Second Pair Heads To Trial For Retiree’s Murder

A May 25 trial date was set on Friday for two men accused in the 2008 financially motivated killing of a Palm Springs retiree.

Garcia and Niroula are facing almost a dozen felonies, including first- degree murder and conspiracy in the December 2008 stabbing of 74-year-old Clifford Lambert.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge David B. Downing set the date for Daniel Carlos Garcia and Kaushal Niroula at a hearing at the court’s Indio Annex today.

In past hearings, they complained to the court of a lack of adequate facilities in jail to prepare their defense, which has delayed their trial while the cases of their four co-defendants already have been decided. Garcia, 29, is represented by attorney Cameron Quinn. Niroula, 30, is acting as his own attorney.

Co-defendants David Replogle and Miguel Bustamante were convicted in January of first-degree murder and eight other felony counts stemming from Lambert’s death and each was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Another defendant, Craig McCarthy, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in August 2010, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 24. A sixth man, Russell Herbert Manning, pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Palm Springs police Detective Frank Browning testified at a preliminary hearing that McCarthy told him the initial plan to kidnap Lambert and steal his identity to clean out his accounts hit a snag when concerns arose that the retiree could re-emerge and contest forged power-of-attorney documents.

The group then killed Lambert during a staged break-in, with Bustamante stabbing him in the back of the neck as McCarthy and Niroula stood by his side, Browning said. The trio are believed to have buried Lambert’s body in the desert. It has not been found.

Garcia was connected to the conspiracy when he was found to be in possession of Lambert’s debit card in December 2008, according to the prosecution. He allegedly was seen at several San Francisco and Palm Springs banks withdrawing varying amounts of money from the victim’s accounts.

The prosecution said Lambert was targeted because he was lonely, liked to meet people over the Internet and had an interest in younger men, making him vulnerable.