Loren Herzog

Case record

People

• Loren Herzog — convicted multiple killer; pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the 1998 killing of Cyndi Vanderheiden; also pleaded guilty to minor charges connected to three other deaths; provided methamphetamine to Vanderheiden.
• Cyndi Vanderheiden — victim; body was never found; disappeared in 1998; she was 25 years old.
• Wesley Shermantine Jr. — longtime friend of Herzog; convicted in 2001 of four murders; sent to death row; declined a deal offered in connection with Herzog’s case; wrote letters from death row.
• Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler — victim; body was never found.
• Hannah Zaccaglini — listed among California disappearances in connection with Shermantine.
• Karen Knechtel Mero — listed among California disappearances in connection with Shermantine.
• Joann Hobson — victim; 16-year-old daughter of Joan Shelley; disappeared 19 years ago; her body was never found.
• Joan Shelley — mother of Joann Hobson.
• John Vanderheiden — victim’s father (Cyndi Vanderheiden); made statements in court.
• Teri Vanderheiden — victim’s mother (Cyndi Vanderheiden).
• Peter Fox — defense attorney for Herzog.
• Thomas Testa — Deputy District Attorney; prosecuted Herzog’s case in 2001.
• John Phillips — San Joaquin County District Attorney.
• Baxter Dunn — San Joaquin County Sheriff.
• F. Clark Sueyres — judge who accepted Herzog’s guilty pleas and ordered restitution.
• Judge F. Clark Sueyres — ordered $50,000 in restitution.
• Jerry Herzog — Herzog’s father.
• Lorie Stoker — Herzog’s sister; spoke on behalf of the family.
• Herzog’s wife, along with Herzog’s mother and father — attended the hearing.
• Wesley Howard Shermantine — named in entries discussing offers related to bodies and testimony.

Background

Loren Herzog was a convicted multiple killer. His case included the murders of:

• Cyndi Vanderheiden (killed in 1998; body never found).
• Paul Cavanaugh (murder; 1984).
• Howard King III (murder; 1984). Herzog was also convicted of being an accessory to the 1984 murder of Henry Howell, 45, of Santa Clara.

The appellate proceedings focused on whether Herzog’s admissions were coerced during police interrogations.

The offence

Herzog was convicted in 2001 of first-degree murder in three killings:

• Cyndi Vanderheiden.
• Paul Cavanaugh.
• Howard King III.

Herzog later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the 1998 killing of Cyndi Vanderheiden. He also pleaded guilty to minor charges connected to three other deaths, and to providing methamphetamine to Vanderheiden.

During the later proceedings, Herzog admitted he was present at Cyndi Vanderheiden’s murder and heard, from inside a car nearby, the sound of a knife opening and the sound of Shermantine killing the 25-year-old Clements woman (Cyndi Vanderheiden). Herzog stated:

"Legal responsibility is not the same as moral responsibility," Herzog said.
"Cyndi Vanderheiden called Mr. Herzog a good friend. I am certain that, instinctively, she counted on him to guarantee her own safety. "
"But all we can do in court is carry out the law."

Herzog also stated at the time of his plea:

"I wish this never would have happened, and I'm sorry it did."

Investigation

A state appellate court overturned Herzog’s three murder convictions and much of the evidence against him. The court ruled that several police interrogations of Herzog were coercive. The decision addressed interrogation circumstances including that Herzog was physically exhausted, deprived of food, threatened over the course of several days of interviews, and that detectives ignored attempts to invoke the right to remain silent.

The appellate court ruled that the coerced-confession issue applied to Herzog’s confessions in the Cavanaugh and King killings, which took place in 1984. The court did not rule that Herzog’s confession in the Vanderheiden slaying, which took place in 1998, was coerced.

Arrest

Herzog was in custody at Calipatria State Prison in Southern California and was transferred to Duel Vocational Institution in Tracy for an appearance in San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Trial

In 2001, a Santa Clara County jury convicted Herzog of:

• three counts of first-degree murder,
• and he was sentenced to 78 years in prison.

Herzog’s trial included that defense attorneys claimed Herzog was a bystander to the violent deeds of his childhood friend, Wesley Shermantine, who was sent to death row for murders including those of:

• Cyndi Vanderheiden,
• Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler, and other victims discussed in relation to Shermantine’s cases.

In the appellate posture, a retrial was ordered limited to the murder of Vanderheiden.

