He Stole What? From Where? No Way !
Yes way. A Green Bay, Wisconsin cemetery worker has confessed to stealing a valuable Fender guitar from the casket of a 67-year-old Army veteran who died last week. The dead man had told his family the classic instrument was his pride and joy and he wanted to be buried with it.
The $2000 Fender Telecaster -- like the one shown here -- had been placed in the casket of Randall Jourdan, who died last Monday. Jourdan, a father of nine and grandfather of 29, “liked to play guitar and watch baseball,” according to his obituary.
When the casket was taken to the cemetery for entombment in the family mausoleum, the family asked the cemetery manager to verify that the guitar was inside it. Employee Steven Conard opened the casket to check, and it was there.
Another employee says he overheard Conard saying how beautiful it was and that he just had to have it. He reportedly said "It’s too expensive to be in a crypt.”
That other employee said he came back a while later to check the casket for himself and the Fender was gone. He told his supervisor what Conard had said, and the supervisor called police, who went out and arrested Conard. They recovered the guitar and charged him with "felony theft from a person or corpse.”
The guitar was returned to the casket, which was resealed and placed in the cemetery's mausoleum building. Jourdan and his guitar are resting in peace.
Conard reportedly said he didn't usually do that kind of thing, but he just couldn't stand to see a fine expensive musical instrument like a classic Fender Telecaster go to waste that way.
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