CALIFORNIA, USA — By this summer, California inmates with a death sentence will be moved off of death row.
This has been an ongoing part of Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan since 2019 and now, families of the "Speed Freak Killer" victims are voicing their concerns.
The only thing Joan Shelley and John Vanderheiden have left of their daughters, JoAnn Hobson and Cyndi Vanderheiden, are photos and memories.
"She was a firecracker. She had her own mind. She loved people, loved everybody," Shelley told ABC10.
"She used to call me daddy all the time. And if she got in trouble. 'Oh, Daddy, you know?' And then of course, I'd melt. That would be the end of that," said Vanderheiden. "We used to sing karaoke right there at the bar."
It was at that very bar, the Linden Inn, where Cyndi was last seen in 1999.
"She didn't come home that night. I said, 'Well, man, she must have went to work' because she had a new job," said Vanderheiden.
In 1985, JoAnn left her Stockton home and never came back.
Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine were convicted of multiple murders, including JoAnn's and Cyndi's deaths. Over 15 years, they became known as the Speed Freak Killers, committing crimes while abusing meth.
In 2010, Herzog was paroled after an appeals court threw out his conviction. Investigators say shortly after, he died by suicide. Shermantine was sentenced to death and put on death row at San Quentin State Prison.
"To me, that was a partial closing. I mean, it was a better part of the closing part knowing that he would never be out to hurt anybody else, or knowing that his life is no good," said Vanderheiden.
While on death row in 2012, Shermantine provided a map of where the bodies were buried. Cyndi's body was found in a ravine in Calaveras County and JoAnn's was found in a well in Linden, along with hundreds of other human bones. ABC10 was there when the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office dug up the remains.
"I'm watching the TV and it goes back down again, like it pulls up, a big old chunk of dirt comes out and drops. And as it drops, there was a coat hanging on one of the teeth with an arm bone coming out. I said, Oh my God, that's JoAnn's coat. I knew it was," said Shelley.
Now, both parents believe closure and justice are even more unlikely. There are currently about 640 people with death, or condemned, sentences. The state expects all of them to be moved off death row by the summer of 2024.
"This is about who I am as a human being. This is about what I can and cannot do. For me this is the right thing to do," said Newsom in 2019.
Newsom signed an executive order to temporarily put a stop to the death penalty in the state in 2019.
"I cannot sign off on executing hundreds and hundreds of human beings knowing that among them will be innocent human beings," said Newsom then.
"Does he think he's God? Or what?" said Vanderheiden.
Proposition 66, passed by voters in 2016, allows the state to move death row inmates to any California prison, through a Condemned Inmate Transfer Program. It's something the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) believes could possibly change with a new governor.
"The moratorium is not based in law," said Britt Imes, Co-Chair of the CDAA and the Chief Deputy District Attorney for San Bernardino County. "It was a political statement of his intention not to sign a death warrant, or not to seek an execution of someone who's exhausted all of their remedies."
Imes says the death penalty can still be an option during sentencing.
"Juries still impose death on appropriate cases. So even since the moratorium, our county has put three people on death row," said Imes.
As a prosecutor, Imes says it's heartbreaking to let victims and families know about the changes to death row.
"The perception is CDCR just kind of unilaterally did this without one making sure the security and infrastructure for a condemned inmate was in place. They didn't have the conscience to at least let the prosecutors and the victim's families know that this was going to happen. It was kind of like ripping the band-aid off when they weren't looking," said Imes.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California openly opposes capital punishment in the state saying it's been proven to show racial bias.
"It is not consistent with the humanity and dignity of every individual. People are more than the worst thing that they have ever done," said Avi Frey of the ACLU NorCal.
The organization believes the transfer program is another step towards humanizing people on death row.
"Folks on death row should be given a chance to rehabilitate themselves and have access to all kinds of different programs," said Frey.
The ACLU believes there are better ways for families to heal than executing someone.
"Offering people social services, offering people some sort of benefits that they need to take time off of work. Offering people the means to move forward with their lives," said Frey.
ABC10 reached out to the governor's office for comment to see if they have anything to say to victims' families about the transfer of condemned inmates. They referred us to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who says they reach out to registered victims' families to keep them informed of inmates' initial movements. They encourage all families to register on their website.
The Vanderheiden family said that's not been the case.
"Nobody's ever contacted me or ever said a word that they're gonna do this. Nobody. So they're just lying," said Vanderheiden. "We have no justice. We don't have any closure, because he's still alive."
The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office tells ABC10 the case is still open and they're looking for more victims.
"I've heard other people and him having bragged about killing 70 people, you think he's gonna give it up?" said Vanderheiden.
As of May 23, Shermantine was transferred to California State Prison, Sacramento in Folsom. ABC10 reached out to his attorney for comment on his case. His attorney says even after his transfer out of San Quentin, they're still not commenting because his appeal for his conviction is still pending.
For now, both Shelley and Vanderheiden will do what they do best — remember the better times.
The CDAA is actively trying to work with the CDCR to see if they can get an early notice of when and where inmates will be moved. The CDCR adds that even if death row inmates are moved, their sentences do not change.
Watch more on ABC10 | California's Death Row reform