A hearing was scheduled so Judge F. Clark Sueyres could rule on whether to keep the Herzog trial in Santa Clara County (where it was held in 2001) or to bring it back to Stockton. Testa said Sueyres was prepared to rule to keep the case in Santa Clara.

The appellate court overturned convictions on Aug. 18, and the appellate decision ordered a retrial for Herzog in the murder of Vanderheiden.

During the later plea proceedings, Judge Sueyres accepted Herzog’s guilty pleas after explaining that mere presence at a crime does not amount to aiding and abetting. The quoted explanation appears as the described reasoning:

"Obviously, this case turns on what Mr. Herzog had in mind on that night that Cyndi Vanderheiden was killed," Sueyres said after he explained that mere presence at a crime does not amount to aiding and abetting.

Sueyres was pensive about the deal and asked Testa to explain the legal reasoning behind offering it.

Sentencing

Herzog’s plea agreement resulted in immediate sentencing:

• Herzog was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
• He was to be given credit for time already served, about three years in the County Jail and another three in state prison.
• Sueyres ordered Herzog to pay $50,000 in restitution to the Vanderheiden family to ensure "that Mr. Herzog never profit from any story he may have to tell about the unfortunate events of Nov. 13 and 14," Sueyres said.

Herzog previously had been sentenced to 78 years in prison after his 2001 convictions.

The appellate outcome included that Herzog could not get the death penalty in the second trial because he had been sentenced to 78 years to life in prison in the first trial.

Appeals

A state appellate court (6th District Court of Appeals) overturned Herzog’s three murder convictions on Aug. 18 and ordered a new trial. The decision ruled that detectives used coercive tactics to get admissions leading to two of Herzog’s three guilty verdicts. The appellate court decision included that Herzog’s retrial could be limited to Vanderheiden’s killing since the Vanderheiden confession was still admissible.

The decision was final if the San Joaquin County District Attorney did not appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Judge Sueyres and parties referenced the decision as damaging the prosecutors’ case and precluding use of much of the evidence argued in the first trial.

Outcome

Herzog accepted a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the 1998 killing of Cyndi Vanderheiden, ending the case that had spanned six years.

A plea bargain was also offered in connection with Wesley Shermantine Jr. On Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa said that Shermantine declined a deal that would have taken Shermantine off death row in return for testimony and help in the Herzog case. The described deal was:

• immunity from crimes of his discovered in the future,
• in exchange for testifying against Herzog and leading investigators to Cyndi Vanderheiden’s body.

Testa said Shermantine declined the deal late Friday, saying he feared for his safety in prison if he became a snitch.

Regarding bodies:

• Cyndi Vanderheiden’s body had never been found.
• The bodies of Joanne Hobson and Cyndi Vanderheiden had never been found.
• At least one alleged victim and Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler’s body had not been found.
• One section states: “The bodies of Joanne Hobson and Cnydi Vanderheiden have never been found.”
• Another section states: “Cyndi Vanderheiden's body and those of another of Shermantine's victims, Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler, and at least one alleged victim have not been found.”

Herzog’s defense attorney Peter Fox said Herzog did not know where the bodies are, stating:

"I don't believe there's more than one person who knows the answer to that question," Fox said, alluding to Shermantine.

The family expressed mixed reactions:

• John Vanderheiden said the sentence was “very cheap for a person's life” and stated:

• John Vanderheiden praised the Santa Clara jury and stated he believed the district attorney should have taken the appellate decision to the state Supreme Court, and said in court:

• Lorie Stoker called the plea agreement a compromise and said:

• Peter Fox said the deal was “bittersweet” for both sides:

"It's a difficult thing to plead to a long prison sentence," Fox said, calling the deal "bittersweet for both sides."

"When you have to plead guilty to something you did not do -- as Loren did -- it is difficult on him, and it's difficult on the family," Stoker said.
adding that the important thing is that "Loren's coming home to us."

"I think now that Loren has admitted to killing my daughter, ... he should now tell where the bodies are -- so we can lay this to rest," John Vanderheiden said in court.

"Only 14 years -- it seems like it's very cheap for a person's life," John Vanderheiden said.
"At least he's off the streets for at least another eight years. We can live with it -- for the time being."

