San Francisco Blog

Kaushal Niroula

​December's Gay Grifter murder, in which a quartet of sex-partner-swapping purported San Francisco con men allegedly killed a lonely, elderly Palm Springs man had, until this week, seemed to lack a key plot element. How did police think they actually bumped off the poor old guy before attempting to liquidate his house and possessions?

We knew that Nepalese immigrant and alleged serial con man Kaushal Niroula, along with four local co-conspirators, allegedly made a 74-year-old Clifford Lambert disappear and proceeded to start emptying his house and trying to sell it for half its value.

But we knew precious little about police's theory about the disappearance -- until late last month, when Palm Springs police announced the arrest of a sixth suspect named Craig Anthony McCarthy, age 29.

According to a criminal complaint, Niroula flew with McCarthy and Miguel Bustamante -- a former barkeep at Jet in the Castro -- from San Francisco to Palm Springs on December 2, three days before the 74-year-old Lambert was last seen alive.

Police say Niroula disarmed the burglar alarm at Lambert's house and let the other two men inside. McCarthy is accused of grabbing Lambert from behind and and holding a knife on him as Bustamante allegedly stabbed the victim.

Notwithstanding the new allegations, the police update still leaves a significant mystery hanging: They still have not revealed whether they have a body, or if they even have an inkling of how Lambert's corpse was disposed of.