'Worst Neighbor Ever' Caroline Herrling had twisted pool tactic before 'Dahmer body disposal' failed
If you like true crime and have beef with your neighbors, then you might want to tune into Netflix's new series which features the real-life story of a woman who attempted to dispose of a local man's body, 'Jeffrey Dahmer-style'.
Episode four of Netflix’s Worst Neighbor Ever, dubbed ‘The Executor’, recalls the events that took place in 2021 in a wealthy area in Sherman Oaks, California, when Caroline Herrling was caught up in a scheme that involved taking control of someone else’s wealth and life.
In October of that year, Detective Mark O’Donnell of the LAPD was handed an anonymous tip about 70-year-old Charles Wilding, a wealthy singleton with a lot of money and no heirs.
According to the caller, they were scared Charles was dead, and someone had assumed his identity in a bid to benefit from his assets.
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When looking into this, O’Donnell quickly discovers a woman who could be linked to the mystery.
Herrling, a litigation consultant, had claimed she was the one in charge of Wilding’s estate while he was supposedly out of the country and visiting friends.
However, when none of the contacts she provided came to any conclusion of where he was, O’Donnell starts to investigate the woman instead, uncovering a dark crime and grotesque method of disposal.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Herrling was found to have committed identity theft of Charles, who mysteriously died in his home, and dismembered his body in a ploy to cover up her financial crimes.
Herrling, of San Fernando Valley, was ultimately sentenced to 240 months in federal prison after it was found she had forged power-of-attorney forms in the $3.9 million scheme that included her using the alias Carrie Phenix.
According to court documents, Herrling and other co-conspirators – including Matthew Jason Kroth, 50 - preyed on more people than just Charles, with it being discovered that they cased wealthy areas for vulnerable victims by searching for unkempt properties in affluent neighborhoods.
This included looking for algae-filled swimming pools or overgrown shrubs, which would signify that a wealthy old person may live there and be unable to care for their properties.
In 2020, Herrling and her co-conspirators are said to have hand-picked Charles’ home, broke in, and somehow, Charles ended up dead.
Authorities say the criminals then took over his property and left his body in the home while they looted his estate and finances.
From there, Herrling is said to have used a forged power-of-attorney form so she could pretend to act on the victim’s behalf while draining his money.
When investigating the case, Herrling allegedly introduced herself to police as a trustee created by Charles’s mother, who had already died by then.
It also led to a more sickening plot to dispose of the body to ensure nobody knew Charles was actually dead, so they could continue to spend his money.
That is where they deployed Jeffrey Dahmer-style tactics, such as attempting to dissolve his body in chemicals, which Dahmer successfully did to several victims during his reign of terror in the 80s.
However, when they didn’t work, the Department of Justice reports that they cut him up and placed the parts in vacuum-sealed bags before taking the body pieces to the Bay Area, where they were thrown into the San Francisco Bay.
Cops saw Herrling also was set to inherit $1.7 million of additional assets using her forged forms after she allegedly found a document listing Charles as the executor and beneficiary to the will of another victim.
Herrling later defrauded a third person after selling their home and posing as the victim to do so.
In the end, Herrling pled guilty in March 2023 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
She was also ordered to pay $3,887,051 in restitution.
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.
Topics: Jeffrey Dahmer, Crime, True crime, Netflix
Britt Jones