Former lawyer sentenced in fatal stabbing of Palm Springs art dealer and socialite for financial gain

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) -- A former attorney was recently sentenced in connection with the death of retired art dealer Clifford Lambert, the subject of "True Crime News Presents: American Hustlers." 

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office announced that a judge sentenced 76-year-old David Replogle on July 18 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A jury convicted Replogle in August 2022 of multiple felonies, including first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, burglary, grand theft, identity theft, and forgery, as well as a special circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain.

According to prosecutors, Replogle and several others reportedly orchestrated a plan to lure 74-year-old Clifford Lambert, a Palm Springs socialite, "under false pretenses," which resulted in his fatal stabbing at his residence in December 2008. Authorities later recovered a jawbone and skull from a mountainside in Los Angeles. Investigators positively identified the remains to be Lambert’s.

Replogle reportedly used his position as a then-licensed lawyer to "forge power of attorney documents, enabling his co-conspirators to transfer more than $185,000 from Lambert’s accounts after the stabbing." Authorities said Replogle tried to liquidate the victim’s assets, including his house and art collection.

Replogle’s co-defendants, Kaushal Niroula, Daniel Garcia, Miguel Bustamante, Craig McCarthy, and Russell Manning, were convicted in the case. Niroula died in custody before resentencing.

To hear more about the case, check out "True Crime News Presents: American Hustlers" the podcast.

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