Trial begins in murders of 4 prostitutes in Orange County

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- The trial has begun for one of two men accused of the serial rape and murder of four women in Orange County.

Steven Dean Gordon is accused of raping and killing four women in 2014, along with Franc Cano who is being tried separately.

Prosecutors say the victims were working as prostitutes in Santa Ana and Anaheim when the defendants picked them up.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin told the jury the two men would have sex with the women, then kill them and dump their bodies in the trash.

Three bodies were never found. Both men were registered sex offenders during the suspected crimes.

If convicted, Gordon faces the death penalty. He is representing himself and chose to reserve his opening statement.

"Those girls, those four pictures have haunted me since April of 2014, that they lost their lives in this brutal violent way," Yellin said in an interview outside the courtroom. "To me, that's what this case always has to be about."

Cano also faces the death penalty. His trial date has not been set.