The owner of the San Francisco building where homicide victim Brian Egg had lived for over 40 yeas told the Bay Area Reporter that he hopes he's solved the problem with squatters breaking into the home by renting to two tenants who have occupied South of Market house since July 1.
Shahram Bijan purchased the house at 228 Clara Street in May 2019 for $1.5 million. He said he was first made aware of the problem with squatters in the home four or five months ago. The owner said he's tried everything, including boarding up the house and calling police but nothing worked. He finally decided to rent to two men at low rent in exchange for the men keeping up the home.
In a previous story in the B.A.R., Bijan's attorney, Jody Knight, said she would have no comment when asked about the project and neighbors' concerns about squatters breaking into the home. Bijan contacted the B.A.R. after hearing from his tenants, who were concerned that neighbors would think they were squatters.
Bijan said he didn't know when the building could be demolished to make way for his new planned building, a five-story condominium projected dubbed "224 Clara." The home where Egg lived has a large yard and is considered two lots by the city, 224 and 228 Clara Street. The owner told the B.A.R. that he bought the home with the intent to tear it down and was moving as quickly as possible through the city planning department to get approval for the new housing development on the site. He said the process may have been delayed even longer by the coronavirus pandemic.
The headless torso of Egg, 65, was found in a fish tank in his home two years ago this month. Two men were arrested on suspicion of his murder but the San Francisco District Attorney's office opted not to file charges against either of the men, Robert McCaffrey, 54, or Lance Silva, 41. Neighbors said Silva was living in the house during the time Egg was missing. Silva was released last year after serving time for an unrelated parole violation. McCaffrey was released days after his arrest.
The case remains unsolved. Neighbors said that their repeated calls to police about Egg's disappearance were not taken seriously. Police said they went to the home three times but didn't enter the home until they were alerted by neighbors after a private crime scene cleanup crew arrived at the home on August 14, 2018.
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