>> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie moralis. thanks for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie moralis. >> and this >> she's on a conveyer belt. only her feet were exposed. the workers thought it was a mannequin. her last hours on earth were not pleasant. >> young women murdered or missing. families in anguish. >> i would text her and she would text right back, but this time nothing. >> when they killed her, they killed me. >> a serial killer at work and maybe he had a friend. >> that's crazy. they don't work together, serial killers are loners. >> very rare. >> two suspected killers on the hunt. hunting them, a detective devoted to justice and more. >> it's almost like you adopted these young women? >> there was a lot of visits to

my local church saying, please don't let me screw this up. hello. welcome to "dateline." they were young women with their whole lives ahead of them. then one by one, they started to vanish. it would take a determined detective willing to go into dark places to uncover the diabolical plot behind the disappearances. here's keith morrison with "good and evil." >> reporter: how do you measure a mother's love or gauge the veracity of her impulse to protect? >> i loved her as much as i could. it was about the only thing. >> reporter: how to measure love as visceral as the beating heart in her own body? >> she was my first born. she was my best friend. >> reporter: how to understand

the four mothers you will meet tonight and their connection, one that not one of them would ever have thought possible, not in a million years. anymore than they would have expected to meet her, their guardian angel. >> if i don't bring her home, who will? >> reporter: it's a rare mystery that's truly a confrontation of good and evil. >> you have to go to the dark places in order to find answers. >> reporter: a rare mystery that needed an urgent answer before the evil struck again. it was march 14th, 2014, early morning. an army of garbage trucks made their growling clanking way around the thousands of miles of dumpsters in anaheim, california. their destination, a landfill that is also a literal found in

a mountain of garbage, 3500 feet high. then mid-morning, an attendant separating debris on a conveyer belt. is that a human foot protruding from a pile of trash? >> she was on the conveyer belt, only her feet were exposed, initially the workers thought it was a mannequin. >> reporter: but it wasn't a mannequin, as they could plainly see. it was or had been a woman. her body wrapped in a blue plastic tarp. >> we had no idea who she was, we had no idea where she came from. how'd she end up there? >> reporter: something about the dead girl go to to detective trap. ending up this way, an anonymous child of god in a garbage dump. so the detective did what she always does, she bought a rosary. >> it's a way for me to kind of connect to my victims? >> reporter: unusual? maybe. but the detective should lean on her profound catholic faith to help solve crimes?

but julissa trapp does. >> cases don't always get solved in 48 hours. you know? >> reporter: surprise, surprise. >> they take time and they take work. >> reporter: and that little rosary helps you? >> it does. >> reporter: if she can solve this case, she'd give that rosary to the dead woman's family. but first she had to figure out who she was. from just one identifying mark on her neck, a tattoo. jodi. was that her name? reaching out, detective trapp pulled up the anaheim police department's database of tattooses. yes, they have one. descriptions of tattoos collected from anyone they encounter. and what do you know? there was a match. but her name was not jodi. it was jerree. jerree estep, she was 21-years-old. >> she had been contacted a year prior in anaheim on beach boulevard. >> reporter: beach boulevard?

suddenly, detective trapp's case took on a whole new connection. >> if you want to buy drugs, beach boulevard is where you come. if you are looking for a girl, beach boulevard is where you come. a lot of moms came from stable families they happen to run into the wrong guy who somehow got them into this job. these pimps are really good about breaking down the women and getting control over them. >> reporter: making them a prime target for predators. >> a lot of predators will start with prostitutes because they think that people won't miss them. >> reporter: somebody does? >> yes, somebody does. somebody did. >> reporter: like jerree's mother who, records revealed, lived in a tiny town in oklahoma. that tattoo on jerree's neck? this is jodi. even before the detective got the words out --

>> i felt it, that she was gone. >> reporter: her daughter had been so happy, so charming, outgoing, but then, said jodi, a boyfriend convinced jerree that to please him, she'd have to turn tricks. this is jerree. >> i just honk trying to get her attention. >> reporter: on tv a self proclaimed video vigilante group in oklahoma city caught her on camera back in 2012. but jerree left the boyfriend, turned her life around, so jodi thought. and then that awful phone call from detective trapp. >> i was screaming, like screaming. >> reporter: the detective made promise to that mother, it didn't matter what choices jerree may have made, she, the detective, would work this case as hard as any she had ever had. >> we literally went from each little motel to each little motel showing her picture and having the clerk run her name to see if she had stayed there.

