A former California dentist has been accused of setting fire to his tenant’s car and then fatally shooting him in an ambush. Philippe Chagniot, 68, was charged with murder in connection with his tenant’s death in the Outer Sunset neighborhood, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
The tenant, identified by several news outlets as 58-year-old Eric Bigone, was shot execution-style in the early morning hours of May 17, according to officials. Chagniot disguised himself in a mask and dark clothing and rode to Bigone’s home on a bicycle at around 5 a.m. local time that day, the DA’s office said in a press release, without naming the victim. The landlord then allegedly spray-painted surveillance cameras in the area before setting a fire on top of a car in front of Bigone’s home. Police were later able to recover surveillance footage.
When Bigone came out of his house with a shovel and tried to remove the burning materials from the car, Chagniot, who had been hiding off to the side, came up behind his tenant and fired a silenced and fully automatic gun at him, according to prosecutors. After Bigone fell to the ground, Chagniot allegedly stood over him and shot him again. The landlord then casually biked away after killing Bigone, the DA’s office said.
The motive for the killing was not immediately clear. Chagniot was arrested on Wednesday and transported to the San Francisco County jail, local police said in a statement. Investigators executed a search warrant of Chagniot’s home and seized evidence connected to the murder, according to officials. The landlord has been accused of murder, arson, possession of an automatic firearm, and other charges. Information on Chagniot’s legal representation was not immediately clear. The Independent has reached out to the DA’s office and the Chief Medical Examiner’s office for comment.
Chagniot was licensed to practice dentistry in California since 1985, before his license expired in 2024, news outlet KTVU reported, citing California Dental Board records. The landlord’s neighbors were shocked that he had been accused of murder. “Phil Chagniot is a great neighbor. He’s a great man,” Joy Gayle, who lives next door to him, told CBS News Bay Area. “I’ve known him for 35 years. He’s a family man. He was my dentist,” Gayle said.
Bigone had turned his life around after struggling with alcoholism, according to his loved ones who spoke with The San Francisco Standard. He taught youth boxing and coached people in the recovery program Alcoholics Anonymous. He was a laborer for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and had a gig as a singer in a band called Whiskey Business. “He was a giant of a guy. He was a legendary person,” one of his family members, who chose to remain anonymous, said.
