Police found disturbing items in Caroline Herrling's home that were left out of Worst Neighbor Ever on Netflix
Topics: Netflix, True crime
Thomas Bamford
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, True crime
If you've just finished watching Worst Neighbor Ever on Netflix, you might think you already know just how disturbing Caroline Herrling's case really was. As it turns out, there's a lot more to the story than what made it onto the screen.
The docuseries explores the case of Charles Wilding, who was reported missing back in 2021. That report eventually led detectives to search the Los Angeles home of Caroline Herrling, a woman who had been posing as the trustee of his estate.
While the show does touch on some of what police discovered during that search, court documents reveal the full list of items found inside her house was even more alarming than what viewers have seen so far, painting a picture of something far bigger than a single missing persons case.
According to court records, investigators recovered 16 firearms from the property, including handguns, a shotgun, AR-15-style rifles and several unregistered 'ghost guns' that couldn't be traced back to anyone. Some of the weapons were said to be loaded at the time of the search, with one ghost gun reportedly discovered beside Herrling's bed.
Advert
Alongside the weapons, police also found large quantities of drugs inside the home, including methamphetamine, heroin and psilocybin mushrooms, as well as drug-dealing equipment such as digital scales and multiple empty plastic bags that investigators believed were being used to package narcotics for sale.
But it was the sheer scale of fraudulent material uncovered that really set this case apart.
Officers found a huge stash of fake identity documents, including driver's licences, California state ID cards, Social Security cards, birth certificates, passports and credit cards belonging to other people entirely. Some fake identification cards were reportedly still in the process of being made at the time of the search, suggesting new forged documents were actively being produced.
Investigators also discovered a machine designed specifically to make paperwork appear older than it actually was, something they said could be used to make forged wills and trust documents look convincingly genuine. Alongside this was a CNC signature robot kit, found together with practice versions of June Wilding's signature, which prosecutors said had been used to reproduce her signature on forged estate paperwork.
On top of that, police recovered counterfeit US Savings Bonds, along with paperwork connected to other alleged fraud victims, including documents relating to another deceased woman's estate and records tied to Robert Tascon, who investigators said had also been defrauded by Herrling.
Rounding out the haul were three convincingly realistic law enforcement badges, styled to resemble those used by the DEA, the US Diplomatic Security Service and a Beverly Hills Police Department detective.
In March 2024, Caroline Herrling pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $3.8 million in restitution to her victims.
Worst Neighbor Ever is available to stream on Netflix now.
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.
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.
A caseworker tells police they had spoken to someone they believed to be Wilding, and APS closes its investigation.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Herrling is sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $3.88 million in restitution.
Kroth is sentenced to 200 months in jail and ordered to pay $1.95 million in restitution.