touches base with you folks. "strange inheritance." >> a world famed musician dies. >> his love. his heart. his voice. >> it's more than 300 years old and could be worth many millions. this strange inheritance is more than about money, it's about a father's legacy. >> it was clear to us that he did not want it to be hidden away. ♪

jamie: i'm jamie colby, and i'm on cape cod massachusetts, heading to the small town of wesley. i'm here to learn about a strange inheritance that shaped a family's life for half a century. >> my name is elena. in 2011, my sister and i inherited an extraordinary object from our father. >> this was my father's home for many years. he and my mother built it in 1955. >> elena's father was bernard greenhouse who died at the age of 95 in 2011. greenhouse spent most of his career playing with with this group. which capitulated to fame. >> he was very warm and very charming. but very involved with

his work. and he traveled all the time as he became more and more successful. >> as one of the world's premiere cellists. he figured he should be playing one of the world's finest cellos. he began to search for an instrument equal to his talent. >> he went to dealers and instrument shops. wherever he went, he said, have you heard any rumors about great cellos? jamie: in 1957, he found one in the west german city of a/k/a n. your father came home with something he longed for, searched for? >> i was very young. but i knew he found something very important. (?) jamie: very important, indeed. it was a stradivarius. crafted in italy around 1707 by the master of them all: antonio stradivarius. it even has its own

title. the countess. sound expensive? it was. >> it was a huge sum of money for us, for our family. and it made a huge difference in our lives to pay it off over many years. jamie: dealers estimate he paid around $100,000. an astronomical sum in the 19 50s when the average house sold for 18,000. for greenhouse, the instrument became a part of him. >> he called it his love. his treasure. his heart. his voice. every superlative. (?) jamie: at the height of his career, greenhouse performed nearly 200 times per year. >> i always wanted to hop in the cello case and travel with my father. jamie: when greenhouse wasn't in concert, he taught at the manhattan school of music, and

here at home in his cape cod studio. this is where elena played the cello as a child. >> you sometime put your name in his appointment book to try to get time with him in lieu of a lesson erasing the student that wasn't coming. >> i did that to get an hour of his time. not a cello lesson. jamie: did you ever play the stradivarius? >> no. never. jamie: why? >> i never played well enough to play the stradivarius. jamie: by whose opinion? >> i guess by my father's. but i never wanted to. jamie: can i hear him play? >> i would love it. ♪ having the music is wonderful. hard, but wonderful. ♪ isn't it beautiful?

haunting. jamie: wow. what's the first thing you do when you have to decide whether to keep or sell the family jewel? >> i think the first question you ask yourself is, do you have any use for it or love for the family jewel? and i think a big part of it also is, can you afford to keep the family jewel? jamie: the financial implications of this strange inheritance worries elena and her husband who are both nearing retirement. >> insurance. storage. and coming up, of course, with the taxes that the government wants. jamie: did you hear from them? >> no, they said let them keep the inheritance. we have so many other people. yes, of course. jamie: does that weigh into whether you have to sell

something. whether you have to pay taxes? >> absolutely. jamie: what should they do? they decided it's too expensive to keep the stradivarius. they're keenly aware that a successful auction could yield millions. quite a nice nest egg in retirement. but selling a 300-year-old stradivarius is no easy undertaking. >> it's a cutthroat world in the world of musical instruments. we understood all kinds of things that could go wrong. >> first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. what percentage of an inheritance does the federal government currently tax? 30%, 40%, or 50%? the answer,

