Ex-caretaker to trial in stolen whiskey case

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - July 19, 2013 (WPVI) -- The former live-in caretaker of a Pittsburgh-area mansion will stand trial on charges he drank more than $102,000 worth of old whiskey that he was supposed to be guarding.

A district judge on Wednesday ordered 62-year-old John Saunders, of Irwin, to trial on theft charges after hearing from the owner of the South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast.

The owner found nine 12-bottle cases of whiskey hidden in the century-old mansion built by industrialist J.P. Brennan after she bought it last year. The Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey was produced in the early 1900s and appraised at more than $2,000 a bottle.

After Saunders moved out last March, the owner discovered 52 empty bottles and police found Saunders' saliva DNA on some of the bottles.

Saunders' attorney argued the value of the whiskey was "pure speculation."

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