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 behind bars in Christian County Jail, where he is being held without bond after being charged with first-degree murder. While the name of the female victim was not made publicly available, an arrest warrant reviewed by Law&Crime stated that Alling was reportedly a “beneficiary” of her trust and had been “demanding his inheritance” from her prior to her death.

According to the arrest warrant, the woman’s husband stated that Alling had allegedly been “making threats” to her and “acting aggressively and violently” toward her in the weeks leading up to her violent slaying.

In the arrest warrant, prosecutors emphasized the “violent and gruesome nature” of the alleged crime, which was described in greater detail in the probable cause statement. In that document, which was reviewed by Law&Crime, police stated that officers reported to the residence after being asked to conduct a well-being check on Thursday. The woman had been expected by someone at their home five hours earlier that day but never arrived.

When police got to the woman’s home, they came across Alling, who allegedly told them that the woman was in the “guest house.” When he was asked if the woman was “okay,” Alling “did not answer.” When a sheriff’s deputy asked if she was alive, he allegedly responded, “‘I don’t think so’ or words to that effect.”

Deputies entered the residence and found the woman covered in blankets with “obvious facial injuries.” She was declared dead at the scene. On a table near the woman’s body was “a long-handled gardening or scraping tool” that appeared to be covered in blood. An autopsy revealed that the woman had suffered “numerous fractures to her skull.”

Alling, who reportedly had ties outside the country, was considered a flight risk and arrested by Christian County Sheriff’s deputies. He is being held at the county jail without bail, charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action.