>> reporter: eventually, she found the room where jerree had been staying, which with $700 in cash, mascara lipstick, contact lens solution, but nothing whatever to lead her to a suspect. not here, anyway. from the disposal companies, she got a list of the dumpsters the garbage trucks serviced that morning. then she and other officers went dumpster diving, hundreds of dumpsters. what would you be looking for? >> they were all given pictures of what the trash that looked like that was around her. if it looks similar, take pictures of what's inside. >> reporter: no luck. a waste of time. then back on the conveyer belt, an odd thing turned up in the trash collected near jerree's body. >> we got a print hit. >> reporter: you are talking about a fingerprint here? >> yeah. >> reporter: it was on a caulking tube. it matched someone, a window installer who worked for a

company called hardy windows. >> he told use we never throw trash out at customer's homes, we always bring it back to hardy windows. >> reporter: where they found one dumpster no one had checked. the trash company inadvertently had left it off the list they gave to police. detective trapp looked inside. >> that same blue plastic wrapping. it was almost like i was looking at the same trash i had seen on the conveyer belt. >> reporter: bingo. if not for that lucky fingerprint, they'd have missed it. what was that like? >> it was a combination of frustration but, okay, all right, we're moving somewhere. >> reporter: so jerree was dumped here some time before the morning of march 14th, miles and miles from the spot where, according to cell phone records, she had placed her very last outgoing call at 7:00 p.m. the night before. how far away would it have been? >> 20 miles.

>> reporter: but that's all the detective knew. a week had gone by, everyone at hardy windows was cleared. so no suspects at all. detective trapp went to church, said her rosary, worried, praying and wondered. >> i had heard a story on the news that there were three missing prostitutes in the city of santa ana. >> reporter: just next door, basically?. >> next door, yes. >> reporter: what if this wasn't the killer's first time or last in. >> coming up -- four young women in two neighboring towns now missing or dead. was there a link? >> we were like what if are the oddd that they're relate? >> when "dateline" continues. es

and you never know how your skin will look. because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. so help heal your skin from within, with dupixent. dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczema even when you can't see it. at 16 weeks, nearly four times more patients taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin compared to those not taking it, and patients saw a significant reduction in itch. do not use if you are allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, a severe reaction. tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems, including eye pain or changes in vision. if you are taking asthma medicines, do not change or stop your asthma medicine without talking to your doctor. help heal your skin from within. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. with the world's first invisible trailer. invisible trailer? and it's not the trailer right next to us? this guy? you don't believe me? hop in.

good lookin' pickup, i will say that. oh wow. silverado offers an optional technology package with up to 15 different views - including one enhanced view that makes your trailer appear invisible. wow. - that's pretty sweet. - that's cool. oooohh! that's awesome. where'd the trailer go? i love it. it's magic. what might seem like a small cough can be a big bad problem for your grandchildren. babies too young to be vaccinated against whooping cough are the most at risk for severe illness. help prevent this! talk to your doctor or pharmacist today about getting vaccinated against whooping cough. talk to your doctor or pharmacist today of certain cancers clater in life.k from an infection, human papillomavirus i knew that hpv could lead to certain cancers. i knew her risk for hpv increases as she gets older. i knew there was a vaccine available that could help protect her before she could be exposed to hpv. i knew. so i talked to my child's doctor. now that you know that hpv can lead to certain cancers,

don't wait. talk to your child's doctor today. so you have ten years experience... i do. but no phd? i do have a masters in early childhood development. you don't mind if i record this, do you? uhh, no! first kid here's all the numbers, food's in the fridge, oh and lucas likes to pull on jewelry so you might want to lose the nose ring. by their second kid, parents are more likely to choose luvs. it absorbs 20x its weight and the new triple leakguards lock away wetness for outstanding leakage protection. live, learn, and get luvs. what sore muscles? what with advpounding head? .. advil is... relief that's fast. strength that lasts. you'll ask... what pain? with advil. they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com

