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Convicted Killer Shermantine Released To Help In Search For Victims

LINDEN (CBS13) - CBS13 confirmed Monday that convicted killer Wesley Shermantine was released from prison to point out potential grave sites for victims of the killing spree he participated in years ago.

Shermantine was taken from San Quentin State Prison to San Joaquin County on Sunday, CBS13's Laura Cole has learned.

Shermantine is half of the "Speed Freak Killers" duo along with Loren Herzog in the 1980s and 1990s before both were sent to prison. He has claimed he only helped Herzog dispose of bodies but that he knows where they are and is willing to share his information to investigators.

Cathleen Galgiani, a state Assembly member who represents the area where Shermantine and Herzog operated in, has been pushing for Shermantine's release to help in the search for more victims. She authored a bill allowing for Shermantine's release from death row at San Quentin.

On the day that Galgiani sent another strongly worded letter to the Department of Corrections about transporting Shermantine to help in the search for potential victims, she learned from us that the transport took place Sunday.

"I could hardly believe it," she said. "We've been pushing for it for so long."

More than seven months after the first attempt to transport Shermantine from death row to help in the recovery effort, a well-placed source within the investigation confirmed he was taken from death row to San Joaquin County on Sunday to point out potential burial sites to FBI agents.

CBS13 has learned Shermantine was brought to only a few places within the county, and now it will be up to investigators to determine how viable the areas are for further search efforts, meaning how big of an area investigators would have to dig to find possible remains.

"And we've had so many setbacks, I thought 'This can't be true,'" Galgiani said. "When you told me, I thought 'It can't be true.'"

Now she says this is just the start of a long process to recover possibly dozens of victims from several gravesites Shermantine promises they'll find.

"I think the FBI needs to step in fully and bring the best resources that they have available to treat the recovery effort with the highest amount of respect and the highest amount of respect for the victims and the families," she said.

Shermantine has also made maps pointing to potential sites. So far, he's been right every time. His information from death row through letters has led to the recovery of five victims and an unborn baby.

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