Roberta Ray 'Robin' Armtrout, a 24-year-old woman, was murdered on September 8, 1985, in Linden, San Joaquin County, California. Her body was discovered in Potter's Creek, just outside Linden, days after she had gone missing. Armtrout was last seen getting into a red truck with two men near her mother's home in Stockton. One of the men was described as tall and thin.
Nearly 14 years later, Linden resident Loren Herzog, known as 'Slim,' informed authorities that Wesley Howard Shermantine owned that truck and was responsible for Armtrout's murder. However, Herzog provided only vague details about the crime.
A forensic pathologist later testified that Armtrout had been raped, stabbed 46 times, and disposed of face down. Her body bore signs of a violent death, including obscenities carved into her lower abdomen and wrist. These markings ultimately helped her family identify her remains. Despite the brutality of the crime, authorities lacked independent evidence to directly link Shermantine to Armtrout's murder, leading them to charge Herzog alone. Prosecutors described the killing as a hate crime and an act of 'overkill' motivated by a desire to kill for the thrill.
Herzog, who had grown up with Shermantine, was charged with multiple murders spanning a 14-year period. He was also accused of killing Clements resident Cyndi Vanderheiden in 1998, Lathrop resident Howard King, Stockton drifter Paul Cavanaugh in 1984, and Santa Clara man Henry Howell in 1984. King and Cavanaugh were found shot to death off Highway 4 west of Stockton, while Howell was discovered shot to death in Hope Valley. Vanderheiden, whose body was never recovered, had accompanied Shermantine and Herzog to a cemetery to take drugs before being killed by Shermantine on Waverly Road.
In February, a Santa Clara jury convicted Shermantine of murdering Vanderheiden, King, and Cavanaugh, as well as the 1985 murder of Stockton teenager Chevelle 'Chevy' Wheeler. He was sentenced to death in May. If convicted of multiple murders, Herzog also faced the possibility of a death sentence. During videotaped interviews, Herzog admitted to being present at some of the crimes but insisted that Shermantine had committed each murder. His attorney argued that Herzog did not even know for certain whether Shermantine had killed Armtrout. The case remains a painful mystery for Armtrout's family, who continue to seek justice for her brutal murder.
