Original subtitles

Those are all questions for her.

- You got it? - That's why we held it.

No. Yeah.

For years, "the lady in the fridge,"...

investigating and exhausting all leads.

This case went cold.

- Hello. - How you doing?

- Good. How are you? - Good.

You kept begging for me to get you on camera.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I love this stuff.

- Cannot get enough, sir. - This is why you became a cop.

Oh, absolutely.

Game five. You're still down

the offset.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you again for coming.

Seems like we're getting together a lot lately.

Today is, uh...

is a good occasion for us, um,

but it's still a sad occasion.

It is with

a tempered heart that I get to announce

that we have identified a young woman

that was found 27 years ago murdered in our county,

who was found in a refrigerator.

And we've identified her through modern technology.

And I'd just like to take this time right now to...

To give her her name back, to give her her story back.

And her name is Amanda.

Thank you, Sheriff.

For years, this case has been referred to

as "The Lady in the Fridge."

For years of investigating

and exhausting all leads, this case went cold.

Amanda is a daughter. She's a sister.

She's a mother. She's a friend.

And there's many of you out there who know

and have information about her life.

This information would help

to determine who took Amanda's life.

Do you have any idea how she was killed?

At this time, we know through the autopsy

and examination that there was some blunt force trauma.

I'm sorry, how old was she?

30 years old.

...E-M-E-Z. The sergeant at the time.

- Okay, okay. - Developed...

Yeah, they already linked it to our page.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, and there we go, connected to the Speed Freak Killers.

Identifying Amanda Schumann Deza is huge.

We've been able to talk to the family

and tell them how we found her.

However, we still need to solve the case.

She could have been a potential victim of Shermantine

and Herzog due to her physical characteristics

and due to the location the refrigerator was found.

- Brenda? - Yep.

- Okay, perfect. - That's me.

We weren't sure. I'm Deputy Sterni.

The very last contact I had with Mandy

- was in the early '90s. - Okay.

That's when there was a lot dealing

with her children, and that-- Mandy was...

the direction of drugs since she was about 13, 14.

So, I'm trying to figure out the--

the time gap between probably

the last time you or your mother had heard from her...

- Yeah, that would be-- - ...between when we found her.

How many-- How much time do you think that took?

That would be two or three years.

Okay, so it had been that long even for your mother

- to have talked to her. - Yeah. Right.

We're trying to figure out kind of where she was...

- Yeah. - ...in late or mid-'94

- and where-- - Exactly.

Who we could talk to

to lead us in the right direction on that.

Oh, you don't know how much I wish I could...

- I know, I know. - ...find--

Give something about it.

And that's our goal, but if you don't know,

we're gonna find out eventually.

- Oh, I-- Much too quickly. - So don't feel bad about that.

We're gonna find out, but we're just trying

to get as much information from you as possible.

- It's okay. - Okay.

You know, I don't want too much time wasted

on Mandy when others could probably be solved.

Well, we're cold case, so...

- Yeah, yeah. - ...that's what we do.

Like I said, we have some stuff coming down the pipeline...

That's nice. That's good.

...and hopefully we can get some answers.

Do you have any questions from us?

Um...

Do you enjoy your job?

- Yes. - I do.

Good. And it is rewarding, right?

- Yes. - Yes.

You have some good news for some people, right?

Right.

- Thank you. - Yep.

Hopefully, we can bring you some good news one day.

- You brought us good news. - Yeah.

We know-- we know where she is.

That's her. Isn't she pretty?

Yeah, and they just found it at-- How long did it take?

It took DNA and genealogy 30 years to be able to find you.

- 30 years. - So that they can tell you.

For them to find me. Can you beat that?

No, I can't see.

My mother and I fought over Mandy a lot.

We have extreme differences

in how you should raise children.

Mandy was extremely spoiled by me.

She was very philosophic.

She was deep.

She'd be someone who'd follow Tolstoy

and things like that and really get into it, and really--

She would have been great in college.

She was a gentle soul, but that was a child.

As I was able to get closer to her later,

she was a lost soul.

She was a young girl with three kids

mixed up in drugs.

