Caroline Herrling's terrifying full stash police found is not included in Netflix's Worst Neighbor Ever
Netflix’s newest true crime documentary, Worst Neighbor Ever, is a terrifying look at four cases in which someone had an absolute horror neighbour.
These true crime cases vary quite massively, with one disturbing episode looking at a woman who blew up her house for the insurance money and in the process killed two people and destroyed over 30 homes.
Arguably the most shocking however comes in a woman who pretended to be the legal trustee of a man’s estate for two years after he died and she had dissolved his body in acid and ground up his bones.
In 2021, neighbours of Charles Wilding reported him missing, leading police to investigate after an anonymous tip suggested he was dead.
Advert
Caroline Herrling claimed to be his trustee, but in actual fact had created elaborate forgeries to draw from his $1 million estate.
Police got a warrant the search her residence, which was supposedly a ‘sober’ living space for recovering addicts.
Cops found 16 guns, including ‘ghost guns’, drugs, and a host of bizarre items at her address
The Netflix documentary includes the details of the search of her address, including the stack of guns attached to the inside of her door, the meth they found in such quantities which linked her to distribution of guns, and fake police badges and even an FBI badge with her name on it.
Full court documents however include other details that were likely cut due to time, but paint an even more damming picture of Herrling.
The following items were found at Herrling’s address:
- ‘Numerous’ fake identity documents including fake and stolen driver’s licenses, California state ID, credit cards, social security cards, birth certificates, and passports not in her name. This included fake identification cards in the process of being produced.
- A machine that ‘makes documents look older’ which was used to fake Wills and Trusts documents
- A CNC router drawing robot kit, which is used to sign fake signatures, as well as rehearsed signatures of June Wilding (Charles’ mother who died in 2017 and Caroline claimed handed over control of the trust to her).
- Counterfeit US Savings bonds
- Proof she had control of another deceased woman’s estate, Jackie Lowenstein, and that she defrauded Robert Tascon, a man who committed suicide a year later
- Numerous drugs in large quantities, including psilocybin, methamphetamine, and heroin, as well as a scale and multiple extra baggies
- Numerous guns, including assault rifles including ‘AR-15 type guns’, a shotgun, handguns, and un-serialized ‘ghost guns’ which cannot be traced, including one next to her bed. This totalled 16 guns
- Three ‘authentic looking but likely fake’ law enforcement badges, one for the DEA, one for the US Diplomatic Security Service, and serialised badge for a Beverly Hills Police Department DetectiveCaroline is serving a 20 year federal prison sentence, and was ordered to pay almost $4 million in restitution.
United States Attorney Martin Estrada said after Caroline’s sentencing: “This defendant’s misconduct was both greedy and grotesque, causing profound pain to the victims and their loved ones.
“There must be serious consequences for those who prey on vulnerable communities, such as older adults, and my office will remain steadfast in bringing these offenders to justice.”
A timeline of Caroline Herrling's horrific fraud
September 2020
Charles Wilding Jr. dies - investigators never ascertain the cause of death. His neighbours in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, are none the wiser, with Wilding reported to be a private man.
At some point that autumn, Caroline Herrling arrives at the property, telling neighbours Wilding is staying with friends in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, while she renovates his home.
December 2020
After not seeing Wilding for three months, neighbours request that the LAPD perform a welfare check.
Herrling repeats her story to police and gives them a landline number that doesn’t work. Adult Protective Services (APS) are also conducting their own investigation.
January 2021
A caseworker tells police they had spoken to someone they believed to be Wilding, and APS closes its investigation.
October 2021
The LAPD receive an anonymous tip-off claiming Wilding is dead, and his death has not been reported because people were using his death for financial gain.
The subsequent police investigation reveals forged documents, with people appearing to impersonate Wilding on the phone.
January 2023
Police get a federal warrant to search Herring’s apartment on Beverly Glen Boulevard and her home in West Hills.
They find stolen and forged driver’s licenses, birth certificates and passports. They also seize psilocybin mushrooms, heroin and methamphetamine, and 16 guns.
Days later, Herrling’s co-conspirator Matthew Jason Kroth confesses to breaking into Wilding’s home, finding him dead, and stealing from him.
He admits to identifying Wilding’s home because it looked uncared for, first breaking in when he was still alive and pretending to be conducting a welfare check to explain why he was there. He came back months later to find Wilding dead.
March 2023
Herrling pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Kroth pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
January 2024
Horrendous details emerge in sentencing documents. Herrling and her co-conspirators are revealed to have tried to dissolve Wilding’s body in acid, before dismembering it, placing it in vacuum-sealed bags, and throwing it into the San Francisco Bay. Wilding’s remains are never found.
March 2024
Herrling is sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $3.88 million in restitution.
February 2026
Kroth is sentenced to 200 months in jail and ordered to pay $1.95 million in restitution.
Worst Neighbours Ever is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, True Crime, TV and Film, Documentaries, Crime
Michael Slavin