'Speed Freak' killer leads cops to bodies

"Speed Freak" Killers victims California police say they've discovered the remains of two women believed to be the victims of the so-called "Speed Freak" killings in the 1980s and 1990s. Wesley Shermantine, currently on death row for four murders, offered five years ago to give the location of some 10 to 20 bodies he said he and Loren Herzog dumped at an abandoned well near Linden, Calif., in exchange for $33,000, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
The money would go toward paying of the remainder of his restitution order, buying headstones for his parents' graves and providing comforts for his cell, he said.
Shermantine's offer was ignored until Sacramento bounty hunter Leonard Padilla stepped forward and paid to hear the information. After Padilla told Herzog about the release of information two months ago, Herzog, who was out of jail on parole, hanged himself, the Times said.
Sheriff's deputies from Calaveras and San Joaquin counties began the search last week and discovered skull fragments, bones and teeth with the use of cadaver-sniffing dogs.
One set of remains found Thursday is believed to be Cyndi Vanderheiden of Clements, Calif., who went missing 14 years ago. The other remains are thought to belong to Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler, 16, missing from Stockton, Calif., since 1985, authorities said.
As many as 20 women are believed to have been victims of Shermantine and Herzog, who went on a killing spree over a 15-year period in the 1980s and 1990s in California's Central Valley, the newspaper said.