On August 14, 2018, a white van bearing the signage “Aftermath Services” pulled up to a dilapidated house on Clara Street in San Francisco. Neighbours considered it the last straw in a sequence of weird events and called 911 to notify the police.
Scott Free, who had lived across the street for thirty years, told the dispatcher, “Get over here now; there’s something really fishy happening.”
In minutes, the street had been cordoned off. Officers arrived at the home and found 52-year-old Robert McCaffrey outside, carrying $1,000 in cash to pay the men in the van for a ‘cleanup’ job.
Police entered the clapboard house and were assaulted by the odour of decomposition. That, and the visible cleaning materials at the scene, was enough to raise their eyebrows. There was no body at first, though.
The officers then got a search warrant and returned with cadaver dogs. They combed through every inch of the property for four days.
On August 17, 2018, they found a human torso in a fish tank, in a hidden room, concealed by a picture at the foot of a staircase. It had no head nor hands.
These remains were presumed to belong to 65-year-old Brian Egg. The medical examiner confirmed his identity through DNA testing of the remains.
The autopsy also indicated that he had been fully immersed in chemicals and restrained by an iron sawhorse. Investigators also recovered bone fragments from a planter in the backyard.
According to the San Francisco medical examiner’s office, Brian had been killed by unspecified homicidal violence involving blunt force trauma. His head and hands have never been found.
The life of Brian Egg
Brian Nelson Egg was born on September 11, 1952, in Germany to Janet and Eugene Egg. His father, Eugene, enlisted in the army during World War 2 in 1943.
He went on to serve in the US Army for 30 years in theatres including Africa, Korea, and Vietnam before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
Brian lived the life of an army brat, moving from one station to another due to his father’s service. He was also the third born of four children. Brian had two elder brothers, Edward and Devon.
Then the boys had a little sister called Lyn Allyson. When Brian turned two years old, Eugene was reassigned to the United States, and Brian spent the rest of his life there.
As a child, Brian was described as having a boyish, smiling demeanour. He also had a free spirit and a kind heart. He graduated from San Marin High School in Novato, three months before turning 19.
Brian was also active in the community mobilising for the gay rights movement, and spent most of his time in North Beach and the South of Market district.
In the mid-70s, he purchased the first and only home that he lived in for 40 years. The house at 228 Clara Street was an 800-square-foot two-story Victorian home. It was located in the infamous SoMa neighbourhood.
To the people of the street, Brian was a fixture. The man regularly walked his dog, Lucky, and stopped to chat with neighbours about everything and nothing. Brian also tended the trees and plants along the street as if they were his personal garden.
Brian’s neighbour, Alex Lyuber, mentioned that Brian never liked computers or cellphones. In an era that was gradually moving towards the digital age, Brian existed off the grid. He had no email, social media, or smartphone.
Brian worked as a bartender at the legendary San Francisco gay bar, ‘The Stud’. However, being a gay man and working in a place that placed significant emphasis on the lifestyle during the late 80s and 90s came with challenges.
One night, Brian got into an argument with his boss at the time. The altercation was very heated, and Brian allegedly broke a few liquor bottles. This subsequently made him part ways with the establishment.
Friends and neighbours say the dismissal devastated him. There are other unconfirmed accounts that he got in trouble for faking his own suicide after losing his job.
Brian allegedly drove his car onto the Bay Bridge and abandoned it there. The ploy unravelled when police did a wellness check and found him alive.
Following the incident with the bar, Brian retreated from work life. Records suggest that Brian did not try getting work again. His neighbour, Free, had once rented a room from him and said Brian lived a very frugal life.
Free also claimed Brian was single and did not currently work. He may have been living on an inheritance. He also frequently interacted with the homeless. Brian ate at the San Anthony’s Foundation almost every day, which serves homeless people in the area.
Free and his neighbour, Lyuber, stated that Brian typically offered men he met at the Foundation a place to stay. Some of them carried their belongings in backpacks. Hence, it is likely that his murder was the result of this generosity.
Lyuber said, “He opened his door for people, and they took advantage of him. It makes me sad and angry.”
Possible Timeline of Events
Events leading to Brian’s death are not completely clear. A timeline has since been hypothesised from neighbour testimonies, police reports, court records, and surveillance footage.
