Arraignment for suspected O.C. serial killers is postponed

Arraignment was postponed Friday for two convicted sex offenders indicted Thursday by an Orange County grand jury on charges of raping and killing four women while wearing GPS devices.

Steven Dean Gordon, 45, and Franc Cano, 28, were indicted on four felony counts of rape and murder, with sentencing enhancements for lying in wait, murder during a kidnapping and committing multiple murders, according to the indictment.

If convicted, they face a minimum sentence of life in state prison and will be eligible for the death penalty.

A decision has not yet been made on whether to pursue the death penalty, said Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Yellin.

The men are accused of raping and killing Jarrae Estepp, 21, Kianna Jackson, 20, Josephine Monique Vargas, 34, and Martha Anaya, 28 -- all of whom had a history of prostitution.

The women went missing starting late last year, but only Estepp’s body, which was found at an Anaheim trash facility, has ever been recovered.

According to the indictment, the grand jury heard from 16 witnesses, including Anaheim and Santa Ana police officers, parole agents, family of the victims, representatives of three mobile phone companies and a representative of a GPS monitoring company.

Gordon and Cano, who were arrested in April and charged by the district attorney with multiple counts of rape and murder before the indictment was filed, have previously pleaded not guilty.

Their arraignment was pushed back to Oct. 29.

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