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. kathy found some peace in that, the knowing, the seeing. but why kianna s life was taken, 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 the grieving find answers, and with a confession on tape, the trial of steven gordon looked like a formality, or so the prosecutor might have hoped. and then the judge made that ruling. oh, boy. a suspected serial killer turns the case against him upside down. coming up it s the piece that brings
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 peace in that, the knowing, the seeing. but why kiannas life was taken. so much harder to comprehend. i don t think that i will ever be able to accept it. it s hard. it s hard. reporter: criminal trials are one way that the grieving find answers. and with a confession on tape, the trial of steven gordon looked like a formality, or the prosecutor might have hoped. and then the judge made that ruling. oh, boy.
it was hard. it s difficult to see. i mean it s not what i expected, the area. i mean, you know, 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 peace in that. the knowing. the seeing. but why kianna s life was taken, 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 the grieving find answers. and with a confession on tape, the trial of steven gordon looked like a formality. or so the prosecutor might have hoped. and then the judge made that ruling. oh, boy. a suspected serial killer turns the case against him upside down. coming up
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.
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 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. we have to be able to