The case began in May or June 2018. Nothing seemed unusual, given Brian’s eccentric habits and his lack of constant contact with anyone. His brother, Devon, claimed he called him on the home phone, and an answering machine picked up and asked him to leave a message.
He called again, and someone named Nate answered. He said Brian would call him back after he finished walking his dog. Brian never called back.
The first definitive sign of foul play was already registered. Sourced information indicates that a 2007 BMW was purchased in Newark using Brian’s Egg’s card for $5,500 by someone posing as the 65-year-old man.
The vehicle was initially towed due to parking in a no-stopping zone.
It was retrieved by two men who identified themselves as Paul Foran and Lance Silva. Silva was later arrested in connection with Brian’s disappearance.
A buyer’s agreement for the BMW was also found in his possession. Foran was not listed as a person of interest.
On Clara Street, the neighbours began discussing Brian’s absence with apprehension. Free contacted the police and said an officer later called him back to say that Brian was out of town on an art project.
The officer allegedly obtained this information from the man currently staying at Brian’s house. Apparently, the police had taken the word of a stranger without investigating further.
During the following weeks, neighbours noticed a revolving door of unfamiliar people coming and going from the house. Neighbours also started noticing an unidentified man cleaning the floors, with so much soapy water that it gushed out the door into the street.
There was also a strong smell of bleach. Free saw the soapy water come out from under the front door and felt his stomach tighten.
The final straw was the arrival of the Aftermath Services cleaning van, and the neighbours had had enough, opting to call the police.
A picture hiding the door under the stairs was the most chilling detail, as someone had gone to great lengths to make the room invisible.
Arrests and the Investigation
Days after Brian’s torso was recovered from the scene, Lance Silva and Robert McCaffrey were charged with elder abuse, ID theft, and murder.
Silva, who was 39 at the time, had a long criminal rap sheet. His prior convictions included grand theft and embezzlement of his employees’ retirement accounts. The acquisition of the BMW, purchased with Brian’s card, linked him to his disappearance.
Silva was detained at the Alameda County jail on a parole violation. When a reporter approached him via video call to get his take, Silva said he wanted to speak with his lawyer.
The San Francisco District Attorney’s office then dropped the charges, saying more investigation was needed. McCaffrey was released, but Silva remained in jail for an unrelated parole violation.
The D.A also maintained that they could not charge anyone until the police presented them with a complete case. The police then classified the investigation as ongoing. A year later, they told ABC7 News, “We are following good leads and are confident we will make an arrest.”
Silva was detained on parole violation in an unrelated case till his release in April 2019. When Devon found out that Silva had been released, he was shattered, telling reporters, “I am very angry about this. I got no notice.”
The Aftermath
The murder of Brian Egg did not fade gradually into the archives of San Francisco. It became a cause that his friends, family, neighbours, and the larger LGBTQ community refused to allow to die.
Free expressed the community’s anger, saying, “It appears they’ve gotten away with murder because no one is in jail currently.
Former prosecutor Nancy Grace took the case and blasted the San Francisco Police Department and its handling of the investigation. She and the team at Fox Nation investigated the death of Brian to produce a streaming series.
They employed a camera crew and a producer with knowledge of the case, including reporters from the Bay Area. Grace pointed out what she perceived as indifference to a vulnerable man.
Grace stated, “I don’t like the idea that pleas for help are ignored. This case is almost unbelievable. Neighbors call police multiple times to check on Egg, police don’t come, neighbors spot unknown individuals coming in and out of Egg’s home, but no Egg.
The final straw — they spot soapy water pouring out of the house, smell bleach, and see a crime-scene cleanup van outside. Police arrest the guys who ordered the professional cleaning crew, but then let them go!
To assist her point, the police did make welfare check visits to Brian’s home in the months that he was likely already dead.
They were turned away by the men Brian housed, who likely were his killers. San Francisco police also declined Grace’s request for an interview regarding the case.
The evidence surrounding the murder remains very disturbing. Brian’s head and hands have yet to be recovered. They were likely disposed to hamper the body identification process.
Drano and other solvents were used to accelerate the torso’s breakdown, but they could not do so fast enough.
The use of professional cleanup services also points to a deliberate, premeditated attempt to clear the evidence. Several years after his remains were found in a hidden compartment of his house, Brian Egg’s killer still remains at large.