If we had just had a little more contact with her,

to have sooner given the detectives

the opportunity to follow a trail.

And that trail could have

brought justice somehow, because it's--

I'm sure she's not the only one from this evil person.

I'm sure she's not.

While victims' relatives cry in court,

Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine listen

to the charges against them.

Prosecutors say Herzog and Shermantine both murdered

Cyndi Vanderheiden, whose body still hasn't been found.

I attended the trial each and every day,

along with my parents.

It's like waking up and going to a job you hate

because you have to sit through testimony after testimony.

Prosecutors say Herzog also committed

four other murders back in the '80s,

a double murder in November of '84,

Paul Cavanaugh and Howard King.

Another in September of '85, Robin Armtrout.

And yet another, Henry Howell, in September of '84.

In addition to the Vanderheiden case, Shermantine is charged

with Chevelle Wheeler's murder in '85.

The original evidence that was located

in the Chevy Wheeler investigation

was some blood evidence that, in 1985,

could only be tested for blood typing.

However, in 1999, they were able to do DNA testing

on the evidence and link it back to Chevy Wheeler.

He would sit there

in court and look at us like,

"I didn't do this."

And I told him flat out, I said,

"You murdered my daughter, and I'm not gonna forget it."

The murder was committed during

the commission of the kidnapping

and in the commission of rape.

The hardest thing to hear is how she was killed.

I didn't want to believe that somebody killed my baby.

They killed me too.

How can they do that?

We wanna bring these girls home

and put 'em to rest.

And all those other ones that are out there, obviously,

you know, today we found out

there's probably more than those two.

With Shermantine and Herzog, we look at the known killings,

and there's this large gap from 1985 to 1998.

That break seems irregular.

You know, you would think that somebody,

if they were involved in all these homicides earlier

in their life, I don't see how you can just

let it go or stop it.

Due to the large gap,

and then because you have Wesley saying there's more victims,

there are families

that believe their missing loved one who went missing

in that same time frame are potential Shermantine victims.

And there's just so many...

points throughout the years that those families really feel

like they've been done an injustice,

specifically by the sheriff's office,

to add to the pain of losing their loved ones.

With my dad,

it was his kids first, always.

You know, my daughters first.

He didn't eat anything until we were all done,

in case there wasn't enough.

And I always thought he was funny.

You know, super kind.

He was a magnet for little kids and old people.

So, you know, I think--

I think that says a lot about people that

those groups are drawn to.

So the last day that Phillip Martin was seen

was on September 30th in '93.

Based off the pictures that we have, it looks like

that area right over there is where the car was found burned.

But there was no indication of, like, any type of crime scene,

as far as, like, blood, body or, like, any type of struggle.

It's like one day he's here, and then

the next day, like, no one knows anything.

When we got confirmation that his car,

he lived in his car at the time,

was burned out, there was just like, "Okay,

something's wrong."

I called the sheriffs,

and this detective came out.

And he's like-- He was just such a jerk.

He's like, "Well, you know, he's a grown man,

he's an alcoholic, he's homeless.

You know, he probably just went to Mexico, or,

you know, he probably just skipped town."

I couldn't get anybody to pay any attention for years.

Prosecutors say Wesley Shermantine

murdered Chevelle Wheeler.

Then, when Wes Shermantine

and Loren Herzog got popped for their shenanigans,

I believe it was the DA called me at work

and said, "Hey, can you come and look at a photo lineup?"

And I took my sister Justine with me.

And we're kind of flipping through them,

and she goes, "I recognize that guy."

And we flip a little more,

and she goes, "Well, I recognize that guy."

And it happened to be Wes and Loren.

My dad was in construction, a framer,

and I guess they did concrete work.

But she saw him, you know, all the crews were sitting

in the shade having lunch, and they were there.

First is the trial date for one of the two men

accused in the disappearance of...

The only thing he said was, you know,

"Okay, it's interesting.

We just arrested these two, you know, that you saw that.

And thank you. Have a nice day."

And then we didn't hear from anybody again.

He was just a throwaway person.

You know, not, you know, a very attractive co-ed,

not, you know, some politician or some rich person.

You know, he was a guy who lived in his car, so, eh.

