Hunting The Ultimate Kill

by Jack Rosewood

  The fact is that Loren Herzog never showed any remorse for anything he had done in his life up until that point, so it is unlikely that he had an epiphany while sitting in his trailer on the grounds of Susanville prison.

  Besides, the harsh restrictions of his parole were to eventually end and he would be allowed to return to society. In California he would even be allowed to vote. Unlike many prison inmates, Herzog actually had a life to go back to once he was released. He had a wife who was more than willing to take him back

  Many now think that the reason for Herzog’s suicide can be linked directly to the actions of Wesley Shermantine.

  Herzog would never enjoy his freedom if there was something Wesley Shermantine could do about it.

  Legally speaking, there was little that Shermantine could do to Herzog concerning the charges he already pleaded guilty to, but there were still many more killings that he admitted having knowledge of, and others for which law enforcement believed Herzog was connected to. If any evidence surfaced linking Herzog directly to one of the many other murders he was never charged with, he could be charged with capital murder and find himself in a cell next to Shermantine.

  Shermantine decided to take a page out of Herzog’s playbook by accusing him of more murders. Doing so would not be enough to bring about new charges, since it would merely be one convicted serial killer’s word against another. Wesley Shermantine needed to offer solid proof.

  Shermantine made his move by writing to Scott Smith at the Stockton Record and telling him that he could reveal the location of “Loren’s Boneyard,” which was his euphemism for the various wells, caves, and mines where the pair dumped many of their victims.

  There was just one catch—Shermantine wanted $10,000 for his efforts.

  Smith saw the possible deal as an ethical dilemma, and even if he wanted to make the deal, he had nowhere near that kind of money. Ever the good reporter, Smith knew that the story “had legs” so he referred Shermantine to a high-profile bounty hunter form San Joaquin County named Leonard Padilla.

  In a case with more twists and turns than a two lane highway in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the entry of larger-than-life Leonard Padilla to the mix, was not surprising.

  Leonard Padilla

  To say that Leonard Padilla is a colorful character would be an understatement. Usually clad in all black and always wearing a black cowboy hat, the seventy-eight-year-old bounty hunter is well known around the Central Valley, and in recent years, he has attained national celebrity.

  Born to a Mexican-American farm family in the small town of Tulelake near the California-Oregon border, Padilla learned at any early age that very few things are given to you in life, and that hard work is often a reward in itself. After graduating high school, Padilla served in the Air Force and then moved around the country before ending up back in Northern California. He worked several dead end jobs before realizing that his talents were not being put to use.

  Padilla knew that there was more to life for him than the small, dead-end town of Tulelake could offer.

  “I couldn’t live there without killing someone,” Padilla once said so he packed up and moved to Sacramento during the 1970s. It was during that time when he found and captured his first fugitive. The successful capture led to a long career on the fringes of law enforcement where he worked as a bounty hunter and a lawyer. He and two other men founded the Lorenzo Patino Law School in Sacramento during the 1980s.

  Despite his work with law enforcement, Padilla was always a rebel.

  During his work in bounty hunting/bail enforcement, he made hundreds of contacts across the State of California that included scores of gang members, drug dealers, and various other members of the criminal underworld. He later recruited some of the criminals he captured to enter his Sacramento law school, because he claimed that people with street smarts make the best lawyers.

  As he worked with, and arrested numerous criminals throughout the 1980s, Padilla ended up with his own legal problems.

  He served a year in prison during the 1990s for tax evasion, which he claims stemmed from a mistake that was out of his control. He used his popularity in the Central Valley to make a failed bid for Governor of California in 2003, which was a race that featured dozens of candidates, including the late actor Gary Coleman and porn star Mary Carey.

  Padilla’s run was more of a publicity stunt than a legitimate campaign, but the stunt paid off when numerous cable networks began calling for his expertise on a variety of legal issues. For example, during the Casey Anthony trial in Florida, he was a regular guest on Nancy Grace’s program which aired Headline News Network.

