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Scottdale mansion’s caretaker accused of drinking $102K worth of historic whiskey (triblive.com)
Mansion caretaker busted for drinking $100,000 worth of old whiskey (Daily Mail)
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)
more at the links, with pictures---
"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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