Like, well, you know, unfortunately for you guys,

I'm gonna be a thorn in your side

because he meant something to me

and to my sisters and to my nieces and my son.

So, pardon my language, but fuck off. Look for him.

I think part of my job as sheriff coming in here is to

atone to the families.

I've asked our cold case team to continue

to work with the families, answer their questions,

show them what they want to see, do whatever we can

to help ease their burden in any way.

It's our responsibility.

Can we post that Phillip Martin flyer?

- You sure can. - Okay.

People are liking it.

- Oh, they are liking it already? - Yes. Mm-hmm.

The Phillip Martin case, it's definitely one

where the family is very much involved.

Phillip Martin, having direct communication

with the family allows us

to obtain more information to work the investigation.

He went missing.

There could have been just an accident, um...

something could have happened.

However, with finding his car burned at a remote location is

more likely that there was some sort of foul play.

There were statements that he knew them,

especially Shermantine.

So we're just gonna keep an open mind

and just keep plugging away

at trying to figure out what happened to him.

He would never give up on me if, you know,

anything were to happen to me.

And so, I feel like I cannot give up on him.

I need to find him and bring him home. He deserves...

He deserves that.

Wesley Shermantine Jr. was convicted

of several killings

that took place in San Joaquin County.

The jury convicted Wesley Shermantine Jr.

of murdering four people over a 15-year period.

Guilty of four counts of first-degree murder.

I was confident that they would come back

with a guilty verdict.

Jury members said the fact the bodies were never found

did cause some difficulty in assessing the evidence.

It's not a decision that any of us feel comfortable with,

but it was the just decision for these cases.

Now we have another what-if.

Okay, is he gonna tell us where she's at now?

The prosecutor dropped a legal bombshell

after the verdicts were announced.

The DA's office said it will offer Shermantine

and his attorneys a deal.

The DA will not seek the death penalty

if Shermantine will lead authorities to the bodies.

You'd think that Mr. Shermantine

may have the motivation now

to come forward and take us to where those bodies are.

Not until my daughter's brought back home

will I have the full closure.

He can only die once,

so he should be able to come forward and tell us.

Shermantine says he...

Shermantine was almost taunting the families

through the media.

He wanted to make money off of this,

and he said that he would only tell where the remains were

if he was paid.

Shermantine felt that he deserved the reward money

for giving us the location of Cyndi.

It made us so angry.

There was no way in heck we were going to give him a dime.

I just can't believe

that anybody would have enough nerve to ask for

what I consider blood money.

He's scum. He's scum. He's worse than scum.

There is no words that can explain what your body

and your heart go through to wait

to find the remains of somebody that you are missing.

Vanderheiden's family and friends continue

to run a 24-hour hotline,

hoping to help investigators come up with leads in the case.

Initially, the whole community came together,

all the neighbors and family, and all that.

And then, like what happens

with most missing persons' cases,

you know, eventually everybody goes home.

There was not one ounce of me that wanted to stop.

You have to just keep that faith that she's out there somewhere.

So, if you look at that tree, see...

Rob Dick is a bounty hunter

that came aboard to help us in the searches.

He was such an advocate and pushed and pushed.

I just went down there to volunteer and then

became friends with John and Kim and Terry,

and I just couldn't get over,

you know, the hurt of not knowing

where their loved one was.

I promised John that I'd find his daughter.

The area of focus is the property

owned by Wes Shermantine's parents in Calaveras County.

But we'd go out there and check every places,

down in wells, down in mine shafts.

Everywhere.

I was just so obsessed with this case.

To me, there was a bigger picture.

Five possible homicides in the mid-'80s,

and then fast-forward all the way to Cyndi in '98,

because at this point now, you know,

we're pretty sure that she's not alive anymore.

What happened between '85 and '98?

You know, serial killers don't stop and have breaks.

You know, they just get bigger,

bolder, their numbers get bigger.

Usually, the only thing that'll stop a serial killer

is death or incarceration.

Convicted serial killer Wesley Shermantine was

in the Santa Clara County court today

to find out if he would be sentenced to death.