>> so what percentage of an inheritance does the federal government currently tax? the answer is b. 40%. after the first $5.3 million are deducted. jamie: when master cellist bernard dies at 85. his heirs face a quandary. what to do with his beloved stradivarius worth millions of dollars. >> my father, in his will left the cello to me and to my sister. he left no instructions. he was unable to

confront the sale of the cello. and he preferred to let us figure it out so that he could have it to the very last day of his life. jamie: i'm in boston to understand how elena and her family deal with their strange inheritance. elena does her homework and sells the strad through chris rooney. he's a cellist, someone who makes and repairs stringed instruments. >> how do you decide what bernard's stradivarius is worth? >> well, i think the first thing you have to evaluate, the quality. it helps to know what the market history has been. in the case of this cello, we did know what other stradivarius cellos had sold for. and we could compare the quality of this one to

those. jamie: back in 2002, a similar cello sold for $5 million. but over the past several years, collectors have driven the price of rare instruments way up. each one has its own history. a unique story in whether it fetches a six, seven, or eight figure price at auction. nobody knows this cello's story better than elena's husband. nicholas. a novelist by trade. nicholas wrote an entire book about the instrument. it's the countess. it explains the pain staking restoration back in the 1990s. >> the wear-and-tear of such instruments is high. aside from the physical stress, there's change in climate. change in temperature. change in humidity. at a certain point, the cello was almost as

weary as he. >> nicholas' book describes a harrowing process. the cello sat in pieces for months while some of its wood was patched. >> bernie got more and more restless and more and more ready to have his heart's darling returned. he said then i will never let it go again. and he never did. >> but he did play the strad for another decade. in the last years of his life, bernard became so attached to the cello that he slept with it. every serious bidder will demand that the countess has no significant flaws. >> in this case, we did a ct scan of the cello. jamie: like a doctor does? >> yes. jamie: is that unusual. >> we don't do it very often, but there were questions if there was a crack. >> chris rooney called me one day here in the shop and said, john, i have this cello that i

need ct scanned right away. >> chris flies to a hospital in minnesota where experts are ready to diagnosis the patient. the worry, vast sums could be wiped from this sale if the countess has cracks or wormholes made inside the cello by tiny larva. >> would that equate to thousands of dollars? hundreds of thousands of dollars? >> another quiz question. in 2013, a picasso painting sold. what's the record for a stradivarius? the answer in a moment. hey america, still not sure whether to stay or go to your people? ♪

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>> so what's the highest price ever paid for a stradivarius instrument? the answer is b. $15.9 million for the lady blood violin sold in london in 2011. jamie: in the fall of 2011, the heirs of bernard greenhouse anxiously await the ct scan on the stradivarius. millions of dollars are at stake. radiologist steven performed a scan just like this one. >> the diseases that affect an old cello is caused by two things. one is cracks. the other abnormality is wormholes. channeled through wood until sometimes there's hardly any original wood left. jamie: what exactly is happening as it goes through?

>> the ct scanner produces x-rays which are high-energy beams in very thin sheets. jamie: this is the actual ct scan of the stradivarius. chris shares with me his bottom line. >> this cello has been in constant use. it's been cared for beautifully. it's always been a player's instrument. but there are cracks. jamie: whatever tiny cracks there might be, they don't affect the cello's unique sound. chris is able to set the official opening bid for bernard's stradivarius cello at $6.2 million. there's just one hitch: the delbankos might not accept the highest build if it's just from a rich investor who wants to lock it into a vault. >> the cello is only

half itself if unheard. it had been his express desire and conviction that it be played. jamie: and you made a decision that the strad was better in the hands of someone who could play it than on the shelf of someone who could pay for it? >> potentially pay more for it. we didn't want it on a shelf. >> they're able to look at all the factors. choose one of the bids. >> chris agrees on the conditions. it's not every day you get to sell a 300-year-old stradivarius. off he goes with the countess on a world-marketing tour. >> all the cellos that i showed it to were completely shocked about the sound. all of them said it was the best cello they had ever played. jamie: i had to wonder, is the sound of a strad really so

divine? they blindfolded musicians having them play violins. most said they preferred the sound of modern instruments. i asked mch mikal to play two cellos for me. not telling me which is which. can you play each one to see if someone who do not know as much as you, can tell the difference. you listen. what do you think? jamie: that was spectacular. to me, that sounds as good as it gets. beautiful. >> try this one.

