A stylish San Francisco apartment is being marketed for rent, despite allegations that its former occupant was shot and killed by the property’s landlord.
The three-bedroom home in the Outer Sunset neighborhood appears attractive on paper, offering abundant natural light, a garage and backyard for $6,300 a month.
Yet the seemingly conventional rental comes with a deeply unsettling history.
Philippe Chagniot, a 68-year-old retired dentist, has been charged with killing 58-year-old Eric Bigone outside the residence on May 17.
Prosecutors allege that Chagniot placed a fire on the roof of Bigone’s car. When Bigone went outside to see what was happening, authorities say Chagniot shot him twice in the back with a suppressed MAC-10 submachine gun.
The property is still connected to the Chagniot 2007 Family Trust, which lists Philippe Chagniot and his wife, Barbara, among its beneficiaries.
In a wrongful death lawsuit, Bigone’s son, Dino, claims Chagniot killed his father in an effort to make the property available for sale. A San Francisco judge has temporarily blocked any sale while the case proceeds.
Leasing the house, however, apparently remains an option.
Homes.com records show that the property entered the rental market on August 22 at $8,000 per month. After failing to attract tenants, the asking rent was cut this month to $6,300.
The Outer Sunset rental may look hard to resist, but prospective tenants have reportedly backed away after learning about the home’s disturbing history
Philippe Chagniot, a 68-year-old retired dentist, is charged with killing 58-year-old Eric Bigone, who was shot outside 2518 46th Ave. on May 17.
Prosecutors allege that Chagniot set a fire on top of Bigone’s car before shooting him twice from behind with a suppressed MAC-10 submachine gun when he went outside to investigate.
Broker Renee Engelen confirmed to the San Francisco Standard that she is working with the Chagniots to find tenants for the unsettling property.
Engelen said California law requires her to disclose crimes committed on a property within the previous two years. She also noted, however, that Bigone was shot on the sidewalk rather than on the property itself.
According to Engelen, the lease does alert prospective tenants to the alleged killing. She declined to release a copy, citing privileged information, and would not say whether Barbara Chagniot or someone representing the couple hired her.
At least one prospective tenant learned about the home’s grim past almost by chance.
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After viewing the house, the woman became suspicious when she noticed it was owned by a family trust. An online search soon led her to news reports about Bigone’s death.
When she questioned an evasive employee at the brokerage about the shooting, she said the response was strikingly casual: the house had “a bit of history.”
The woman, who requested anonymity because she feared unwanted attention toward her business, said she might have overlooked the disclosure while reading the lease.
“I wasn’t looking for whether someone had been killed in the lease,” she said.
What troubled her more was the possibility that her rent could ultimately benefit the family of the man accused of killing the previous tenant.
Yet despite the killing – and an ongoing wrongful death lawsuit – the property is now being offered to a new tenant.
‘My money would presumably be benefiting this family,’ she said.
For neighbors, the idea of turning the house into a rental is difficult to separate from what took place there.
Bridgett, who has lived on the same street since 2017 and declined to give her last name because of privacy concerns, called Bigone ‘a great neighbor.’
She said his killing had ‘terrorized’ the neighborhood and was furious when she learned the house was being offered for rent.
‘That’s such bulls***,’ she said. ‘I’m upset, sick.’
If someone moves in, Bridgett said, she and other neighbors plan to knock on the door and tell the new tenants themselves about Bigone’s killing. ‘That house shouldn’t be rented,’ she said firmly.
Across the street, 78-year-old Gabriella Smith has lived since 2011. When The Standard told her the asking rent, her jaw dropped. She said workers had been coming and going from the property about two weeks earlier.
But renovations and a fresh coat of polish can only do so much to change a home’s history. Heeding a word of warning, Smith said, ‘I’d be careful renting from someone like that.’
For the prospective tenant who nearly signed a lease, the experience has been enough to put her enticing house hunt on hold. Shaken by how close she came to renting from a potential murderer, she and her fiancé are content to remain in their Outer Richmond home for now.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Renee Engelen for comment.