Wesley Shermantine had been found guilty,

and they were giving him his sentencing

that day up in court.

So I decided, "I'm gonna go."

Before they even got to the sentences,

I stood up and asked the judge,

I said, "Can I speak to Wesley Shermantine?"

And he said, "Who are you?"

I told him, "I'm Joan Shelley, and I'm Joann Hobson's mother."

Wesley had taken the microphone

to speak to the victims' families.

And he said, "Miss Shelley, I don't know who you are,

but I knew your daughter, Joann,

and she had a date that night with Loren Herzog,

and he killed her."

I about fell off the bench.

I was just gasping for breath.

I finally knew what had happened to my child, you know,

it was no more thinking, oh, she's gonna walk up

on the doorstep, 'cause she's not.

Tall. Sandy blond hair, muscles.

Exactly what she told me.

The jury ended more than

two weeks of deliberations today,

and recommended the ultimate penalty

for a convicted serial murderer.

We, the jury in the above entitled cause,

find the punishment at death

with the defendant, Wesley Howard Shermantine Jr...

Plain and simple death.

And there's no person on earth

that deserves it more than Wes Shermantine.

He deserves to die. I think that he should

be killed, though, the way he killed his victims.

And I think it's wrong. He has to wait 10 to 20 years.

But I'm willing to wait, 'cause someone out there knows,

and we'll get her body back.

Herzog was also convicted,

but then didn't get the death penalty.

Why can't he just tell me where my baby is?

He took so much away from us.

Vanderheiden's mother, Teri, posed the question

to Herzog, who did not speak in court as

the judge sentenced him to 78 years in prison.

We experienced it as a relief.

We don't have a penalty phase.

You're not going to face the death penalty.

Later, as spectators left the courtroom,

the mother of a murdered woman yelled at him.

If he was let out of prison,

he was going to kill again and again and again

until he got caught.

I told Loren, we're going to be back.

We're going to do this again someday.

So you be strong, don't talk to anyone,

and your case is going to get reversed.

We're cold case investigators,

and we're investigating a case from 95.

Have you ever seen this girl around the Oakley

or the Bethel island area?

She went by the name Amanda, or maybe Mandy.

The first hurdle was identifying who the lady in the fridge was.

And having done that, we began investigating the areas

that she was known to frequent.

We were told that she was possibly living in

the Bethel island area at the time.

We're investigating a 1995 cold case homicide.

The victim might have been at this trailer park.

Amanda's case has been 30 years, and we need the public's help.

If we can put her name out there,

we can put a picture out there. You know,

maybe we'll get that one lead we didn't know about.

To be able to go door to door, making contact with anybody

who would have been in potential contact with her,

is just old-fashioned police work.

And that's where it starts.

You mind if we come in?

We were told you kind of know a lot of people around her.

- Yes. - You ever seen her?

No, I don't think so. It looks familiar to

one lady I used to know, but I don't think it's her.

Have you heard of any stories, or people talking about a female

being put in a refrigerator or anything like that?

No, never heard that one.

I pastored 25 years pver on the island.

That time period was sort of...

The island was sort of a bad place.

They used to call it Meth Island.

And so we had one church on the island at that time,

and about six bars.

I've got videos of all the families that

we've had funerals for, about 50 of them.

- Okay. - And so I got pictures

of different families that might be helpful.

For me, the ultimate goal is to find who's responsible.

That's what I'm working for.

With the time frame and the location where she was found

could potentially be Herzog and Shermantine.

Anything's possible with the Shermantine Herzog case.

But at the same time, it can lead you to so many

different rabbit holes.

Because one day you're reading a letter that says this,

and then the next day you're reading something

completely conflicting.

So what do you have to corroborate it?

This is a collection of letters

written by Wesley Shermantine from prison.

And they're to various different people.

One of them is, like, a news reporter.

Another is to his sister.

You have what might have been the truth.

When he said two, three or four other people.

"There were four in that well.

"The two I buried for him,

"and the one he left off of

"Hammer Lane in the orchard."

Versus, you know, when he writes and he talks about 50 bodies,

60 bodies, this massive boneyard.

"Now when we finally get

"one of these other wells open,

"that number is going to go much higher."

