SF home where man's torso was found in fish tank up for auction, current bid at nearly $1 million
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Eight years after a man's torso was found inside a fish tank in a San Francisco home, the property is up for auction after neighbors say years of squatters, graffiti and homelessness-related issues followed the gruesome discovery.
For years, neighbors in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood have pleaded with the city to intervene at the boarded-up home. Now, they hope its auction will finally bring some closure.
"It was hideous," neighbor Wilma Parker DePavloff said.
Wilma Parker DePavloff remembers her next-door neighbor and friend Brian Egg as a giving person who kept the alley clean and loved his plants.
"We know that he went to St. Anthony's dining hall for lunch every day and he would bring home people with him because he had three bedrooms. He would say to me, this person I met at St. Anthony's, he is a college grad, I don't know why he is on the street. For the grace of God, I would say, Brian, and he would let them stay to straighten up their lives," Parker DePavloff said.
Then Brian Egg disappeared.
Worried neighbors called for a welfare check. Police found several squatters inside Brian Egg's home and an odor coming from one of the rooms.
"They were nice looking, decent, clean young man bringing out buckets of water, and they were watering my plants and Brian's and I said, Brian will be really thrilled when he gets back from his vacation because you're watering the plants more than he would ever. And they said 'and we are watering yours too and I said, oh, thank you.' They're watering them with his blood, not with his blood, but they had what was left of him in a big fish tank, and they were trying to dissolve the body," said Parker DePavloff.
Police found Brian Egg's torso in a fish tank.
"They built a false wall over it, which the police finally discovered," Parker DePavloff said.
Police arrested two of the squatters in connection with the killing, but the district attorney at the time withdrew the charges, saying more investigation was needed.
Parker DePavloff said the home later became a target for people experiencing homelessness.
"Lots of homeless came over this roof. Jumping down and breaking all those things coming over here. They had ladders up going down there," she said.
An ABC7 Eyewitness News data team analysis confirmed that more than 100 complaints have been made to the city about the property since 2018.
The house is now up for auction, with the current bid nearing $1 million.
RELATED: Vigil held for missing San Francisco man Brian Egg after body found in fish tank
For Parker DePavloff, the property's future also raises the question of preserving the memory of the neighbor she knew.
"He planted and took care of Clara Street to make it look green and nice. And that's part of his legacy. I can keep doing it," she said.
We contacted the real estate agent and property owner for comment and did not hear back.
