Jason Kandel

Jury Recommends Death for Man Convicted in Serial Killings in Orange County

Following hours of discussions about potential juror misconduct Wednesday, a jury recommended the death penalty for a sex offender convicted of murdering four Orange County prostitutes.

Formal sentencing of Steven Dean Gordon, 47, was set for Feb. 3. Jurors had signaled this morning that one holdout was failing to deliberate in the penalty trial of Gordon, who acted as his own attorney.

After questioning the juror about whether she had declared that she could not recommend the death penalty for any defendant, unless perhaps the victims were babies, Judge Patrick Donahue indicated he was about to release the woman. But another several minutes in deliberations with the rest of the jury, while Donahue conferred with the prosecutor and Gordon on what to do, the jury announced it had reached a verdict to be announced in the afternoon.

But a new issue arose when it came to the attention of the judge that another juror had brought in a religious commentary about how Christians are commanded to follow the law. The juror said she meant to read the commentary to her fellow panelists to help the holdout deliberate. The other jurors reminded her they were instructed not to read anything they weren't given as a resource such as a Bible. Donahue decided it was "minor" jury misconduct because the text was not read aloud and the juror was not trying to tell the others that God's law superseded the law he gave them to consider in the case.

Gordon demanded that two jurors be excused. But when Donahue explained he did not think there was any cause to release them, the defendant did not object. The judge sent the jurors back to deliberate one more time and they reached a verdict recommending death within minutes. The mother of one of Gordon's victims, 21-year-old Jarrae Nykkole Estepp, told City News Service she was not surprised by the verdict. "I already knew he was going to get death," Jodi Estepp said. "I was more happy he was convicted so he can't do it to another female."

She said she went out to one of the main thoroughfares where prostitution occurs in Orange County recently to tell her daughter's story to the prostitutes and handed out rosaries to the women. "We saw a bunch of pimps, who were very angry we were out there," she said. "But I don't care."

One of the jurors told reporters the jury deliberated around four hours over two days before reaching a verdict. The juror, who did not want to give his name, said the panel "talked a little about" Gordon, who he added, "may be too smart for his own good." Gordon's assertion that he deserved to die did not affect the jury's decision, he said, "because I believe he deserved to die."

On Tuesday, Gordon argued that he fought for the right to defend himself so he could get the trial finished faster. "Not once did I say to Mr. (Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry) Yellin or (Anaheim police Detective Julissa) Trapp that I'm going to ask the jury to spare my life, and I'm still not going to," Gordon told the panel. "That's your decision... (But) if you kill four people like this in cold blood you deserve to die. I believe that."

Gordon also offered apologies to the family members of the victims. "Nobody knows how I feel inside," Gordon said. "Truthfully, it is very hard knowing I caused all this pain to four families. It won't change anything, and it won't bring them back. My actions were evil and horrible and you're going to get your justice very shortly." Gordon said he "complained numerous times about the delays" in going to trial.

"It has nothing to do with my attorney," Gordon said of his previously court-appointed legal representative. "It was my decision to get this over with and get out of here." Gordon said he called parole and probation officials to testify in the trial because he wanted them to shoulder blame for the killings. "I have no defense," Gordon said of his crimes. "I put people up there who are as responsible as me and my co-defendant... I was attacking them because they didn't do their job."

Parole and probation officials came under fire when Gordon and his co- defendant Franc Cano, another registered sex offender, were arrested because it appeared they were socializing together, which would be against the rules. "I never said it was OK," Gordon said of his spending time with Cano. "They gave us permission." Gordon, who was convicted last Thursday, admitted his involvement in most of the abduction murders, although he insisted Cano, 30, was the main culprit in hunting down and killing the four victims.

Yellin argued last week that Gordon was the "manipulator" and the "big brother" in the relationship between the convicted sex offenders. In addition to Estepp, Gordon was convicted of murdering 20-year-old Kianna Jackson, 34-year-old Josephine Vargas and 28-year-old Martha Anaya. Only Estepp's body was found. That discovery led to multiple clues tying Gordon and Cano to the other killings, with Yellin making his case on evidence from DNA, GPS-tracked movements of both defendants and their own statements to police.

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