What's the truth?

And then keeping in mind that all of the letters

from Shermantine,

He never takes responsibility for any of the crimes.

So all of the information he's given us is supposed to be

secondhand information that he's received from Loren.

You can see this kind of good cop approach

of Herrera here, telling him that

it's going to be beneficial,

it's going to help him, if he talks about other cases.

And this is considered a violation of due process

of law, under the 14th Amendment.

The police, they're not supposed to promise you benefits.

They can't say, we're going to beat you up

if you don't tell us what we want to hear.

They can't say, we'll let you go

if you tell us what we want to hear.

No one said he's going to walk home free

if you tell us your involvement.

It's better for you

if you tell us that he did it all, basically.

Okay, I'm just gonna-- I'm just gonna--

He said, I don't want to go there.

Well, it means he doesn't want to talk about it.

That is, under the law, an invocation

of the right to silence.

That's where the interview should have stopped.

Okay. I'm just gonna...

When he says, don't want to go there, what is that?

What's the interpretation of that?

If he would have said he wanted an attorney,

he doesn't want to talk to us any longer,

we would no longer talk to him.

I believe that he asked for a lawyer,

and that they made sure that I didn't get a tape of it.

That's full of crap.

I'm sorry, but that is.

His physical being.

It seemed to me as if it was deteriorating

as the days went by. And my own theory

is that he was withdrawing

from the use of methamphetamine.

As a public defender, you know, certainly had never had

anybody interrogated for five days before.

They read transcripts of

the trial for the appeals,

and there's no mention of us giving him food or rest.

It was just never entered into the court transcripts.

But if you read our reports,

and you look at the tapes...

You could see that we are

doing everything to make sure he's comfortable,

to make sure that there's no sense of coercion.

He is not back on the street yet,

but a state appeals court has thrown out Loren Herzog's

convictions in the murders of Cindy Vanderheiden

and two others.

The 6th District Court of Appeal ruled that

these were involuntary statements.

So they threw the entire verdict out,

and the district attorney offered a plea bargain.

Manslaughter and a total of 14 years.

And of course, by that time,

he'd been locked up since 1999.

Wesley Shermantine,

with his current status on death row,

you're not going to be able to punish him more than

he already has been punished.

So the goal involving Shermantine cases,

or possible cases I attributed to them,

is ultimately getting loved ones back to victim families,

so that they can have the closure that they deserve.

Philip Martin frequented bars in the Stockton area.

This first bar that we're going to up here.

His daughter Marie told me she even remembers driving him.

He's been missing almost 30 years now.

So we're just hoping maybe

somebody might recognize him.

And maybe they didn't want to

talk back then, and maybe they want to say something now.

He was supposed to show up to pick up his kids from school.

And he was always punctual about it, and then

all of a sudden, he didn't show up.

So here's the Stevens Motel coming up.

There's been shootings there.

Drug activity, like, prostitution.

My dad would sometimes stay at the Stevens Motel.

This was right before he went missing.

And my sister Justine was = a little older and having

trouble with her mom,

so she went and stayed with our dad.

She went out to use the phone one time.

There was a payphone on,

you know, the front of the property.

And she went out there to use it.

And she looked up and she got really creeped out,

because Shermantine was also staying there.

And, um... and just staring at her.

She said she didn't even make her phone call.

She just went in because he was just giving her the eye.

And it's just like, oh, Jesus.

You know, she could have been a victim of his.

You've been around this area for a while?

- Yeah. - Maybe you recognize this guy.

But we're just trying to find some closure for the family.

- I bet. - You know, maybe, we need...

- Citizens' help. - Yeah.

Maybe somebody remembers something.

- Yeah. - They don't want to talk to him.

I swear, his...

His face looks familiar, but, you know, I can't really...

- I mean, that's a long time ago. - Yeah.

Well, maybe hang on to the flyer.

Maybe something might trigger memory later.

Maybe somebody else you know?

- Okay. - And our contact information's

- on there, so... - All right.

Hopefully we get something.

I think going through cold cases, you have to keep

a positive mind that you're gonna...

Leave this case better than the way you found it.