print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again! >> reporter: detective julissa trapp couldn't sleep, kept awake by the puzzle of the girl someone threw away in the trash. that's when something jogged her restless mind. hadn't some women vanished in the down next door, santa ana? >> we thought what are the odds they're related? >> reporter: so she looked them up and learned about quinna

jackson just 30-years-old, she disappeared five months before jerree's death. her mom is kathy menzes. >> she was always a fun loving child, always made you laugh. >> reporter: just look at her childhood photos. that silly grin, she loved her dog, her little brother, playing softball. then it started happening, kathy said, eighth grade or so. >> she was kind of getting typical you know teenage mouthy and high school came getting around the older kids, she kind of got a little worse. >> reporter: how'd you cope with that? >> just one day at a time. i loved her as much as i could. it was about the only thing. >> reporter: after high school, quinna went to high school about a three-hour ride from home. year later, she moved to las vegas. though, far from home now, she got closer and closer to her mom. >> she would call me every day. text message. >> reporter: just a fun, loving daughter? >> yeah. i didn't think anything was happening. >> reporter: no idea.

even in october 2013, when she called to say. >> she was on the bus towards santa ana. >> reporter: did she tell you why? >> visiting friends is what she told me. >> reporter: but then the girl who called her mother almost daily stopped calming. >> anything over a day or two, i would start going, wait a second. this is not right. i would text her. she would text me right back. but this time, nothing. nothing. >> reporter: gone, not a peep to her mom to her friends, to her boyfriend. kathy went to the police. >> when i called to file a missing person's report, they said, she's an adult. there is nothing we can do for you. >> reporter: but you knew there was a problem ? >> yeah. >> reporter: she did her own digging, tracked her down to a hotel in orange county, where the trail ended. her clothes was there but she wasn't. again, she called the police. >> and they said, oh, that happens, sometimes prostitutes just work circuits. >> reporter: prostitutes? >> first i was, okay, no, that

can't be. >> reporter: then the truth came crashing down, undeniable. quinna had missed a scheduled court date in santa ana for a prostitution charge. but wait a minute, you talked with her every day, texted her all the time? >> exactly. >> reporter: and you knew nothing of this secret life? >> no, nothing. >> reporter: what does it feel like to hear that? >> heart breaking. >> reporter: when she heard kathy's story, detective trapp began to think she was on to something. then she discovered that just two and a half week after quinna disappeared, there was another one, josephine monique vargas. >> she had a beautiful personality. they used to call her giggles because she always made people laugh. >> reporter: josephine's mother priscilla had been on the local news searching for answers for months, ever since her daughter left a family bar-b-que telling

them she was going for groceries. >> reporter: that was the last time any of us sue her. >> reporter: she went to the santa ana police department and filled out a report. >> they didn't really do anything to look for her. >> reporter: so she did. >> nothing was going to stop me looking for my daughter, nothing, or no one. >> reporter: it was pure chance when she ran into another mother, desperate to find her daughter, martha, 28-years-old and a mother herself who vanished run with day. >> translator: she said no way she would have left, to say i'm going and leave everything behind. >> reporter: so martha's mother and priscilla went together up and down the boulevard. >> we make thousands of flyers. me and her were on a mission to find our daughters. >> reporter: but no sign of their daughters anywhere. detective trapp checked their portraits, hung them on her office wall and she stayed away and prayed in her catholic way. do you ever wonder why god would

allow this to happen? >> i do. there are plenty of times i have been angry with our maker because you have to wonder why does this happen? i mean i wish he would talk back to me and tell me, that would be very help. but i just have to figure out what happened. just read the clues, check the puzzle pieces, and the more you can kind of keep a neutral mind, the easier the puzzle pieces fit together. >> reporter: no getting around it. the pieces pointed to a chilling conclusion, those mission women, just like jerree, may have been murdered. if that was true, it would mean there was a serial killer out there in the night, had to be, more deaths would be coming, unless -- one idea, it was grasping at straws, yes, but? >> you know what, it might work now. why not? it's a hail mary, but let's try it. coming up -- >> all sex offenders on parole, they will have an anklet, a gps monitor.

