Charged: caretaker allegedly drinks 48 bottles of century-old whiskey worth $102,400

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Scottdale mansion’s caretaker accused of drinking $102K worth of historic whiskey (triblive.com)
The mystery of the missing whiskey has all the elements of a page-turner: a beautiful estate, a century in time, a thirsty thief and a bit of DNA on the lip of a bottle.

The story began to unfold in 2012, when Patricia Hill of New York bought a turn-of-the-century mansion in Scottdale [PA] built by J.P. Brennan, a coal and coke industrialist. During an $800,000 renovation to convert it into South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast, Hill discovered hidden in the walls and stairwell nine cases of Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey bottled in 1912 at the West Overton Distilling Co. in nearby West Overton.
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The live-in caretaker, 62-year-old John W. Saunders of Irwin, helped Hill move and dust off the whiskey several times.

One day, Hill found there was little left to dust.
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Mansion caretaker busted for drinking $100,000 worth of old whiskey (Daily Mail)
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"My guess is that Mr. Brennan ordered 10 cases...pre-Prohibition," said Hill, a New Yorker who bought the house to convert it into a bed-and-breakfast.

'I was told by his family that family members used to greet him at the door each day with a shot of whiskey.'

Scottdale police told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Saunders drank dozens of bottles whiskey valued at $102,400 by a New York auction house.

Saunders, 62, of Irwin, was charged with receiving stolen property and theft.
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more at the links, with pictures
 
For collectors, Hyman said, the history and quality of the packaging, bottles and labeling “is the allure.” The whiskey may be drinkable, “but that is not the allure.”

Mr. Saunders thinks differently.
 
Yes, Mr. Saunders understood he wasn't in possession of Keats's Graecian urn here, with its delicately carved alabaster figures in bas relief, frozen in timeless allure on the side of some jug. He was in possession of living, bottled whiskey; and when he opened that first bottle, the whiskey was not only living - the whiskey spoke to him, lol.

"Not guilty (hiccup), your honor!"
 
Well someone had to drink it! What's the use of keeping ten cases if you're never going to enjoy it lol?

I guess that's a luxury of having money. :waitasec:
 
He was the caretaker. He cared for it a lot. How else do you care for aged whiskey?
 
Well someone had to drink it! What's the use of keeping ten cases if you're never going to enjoy it lol?

I guess that's a luxury of having money. :waitasec:

Presumably the owner was going to sell it for big $.
 
Presumably the owner was going to sell it for big $.

From the article in OP:

“This whole experience has shocked me,” Hill said. “I was shocked when I found them, shocked to find Mr. Saunders drank them, and shocked when I received the appraisal. I had just planned to preserve them."

What a waste that would have been. At least someone got to enjoy it lol.
 
Look, maybe it's just the old socialist in me, but the bottles weren't even hers to begin with. She just happened to get lucky and find them in her new mansion.

So I'm pretty unsympathetic, and find it kind of outrageous that the nearly retirement-age working man has to go to prison over this.
 
Look, maybe it's just the old socialist in me, but the bottles weren't even hers to begin with. She just happened to get lucky and find them in her new mansion.

So I'm pretty unsympathetic, and find it kind of outrageous that the nearly retirement-age working man has to go to prison over this.

She purchased the mansion and whatever was in it. Therefore the bottles were hers.
I fail to see what is outrageous about it. If he was stealling things from the mansion, would that also be outrageous to charge him?
Obviously she could sell these items for profit, they didn't belong to him.
 
Did you read the quote? She said she wanted to preserve them, not sell them.

Either way, I can't work up any feelings against this guy. He drank some old alcohol that was just going to sit around anyway. Spends his life working, and now he is going to jail for that.

Not to mention the money spent on DNA testing, and the time spent in this. :what: Over some bottles of alcohol? When there are often backlogs of murder cases and UIDs waiting for DNA testing? Rich folks' justice, here.
 
She purchased the mansion and whatever was in it. Therefore the bottles were hers.
I fail to see what is outrageous about it. If he was stealling things from the mansion, would that also be outrageous to charge him?
Obviously she could sell these items for profit, they didn't belong to him.

Apparently some think stealing from others is ok.
 

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