♪ jamie: i have to say, that the sound sounded to me richer. deeper -- >> you have a good ear. jamie: really? >> this is a good quality modern cello. couple years ago. this is mikal's cello. what year? >> 1780. jamie: if i were a student of yours, could you teach me to play one note? >> sure. chris, would you let me? >> i suppose. i sense hesitation. >> no. i trust you. am i hurting the value of this cello? >> yes. i'm sorry. i better stop. returning to the tale of the countess of stain

line, it is not long before the bids start coming in. in boston, chris sits down with the delbankos to pick a buyer. >> what was the emotion in the room when you opened the first big for elena to look at. >> you know, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. this cello was so much apart of her life and signifies her relationship to her father. >> saying goodbye to the countess was more painfupainful than i expected it to be. (?) we sat down in a little seating group in his office. we put the cello as the seating group and i began to feel more and more upset. and we just closed the case. and i've never seen it again. jamie: in the end, the greenhouse heirs accept a bid. it comes not from a it comes not from a virtuvirtuoso, but

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it could've been brenda. jamie: eight months after virtuoso cellist greenhouse dies, his heirs accept a secret bid on their stradivarius cello. the price: all the auctioneer will say is that it's significantly higher than the $6.2 million opening bid. jamie: what's significantly higher than 6.2 million? >> the reason i'm not disclosing the price is out of respect to the buyer. a fair bid is 15 to 20% higher. is it between 15% and 50%? >> good try. [laughter] >> okay. so i tried. and the delbankos are keeping it a secret as

well. were they able to honor the countess' wish. the buyer as it turns out, is a canadian billionaire. she decides to permanently loan the countess to a 20-year-old virtuoso named stefan petro. >> i've known about bernard greenhouse for years. he's a huge figure in music history to have the chance to even touch his cello was just an honor. ♪ after the auction, the delbankos never intended to see the countess again. >> welcome. jamie: but then we offered them the chance to meet stefan for the first time at the carriage house near boston. ♪ as i listen, i can't

help, but think that if stefan performs as long as greenhouse did, the countess of stainlein will be heard for many decades to come. >> that was lovely. so good to hear you play. >> what a pleasure to meet both of you. really. >> really. that was very beautiful. >> i was quite nervous actually. >> what a great pleasure. >> pleasure. >> there she is. jamie: so in this tale of music and money, the delbankos seem satisfied that they have found a way to split the difference. >> more money might have made a difference in your life. how do you walk away

from that? >> there's never enough, if you think in those terms. an extra million or six would hardly have mattered. >> i think it was a very special strad, and i think we're really happy with the outcome. jamie: before we go, i want to share this last thought. years ago, back in the old days, bernard greenhouse and the trio could count on a break for the airlines when they had to fly the cello allowing them to buy a child seat -- after seeing the name cello on the ticket and said, mr. greenhouse, how old is your son cello, to which bernard laughed, winked and responded, 250 years old. i'm jamie colby. thank you so much for joining us on "strange inheritance." don't forget, you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange

inheritance" story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an email or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com strangei. >> a sanctuary for exotic animals. >> how is his health? >> he's doing good. >> call of the wild. >> rescued by quite an odd duck himself. >> we use 26,000 pounds of chicken or beef every six weeks? jamie: what was his reputation. >> wild man. >> was he a guy who played by the rules? >> no. >> when he dies, the authorities want to shut his heir down. >> he left you with a mess. >> he did. that's when the anger hit. >> will it cost his widow her "strange inheritance"? >> i didn't go through everything all those years to just give up. ♪

jamie: i'm jamie colby. today, i'm in southwest florida, driving through the mashie flatwoods. not every "strange inheritance" offers unexpected riches. sometimes it can bring on a massive screeching headache and a huge mess to clean up. >> i'm lauri. in 2005, i inherited a zoo type wildlife sanctuary for my husband and continues to be wild every single day. [lion roars] >> hi, lauri. i'm jamie. great to meet you at this animal retirement home? >> yeah. it's pretty much like a nursing home, retirement village. >> we're not talking about kitty cats or puppies. i heard a roar. can i take a look? >> absolutely. come on. >> as lauri gives me a

