Here's the latest from the "people who steal expensive guitars from caskets" department:
A grounds superintendent at a Wisconsin cemetery has been accused of stealing a $2,000 Fender Telecaster from the casket of a man who had recently died.
FoxNews.com reports that Steve Conard, 39, was charged yesterday, September 26, with the theft of "moveable property from a corpse."
The family of the deceased confirmed that the guitar was in the casket last week, when it was being moved from the funeral home to a mausoleum in the Green Bay area.
A cemetery employee overheard Conard talking about the guitar: "That's a Tele, a really expensive guitar. I have to have that guitar. It's too expensive to be in a crypt." When that same employee looked in the casket the next day (Friday), the guitar was missing.
Deputies found the Tele in Conard's home, the department said. "This isn't something I normally do; I just have a respect for fine musical instruments," Conard said, according to the sheriff's department.
The Tele was returned to the family and the man and his guitar were entombed.
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Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
