Man drank valuable prohibition era whiskey; arrested for theft

Man drank valuable prohibition era whiskey; arrested for theft

A man drank valuable prohibition era whiskey that he was supposed to be watching, and after undergoing DNA testing, has been been arrested for theft.

The prohibition era whiskey was reportedly worth a whopping $100,000 and the collection included approximately 104 bottles of Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey .

Patricia Hill, owner of the  mansion, now a bed and breakfast, had purchased an old South Broadway mansion in 1986 that used to be owned by Pittsburgh industrialist J.P. Brennan.

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Brennan is thought to have been was acquainted with Henry Frick and Andrew Carnegie, and other important people from Pittsburgh during the early 1900’s.

According to WTAE 4, the whiskey was distilled in 1912 and delivered to Brennan in 1917 where it sat all these years.

After Hill purchased the mansion in 1986 at an auction, her plans were to renovate the mansion and, in 2012, it was indeed turned in to a bed and breakfast

She had rented the basement apartment to John Saunders, 62,  a long time family friend that Hill was acquainted with over 40 years, and he was supposed to safeguard the whiskey.

Instead, he apparently sampled the wares and ultimately consumed half of the collection.

Saunders denied drinking the whiskey or removing labels from the bottles and reportedly told police he moved the cases to clean them several times but never opened any of the bottles.

A search warrant was issued for Saunders DNA sample and he was required under court-order to submit genetic samples. It was determined that the samples submitted matched the whiskey’s unique profile.

The former family friend was subsequently charged with with felony theft, as well as receiving stolen property.

After testifying, Hill said,

The DNA doesn’t lie. I’m just disappointed a family friend of over 40 years has lied. It’s a shame it took historic whiskey to realize and come to this point, but if it saved his life, maybe that’s the best of it all.

Saunders is out of a job, a home and most importantly a friend. He also faces some serious jail time.

All for Whiskey.

Related articles

• Ex-caretaker to trial in Pa. stolen whiskey case
• $100,000 of Historic Whisky Drank (Stolen) by Man on Liver Transplant List

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