>> tracking the killer, victim by victim when "dateline" continues.

the autopsy came in. the one for jerree estep, the girl on the conveyer belt. >> it's bad. it was bad. it was bad. >> reporter: strangled, beaten, sexually assaulted, viciously,

according to deputy d.a. larry yellin. >> should be a college girl and worried about grades and boys and football games and those things. >> reporter: one wrong turn and you never know? >> yeah. >> reporter: but almost three weeks in, detective julissa trapp seemed stuck. >> i think she got a little frustrated and got a little desperate and came up with the idea of using the computer database. >> reporter: that is the computer database of sex offenders. if they had a serial killer on their hands, there was at least a chance he'd already run afoul of the law at some point. it was a bit like just poking a finger into the haystack frankly and hoping to encounter a needle. worth a try. so trapp called this woman. sexual assault detective laura la mella. >> all sex offenders on parole will have an anklet, a gps monitor. >> reporter: she asked where any

of those gps monitors here or where jerree placed her last phone call or here where she wound up with a dumpster? you find the same locations, you are getting somewhere? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: she ran the search. what were the chances she got a hit in both locations? she called detective trapp. >> there's only one person. she says, i know him. i said, who? she said his name is frank canno. he is a registered sex offender. >> reporter: he pleaded guilty to committing a lewd act on a minor. he was wearing a gps ankle monitor. now, did his monitor put him near the places those other three women, according to phone records, made their last calls? quinna, josephine and martha? one-by-one, the detective got the coordinates. >> reporter: an every intersection for that date and

time that they gave me, frank canno came up. >> reporter: wow. >> for every single intersection. i was shocked. >> reporter: but something about that man, frank canno, he had a buddy. and she had run into them both. >> i mentioned, i do know that he has a friend, stephen gordon. >> reporter: steven gordon, he'd done time for molesting a minor and later for kidnapping. he and canno were inseparable, apparently. once again, detective lamelli pulled up the gps coordinates to check the place martha was last seen in santa ana, and no gordon. not there. but when she checked locations for quinna and josephine, sure enough, there he was. so why not at the first location? she checked the record and discovered at that particular moment, gordon wasn't on a gps monitor, but he was wearing one

at the other three places, and so was canno. the electronics made it absolutely obvious. here they were. canno and gordon driving together up and down beach boulevard and all around santa ana and anaheim. >> i mean, even when they're on the freeway. >> reporter: they were in the same car? >> they were in the same vehicle. >> reporter: julissa trapp prayed for a hail mary but she never expected anything like this. >> i soon realized i'm not just dealing with one, we're dealing with two? two sex offenders wearing gps bracelets? >> reporter: but for all the electronic cross referencing, the case against the two men were purely circumstantial. the detective could not arrest them. not without more evidence and that was terrifying. i mean, there were young women who were at real risk here? >> yes. >> reporter: and if you waited too long?

>> yeah. >> reporter: how would you feel if somebody else was attacked? >> let's just say there were a lot of rosaries being prayed for sure. >> reporter: she set up a under surveillance to watch the two men around the clock and got authorizations for wiretaps and pulled cell phone record. >> we pulled the record. we seen text messages and seeing how they were hunting on almost a daily basis and how nonchalant they were about it. it was almost like ordering takeout. you start reading, what do you feel like today? asian or mexican? >> reporter: oh, boy. what would they call these girls? >> that was the other thing, cats. >> reporter: cats? >> cats. be careful, when the cat knows it isn't getting away, it's going to fight. >> reporter: the next victim couldn't be far away because gordon texted canno, kitty cat later? yes? to which canno responded. okay. then a sudden change.

had they spotted the surveillance? as trapp listened to the wi wiretap, she heard gordon talking about skipping town. >> i could hear the desperation in frank canno's voice. that desperation sent a hair on the back of my neck and i said, no, i'm not waiting any more. >> reporter: they're going to run? >> they're going to run. >> reporter: time to move fast. they caught one frank canno as he was boarding a bus and steven gordon, they found him where he worked, an auto body shop next door to hardy windows, but -- >> he made a run for it. >> reporter: an out the door? >> on a bicycle. yes. he had a little collision with one of our surveillance units and a little flying over the handle bars and he was taken into custody. >> reporter: both men were charged with four counts each of first-degree murder and forcible rape. and detective trapp prepared to

