Testimony: Group’s Plan to Kidnap Palm Springs Retiree Changed To Murder

A co-defendant of two Bay Area men accused in the financially motivated murder of a Palm Springs retiree testified today that the group’s initial plan to kidnap the man and steal his identity later changed.

Craig McCarthy, 30, of Daly City, took the witness stand in the trial of San Francisco attorney David Replogle, 61, and Miguel Bustamante, 27, of Daly City.

They face life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder and theft charges in the Dec. 5, 2008, slaying of 74-year-old Clifford Lambert.

McCarthy entered into a plea deal last month and faces 25 years and four months behind bars, with sentencing set for January.

Also charged in the killing and awaiting trial are Daniel Garcia, 27, and Kaushal Niroula, a 28-year-old self-professed con man from San Francisco.

McCarthy testified that Niroula — one of the alleged masterminds behind the scheme — changed the original plan in the months before Lambert’s death.

“Originally, Mr. Niroula wanted to kidnap Mr. Lambert and use his power of attorney, but along the lines of coming down here (to Palm Springs) … he had changed his mind and he didn’t want Mr. Lambert around, period. He wanted to do away with him,” McCarthy said.

The former Marine, who attended Heald College with Bustamante, said Replogle’s role was to fund the trip to Palm Springs.

“(Replogle) would take care of the power of attorney afterwards,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy testified that once in Palm Springs, he and Bustamante snuck into Lambert’s garage through a window and waited for him to come home.

“We were supposed to go in there and (Niroula) wanted us to kill him,” McCarthy said, telling the jury that he hid in a crawl space and Bustamante hunkered down in Lambert’s Rolls-Royce.

He said the plan went awry when Lambert came home.

“We were supposed to jump down and attack him, but I didn’t want to get down. I didn’t want to go through with it,” McCarthy said. “Mr. Bustamante didn’t react either, so Mr. Lambert walked through the garage to his home, closed the door and locked it.”

The next night, Niroula met with Lambert at his home and let Bustamante and McCarthy into the kitchen, where Bustamante stabbed the retiree several times, the witness testified.

Niroula took Lambert’s money clip that contained his identification and credit cards, McCarthy said. “He said he needed it so we could all get paid.”

McCarthy said he and Bustamante loaded Lambert’s body into the trunk of the retiree’s Mercedes-Benz and they drove to a motel in Fontana, while Niroula caught a flight to San Francisco.

The next day, they bought a shovel from Home Depot and buried Lambert in a shallow grave up in the hills, he said. Lambert’s body has not been found.

McCarthy, who sat with his head down and spoke softly during his testimony, said he “couldn’t believe what had transpired and I had literally just watched it.”

“I couldn’t believe that it actually went on. I was pretty rattled. It’s not something I had wanted to happen,” he said.

The prosecution alleges that following Lambert’s death, Replogle created false power of attorney documents that allowed the co-defendants to empty the victim’s bank accounts and try to complete a quick sale of his $1 million Palm Springs home for less than $300,000. A judge later halted the sale.

Replogle’s attorney, John Patrick Dolan, has said that his client only created the documents because Niroula threatened Replogle.