CA Cold Case Suspect, Retired Trucker, Charged In 1993 Murder Of California Woman

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Familial DNA evidence has linked a 71-year-old former long-haul truck driver to at least two 1990s-era murders, one in Texas and another in Riverside County.

Douglas Thomas, 71, of Waco, Texas, was extradited from Diboc Corrections Center in Texas on Aug. 25. He is being held without bail at the Southwest Detention Center on felony murder charges.

On Wednesday, he pleaded not guilty in the death of Tulare victim Sherri Herrera, whose body was found near an I-10 offramp in Desert Center in 1993, according to Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. He is scheduled to return to court in December, according to court records.

Thomas worked as a cross-country truck driver for 40 years and was retired when he was initially arrested in Waco, Texas, for another cold case murder. He was serving a 40-year murder sentence in Texas for the cold case 1992 murder of a woman, whose body was found in Titus County, Texas.

Both women were believed to be sex workers, and each was found in a similar circumstance, according to the original, now unsealed Texas affidavit.

During the original investigation, DNA was collected from both victims.

It took over 30 years for the DNA to be positively matched to Thomas's familial DNA, leading him to ultimately be prosecuted by a Texas grand jury. Thomas was positively linked to both Herrera and the body of a second woman killed in Texas the year before, according to court records.

According to Texas courts, he would have been eligible for parole in seven years at the time of his extradition.

Recently, detectives with the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team traveled to Texas to interview Thomas about Herrera’s murder. Following that meeting, the DA’s Office has formally charged Thomas with the 1993 cold case murder of Herrera. Prosecutors also filed a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a rape.

The Riverside County DA’s Office had initiated the Interstate Agreement on Detainers process with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Hestrin said. "This legal process allows California authorities to take custody of Thomas despite his Texas incarceration, ensuring he will face justice in Riverside County."

His Felony Settlement Conference is scheduled for Dec. 3, officials said.

A Look At Two Cold Case Murders Tied To The Long Haul Trucker

In 2022, Thomas was originally identified through DNA to two over 30-year-old cold cases involving the murders of women believed to be sex workers, both in East Texas and California.

A McLennan County grand jury indicted Thomas on a capital murder charge in the 1992 death of Shenda Denise Hayes and the March 1993 death of Sherri Herrera, according to the indictment.

A search warrant affidavit, obtained by KWTX in Texas, written by Texas Ranger Danny Briley, revealed that DNA samples were obtained from Thomas while he was incarcerated at the McLennan County Jail. He alleged in the affidavit that CODIS, the FBI's national DNA database, linked Thomas also to Herrera’s murder in Riverside County.

The affidavit said that she was "sexually assaulted and strangled with a belt."

Court records identified Herrera as a “known prostitute and drug abuser who worked the highway rest area” in Tulare County, Calif. She was also a mother of four, according to court records. According to the KTLX report, she was last seen being dropped off at a rest area between Tulare and Pixley, Calif., and had arranged to be picked up in 10 minutes, the affidavit says.

She was not seen alive again.

Thomas pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for the Texas murder before he was later extradited to Riverside County.

The original indictment against Thomas alleged that “both murders were committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct, but during different criminal transactions.”

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