The nation's most eligible canine bachelor, "Trouble", dies. Stranger than the $12 million inheritance from Leona Helmsley may be cemetery refusal for burial in a $1.4 million, private mausoleum.
The canine made headlines when billionaire Leona Helmsley first left the pup $12 million dollars in 2007, when the woman known as "Queen of Mean" passed away at 87.
The Maltese's 12 million in inheritance was eventually cut by a judge -- to just $2 million. During his lifetime after Leona, the dog received dozens of death and kidnapping threats according to the Helmsley Charitable Trust. His care over the past four years has included roughly $8,000 per year for grooming and about $1,200 allotment for food -- in addition to a full-time bodyguard for the pet. Paying a ransom was apparently a more expensive endeavor than maintenance.
The dog known for biting staff members could not have been quite so popular with family: the Maltese--originally purchased in Manhattan, New York, after the death of Leona's husband--came out significantly better off in the will than nearly all of Leona Helmsley's family. Two grand-children got zero and zip out of the deal.
No one's saying where the 12-year-old dog -- who lived under the care of a general manager at the Helmsley Sandcastle hotel in Sarasota, Florida -- died. If leaving millions to a dog seems odd, perhaps it's topped by the fact that the Trust has only just announced the passing of "Trouble" -- the pet said to have died nearly seven months ago on December 13. Certainly no room for an autopsy now.
Leona's stipulations reportedly included that the Maltese's eventual burial, after death, be next to her in the nearly 13,000-square-foot Helmsley Mausoleum. But it appears things have become "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" for "Trouble". If anyone thinks it was because there was no more room, it actually comes down to yet another oddity: the cemetery where Helmsley lies is shunning the dog's burial on the grounds -- forbidding the pet be buried there.
Why does it seem there was probably different communication between the cemetery and Helmsley when she alive -- and helping foot the bill for eternal resting places?
In fact Leona Helmsley removed husband Harry from his original "final" resting place -- to move him to the Sleep Hollow Cemetery. In 2004 Leona became dissatisfied Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, where Harry Helmsley was buried, when a public mausoleum was constructed. She felt the public mausoleum blocked her hubby's view -- so built a new one at Sleepy Hollow and moved Harry into the new digs. The 1,300-square-foot granite, Helmsley mausoleum includes stylish features like Doric columns and stained-glass windows that recreate the Manhattan area skyline of New York. Total cost for the build alone: about 1.4 million dollars.
In other words, Helmsley turned over some serious cash to the new cemetery where both she and her husband now rest. It all means the likelihood of Leona Helmsley being pleased with the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, in Westchester County, is probably nil at this point. The billionaire would probably not be too happy about the shunning of her prized pet. After all, it's not like there's no room.
Widowed by Harry Helmsley in 1997, Leona Helmsley helped run businesses that included a hotel and real estate empire. Before the Maltese, Helmsley created some trouble of her own -- when she added a prison stint to life's list of accomplishments. The real estate mogul was known for her famous quote that “only the little people pay taxes.” Apparently the government didn't agree: Leona Helmsley ending up donating nearly two years, or 21 months served, in prison for federal tax evasion. Helmsley was prosecuted for evading taxes through billing her own businesses for mansion renovations.
The Helmsley Trust remains mum on how much of "Trouble" Helmsley's original two million remains. A spokeswoman says only that remaining funds -- from the Maltese -- went into the trust.