confront the suspected serial killer. coming up -- >> i knew this was going to be a lot different than any other interview i had ever done. takeout with a killer. >> is it spicy? >> i told you, i told you to be careful! >> when "dateline" continues. miralax works with the water in your body to unblock your system naturally. and it doesn't cause bloating, cramping, gas, or sudden urgency. miralax. look for the pink cap. i can't believe it. that sophie opened up a wormhole through time? (speaking japanese) where am i? (woman speaking french) are you crazy/nuts? cyclist: pip! pip! (woman speaking french) i'm here, look at me. it's completely your fault. (man speaking french) ok? it's me. it's my fault? no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. (pterodactyl screech) believe it. geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

why accept it frompt an incompyour allergy pills?e else. flonase sensimist. nothing stronger. nothing gentler. nothing lasts longer. flonase sensimist. 24 hour non-drowsy allergy relief

hey. you must be steven's phone. now you can know who's on your network and control who shouldn't be, only with xfinity xfi. simple. easy. awesome.

i'm dare dara brown. rebels are taking responsibility for a drone strike that turned into the world's largest oil process facility and happened before dawn saturday in saudi arabia. president trump has spoken with crown prince bin salman following the attack. tropical storm humberto is hitting the topics two weeks after dorian but the storm is not expected to strengthen into a hurricane until after it leave the bahamas. now back to "dateline."

for six months, kathy menzes has waited for news about her daughter cayenne. waking up everything day, waiting for a call or a text or dreading a knock at the door. which in april 2014, is what happened. >> my heart suffering when they came. i knew right away it wasn't going to be good news. >> reporter: no not good news at all. anaheim police told her that two men, frank canno and steven gordon, were now under arrest for the murder of her daughter and three other young women in orange county. what were you like that night? >> i just wanted to sleep. i wanted to like go to sleep and wake up and pinch myself. >> reporter: and make it a different world? >> exactly. >> reporter: detective julissa trapp wanted to speak with both men, of course. but canno lawyered up, so she tried gordon, still in a wheelchair after his bike accident.

>> hi, steven. >> hi. >> how are you? and i knew this was going to be a lot different than any other interview i had done. he's cunning, manipulative. >> reporter: he didn't have to talk to you? >> he did not have to talk to me. are you cold? do you want a blanket? >> if you don't mind. >> no, absolutely not. >> reporter: but detective trapp has a way as they say. you acted compassionate. you were kind to him. you brought him a blanket, food. >> yes, we actually shared two meals together. >> it is spicy. >> i told you, i told you, be careful. >> reporter: even so, gordon was reluctant at first. >> i got nausea. >> would you rather talk to somebody else? >> i don't want to talk to anybody. >> he watched me very carefully, if i swallowed too hard, if i looked at him differently, he would say, what's wrong?

>> you had a weird look on your face when i said, where, why? >> so he was constantly trying to keep a poker face to continue to elicit information from him and -- >> reporter: did he try to play you? >> oh, i think he definitely thinks he did, for sure. >> reporter: bit by bit, she pulled out answers for herself and for those four mothers. >> did she go by the name kayla? >> it starts with a k -- quinna. >> reporter: he identified all four women. >> so her, her, her, her? right? >> reporter: each murder went the same way, he said. he and canno picked them up in his suv, drove them back to the auto body shop where gordon worked. they took turns having their way. then just as each woman prepared to leave.

>> strangled her with my hand. >> reporter: you strangled her? >> reporter: some of the details in that 13-hour interview were almost more even a seasoned detective could stand to hear. >> as he was hurting martha, she told him, i didn't believe in god, but i do now. there is a part of me that's grateful that she found god at the end. it's disturbing to me that in response, he said, you picked a hell of a time to start believing in god. i'll never forget. >> reporter: but she had it -- a full confession. she called jerree's mother, jodi. >> i dropped to my knees. detective trapp gave me her word that she would find who killed my daughter.