  Cable crime show producers were drawn to Padilla’s colorful exterior and rough, course voice. To them, Padilla represented the epitome of a true westerner: strong, confident, and not afraid to speak his mind.

  It was this reputation that led Scott Smith to give Leonard Padilla’s contact information to Wesley Shermatine, after he offered to give the location of many of his and Herzog’s victims’ bodies.

  Padilla claims that he countered Shermantine’s initial request of $10,000 with $15,000 for the location of Cyndi Vanderheiden’s remains and another $18,000 for Chevy Wheeler’s remains.

  After an initial phone conversation with Shermantine, Padilla knew that he also had to contact Herzog. Although he believed that the key to finding the women’s bodies was with Shermantine, he felt obliged to tell Herzog what was happening.

  "I told him I was communicating with Shermantine," said Padilla. "He knew what was coming down the road."

  What looked to be coming coming down the road for Herzog were new murder charges.

  “He hyperventilated when I told him,” Padilla said. “He knew he would also end up on death row.”

  When Padilla learned that Herzog had taken his own life a few days later, he was unperturbed by the situation, and he was even willing to take credit for it.“I don’t think Herzog would have ‘checked out’ if I hadn’t called him.”

  Padilla was quick to add that he had a personal reason for feeling that way when he stated that: “I could not bear to live if someone hurt my daughters and then not being able to find them.”

  But having Shermantine agree to help Leonard Padilla find the bodies, and actually help himcomplete the task successfully, was two different things.

  Finding the Bodies

  Shermantine’s cooperation with Leonard Padilla and the authorities is a story in itself, one that is not yet complete. Padilla had to assemble a team with the ability to undertake a major recovery effort. He hired other professional search teams with dogs and horses that could aid in the recovery efforts, especially if bodies were discovered. Working alongside Padilla was private investigator Bob Dick.

  Once Padilla assembled his team, he needed Shermantine to do his part.

  But serial killers are generally people not to be trusted.

  Shermantine is as crafty as he is dangerous. Instead of releasing information about all of the bodies he dumped in the rural Central Valley, he sent Padilla a one-hand drawn map labeled “Herzog’s Boneyard,” which proved to be just one of several dump spots.

  The first map led Padilla and his team to a county west of San Joaquin County, named Calaveras County, which is ironically the Spanish word for “skulls.”

  Padilla and his team arrived at the location to determine if Shermantine was telling the truth. The location was a rural area that once had a well, which in more recent years, had been filled in. After the cadaver dogs made multiple hits at the location, Padilla and his team were obligated to call the authorities. A team from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department arrived with a back hoe. Their digging led to more than 1,000 human bones being recovered along with clothing, a purse, jewelry, and car parts. Forensic investigators sifted through the remains and determined they belonged to three different women and a fetus.

  Apparently, one of the Speed Freak Killers’ victims was pregnant.

  The identity of th
e pregnant victim is still unknown.

  For his part, Shermantine gloated about the discovery and he took time to criticize the excavation methods in a letter.

  ““That dig they just crushed all them bones. Their [sic] was no call for all that. They could have dug 5 feet away from well, then broke threw [sic] at the bottom. This is why Stockton ripon [sic] Modesto have so many missing people. Because its by domb luck they came across a body. I even know where gangmember [sic] burial sites are. Theirs [sic] no question I know what I’m talking about.”

  The find, though, was just the first. Soon Shermantine revealed the location of more of his cemeteries, but not before he engaged in a back-and-forth with Leonard Padilla.

  Wesley Shermantine and Leonard Padilla

  It must be remembered that Wesley Shermantine did not reveal the dumpsite locations out of any feelings of remorse or sympathy for his victims’ families, but merely for monetary gain. Many may wonder what use a person on death row had with money.

  Wesley Shermantine’s own words in his letters to the Sacramento reporter clearly spell out why he wanted the money.

