Police interrogation uncovered horror truth about woman running man’s $1 million estate two years after death
Netflix’s Worst Neighbour Ever is the first spin-off of the streamer’s Worst Ex Ever, and debuts with some absolutely disturbing cases.
The streamer has become the go-to place for true crime content, between the recent Mackenzie Shirilla documentary and their recent coverage of the shocking case of Taylor Parker, even if it leaves out a few key parts of the story.
Worst Ex Ever has released two seasons, with the most recent series featuring an episode on the infamous Deadpool Killer.
Worst Neighbour Ever features four true crime cases, ranging from a woman who blew up a house to pick up a life insurance policy to a neighbour vs neighbour feud the ended with a deputy jailer shot in a home invasion.
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The spin-off TV show saves the most disturbing story for last however, telling the story of an old man who went missing after years of being a recluse.
Charles Wilding Jr was last seen in mid 2020, a quiet, shy man who rarely had everyone over. It shocked neighbours therefore when a young woman, Caroline Herrling, appeared and claimed to be the trustee of his $1,000,000 estate. Neighbours reported their concerns, but Wilding’s death was only found out two years later in a disturbing interview with Caroline.
Warning: This article contains graphic content and descriptions of crime that some readers may find distressing.
Caroline’s claims that she was the trustee of his estate held up for a long time, she was able to pass a welfare check by claiming that she was a friend of Wilding’s recently deceased mother who had been brought in to help him out, claiming he had moved whilst she renovated his home.
It was a full two years later when they eventually discovered what happened to him, with her managing to evade cops on multiple occasions by sending them to other places where he was supposedly staying.
Caroline was in jail when police discovered the truth, having turned her home into a ‘sober living space’ where she was secretly taking meth.
When police raided her home, they found several ‘ghost guns’ alongside numerous other firearms, along with fake cop badges, drugs such as heroin, and even fake badges indicating her as an FBI agent.
Along with this they found proof that she had forged the signature to appoint herself trustee of his estate, but she continued to insist she didn’t know what had happened to him.
This discovery was made when her co-conspirator, Matthew Jason Kroth, admitted to what really happened. Kroth was an ‘urban explorer’, someone who broke into wealthy homes and robbed people’s belongings.
One day he broke into Wilding’s house and found him dead on the floor, describing in the Netflix doc that rats were crawling into his mouth.
Kroth claimed he didn’t know what to do so called Caroline, a career con artist, who took his body away and used the opportunity to install herself as the beneficiary of his $1 million estate.
Police took these claims to Caroline who came clean, admitting to what she did with his body. It’s important to reiterate the warning from earlier though, because it’s completely disturbing.
In an interrogation recording included in the documentary, she admitted to purchasing cadaver deodoriser, Tyvek suits, and masks in an operation a law enforcement officer, Eddie Haab, interviewed compares to Breaking Bad.
She then used a barrel of acid to break down his remains. They then used a saw to cut these remains down into parts, breaking down some of the bones, and vacuum sealed them into separate packages and threw them off a boat.
Caroline is serving a 20 year federal prison sentence, and was ordered to pay almost $4 million in restitution, whilst Kroth was sentenced to over 16 years and ordered to pay almost $2 million.
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, Crime, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin