Wesley Shermantine, 60, a convicted member of the duo known as the "Speed Freak Killers," was pronounced dead Sept. 17 at California State Prison, Sacramento; the Sacramento County Coroner will determine the official cause. Shermantine and childhood friend Loren Herzog were tied to a series of murders and disappearances across San Joaquin County and the Central Valley from the mid-1980s into the late 1990s, with investigators at one point suspecting as many as 70 victims. Shermantine was convicted in multiple murders and sentenced to death; he was later transferred off Death Row following a statewide moratorium. Herzog had convictions overturned, was paroled in 2010, and died by suicide in 2012.
‘Speed Freak Killer’ Wesley Shermantine, 60, Dies In California Prison; Notorious Duo's Crimes Revisited
Wesley ShermantineCredit: The Stockton Record-USA TODAY NETWORK
Wesley Shermantine, 60, a convicted member of the pair labeled the "Speed Freak Killers," was pronounced dead on Sept. 17 at the California State Prison, Sacramento, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said. A prison medical doctor declared him dead at the facility's health center; the Sacramento County Coroner's Office will determine his official cause of death.
Shermantine and his childhood friend, Loren Herzog, were long linked to a string of murders and disappearances across San Joaquin County and California's Central Valley from the mid-1980s through the late 1990s. At one point investigators believed the duo could be responsible for as many as 70 slayings during a roughly 15-year, drug-fueled crime spree, according to reporting in The Sacramento Bee.
Wesley ShermantineCredit: The Stockton Record-USA TODAY NETWORK
Convictions and sentence. Shermantine was convicted in multiple cases, including the 1998 murder of 25-year-old Cyndi Vanderheiden; the disappearance of 16-year-old Chevelle “Chevy” Wheeler in 1985; and the 1984 killings of Paul Cavanaugh, 31, and Howard King, 35, prosecutors and court records show. He was sentenced to death. After California imposed a moratorium on executions, Shermantine was transferred from San Quentin's Death Row to California State Prison, Sacramento.
According to a CDCR press release, "Shermantine was received from Santa Clara County on May 18, 2001, and placed on condemned status for first-degree murder." At the time of that release, he was listed among the CDCR's condemned population.
Loren HerzogCredit: Michael Mccollum-USA TODAY NETWORK
Herzog's case and death. Loren Herzog, Shermantine's childhood friend and alleged partner in several crimes, had some convictions overturned after an appeals court concluded his confessions had been coerced. Herzog later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, was granted parole in 2010, and—because officials struggled to find a community willing to accept him—was housed under strict supervision in a trailer on the grounds of High Desert State Prison near Susanville. Herzog died by suicide in 2012 at age 46 while living on prison grounds.
John Vanderheiden, whose daughter Cyndi was killed, told ABC10: "He got his punishment that he deserves right now … being dead. He shouldn't have lived that long." Vanderheiden described his daughter as "a very happy person all the time" who "brought happiness to our house."
Shermantine's death closes a chapter in a series of investigations that haunted families and law enforcement across the Central Valley for decades. While the coroner's office determines a cause of death, the case remains a painful touchstone for victims' relatives and a reminder of the long reach of unsolved crimes tied to the pair.
Reporting referenced: The Sacramento Bee, The Stockton Record, The San Francisco Chronicle and CDCR statements.
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