Shermantine made offers related to bodies:

• In an entry dated March 5, 2001, it said convicted killer Wes Shermantine would reveal the location of the bodies of four victims, two for which he was convicted, and two more, if his two young sons received $20,000 in reward money.
• It said authorities offered to drop the death penalty for two bodies, but Shermantine asked for cash instead.
• It said the victims’ families were willing to consider the death penalty deal but were against paying for the bodies, and they wanted to help other families locate their missing loved ones.
• The entry also said police believe Shermantine may be responsible for up to 22 more slayings.

Another entry, dated February 3, 2001, said a Santa Clara County jury asked for rereading of testimony given by Shermantine’s mother-in-law, who said she heard Shermantine confess he saw the bodies of two men he is accused of killing. It said Shermantine faced first-degree murder charges in 1984 shotgun killings of Howard King, 35, and Paul Cavanaugh, 31, found dead on Daggett Road off Highway 4. It added prosecutors theorized he killed the pair as part of his search for “the ultimate kill.”

Other details

Herzog was described as 38 during the appellate proceedings. The plea deal was discussed as potentially freeing Herzog from prison before his 46th birthday, in fewer than eight years.

Baxter Dunn said he disagreed with the appellate court findings and said detectives’ videotapes would have led to a different decision. Dunn stated:

"I do disagree with the findings of the Court of Appeal," Dunn said Wednesday.
He said the appellate court reviewed transcripts of the interrogations but should have been able to watch the videotapes, in which, he said, inflection of the detectives' voices and Herzog's appearance tell a different story.
"I do believe they would certainly have come to a different decision."

Testa described concerns about Herzog potentially being released while awaiting retrial, and later said:

“Mr. Herzog might be able to pull the wool over the eyes of the jury,” Testa told Judge F. Clark Sueyres, explaining why he had offered the plea deal. Testa also said: "I did not want Loren Herzog on the street, which could have happened by the end of January had we gone to trial."

Regarding jurisdiction and timing, Testa said Herzog’s arraignment and related matters were delayed because the county did not yet have jurisdiction in the case. One discussion said remittitur would issue 60 days after the appellate court ruling, and that San Joaquin County would not have jurisdiction in the Herzog case until after Oct. 17.

Herzog’s father, Jerry Herzog, stated:

"I think the appellate court renewed my faith in the whole system," Jerry Herzog said.
"I'm his dad, and I'm proud of it."

A statement from Testa described a feared pattern in Herzog’s relationship with Shermantine:

He hoped to establish a pattern: that when the two were together, using drugs and raping women was the norm.
Testa later said after the hearing on Wednesday: "They're birds of a feather," Testa said after the hearing on Wednesday. "They're 50-50, not 90-10 or 70-30."

The record also included that Shermantine had been offered immunity from crimes discovered in the future, in exchange for testimony and locating Cyndi Vanderheiden’s body.

Timeline

• 1998 — Cyndi Vanderheiden was killed; Herzog was later convicted for her murder and later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in her 1998 killing.
• 1984 — Paul Cavanaugh and Howard King III were killed (with confessions addressed as coerced for Cavanaugh and King in appellate rulings); the convictions were later overturned.
• 2001 — Herzog was convicted by a Santa Clara County jury of three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to 78 years; Shermantine was convicted and sentenced to death.
• February 3, 2001 — A Santa Clara County jury asked for rereading of testimony from Shermantine’s mother-in-law about Shermantine confessing he saw bodies of two accused men; the entry discussed the 1984 shotgun killings on Daggett Road off Highway 4.
• March 5, 2001 — It was stated Shermantine would reveal locations of bodies of four victims if his two young sons received $20,000 in reward money; authorities offered to drop the death penalty for two bodies; Shermantine asked for cash.
• August 18, 2004 — The 6th District Court of Appeals ruled that certain Herzog interrogations were coercive and overturned Herzog’s three murder convictions, ordering a retrial; the decision addressed confessions in Cavanaugh and King killings as coerced and stated Vanderheiden confession was not ruled coerced.
• August 28, 2004 — A report described the appellate decision and its effects on convictions and retrial scope.
• October 7, 2004 — Herzog’s arraignment was scheduled but delayed; discussion included that Shermantine sent letters from death row.
• October 18, 2004 — Herzog was scheduled to be arraigned on a single murder charge in the death of Vanderheiden.
• Nov. 13 and 14 — The restitution order referenced “the unfortunate events of Nov. 13 and 14.”
• November 25, 2004 — Herzog accepted a plea bargain, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to 14 years with restitution ordered.