'Where Murder Lies' Episode 2: Where is Francine Stepp? Oklahoma woman butchered parents after plotting with friend
Content Warning: Violence
'Where Murder Lies' is the latest series to be released by Discovery+ among its true-crime programming. Compared to other true-crime offerings, 'Where Murder Lies' focuses on cases that are not as well known in the country, but nevertheless, remain just as intriguing. The series focuses on exposing murder investigations as one truth after the other is revealed, laying out a terrible betrayal of trust or a shocking indiscretion.
The second episode of 'Where Murder Lies' focuses on the 1988 murder case of Mark and Delores Stepp, whose daughter ran to a neighbor screaming that her parents were killed in Stillwater, Oklahoma. On the outside, the Stepps seemed like the average American family — Mark worked at the Sooner Power Plant in North Central Oklahoma as an Instrument and Controls employee, and Delores worked on the third floor of the Whitehurst Hall on the campus of the Oklahoma State University.
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Delores died of multiple stab wounds and had defensive wounds on her body. Mark died of multiple stab wounds after he was paralyzed by the gunshot wound to his neck, according to the forensic pathologist. Their daughter, Francine, was 18 years old at the time of the murder and told police that she spent the previous night with her friend, Cindy Sue Wynn.
Francine told the police that she went to Cindy's apartment after work, then went to her parents' house to ask them about staying at her friend's place. Cindy, however, told the police that while they did return to Francine's house, they did not see her parents and went back to Cindy's apartment.
Who killed Mark and Delores Stepp?
For a month, police combed through every piece of evidence and came across multiple suspects. However, it was when Michael Reed testified that Francine and Cindy plotted to kill Francine's parents in front of him that the police were able to secure a concrete lead. Reed testified that Cindy said she would take care of Francine's parents to "get even with them." Reed added that the discontent rose because the Stepps did not want their daughter to associate with Cindy after the latter's parents called them to warn about Cindy.
The police eventually got Francine to confess to the murders. During their investigation, the police also discovered something odd about Francine's parents — that they belonged to a "nudist colony." The police also discovered videotapes of pornography that involved both Mark and Delores and a photograph of all three Stepps naked. Francine reportedly told the police that she had enough of having to comply with her parents' abuse.
Where are Francine Stepp and Cindy Sue Wynn now?
Cindy Sue Wynn was convicted on charges of being an accessory to murder as well as soliciting for murder in the first degree. She was incarcerated in 1989 and was released in 1999, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Cindy Wynn's current whereabouts are unknown.
Francine Stepp was incarcerated at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in 1988 and was convicted on two counts of murder in the first degree. She was up for parole hearings in 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2015 and was denied parole. According to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records, she is still incarcerated at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center.
'Where Murder Lies' is available to stream weekly on discover+ on Tuesdays at 12 AM PT.