Background: The Christian County Sheriff”s Office in Ozark, Mo. (Google Maps). Inset: Derrick Alling (Christian County Sheriff’s Office).

A Missouri man was reportedly set to inherit money from a woman he is now accused of murdering with a gardening tool.

Derrick Alling is currently incarcerated at the Christian County Jail, held without bail after being indicted for first-degree murder. Although the victim’s name hasn’t been released to the public, the arrest warrant accessed by Law&Crime indicated that Alling was allegedly a “beneficiary” of her trust and had been persistently “demanding his inheritance” from her before she died.

As described in the arrest warrant, the victim’s husband claimed that Alling had been “making threats” and “acting aggressively and violently” towards her in the weeks before her tragic death.

Prosecutors highlighted the “violent and gruesome nature” of the alleged crime in the arrest warrant, as elaborated on in the probable cause statement. According to this document, reviewed by Law&Crime, police visited the residence for a well-being check on Thursday after the woman was expected to arrive home five hours earlier but failed to do so.

Upon arrival at the woman’s home, officers encountered Alling, who reportedly informed them that the woman was located in the “guest house.” When questioned about her well-being, Alling remained silent. When a sheriff’s deputy inquired if she was still alive, he allegedly stated, “I don’t think so” or something similar.

Deputies then discovered the woman covered in blankets, suffering from “obvious facial injuries,” and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Nearby, a table displayed “a long-handled gardening or scraping tool” seemingly stained with blood. An autopsy confirmed that the woman had sustained “numerous fractures to her skull.”

Alling, with apparent international connections, was considered a flight risk and arrested by Christian County Sheriff’s deputies. He faces charges in the county jail with one count of first-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action, held without bail.