Whatever we can find of him.

I mean, even if it's just his flip flop,

or his cutoff jeans that I'm sure he was wearing,

or his pink tank top,

his favorite outfit.

Just to know that I did everything I could

to find him and bring him home.

And I guess, yeah, it would be closure.

I mean, that's a good enough word.

Cause it never really ends, you know?

Yeah.

Where'd you get that?

That's Aunt Vera's.

That tune.

What's that from, sissy?

That's a religious song.

A form of closure is always important.

And not knowing where someone is

and what happened to them...

It's an emptiness.

And knowing might be painful,

But you can lay the energy to rest

that kept you away from...

Remembering the good.

Mandy had a good voice, just like you.

And she went into playing the guitar

eventually, didn't she?

I would play and she would sing.

Yep.

Way back, she'd sing like a bird.

When you get old, you get...

some things you remember, some things you don't.

And you never know what you're going to

remember or not remember.

So...

My mother has mild cognitive impairment.

See, I can't remember.

Time has gone by, and I can't remember.

Every single day,

I have to answer the question of, where's Mandy now?

When was the last time you saw her?

I couldn't tell you. I can't remember.

- My memory's bad. - You had her in the car.

Do you be honest? Do you not be honest?

How do you protect her?

What mother wants to know that their daughter was gagged

and beaten to death and stuffed in a refrigerator?

Daughter, son, wife, anybody, dog, anybody.

Nobody wants to hear that.

Nobody wants to have to live with that.

Because once you've lived with it,

you don't get it out of your mind.

It's in there.

So in order for my mother

to try and have some closure,

that Mandy is gone.

I told her she was hit by a car.

"O Holy Night."

You can't work that pain through.

Because you can't tell your mother.

You would not want to do that to her.

And there's no one else.

In a fictional TV show

or in a video game,

yf you play the game right,

if you watch the show to the end,

there's a successful prosecution,

a successful body recovery,

and in reality, cold case work

might not have that success.

We have family members that are appreciative

that the case is just still open, and...

we're doing what we can do.

And then we have family members that are very angry with us.

They want to know what happened, and we're the ones that are

supposed to give them answers, and we can't do that.

How many victims could be out there,

as opposed to the few that they were convicted of?

I would think if you were a mother or father

that had a missing loved one,

that, of course you'd be thinking,

is that what happened?

The Internet generated this nickname,

the Speed Freak Killers.

But it's a mistake to lump Wesley Shermantine

and Loren Herzog together.

Loren could only be prosecuted

for murders committed by Wes.

And Wes has a lot more murders that he's committed

that he's never been prosecuted for.

If it weren't for Loren,

Wes might still be free,

because it was Loren's statement that got Wes arrested.

For the victims, their families, and witnesses,

there has been no closure, and in several cases,

the victims themselves have never been recovered.

Our community has not yet been able to heal or come to terms

with the heinous crimes perpetrated by Mr. Herzog.

And it is arguable that it never will.

This is an injustice to San Joaquin County.

It's an injustice to the state of California.

Mr. Herzog should not be released under any conditions.

The sheriff announced that he would not be paroled

to our county. Other places said,

no, he can't be paroled here.

And so he's treated kind of = like a child molester.

And he lived in a trailer in a parking lot

in Susanville, California,

Former FBI agent Jeff Rinek

spent hours with death row inmate Wesley Shermantine

at San Quentin prison last weekend.

Rinek says the convicted serial killer gave him

the location of bodies.

When they brought Wesley in, and we shook hands

and said hello to each other, I just had

this feeling that we were okay with each other.

He was really, really hurt, because his partner

and friend Loren Herzog, who was out on parole,

would not accept any of Wesley's calls, or call Wesley back.

I believe you have a dominant person and a passive person.

My impression of Wesley,

especially with his dismay about

not having contact with Loren,

is that Loren probably was the dominant one of the two.

"Herzog is the one that should have been here, not me."

"I'm gonna tell all I know about Herzog and his victims."

"He seems to forget he told me where his boneyard is."

Loren's boneyard.

They thought that would never be revealed.

But when Loren got off and Wesley didn't...

Oh, boy.