slated to be tried separately in the coming months, though a date for his trial has yet to be set.
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The jury in December voted to recommend the death penalty. Victims’ families similarly urged the judge to execute Gordon on Friday, the newspaper reported
“I feel the death penalty is the right sentence,” said Katherine Menzies, Jackson’s mother. “I will never see my daughter, and she will never see my family.”
Anaya’s mother described the heartbreak felt by her daughter’s children.
“Every day when they ask me about their mother, I just tell them their mother is another star in the sky,” Herlinda Salcedo said in Spanish through an interpreter.
In the end, the judge ordered Gordon to death row, briefly acknowledging the man before he departed for state prison in San Quentin, according to the LA Times.
“Mr. Gordon,” he said. “Good luck sir.”