  “The reason I set a [sic] agreement for certain amount with Leonard, was first to pay my restitution off, get my parents a headstone and have it placed at the family plot. My parents were cremated but I still want to leave a marker for them. I wanted to put 5 thousand in a [sic] account for my grandson. Then he can have it at age of graduation. If he does not graduate then it goes to his father. . . and for my own burial.”

  By early 2012, Shermantine was becoming upset that he had not yet received his payment from Padilla. He voiced his anger, towards what he believed was Padilla dragging his feet with the payment, in a letter to a Sacramento reporter.

  “I’d like it understood without Mr. Leonard Padilla’s help these sheriff’s [sic] would never have found one of Herzogs [sic] burial area’s. [sic] He is the one that made it happen. I did not know what kinda [sic] can of worms I was opening up, but I opened it anyways.

  “For the record I see Leonard Padilla claiming he had paid me 33 thousand as of today Leonard Padilla has not paid me a dime. That’s why I’ve held off on Herzogs [sic] other two sites. I am the only one with that knowledge now since Herzog killed himself. From what he said he was taking people from Modesto as well.”

  The poorly written letter not only demonstrates Shermantine’s lack of grammatical knowledge, but also his sociopathic nature. Leading the authorities to his victims’ remains had nothing to do with closure, but everything to do with Wesley Shermantine. He was trying to exert what little power he had from death row.

  He also inadvertently implicated himself in the Sylvia Standley murder by mentioning Herzog “taking people from Modesto as well.”

  No doubt Shermantine had a plethora of reasons for revealing the locations of his victims’ remains. Monetary consideration certainly played a role, but even more so, was his sociopathic desire to be in the spotlight. The discoveries of the bodies gave him a chance to converse with the media and to attempt to paint himself as a victim.

  Clearly, no one believed Wesley Shermantine was a victim, but most were willing to listen to him, in order to bring closure to the families.

  As the initial excavations in Calaveras County proved to be fruitful, Wesley Shermantine revealed more locations in the following months.

  More Burial Sites

  When the first cache of human remains was uncovered, many believed it was the full extent of what Shermantine would reveal. Some thought he was stringing everyone along for attention as part of his twisted game. Although the recovery of the Speed Freak Killers’ victims’ remains was no doubt a game for Shermantine, Padilla knew the serial killer was sitting on more information.

  But searching for the remains of the Speed Freak Killers’ victims without Shemantine’s assistance would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are literally thousands of mines, decommissioned wells, and caves in Calaveras County. If one goes further east into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the number increases.

  “It would be my guess that you could find a body in damn near everyone one of them,” said Padilla about the mines, wells, and caves in Calaveras County.

  As forensic examiners sifted through the initial cache, Shermantine wrote a letter to reporter Scott Smith with the location of Chevy Wheeler’s remains. Smith, Thomas Testa, the San Joaquin Sherriff’s Deparment, and most of the public familiar with the case, were surprised to learn she was buried on the property of the old Shermantine home near Linden.

  Chevy Wheeler’s family was not surprised.

  Shermantine was adamant that no one in his family knew the remains of Chevy Wheeler were just feet away from where they held many backyard barbeques. Based on what was known about the reputation of the Shermantine parents, many in the county found it difficult to believe that neither parent knew about the backyard graveyard.

  Many also believed, one or both, of the parents helped Wesley dispose of the body.

  A forensic team was quickly dispatched to the former Shemantine family home, and within hours, skeletal remains were excavated from the ground. A DNA test revealed that the remains were those of Chevy Wheeler.

  Despite the widespread belief that the Shermantine parents knew about the murder and possibly helped their son cover up the crime, there was nothing that could be done about it, since both parents were deceased.

  The discovery did, however, bring closure to the Wheeler family who were finally able to give Chevy a proper burial.

  Shortly after sending the authorities to Chevy Wheeler’s burial site, Shermantine guided the authorities to Cyndi Vanderheiden’s makeshift tomb in a mine shaft in Calaveras County.

