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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
National
Christopher Goffard

Orange County serial killer Franc Cano gets life in prison after guilty pleas

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Franc Cano, who with an accomplice abducted and killed several women in Anaheim and Santa Ana while on sex-offender probation, pleaded guilty to murder Thursday after prosecutors dropped their call for the death penalty.

Cano's guilty pleas to four counts of rape and murder — which brings an automatic prison sentence of life without parole — eliminates the need for his long-delayed trial. It appears to close a case that had languished while victims' families begged for action.

It has been nearly a decade since Cano, 36, embarked on a five-month series of murders with his companion, Steven Gordon. Their targets were women working in street prostitution in Anaheim and Santa Ana.

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