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Curse? Gardener didn't live to enjoy cash he found
Chicago Tribune ^ | Jul 4, 2013 | Lisa Black

Posted on 07/04/2013 8:09:25 AM PDT by KeyLargo

chicagotribune.com

Curse? Gardener didn't live to enjoy cash he found

By Lisa Black

Tribune reporter

6:50 AM CDT, July 4, 2013 Advertisement Click here to find out more!

The death of a McHenry County man, just days before he was to collect some of the $150,000 he found in his garden, is causing some to wonder if his elderly neighbor was right all along.

She said the money was cursed.

Wayne Sabaj, 51, was an unemployed carpenter when he reported finding the bags of cash while picking broccoli in August 2011. He was due to enter into a settlement in court on July 11 that would have split the windfall between him and the neighbor, said his lawyer, Robert Burke.

The neighbor, Delores Johnson, whose daughter had also made a claim for the money on her behalf, also died before the mystery was settled. Johnson, who had dementia and died in December at 87, told her daughter that "she had gotten rid of the money because it was cursed," said Burke, quoting court records.

"Apparently, she was right. The money is cursed," Burke said.

Sabaj died of complications related to diabetes at his home Monday night, according to the McHenry County coroner. Sabaj's son found him, Burke said.

Sabaj's father, learning of his son's death, suffered cardiac arrest that same night and remained hospitalized Wednesday, Burke said.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: cash; curse; found; money
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Wayne Sabaj, in his garden in McHenry, September 8 2011, where he found over $100,000. ((Dave Shields/for the Tribune) / July 3, 2013)


1 posted on 07/04/2013 8:09:25 AM PDT by KeyLargo
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To: KeyLargo

If I understand it, a woman with dementia took her life savings and buried it in her neighbor’s garden.

If that’s the case I think he should have given it back.


2 posted on 07/04/2013 8:14:41 AM PDT by DManA
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To: KeyLargo

IMO, one of the best films ever produced. In my top 5 of all time...


3 posted on 07/04/2013 8:15:02 AM PDT by Ribeye (Protective headwear courtesy of Reynolds Aluminum Products- Extra-cranial RF Suppression Division)
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To: KeyLargo

When it comes to found money, never try to do the right thing. In most instances.


4 posted on 07/04/2013 8:16:47 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (To the left the truth looks like Right-Wing extremism.)
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To: DManA

Yeah, claiming “finder’s keepers,” past the age of 8, is pretty pathetic.


5 posted on 07/04/2013 8:19:05 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: KeyLargo

“...told her daughter that “she had gotten rid of the money because it was cursed,”***

Sounds like the old scam fortune tellers used to pull on old people.


6 posted on 07/04/2013 8:21:10 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need 7+ more ammo. LOTS MORE.)
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To: TangoLimaSierra

Found what in the garden? Never heard of it.


7 posted on 07/04/2013 8:21:26 AM PDT by rktman (Inergalactic background checks? King hussein you're first up.)
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To: Ribeye
"IMO, one of the best films ever produced. In my top 5 of all time..."

Yes, great movie.

8 posted on 07/04/2013 8:24:47 AM PDT by KeyLargo
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To: KeyLargo

Another reason to hate broccoli.


9 posted on 07/04/2013 8:25:23 AM PDT by ItsForTheChildren
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To: Ribeye

IMO, one of the best films ever produced. In my top 5 of all time...

Didnt know it was that good. I’ve been on an old movie kick lately. There’s better storylines, patrotism, moral values, and none of the “crap” they feel like they have to put in movies nowadays. They’re just more wholesome and you dont havet worry about changing the channel if they show nudity or start spraying GD out of their foul mouths. Someone recommended “Sergeant York” so I may look for both of ‘em


10 posted on 07/04/2013 8:36:09 AM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: KeyLargo
"Cursed"? Oh, for the love of...

I can only hope I'll find "cursed" treasure like that!

11 posted on 07/04/2013 8:39:15 AM PDT by Kip Russell
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To: DManA

Finders keepers.

If I see you drop a hundred dollar bill, yeah, it’s common courtesy to give it back. You bury it on my property, it’s a donation.


12 posted on 07/04/2013 9:03:02 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Boogieman

Dementia complicates the issue.


13 posted on 07/04/2013 9:08:07 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle (When America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: Boogieman

This wasn’t someone being careless. This was a woman with clinical dementia. She was not in her right mind. She didn’t know what she was doing.

Assuming of course the story is correct.


14 posted on 07/04/2013 9:09:45 AM PDT by DManA
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To: KeyLargo
This sounds like an episode of "The Twilight Zone".

Maybe the IRS will take the money.

15 posted on 07/04/2013 9:19:51 AM PDT by Pajamajan (Pray for our nation. Thank the Lord for everything you have. Don't wait. Do it today.)
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To: DManA

said his lawyer, Robert Burke....That is where it would have gone, anywho. If the neighbor buried it, tough crapola. If she was that bad off, someone should have looked after her. Of course they would’nt unless they figured she had some stash. TS. If you found briefcase with that amount of money, no ID and no advertising as to who lost it, what would you do? I’d keep it, shut my mouth and dole it out to myself at $9000 bucks at a crack. I’ve found LOTS of money in bank bags from people who forgot to deposit it and left it on top of their cars, bank envelopes and bands of cash with identifiable names on it and returned this cash to the original owners. Never got a thanks. I’ve also found bank envelopes laying on the street with no name, no receipt and treated myself.


16 posted on 07/04/2013 9:23:22 AM PDT by Safetgiver ( Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
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To: KeyLargo

Oh, so that’s where I dropped my bag of money.


17 posted on 07/04/2013 10:04:57 AM PDT by bgill (This reply was mined before it was posted.)
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To: jsanders2001

Yes, I’m not familiar with Treasure of the Sierra Madre, only heard of it and the famous “badges” scene. I will have to check it out. I’ve seen bits and pieces of Sgt. York on TV and it’s been great. BTW, I read somewhere where Spielberg wants to re-make Grapes of Wrath. The guy is out of ideas.


18 posted on 07/04/2013 10:13:38 AM PDT by rabidralph (Gray State Movie)
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To: KeyLargo

Treasures tend to ruin lives. It is an odd thing.


19 posted on 07/04/2013 10:21:25 AM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: rabidralph

Sgt. York is one of the top ten for me.


20 posted on 07/04/2013 10:26:11 AM PDT by autumnraine (America how long will you be so deaf and dumb to thoe tumbril wheels carrying you to the guillotine?)
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