Philippe Chagniot #

Introduction #

Philippe Chagniot is a 68-year-old retired San Francisco dentist and landlord who stands charged with the execution-style murder of his tenant, Eric Bigone, 58, outside a home in the city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood on May 17, 2026. The case drew renewed national attention in September 2026, when the home where the killing took place was listed for rent by Chagniot’s family trust at $6,300 a month — a development reported by the San Francisco Standard and picked up by the New York Post. A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Bigone’s son alleges Chagniot killed his father in a months-long campaign to clear the rent-controlled property for sale — allegations that have not been proven in court and that Chagniot has not yet answered in the civil case.

Background Information #

Chagniot had been licensed to practice dentistry in California since 1985, though his license expired in 2024, according to the California Dental Board; a practice listed under the name “Chagniot Philippe DDS” is marked permanently closed on Google. At the time of the killing he acted as landlord of a single-family home on the 2500 block of 46th Avenue — property owned by the Chagniot 2007 Family Trust, whose beneficiaries include Chagniot and his wife, Barbara Chagniot — where Bigone had rented since 2023, paying $3,200 a month. San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew publicly confirmed that Chagniot was Bigone’s landlord. Prosecutors have not disclosed a motive, saying only that the investigation remained active; the wrongful death suit is the source of the alleged sale motive.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from prosecutors and from a wrongful death lawsuit that has not been answered in court. The criminal charges against Philippe Chagniot have not been proven; he has not been tried, and no plea appears in the coverage cited. Any conduct described here remains an allegation he is presumed innocent of.

According to court documents cited by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, on May 17, 2026, Chagniot — allegedly disguised in dark clothing and a mask — rode a bicycle to Bigone’s home at about 5:09 a.m., spray-painted over surveillance cameras in the area, and set a fire on top of a car in front of the house before hiding to the side. Bigone came outside with a shovel to deal with the burning materials, and Chagniot allegedly approached him from behind with a silenced, fully automatic MAC-10 firearm and shot him in the back; prosecutors say he then stood over the fallen man and fired again before casually biking away — all of it captured on surveillance video. Officers responding about 5:21 a.m. found Bigone with multiple gunshot wounds; paramedics could not save him.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

On May 28, 2026, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that Chagniot was charged with murder with a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait, along with arson, assault with an automatic firearm, and counts covering the automatic weapon, its silencer, and a high-capacity magazine; prosecutors moved to hold him without bail as a public-safety risk. He was arrested at his home on May 27, booked into county jail, and arraigned May 29 at the Hall of Justice, facing a potential life sentence if convicted. In court on May 29, 2026, Chagniot pleaded not guilty; his attorney, Michael Cardoza, immediately denied all allegations, cited “voluminous discovery” to review, and told reporters, “They should hear all of the evidence — not like now ‘Oh, he’s been arrested. He must have done it.’ Baloney. Let’s wait.” The arrest stunned San Francisco tenants’ communities and drew wide local coverage of a landlord accused of turning an eviction-adjacent dispute into a killing. In June, Bigone’s son Dino filed a wrongful death lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court alleging the killing was the culmination of a harassment campaign — cash-rent demands, improper notices, threatened eviction, refused payments — to vacate the home so it could be sold free of a tenant; the suit also alleges that Barbara Chagniot contacted Bigone’s son the day after the killing to ask when he planned to move out.

Current Status #

Chagniot remains in custody without bail, and the criminal case is pending: after his May 29 not-guilty plea he was next expected in court on August 28 for a preliminary-hearing scheduling date, and the charges remain unproven with no trial outcome in the coverage cited. A judge has barred the Chagniot family from selling the 46th Avenue home while the case plays out — the injunction the lawsuit sought — but permitted it to be rented, and on August 22 the trust listed the three-bedroom at $8,000 a month before cutting the ask to $6,300 in September. Listing broker Renee Engelen said the lease discloses the alleged killing to prospective tenants but declined to share the document; one prospective tenant who toured the home said an employee of the broker described it as having “a bit of history,” and told the Standard, “My money would presumably be benefiting this family.” A GoFundMe for Bigone’s son and grandchildren had raised about $13,000 of its $65,000 goal. Dino Bigone declined to comment on the listing or the pending lawsuit; attorneys for both sides did not respond to the Standard’s requests for comment.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Chagniot’s professional life was already behind him — his dental license lapsed in 2024 — but his personal freedom now hinges on the criminal case: a murder charge with a lying-in-wait special circumstance that carries a potential life sentence if convicted, with him held without bail since his May 27 arrest. The family’s attempt to profit from the property where Eric Bigone died — barred from selling it, renting it instead at thousands a month — has made Chagniot’s name shorthand for the darkest side of a red-hot rental market, and the wrongful death suit seeks damages plus an injunction against selling or transferring family properties, arguing any sale could be used to shield assets from a future judgment. Whatever the trial brings, the public record now permanently binds the retired dentist to the killing on 46th Avenue — and to the listing that followed it.