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Where is David Replogle Now? 2025 Update & Background

Ryan Gill

David Replogle once held a respected position as a practicing attorney in San Francisco. Educated and articulate, he built a legal career handling high-stakes cases, including civil litigation tied to high-profile abuse allegations. By outward appearances, Replogle was a professional success. But beneath that polished veneer was a man capable of deception, forgery, and, ultimately, complicity in one of California’s most cold-blooded financial murder plots.

Born in 1949, Replogle rose through the legal ranks with a reputation for handling sensitive cases. One of his better-known involvements was representing plaintiffs in the early 2000s in lawsuits accusing financier Thomas White of sexual abuse. Though White denied the allegations, he settled out of court. Replogle’s connection to the plaintiffs in these cases would later resurface in unexpected ways—especially when his former client, Daniel Garcia, became a central figure in the murder of art dealer Clifford Lambert.

Ensnared in a Murder-for-Profit Scheme

In late 2008, Replogle became entangled in a scheme that led to the murder of 74-year-old Clifford Lambert, a wealthy retiree living in Palm Springs. Lambert had met Daniel Garcia through an online dating site. After Lambert refused to invest in Garcia’s proposed business venture, Garcia, along with Kaushal Niroula—a flamboyant conman who styled himself as royalty—plotted to steal Lambert’s fortune.

The plan escalated into a murder-for-profit conspiracy involving at least six men, including Replogle. His role was especially insidious: using his legal credentials, he forged powers of attorney and impersonated Lambert in order to transfer more than $185,000 from Lambert’s accounts. Replogle also helped initiate the fraudulent sale of Lambert’s home and art collection.

The murder itself occurred on December 5, 2008. Lambert was stabbed to death in his home, his body rolled in a rug, and later buried in a remote part of Los Angeles County. For years, Lambert’s disappearance remained a mystery—until pieces of his remains were discovered in 2016 and 2017 and officially identified in 2020.

Legal Trouble and Convictions

Replogle, along with his co-conspirators, was arrested and brought to trial. In 2011, he was convicted of multiple felonies including first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, forgery, identity theft, and grand theft. A special circumstance of murder for financial gain made him eligible for a life sentence without parole.

However, in 2020, Replogle’s conviction—along with several others—was overturned. The judge in the original trial had made prejudiced and inappropriate comments in secretly recorded conversations, raising serious concerns about judicial bias. Replogle’s legal team seized the opportunity, and after a series of motions, he was granted a new trial.

In August 2022, a Riverside County jury reconvicted Replogle on all major charges. The evidence was extensive, including notarized documents bearing his fingerprints and testimony confirming his direct involvement in forging legal paperwork to loot Lambert’s estate. On July 18, 2025, Superior Court Judge Anthony Villalobos sentenced Replogle to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Where He Is Now

As of October 2025, David Replogle is incarcerated in the California state prison system, serving a life sentence without parole. He is 76 years old. His disbarment remains permanent, and his name is etched in the public record not as a trusted attorney, but as a central player in a premeditated murder scheme driven by greed.

Despite multiple appeals, delays, and procedural attempts to overturn his fate, Replogle now faces the remainder of his life behind bars. He has been described as unrepentant, maintaining that he acted under duress. However, prosecutors and the court found no merit to that defense.

Legacy and Public Perception

The story of David Replogle is a cautionary tale of professional ethics undone by ambition and greed. A licensed attorney—someone entrusted to uphold the law—used his legal knowledge to manipulate it. His participation in the Clifford Lambert case shocked many in the legal community and raised difficult questions about how someone with so much professional privilege could descend into criminality.

Beyond the courtroom, the case has become a fixture in true crime discussions, featured in books, podcasts, and national broadcasts like Dateline NBC’s October 2025 episode, The Prince, The Whiz Kid & The Millionaire. Replogle is portrayed not as a mastermind, but as a willing enabler who lent legal legitimacy to a violent conspiracy.

In the end, David Replogle’s downfall underscores the devastating consequences of unchecked greed and the profound betrayal of trust that occurs when those sworn to uphold the law break it in the most egregious ways.

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