>> reporter: detective trapp had kept her word. now she bought three more rosaries, and wondered, could she bring those women home? gordon had told her all of them had been left in the same dumpster, the contents of which were brought here, orange county's, berea landfill, where except for jerree, they all still were in there, somewhere. >> we did a lot of research and we had every intention to try to dig for them. >> reporter: but the bodies had been 40 feet deep by now, digging for them would cost millions. they might never be found and the county couldn't afford that. and they're just over there, somewhere, you know, 40 feet down? what's it like? what's it feel like? >> it's frustrating. it's frustrating knowing that they're here and we can't bring

them home, that it's like for the one thing that the mothers want -- and i get it and to not be able to do that, it feels -- it's incomplete. >> reporter: does it drive you crazy? >> yes, it does. >> reporter: kathy menzes knows logically, her daughter quinna must be dead, but how to truly accept it without her body? >> i would go there today and start digging, if they would let me. >> reporter: it matters, doesn't it? >> it does matter. >> reporter: you give birth to them. you have to see them through to the end. >> yeah. exactly. exactly. >> reporter: in an attempt to make sense of it all, kathy asked detective trapp and her partner to drive her to the place where the killers had picked up quinna. >> you wanted to go to this last spot. why? may i ask why? >> kind of because it was like the last known spot that she was at, that i was told she was alive at that spot.

so kind of a closure, you know, just to see where she was at when -- before they took her, you know? >> reporter: but that broke her heart to do it. take this tour of her daughter's last hours. >> i think this is the dead end street that gordon canno entered and turned around and somewhere in this little intersection right here is where she was at. >> reporter: just an ordinary place, but so painful. >> it was hard. it's difficult to see, i mean, it's not what i expected -- the area. i mean, of course, what she was doing is no mother's wish, but just to see this area, to know that it wasn't what i envisioned. it wasn't a dirty, dark, nasty, gross area.

>> reporter: kathy found some piece in that, the knowing, the seeing, but why quinna's life was taken? it's so much harder to comprehend. >> i don't think i'll ever be able to accept it. it's hard. it's hard. >> reporter: criminal trials are one way to grieve and find answers. and with a confession on tape, the trial of steven gordon looked like a formality -- or so the prosecutor might have hoped. then the judge made that ruling. oh, boy. >> a suspected serial killer turns the case against him upsidedown. coming up -- >> it's the piece that brings everything together and now it's gone. >> when "dateline" continues. are the most at risk for severe illness. help prevent this! talk to your doctor or pharmacist today

about getting vaccinated against whooping cough. with the world's first invisible trailer. invisible trailer? and it's not the trailer right next to us? this guy? you don't believe me? hop in. good lookin' pickup, i will say that. oh wow. silverado offers an optional technology package with up to 15 different views - including one enhanced view that makes your trailer appear invisible. wow. - that's pretty sweet. - that's cool. oooohh! that's awesome. where'd the trailer go? i love it. it's magic. audrey's on it. eating right? on it! staying active? on it. audrey thinks she's doing all she can to manage her type 2 diabetes and heart disease

but is her treatment doing enough to lower her heart risk? [sfx: crash of football players colliding off-camera.] maybe not. jardiance is the number 1 prescribed pill in its class. jardiance can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. that means jardiance can help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. plus, jardiance lowers a1c and it could help you lose some weight. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction. do not take jardiance if you are on dialysis or have severe kidney problems. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. lower a1c and lower risk of a fatal heart attack? on it... with jardiance. ask your doctor about jardiance. the type 2 diabetes pill that's on it.

learn more at jardiance.com -[ scoffs ] if you say so. ♪ -i'm sorry? -what teach here isn't telling you is that snapshot rewards safe drivers with discounts on car insurance. -what? ♪ -or maybe he didn't know. ♪ [ chuckles ] i'm done with this class. -you're not even enrolled in this class. -i know. i'm supposed to be in ceramics. do you know -- -room 303. -oh. thank you. -yeah. -good luck, everybody. -oh. thank you. -yeah. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful... congestion and pressure? claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray is indicated for 6 symptoms... claritin-d is indicated for 8... including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d. get more.

