Wesley Howard Shermantine

Serial Killer

Wesley Howard Shermantine and the Speed Freak Killers

Background

Wesley Howard Shermantine Jr. was born on February 24, 1966, and grew up in Linden, a small agricultural community east of Stockton in San Joaquin County, California. He became closely associated with childhood friend Loren Joseph Herzog. The two men later became known as the "Speed Freak Killers," a name referring to their heavy use of methamphetamine during the years in which their crimes occurred. Shermantine and Herzog knew the rural landscape surrounding Linden, Stockton, San Andreas and other parts of Northern California exceptionally well. They hunted, fished and traveled through isolated farmland, mountain roads, abandoned properties and former mining areas. Investigators later believed that this familiarity allowed them to select secluded places where victims could be attacked and where bodies or evidence could be concealed. The full extent of Shermantine's crimes remains unknown. He was convicted of four murders, but investigators have examined his possible connection to numerous additional disappearances and killings. Shermantine has made shifting and sometimes sensational claims about the number of victims, at one point suggesting that dozens of people had been killed. Many of those claims have never been independently verified, and authorities have cautioned that the actual victim count cannot be established from Shermantine's statements alone.

The Murders of Howard King and Paul Cavanaugh

On November 27, 1984, Howard Michael King III and Paul Raymond Cavanaugh were together in a Pontiac parked on Roberts Island, southwest of Stockton. Both men were shot at close range. Their bodies were discovered inside or near the vehicle in the isolated rural area. Investigators documented tire impressions and other evidence surrounding the crime scene. The prosecution later connected the killings to Shermantine and Herzog. Testimony attributed to Herzog described the two men approaching the parked car with shotguns before King and Cavanaugh were killed. Shermantine was ultimately convicted of murdering both men during a robbery.

• Howard Michael King III: Age 35. Killed on November 27, 1984, on Roberts Island in San Joaquin County, California. He was found shot in or near a parked Pontiac.
• Paul Raymond Cavanaugh: Age 31. Killed on November 27, 1984, on Roberts Island in San Joaquin County, California. He was also found shot at the rural crime scene.

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Confirmed Victims: (8)

Howard King Age: (35), Date of Death: 1984-11-27

Suspected Victims:

Ruth Ann Leamon Age: (16), Date of Death: 1982-08-16

Susan Robin Bender Age: (15), Date of Death: 1986-04-25

Sylvia Lourdes Standly Age: (30), Date of Death: 1986-06-04

Speed Freak Killers: Wesley Shermantine