• 11/1998
  • 3/1999
  • 2/2001
  • 3/2001
  • 10/2001
  • 12/2001
  • 5/2002
  • 8/2004
  • 10/2004
  • 11/2004
  • 8/2008
  • 7/15/2010
  • 7/28/2010
  • 9/2010
  • 1/2012

  • Nov. 14, 1998

    Cyndi Vanderheiden is last seen alive in a car going through the driveway behind her Clements home after being at the Linden Inn the previous night with Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine Jr. Her car was found later that morning at Glenview Cemetery in Clements. Her body has never been found.

  • March 18, 1999

    Herzog, left, and Shermantine are arrested for the murders of Vanderheiden and other victims.

  • Feb. 14, 2001

    Shermantine is convicted of four counts of murder by a Santa Clara County jury.

  • March 9, 2001

    Shermantine is sentenced to death by the same jury.

  • Oct. 23, 2001

    A different Santa Clara County jury convicts Loren Herzog of three counts of murder and being an accessory to a fourth murder.

  • Dec. 10, 2001

    Herzog is sentenced to 78 years in state prison.

  • May 9, 2002

    Herzog is stabbed in the upper abdomen by another inmate at High Desert State Prison in Susanville.

  • Aug. 18, 2004

    The 6th Appellate District Court overturns all four of Herzog’s convictions and orders a retrial on the Vanderheiden murder. The appellate court ruled that Herzog was “coerced” while being questioned by San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department investigators in 1999, but determined he was not coerced when questioned about the Vanderheiden case.

  • Oct. 22, 2004

    Herzog is charged with one count of murder on Vanderheiden’s death. A Dec. 14 trial date was set in Santa Clara.

  • Nov. 24, 2004

    Herzog accepts a plea deal that reduces his 78-year sentence to just 14 years in prison, but he is told he will received credit for time served and good behavior.

  • Aug. 19, 2008

    Peter Fox, Herzog’s lawyer, is appointed San Joaquin County public defender.

  • July 15, 2010

    Herzog is scheduled to be released from state prison July 25 in San Joaquin County.

  • July 28, 2010

    Herzog’s parole is postponed after state officials discovered a clerical error that doubled the days of credit for time served in county jail. Herzog’s new release date is scheduled for September.

  • Sept. 17, 2010

    Herzog is released from prison and is paroled to High Desert State Prison in Lassen County. Originally meant to be paroled in San Joaquin County, a firestorm of opposition from local lawmakers, enforcement officers and citizens eventually led to parole officers deciding not to let Herzog return to the county. He has a trailer specially built for him on the prison grounds, but must maintain strict curfews as well as abide by a strict no-contact list.

  • Jan. 16, 2012

    Herzog is found dead at his trailer on the High Desert State Prison property. Though the death is being investigated as a possible suicide, an official cause of death will not be determined until after an autopsy is conducted.

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