orange county deputy d.a. larry yellin liked his chances against accused serial killer steven gordon, especially when gordon decided to act as his own defense attorney. >> he's very bright. very bright. >> reporter: smart enough he should know to not do that sort of thing? >> definitely, smart enough to know he shouldn't be representing himself. >> reporter: but expectation can be a dangerous thing. before the trial even began,

gordon struck the prosecutor's case a major blow. remember that moment early in his interview when he seemed to reject detective trapp's questioning. >> i got nausea. >> would you rather talk to somebody else? >> i don't want to talk to anybody. >> reporter: gordon argued that continuing the argument at that point was a miranda violation. even though detective trapp had read him his rights at the outset. the judge agreed and ruled that the jury could not see a frame of gordon's confession. >> when he makes the ruling, and it's out, it's a punch in the stomach. >> oh, man, what are you missing then? everything? >> it's the confession. it's the piece that brings everything together and focuses on the four girls and that was gone. >> reporter: all of these women have a special meaning for me and when it got thrown out, i had a really hard time. >> reporter: then gordon asked for a meeting and sprang another surprise. he wanted yellin to drop the

rape charges. what would he give you in return >> he said i'll give you a statement you can use against me in this case. >> reporter: and so on the eve of trial, detective trapp, once again, sat face-to-face with steven gordon and he, once again, took her through each crime. >> is it fair to say your intention was pick a prostitute and kill her? >> reporter: that was played for the jury, but then, how bizarre was this? gordon decided he wanted the jury to hear his first confession, too, which meant the mothers had to hear every graphic detail of there daughter's murders. >> then i thought, maybe i prayed that rosary a little too hard, now we've got two statements in. >> reporter: the jury wasted no time convicting gordon of four counts of murder. >> guilty of the crime of felony. >> reporter: they recommended a death penalty. >> i order the verdicts be

recorded. >> reporter: for four mothers, a measure of justice. >> thank you. >> reporter: kathy menzes sat through the entire trial, as brutal as it was. what has it done to your understanding of human beings? >> very evil. there's lots of evil in this world. lots of it. >> reporter: the mothers will have to sit through another trial. frank canno is still waiting for his. he's pleaded not guilty. but for detective trapp, there was a measure of relief and, finally, she gave those rosaries to four grieving mothers. >> it's interesting to discover in this line of work that homicide detectives are actually softies. >> i think the more you allow yourself to feel, the better you will be as a detective. and we have to go to the dark places to find answers. the quicker we get in and out, the better it is for all of us. >> reporter: answers from dark places.

we went to the jail before gordon was transferred to death row. here he was a man who claimed to know the nature of his evil acts. but did he, we wondered? >> i screwed up. >> reporter: is screwed up the right expression to you? >> huh, probably not. i just didn't want to say it, what i really think. >> reporter: well, why don't you? >> it's, it's beyond evil what happened, what me and him did was beyond evil. >> reporter: but then came, sure enough, the excuse. he's worked it out in his head, the parole system is somehow to blame for his minds, as sex offenders, they shouldn't have been permitted to be together. that was a parole violation. the fact that his parole officers didn't prevent that violation, he said means the state is responsible. >> we chose to be together. but we were allowed. there is a difference. >> reporter: no, no, are you

3? >> what do you mean? >> reporter: that's what kids say to parents, you let me do a bad thing, it's your fault. >> i didn't say they let us do a bad thing. i said they let us sleep and hang out at the same spot. they did, beside what anybody believed. >> reporter: you will parse that argument? >> to the day i die, that's true. >> reporter: i want to know, that's on you, what was going on in your head to make you want to do it, to participate in whatever way you participated, to get whatever thrill? what was the thrill? what was it? >> i don't think there was a thrill. >> reporter: if there is no thrill, why did you do it? >> there is no thrill in watching women die like that. but i'm going to go back to it again and again, it was my anger issues that i have from everything that happened while we were on parole and probation. >> reporter: we may never know exactly why jerree was killed or martha or josephine or quinna. but there is one more mystery

hiding somewhere in this mountain. the final mystery. coming up -- >> to me, she's an angel in disguise, an angel that carries a badge and a gun. >> an angel whose job isn't done. >> he looks at me and goes, you're missing one. >> when "dateline" continues. suffer if there is options y o that they don't need to. i think dentists will want to recommend sensodyne rapid relief because it's clinically proven to work in 3 days. which means for patients that they get relief very fast. ...work in harmony.ody... like you, they get hungry. feed them... ...with new centrum® multigummies® specially crafted for men and women 50 and over. so you're ready for anything. centrum®. feed your cells today. who got an awful skin condition. with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis,

you feel like you're itching all the time. and you never know how your skin will look. because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. so help heal your skin from within, with dupixent. dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczema even when you can't see it. at 16 weeks, nearly four times more patients taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin compared to those not taking it, and patients saw a significant reduction in itch. do not use if you are allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, a severe reaction. tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems, including eye pain or changes in vision. if you are taking asthma medicines, do not change or stop your asthma medicine without talking to your doctor. help heal your skin from within. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com

print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again!

