In the letter to the reporter, Shermantine denied the beatings and countered that it was his cousin’s father who first introduced him to meth.
“His dad frankly got me really stated in the drugs at a young age . . . I’ve never used a needle with drugs, so Justin don’t know anything, he just went on T.V.”
Shermantine apparently introduced Herzog to meth and the two were hooked at a young age.
But, as with any hardcore addictive drug, it has a tendency to change the user.
“It changed him a lot. I noticed. He became really withdrawn, not talkative anymore you know; cruel mean, you know, even cruel to animals,” recalled Wesley Shermantine’s ex-wife Sherrie about his plunge into meth addiction.
Sherrie remembered one time in particular, when Wesley was on a long meth binge and became annoyed, and then obsessed with a barking dog. In his drug-addled, violent mind, Shermantine decided that kicking the dog into submission was a good way to make it stop barking.
Committing acts of violence under the influence of meth became part and parcel of his serial killer signature—he was nearly always on the drug when he killed.
In fact, one could say that meth use is what drove the pair to kill, and it was both of their signatures. The Speed Freak Killers killed using a variety of different M.O.’s, but their signature was killing for the thrill of it while under the influence of crystal meth.
Knowing what we know today about Wesley Shermantine’s background, it may not be entirely honest to say that the drug changed him. It may be more accurate to say that crystal meth lowered his inhibitions and allowed him to become the monster that he was all along.
Herzog also quickly found meth to be some sort of miracle drug. The two men started out by snorting the drug in its powder form, and when that was not enough, they began smoking it.
The transition from snorting to smoking may not seem like such a big deal to most people who have never been around crystal meth, but the change of methods is usually the first sign of serious addiction.
Most crystal meth addicts begin by snorting the drug casually, but once their tolerance and physical addiction grows, they often move up to smoking because it makes meth drug enter the blood stream more quickly.
But smoking meth also increases its negative side effects.
“He was very hot-headed,” said Sherrie. “When he started smoking the drugs is when it all started going downhill.”
As Shermantine and Herzog began doing more and more crystal meth, it quickly began to control their lives. The duo both worked legitimate jobs throughout most of the 1980s and ‘90s, but to supplement their incomes and to have a constant stash of dope, the two began selling meth and marijuana. They used the proceeds from their drug deals to fund their hunting trips, and to use meth as a way to meet women and potential victims.
By selling drugs the two were introduced to a whole new world in San Joaquin County. They made numerous connections with mid to high level drug dealers and they made contacts with various gang members. More importantly, access to San Joaquin County’s criminal underworld gave them access to the area’s many prostitutes.
Shermantine, who was never very popular with women, was especially fond of what meth could do for him in that department.
The men offered meth for free or at a discounted price to women, and if the women accepted, one or both of the men would demand sex after they all got high. If the woman refused their advances, she would be murdered and thrown in a well.
Since most of the women the duo had contact with were prostitutes, the women usually did whatever the two wanted. When they ended up murdering a woman who happened to be a prostitute, the investigation was usually not very thorough due to the victim’s background.
By late 1984, Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog were full-fledged drug addicts and toughs who were about to unleash a fourteen-year reign of terror on California’s Central Valley and earn the moniker of the Speed Freak Killers.
Chapter 3:
The Killings Begin
Since investigators are still working on the Speed Freak Killers case, trying to locate the remains of their many victims, it is uncertain how many people they killed and when exactly their spree began. As Wesley Shermantine continues to linger on California’s death row, he has become more cooperative by leading authorities to the remains of the victims, and confessing to murders previously unattributed to the duo. With that said, he continues to play games with the authorities by requesting money and privileges behind bars in exchange for his cooperation. He also denies having committed most of the murders and instead, blames Herzog and a mysterious third person named “Jason.”
It is clear that he is still keeping secrets.
Most authorities believe that the Speed Freak Killers began their killings in September 1984, but some think that Shermantine may have began earlier in 1982 while he was still in high school. Unless Shermantine comes forward in the future and admits to more killings, it will be difficult to say when the killings started.
Based on the confessions of the two killers, along with police reports, it is probable that the duo murdered at least seven people between September 1984 and October 1985. This time period represents their first series of killings, although it was punctuated by at least one “cooling off” period. Once the pair began killing again, they transitioned into their second series of murders.
A Random Highway Murder
Shermantine and Herzog graduated from high school in 1984, and instead of planning for college or finding full-time employment during the summer, like most of their former classmates, the duo spent the summer drinking, doing drugs, and going fishing. They did not have any long-term aspirations except to save enough money for the next party. The two men were able to pool enough money together from working part-time jobs and selling drugs, to take fishing and camping trips in the area.
Of course, the great outdoors was a second home to both men, and it was also where they scoped out their dump spots for their later victims. But camping, fishing, hunting, and doing drugs were not Herzog’s and Shermantine’s only pastimes.
They also liked to gamble.