  Believing that he had fulfilled his part of the bargain, Shermantine requested full payment of the $33,000 he thought Leonard Padilla owed him.

  Since 2012, according to a letter he sent to a Sacramento reporter, Shermantine claimed that Padilla only paid him part of the amount.

  “I’m wondering what happened to that account Leonard Padilla told my ex-wife Sherrie he had 33 thousand in it for me. The two thousand was just the start, but as of now I’m doubting Leonard Padilla’s word. When in fact I heard from Scott Smith that Leonard only wrote that check for the cameras. Just so were [sic] real clear as of today I’ve not received a dime. I have other inmates writing me wanting to know if I got any money. For they know where victims are as well. I’m just telling them the truth no don’t do it. It’s funny last three times I’ve try [sic] to call Leonard no one takes my call. I know if he’s not in the office, it rings over to his cell phone.”

  It is not certain what Shermantine meant by other inmates who “know where victims are as well.” More than likely, it is just another tactic he is using to confuse and obfuscate the situation in order to keep the “game” going. It may also be that he told a number of other inmates about his dump sites for some reason—possibly as “insurance” or maybe bragging out of boredom. He was also no doubt, trying to mitigate his guilt In his true sociopathic fashion. Shermantine wrote about how Padilla’s supposed non-payment has made him a victim.

  “I have #10,000 restitution fine when I first got to prison they took 20% of any money sent to me. They raised it to 55% so I only get $45 out of ever [sic] hundred, so I said piss on this. I stopped having money sent to me.”

  Poor Wesley Shermantine.

  Perhaps feeling that his time in the limelight was fading, he sent a final letter to the reporter complaining about his treatment at the prison guards’ hands, and the fact that he had not been paid by Padilla.

  “While I was in the yard they were searching my cell look [sic] for maps etc. All my mail is taking months to reach me. No I’ve received no money Leonard, in fact I was told that was a media stunt he pulled once you left he tore up the check. Right now the prison in is not allowing me to order same item [sic] as other prisoners. They are denying me even my religious rights.”

  Shermantine was referring to a press c
onference where Leonard Padilla produced a check made out to him, payable once the gravesites were located. In the five years since his letter was written, there has been very little about the Speed Freak Killers case in the media, but Shemantine has been clear in his letters that he will not reveal all of the caches until he has been fully paid.

  “I just got off the phone with Leonard, he said my check was returned to him by the prison. He said he tried J-paying me $200.00 but I’ve not received that either. I really want to believe in Leonard but I have these doubts he’ll come through, which is a shame because I’ve been hold the best for last.”

  Any doubts that anyone may have had concerning whether or not Shermantine is a true sociopath are surely dashed over his reference to murder victims’ burials as “the best for last.” Clearly, Shermantine played games with people’s lives when he was on the streets killing, and he continues to taunt behind bars. Over the course of Shermantine’s back-and-forth with Leonard Padilla and the media, many have wondered just how many victims the Speed Freak Killers claimed in total.

  The claim of over 100 by the inmate who served time with Herzog is probably too high, but not totally outside of the realm of possibility. Herzog himself, claimed that Shermantine killed around twenty people; but Herzog constantly downplayed his own role in the murders. He therefore, may have been making the true number lower than it really is.

  Robert Dick believes that the number is probably in between; somewhere around seventy.

  “Looking at all the missing cases in that timeframe and the area that they lived and traveled, it’s kind of scary on the numbers,” said Dick.

  Chapter 8:

  The End of the Road

  Many serial killer cases end soon after a killer is sent to prison. Some, such as Ted Bundy, are executed years after they are sentenced, while others such as Jeffrey Dahmer are sent to an early grave by other inmates. Still other serial killers are ignominiously forgotten after being sent to prison. Although many of these killers have been immortalized in various media outlets, the impact they exert on society from prison is minimal compared to the impact they had when they were on the streets.