behind-the-scenes tour, i see the hundred plus creature that currently lives at the octagon wildlife sanctuary. clearly, the sound of feeding day in the air. >> yes, absolutely. >> lauri tells me every animal here is a rescue. >> at one time abused or abandoned that would otherwise be euthanized. animals like lily, a black leopard are given a second lease on life. >> look at her eyes. >> isn't she beautiful? >> is she purring it me? >> right now that's a purr. >> this is onyx. an abused tiger lauri rescued five years ago. >> they used him as a photography baby. >> he struggles with painful digestive issues. he's now fed a special diet to reduce the side

effects. i hope tv host isn't on today's menu. >> you want to be safe. watch his mouth and your fingers at all times. >> note that i have ten fingers starting. and i still have mine after 22 years. >> so i'm good. >> first one i'll do, watch me here. >> sure. >> bones and all. >> bones and all. jamie: okay. my turn. and now if you want, throw the rest in there. >> lauri assures me that her fences exceed state and federal codes. which is comforting. >> onyx, i'm your new best friends. >> the way to an animal's heart is through their stomach. >> kind of like guys. >> yeah. jamie: so you have 100 animals like this? >> yeah, absolutely. each one of those have a story of what they went through. so does lauri.

twenty-six years old. just divorced. she relocates from illinois to southwest florida in 1993. a few weeks later, she shows up at octobe octagon as a volunteer. she takes note of the sanctuary's eccentric founder pete. kevin was pete's attorney and friend for 15 years. >> he was a unique character. people recognized him by his hats and rough voic voice. >> 26,000 pounds of chicken or beef every six weeks. that's the chicken and beef pot. not the rest of it. >> he was never too busy to talk about all hideous animals. this was his life. >> i'm right here. need to get some loving. >> pete also migrated south in search of a fresh start. the former air force

pilot and retired father moved here from new hampshire and bought 10 acres of excluded land. fate comes knocking with big hairy paws (?) >> he started with a couple of bears. >> florida wildlife officials come across two adult bears in a broken down trailer. these were actors left behind after filming on the hit tv series jez he will ben. the state considers euthanizing them. pete stepped in. he worked at a wildlife sanctuary before figures to start his own. he tells state officials, i'll take those bears. within 72 hours, pete and his father have an an enclosures built and lures the bears in with blueberry pie. pete is the go-to guy

when creatures are abandoned or removed from home. lennie worked as a state fish and wildlife investigator for 27 years. over that time, he brought more than 50 animals to the sanctuary. >> why did you pick here? >> at that time there was no place in collier county i could take the animals to. >> what kind of reaction would you get when you told pete, i have an animal? >> it didn't matter what time of the night, he would be there. >> i feel like i'm the ugliest surrogate mother in the world. >> pete doesn't have a business plan. he solicits donations and scours dumpsters for food. >> he had a care for the animals. if he had to put an animal down, he was genuinely upset. >> when you feed and care for an animal like this, six or seven years, and you lose them, you can't describe the loss of a friend.

>> but pete doesn't share the same love for the state and federal wildlife agents checking to see the animals are okay and the public is protected. he quickly becomes known as a loudmouth cowboy who is difficult to control. >> what was his reputation? >> a wild man. >> was he a guy that played by the rules? >> no. jamie: did pete have a problem with the government? >> he thought some of their rules were silly. so he would challenge the silly rules. jamie: challenge is putting it lightly. when pete has had enough with the inspectors, he's known to tap his holstered gun and say, i think we're done here for today. was he a bully? >> he wasn't a bully, but he was very forceful. it was his way or the highway, basically. jamie: pete's abrasive attitude results in some inspectors being particularly tough on the

sanctuary. >> we would end up in court from time to time over minor events. a water pen in a lion's cage was dirty. or the food in the freezer was not raised off the floor. >> when you walked into court, did any of the judge's faces say, here we go again. >> yes, one that shook his head and thought that the government kept picking on pete. >> whether they're nitpicking or not, the sanctuary isn't without incident. any animals have escape? >> back years ago, we had hippos out in our front pond. and one time, one of them decided to take a walk. >> after busing through the sanctuary fencing, the hippo goes to a nearby swimming pool. a shocked neighbor said a dinosaur took over her backyard. pete quickly gets the animal back home before any damage is done. (?) but as much as pete ignored and even battled

