Murder Of Palm Springs Socialite: Ex-Attorney Sentenced To Life In Prison

PALM SPRINGS, CA — An ex-attorney, who conspired in the killing of Palm Springs socialite and art dealer Clifford Lambert, was sentenced Friday — for the second time this century — to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his part in the 2008 crime.

David K. Replogle, 76, formerly of San Francisco, was found guilty in August 2022 of first-degree murder, three counts of burglary and one count each of conspiracy, grand theft, identity theft, receiving stolen property and forgery, as well as a special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain and a sentence-enhancing white collar crime allegation.

During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Anthony Villalobos imposed the sentence required under state law.

Replogle's sentencing came nearly three months after his co-defendant and the principal behind the slaying of 74-year-old Lambert, 42-year-old Daniel Carlos Garcia, received the same sentence in Villalobos' courtroom.

Garcia planned with four others, including Replogle, the deadly attack on Lambert, while another defendant was drawn into the scheme afterward.

Like the other defendants, Replogle was convicted of Lambert's death for the first time in 2011.

Garcia and another conspirator, Kaushal Niroula, who was killed in county jail three years ago, were granted retrials in 2016 based on the men's lower court appeals arguing that the judge in their original trial had exhibited prejudicial behavior that impeded fair proceedings.

The men's appellate success led to similar findings for Replogle and Miguel Adolfo Bustamante, 42. Another conspirator, art dealer Russell Herbert Manning, did not appeal. The final conspirator, Craig Anthony McCarthy, 44, was granted re-sentencing consideration based on the appeals of the others.

Manning, who has since died of natural causes, pleaded guilty in 2010 to burglary, forgery, grand theft and several other offenses, leading to a five-year prison term. In 2013, McCarthy admitted voluntary manslaughter, robbery and six other felony counts, resulting in a 25-year term behind bars.

Bustamante was sentenced in November 2023 to life in prison without parole after his second conviction earlier that year for Lambert's murder and other offenses.

Lambert was fatally stabbed in the kitchen of his luxury 5,000-square-foot home in the 300 block of Camino Norte on Dec. 5, 2008. A few of his bones were later discovered along Interstate 5 during work around the corridor years later.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria said during Garcia's and Niroula's original trial that Garcia met Lambert online less than a year before he died, and Lambert paid for Garcia to travel from Northern California to see him.

"The victim, a homosexual ... had two luxury cars (including a Rolls Royce) ... wore designer clothing and had personal photographs in his home of celebrities such as Patty Guggenheim, Lucille Ball and the Gabor sisters," according to an appellate ruling narrative from 2016. "The victim was an orphan and had divorced his partner, Travis, in 2006. He was lonely and (went) looking for a romantic relationship. He used dating websites and preferred men in their 20s."

Garcia's visit didn't go well after he bothered Lambert about money and misused a credit card, prompting the victim to banish the younger man from the home.

Text messages from Garcia revealed that he was communicating with Replogle, who had been his attorney at one point and had become a friend, as well as Bustamante, a student and bartender in the Bay Area.

According to the prosecution, the men hatched a plan to steal from the retiree, drawing two others — Manning and McCarthy — into the scheme.

Prosecutors said Garcia sent Lambert's address and phone number to Niroula, and on Dec. 1, 2008, Replogle and Niroula flew to Burbank and drove to Palm Springs. The next day, Niroula posed as an attorney representing a wealthy New York family that had purportedly left Lambert valuable artwork in a will, according to trial testimony.

On Dec. 5, Niroula arranged to meet Lambert in his home, and at some point, the defendant let McCarthy and Bustamante inside via the garage or a side door. McCarthy grabbed Lambert and held him at knifepoint in the kitchen, while Bustamante fatally stabbed the victim twice, according to the prosecution.

"Daniel Garcia was afflicted with a feverish need for money. Cliff Lambert had it. Garcia wanted it. So he devised a plan from rejection and greed. But he couldn't do it alone," Deputy District Attorney Robert Hightower said at the end of Garcia's second trial. "To execute that plan, he (enlisted) a fellow con man to help him murder and defraud Cliff Lambert."

Niroula, Bustamante and McCarthy wrapped Lambert's body in bedding and cleaned up the blood. They put the body in the trunk of the victim's own Mercedes-Benz, and Bustamante and McCarthy discarded his remains while making stops northbound along I-5, prosecutors said.

On Dec. 10, a friend of the victim filed a missing person report when he couldn't locate him.
About that time, Niroula opened a Wells Fargo account with Replogle's information. Then Replogle, posing as Lambert, gave Manning power of attorney over Lambert's accounts, and Manning — accompanied by Niroula — wired $185,000 from Lambert's Palm Springs bank account to the newly opened Wells Fargo account, testimony revealed.

On Dec. 12, Replogle, again posing as Lambert, forged four power-of-attorney documents, including a durable power of attorney granting Manning carte blanche over Lambert's entire estate. Money was then shelled out to the other co-conspirators, who were eventually implicated based on the wire transfers and other paper trails.

—City News Service contributed to this report.