Ever since a hooded gang smashed its way into Blenheim Palace — an English stately home that was Winston Churchill’s birthplace — and stole a fully functioning 18-karat gold toilet more than five years ago, the glittering john has been missing seemingly without a trace.
On Tuesday, two men were found guilty over the theft and sale of the shiny commode, an artwork by Maurizio Cattelan, the Italian conceptual artist best known for another high-profile piece — a banana taped to a wall that was auctioned off last year for $6.2 million.
His toilet, titled “America,” was insured for $6 million and, despite that high value, is believed to have been divided up and sold.
After a three-week-long trial at Oxford Crown Court, a jury found Michael Jones, 39, guilty of burglary, and Fred Doe, 36, guilty of converting or transferring criminal property.
A third man, James Sheen, 40, had already pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to burglary, transferring criminal property and conspiracy to transfer criminal property. The police found Mr. Sheen’s DNA on a sledgehammer left at the crime scene as well as in a stolen truck used in the raid. Investigators also found hundreds of gold fragments on a pair of his sweatpants.
All three men will be sentenced at a later date.
The jury found a fourth defendant, Bora Guccuk, 41, a London jeweler, not guilty of converting or transferring criminal property.