Anyone who has just watched Worst Neighbor Ever on Netflix may feel like they already understand how chilling Caroline Herrling’s case was. But the material filed in court shows the reality was even more extensive than the series was able to include.
The documentary follows the disappearance of Charles Wilding, who was reported missing in 2021. What began as a welfare check eventually led investigators to Herrling, who had been presenting herself as the trustee of his estate while occupying and profiting from his Los Angeles property.
Although the programme covers part of what officers uncovered, court filings and federal records describe a far larger operation involving fraud, identity theft, drugs, illegal guns and a body disposal scheme that prosecutors called “greedy and grotesque.” Taken together, the evidence suggested investigators were dealing with far more than a single suspicious disappearance.
According to court records, police located 16 firearms at the home. The collection included handguns, assault rifles and several unregistered ghost guns that could not be traced. Officers said many of the weapons were loaded, including one that was found in Herrling’s purse, while other firearms and magazines were zip-tied to a closet door.
Officers also recovered large amounts of drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin and psilocybin mushrooms. Alongside the narcotics were digital scales and other items investigators believed were being used to package drugs for sale.
What stood out just as much, however, was the amount of alleged fraud-related material inside the property.
Police found a substantial cache of false identity documents, including driver’s licences, California state ID cards, Social Security cards, birth certificates, passports and credit cards in other people’s names. Some fake IDs were reportedly still being produced when the search took place, indicating the operation was ongoing.
Investigators said they also discovered a device designed to artificially age paperwork, something that could make forged wills and trust records look authentic. Nearby was a CNC signature robot kit and practice copies of June Wilding’s signature, which prosecutors alleged had been used to recreate her signature on fraudulent estate documents.
Among the other items seized were counterfeit US Savings Bonds and paperwork tied to additional alleged victims. That included documents connected to another dead woman’s estate and records linked to Robert Tascon, whom investigators said had also been defrauded by Herrling.
Police further recovered three highly realistic law enforcement badges made to resemble credentials from the DEA, the US Diplomatic Security Service and the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Federal prosecutors later said Herrling had built a wider scheme around forged estate paperwork, fake identities and false claims of authority over vulnerable properties. In March 2023, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was sentenced in March 2024 to 20 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $3,887,051 in restitution.
Worst Neighbor Ever is streaming on Netflix.
The timeline behind the case is also deeply unsettling. Charles Wilding died, but investigators were never able to determine exactly how. In Sherman Oaks, neighbours had little reason to suspect what had happened, as Wilding was known as a private person.
That autumn, Herrling appeared at the property and told neighbours that Wilding was staying with friends in Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County while renovation work was being carried out on his home.
When neighbours went months without seeing him, they asked the LAPD to conduct a welfare check.
Herrling repeated the same explanation to officers and supplied a landline number that did not work. Adult Protective Services was also looking into the matter.
A caseworker told police they had spoken to someone they believed was Wilding, and APS then closed its inquiry.
Later, the LAPD received an anonymous tip alleging Wilding was dead and that people were financially benefiting by keeping his death unreported.
As detectives dug deeper, they found falsified paperwork and evidence suggesting that people had been impersonating Wilding over the phone.
Federal authorities eventually obtained search warrants for Herrling’s apartment on Beverly Glen Boulevard as well as her home in West Hills.
During those searches, investigators seized stolen and forged driver’s licences, birth certificates and passports. They also recovered psilocybin mushrooms, heroin, methamphetamine and 16 guns.
Within days, investigators arrested Herrling’s co-conspirator, Matthew Jason Kroth. He later told investigators that he had broken into Wilding’s home, discovered him dead and stolen from him.
Kroth said he initially targeted the house because it appeared neglected. He also admitted entering the property while Wilding was still alive and claiming he was carrying out a welfare check to justify his presence. Months later, he returned and found Wilding dead.
Herrling pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Kroth pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Sentencing documents later laid out even more gruesome allegations. Prosecutors said Herrling and her co-conspirators attempted to dissolve Wilding’s body in acid and lye before dismembering it, sealing the remains in vacuum bags and disposing of them in the San Francisco Bay. Wilding’s remains were never recovered.
Herrling received a 20-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $3.88 million in restitution.
Kroth was sentenced to 200 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.95 million in restitution.