At the time, gambling was not legal in California, even on the Indian reservations. However, the gambling mecca of Nevada was just over a two hour drive from San Joaquin County. The Speed Freak Killers enjoyed consuming copious amounts of meth and driving to either Reno or Lake Tahoe to try their luck at the casinos. Herzog and Shermantine spent several days gambling under the influence of booze and meth, and when they came down from their binge, they would usually be broke.
On a weekend in September 1984, the pair decided to try their luck at a new casino in Lake Tahoe.
Shermantine and Herzog went to the casino with high hopes of walking away rich, but instead, the venture ended like most others that the duo embarked on—by the end of the weekend they were broke and out of meth, fiending for more. The situation did not sit well with either man. No one likes to spend all of their money at a casino, but even worse for Shermantine and Herzog, they were out of their miracle drug. Since they had no drug connections in the Lake Tahoe area, the pair drank down booze, checked out of their hotel, and drove back to San Joaquin County in order to buy more meth.
As the two intoxicated friends drove Shermantine’s car back into San Joaquin County, Shermantine noticed a car parked alongside Highway 88 near Hope Valley, just southeast of Stockton. Lying near the car was forty-one-year-old Henry Howell of Santa Clara, California. Howell was drunk, and he had apparently pulled over to pass out in an effort to do the right thing, and not drive drunk.
Doing the right thing got Howell killed.
Herzog later claimed that Shermantine pulled his car over behind Howell’s, retrieved his rifle from the trunk, and then casually walked over to Howell’s car and shot him dead as he slept.
In his 1999 confession to San Joaquin County homicide detectives, Herzog referred to the crime as the “murder of that Indian dude,” referring to Howell who
was an American Indian.
“We were coming down the road and he sees some dude fucking lying on the side of road,” said Herzog. “Wes robs him and kills him too. The dude was so drunk that the dude would’ve never fucking known nothing anyways. Wes didn’t have to kill that dude.”
After shooting Howell to death, Shermantine rifled through Howell’s pockets and took a few dollars from his wallet. The murder was committed for the thrill of it and the robbery that took place afterwards, was apparently done more for the trophy than any monetary gain. There was very little money in Howell’s wallet, nowhere near enough to get Herzog and Shermantine another fix of meth.
Despite Herzog’s statement to the police, some members of the law enforcement community believe that Herzog was the actual shooter.
They argued that his knowledge of the shooting was too exact to be from someone who claimed to have witnessed the murder from several yards behind Shermantine’s car.
Whichever one of the two was the shooter matters very little at this point. The most important aspect of Henry Howell’s murder is that it opened the Pandora’s Box that would became known as the Speed Freak Killers.
Once the box was opened, it was impossible to close.
When witnesses reported Howell’s body lying outside of his car several hours later, San Joaquin County homicide investigators showed up on the scene. They quickly learned that there were no witnesses to the murder which made solving the crime nearly impossible. The forensic team turned up nothing of major use, and nothing in Howell’s background suggested any type of revenge murder.
They reasoned that Henry Howell was probably the victim of a murder gone wrong, possibly related to being with a prostitute.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department had no way of knowing that they were investigating the first of the Speed Freak Killers’ murders.
Several More Murders
The FBI’s definition of a serial killer is a person, or persons, who kill at least three people with at least one “cooling off” period between murders. Some criminologists have argued that it should be a two victim minimum, but all agree that there follows a “cooling off period” for the crimes to be considered serial murders. Most experts agree that the cooling off period should be at least several days—anything less than that would constitute killing within the same time period. A serial killer must also kill in a different geographic area between cooling off periods. In other words, if a killer decides to kill two people down the block and kills a third person held captive nearby for several days─that would not meet the definition of a serial killer.
If a person kills three or more individuals in the same approximate area and timeframe, then he or she is what the FBI classifies as a “mass murderer.” A spree killer is usually defined as someone who kills two or more people over an extended period of time without a cooling off period between victims. Many criminologists note that there is sometimes a blurred line between serial and spree killers. For instance, Andrew Cunanan, who killed five people during 1997, is sometimes listed as a spree killer, while others consider him to be a serial killer.
There is no debate concerning Loren Herzog’s and Wesley Shermantine’s status as serial killers.
Beyond the kill counts of a serial killer, most criminologists focus their attention on what drives the killer and how the ulterior motivation affects his or her M.O., which is known as the serial killer’s “signature.” A signature is different, but closely connected to the M.O. For instance, Jeffery Dahmer’s M.O. was drugging and strangling his victims, but his signature was engaging in necrophilia and cannibalism.
The Speed Freak Killers’ M.O. varied with each killing. In fact, they purposely changed their murder methods so the police could not connect their crimes. For the most part, their M.O. was considered “disorganized” by most experts. The Speed Freak Killers rarely planned their murders ahead of time, and instead, they took lives when they felt the situation was right. Although most of their victims were abducted, murdered, and dumped at secondary locations, their murders were rarely planned.
On the other hand, the Speed Freak Killers’ signature remained fairly constant. They murdered for pleasure, usually under the influence of crystal meth.
It was the thrill of the hunt and the rush of murder that drove Herzog and Shermantine to kill.
Once Shermantine and Herzog committed their first murder, they enjoyed the act so much, they quickly committed more.
The Speed Freak killers probably had their first cooling off period after killing Henry Howell, but it only lasted about two months. On November 26, 1984, they claimed two more victims.
On the evening of November 27, 1984, San Joaquin Sherriff’s Department deputies were called to a rural stretch of highway outside of Stockton. They were responding to a report of two men passed out in a car alongside the road, but when the officers arrived, they quickly learned that the two men were dead from gunshot wounds.
After sealing off the area, the search for clues began, but few were found. Although the area was relatively isolated, prostitutes were known to bring their customers there. The deputies began their search for witnesses. The murder should have sent out red flags about the Henry Howell murder just two months earlier, but the connection was not immediately acknowledged by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department Detectives.
Since the area around the crime was trafficked by prostitutes and other members of San Joaquin County’s lowest social rungs, the detectives were hopeful they would find a witness.
None were found.
After checking the victims’ driver’s licenses and doing background checks, the sheriff’s department learned that the men were thirty-five-year-old Howard King and thirty-one-year-old Paul Raymond Cavanaugh. Neither of the two men was known to be involved in any criminal activities, which left homicide investigators stumped and searching for suspects.
Although the police had no suspects, they theorized that the two men were probably soliciting prostitutes or drug dealers, and that something went wrong that led to their deaths. The theory sounded good, but did little to help them find the killers.
While the police were at a standstill in the double homicide investigation, the Speed Freak Killers celebrated their double kill with several rounds of beer and lines of meth.
According to the confession Herzog gave to homicide investigators in 1999, he and Shermantine were spending the night like another other, drinking large amounts of alcohol and snorting and smoking crystal meth. Herzog claimed that they never set out to kill anyone that night, which would be consistent with their generally disorganized methods, but things changed later when they decided to take their party on the road.
The two men drove around rural San Joaquin County, drinking and drugging, when Shermantine spotted a 1982 Pontiac parked alongside the road. After driving past the car, Shermantine made a U-turn and parked behind the Pontiac. Herzog and Shermantine said little to each other. They were on the same homicidal level and they knew exactly what was going to happen next.
The Speed Freak Killers took their shotguns out of the back of Shermantine’s truck and quietly approached the car. The guns were already loaded and ready to go. Herzog and Shermantine only needed to take the safeties off the guns, line up their targets, and shoot.
King was killed first from one shotgun blast as he sat in the car. He never knew what hit him.
Herzog claimed that Shermantine pulled Cavanaugh from the car and killed him with Herzog’s gun.
Investigators largely panned that part of Herzog’s account. Although they believe that the murders took place the way Herzog explained, they found it unbelievable that Shermantine would have switched guns to kill Cavanaugh.
Herzog was likely Cavanaugh’s killer, although he may have killed after being goaded by Shermantine. Herzog, unsure of the situation and possibly unsure of his ability to take a human life, may have hesitated. Shermantine, who had at that point already killed at least two people, coaxed Herzog i
nto pulling the trigger.
With the act done, Herzog had officially joined his friend as a bona fide murderer.
Or, as others in the law enforcement community believe, the murder was actually Herzog’s second one after he killed Howell two months earlier. When they spotted the parked car, the two men may have thought that a prostitute and her john were in it. Perhaps, expecting to murder two people and rape one, Shermantine pulled his car over and they both grabbed their guns without saying a word.
According to this scenario, Herzog needed no goading.
Without any conversation, the two men left the scene and went back to Linden to continue their party.
But the Speed Freak Killers made their first mistake.
Although the initial investigation of the murder scene did not uncover any witnesses or forensic evidence that pointed to a suspect, impressions of tire tracks taken from the scene were later matched to Wesley Shermantine’s truck.
This would be one of many small pieces of physical evidence that were collected into a larger collage, to be used against Shermantine at his murder trial.
After killing King and Cavanaugh, the Speed Freak Killers began claiming victims on a regular basis.
The pair’s next victim was an attractive nineteen-year-old woman named Kimberly Bill. Kimberly disappeared from the area near her Stockton home on December 11, 1984, never to be seen or heard from again. Missing persons reports were filed with the local law enforcement agencies and a search was made, but nothing turned up. Kimberly’s family wondered for years if she was alive and in trouble, or if she was dead.
It turns out the Speed Freak Killers had changed their M.O.
The M.O. in Shermantine’s and Herzog’s first three confirmed kills was virtually the same—they ambushed their victims in isolated areas with guns and left the bodies at the scene of the crimes. In terms of serial killers, the murders were fairly simple and did not involve sexual assault or abuse of the corpses.
Hunting The Ultimate Kill Page 4