four mothers, four dead daughters. there's sorrow, of course. >> when they killed her, they killed me. >> and a measure of solidarity to have each other, especially priscilla and her linda. >> now that we know what's happened to our daughters, i know we will still be friends until the end because she's walking in the same shoes i am. >> we asked them about julissa trapp. >> translator: this case was solved because of her. >> to me, she's an angel in disguise. an angel that carries a badge and a gun. >> their own guardian angel who brought all of them answers. but how, the moms wondered, did two men who were supposed to be under supervision by parole officers, who were being tracked

in realtime by gps ankle bracelets, how could they have committed the terrible crimes they were charged with? how could this happen? >> how can this happen? why were they not being monitored? but it was definitely a hard question to get from the mothers themselves as well. why wasn't it caught sooner? >> sure. jerree's mother jodie sued the department of rehabilitation claiming it failed to adequately monitor gordon and cano. the state denied the claims and the case was dismissed. jodie also sued the u.s. government and agents of u.s. probation. that case was dismissed as well. and the administration office of the u.s. court published a report that said federal probation officers followed policies and procedures. as for detective trapp, there was one last mystery to solve. because when she first talked to

steven gordon, he revealed something she wasn't expecting. >> he looked at me, and he goes, you're missing one, which caught me offguard, and i tried not to show too much emotion. and i said, okay. and that was the first time i learned about jane doe was from him. >> reporter: jane doe. according to gordon, there was a fifth victim. >> did she say where she was from? >> she said she was from compton, but -- >> i feel a responsibility because jane doe is not a missing person. she's -- she's an unknown, and i feel like if i don't look for her, who will? i know there is a family out there wondering where she is. >> and so she looked. she combed through missing persons reports. she put up fliers, searched, prayed, and, yes, bought another rosary.

why is it so important to give jane doe a name to you, personally? >> i just think because she's helpless. you're on the street. you're working as a prostitute, and you run into steve gordon and frank cano, and your last hours on this earth are horrific. and then they discard you like trash. >> reporter: trash. detective trapp is still haunted by trash. that keeps bringing her mind back here. >> even though it is a landfill, i mean it is quite peaceful when it's quiet. >> somewhere under here, in addition to quianna, josephine, and martha, there was victim number five. and so detective trapp worked her sources until she had a name. it would be reasonable to say, okay, that's her. she's here. >> absolutely.

logically, yes. absolutely. >> and yet when we first spoke with her, she couldn't quite bring herself to tell yet another mother her suspicions. >> i -- not only do i have to tell her she's dead, i have to tell her that she's one of these girls. so that's going to be hard, i think. >> reporter: out here with us, she seemed to be willing herself, pulling strength from jane doe herself. >> i think in her own way, she'll help me. she'll help me. i don't think she wants to be jane doe forever. >> reporter: and then a couple of months later, she let us know she'd called on the fifth mother and delivered the news, that sable pickett, just 19 years old, crossed paths with gordon and cano in the streets of orange county and did not survive. no charges are pending for her murder, but another family can finally stop wondering.

homicide detectives often tell us they work for the dead. up here on landfill mountain, we understood that a little better. as detective julissa trapp gripped her rosary, the one for sable, we walked away and gave her time. and our microphone picked up something. >> hail, mary, full of grace. blessed. >> reporter: mountains of trash, things we use and cast away. but for detective julissa trapp, this will always be hallowed ground. >> it's hard to look at that and know that's where you ended up, and i know you guys are all in a better place. and i know that you're together and you're helping each other. you can rest now. and i can take it from here.

>> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thanks for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." details are so korea. i couldn't make sense of it. >> a successful young couple, ambushed, they had, in the dead of night and attacked, abducted. >> we are like, wow! where is she? >> i didn't have a clue what happened. >> but the real question? was their story even true? >> we were not abe to substantiate any of the things he had to stay. >> they branded the liars. >> would this be a hoax that was behind it all. >> this whole story could take another crazy turn. >> he said i know i need to pay for what i