government officials, they turned to him when an animal was in trouble. jamie: it sounds like you and pete butted heads a bit. was it worth it? >> oh, absolutely. we needed places like this rather than to go ahead and euthanize them. >> there is sun who someone who wants to tame pete. >> we were doing a lot of rescuing together. it seemed to work really well. then we decided, yeah, let's take it another step. [laughter] jamie: despite their 28-year-old age difference and the fact that pete is twice divorced with three adult children. lauri and pete decide to start dating. then a health crisis throws the future of this wildlife refuge into doubt. >> he said my kids will sell this place. the animals will be euthanized. that will be it. >> that is, unless pete can find another heir. was it a real marriage or a marriage of convenience to save the sanctuary?

>> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. which exotic animal is kept as a pet in greater numbers than exist in the wild? is it tigers, or angle ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

>> so which exotic animal is kept as a pet in greater numbers than exist in the wild?

it's a. tigers. as many as 7,000 tigers are kept as pets in the u.s. while only 3,000 are found in the wild. jamie: for decades, pete caron's octagon wildlife sanctuary is one of the top spots in florida for abused and neglected animals. along with his girlfriend and volunteer lauri. the pair take in animals that would otherwise be euthanized. like these former performance bears. >> the previous animal that had them was training them with a led pipe. >> lauri uses a gentler tool, doughnuts. >> one of my volunteers taught them sign language. >> really? >> and -- to the point of where if he was hungry for a sweet, he would let you know. >> how? >> with this little gesture. >> let's see if i have the magic touch too.

at. thaaw.that was sign language for doughnut please. >> you're doing well. >> i have ten. >> things aren't going so well for the sanctuary. in the year 2000, when pete now in his 60s is diagnosed with coronary heart disease, the crisis forces pete to think about what will happen to his beloved sanctuary when he's gone. >> he said my kids will sell this place. the animals will be euthanized. that will be it. >> while pete doesn't bother with a will. he does have a plan. he wants to make lauri his legal heir and put octagon's state in her hands. >> you want to get married. we have a lot in common. wanted to keep the place going. i said absolutely. >> what did pete give you as an engagement gift, an orangutan? >> you would think. >> was it a real marriage or a marriage

of convenience to save the sanctuary? >> i think it was more a marriage of convenience. i had the experience. i had all the licensing. there was definitely love and respect there. but we knew at that point anybody else would come in and try to demolish his dream and mine. because it had become mine too. >> in june 2003, pete's health worsens. he undergoes triple bypass surgery. >> he was in the hospital for two or three months. >> lauri takes over day-to-day operations of the sanctuary. she senses the challenges that lie ahead. >> i always knew there would be a lot of trouble when he passed. because of the way he would handle things with the fish and wildlife. >> pete earned a reputation as confrontational. wildlife professionals will show up with police

escorts. >> they felt like their life was in danger sometimes. >> not because of the animals. >> no. of pete. >> they cite octagon time and time again. whether they're being hard on them or not, lauri tells pete he's not helping. >> he said, let it be someone else's problem. i'm like, hello. i'm like. but that's going to be me. >> on may 9, 2005, pete dies in lauri's arms. he's 66 years old. overnight becomes the leader of the octagon pact. her "strange inheritance." >> that was when the anger hit right away. i wasn't ready for him to go. i think it was fear. because i knew, okay, here comes the test. >> lauri is determined to carry on pete's work, but it's going to be much harder than she ever thought.

>> we were one hour away from losing octagon completely. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. which is more dangerous to humans? a lion, hyena, or

♪ >> so which is more dangerous to humans? it's c. hippopotamus. they appear to be gentle grazers, but hippos are highly aggressive and have been known to attack humans without provocation. jamie: after her husband pete's death in 2005, lauri caron is struggling to run the octagon wildlife sanctuary with more than 2,000 animals he left

behind. money is tight. and relationships with federal and state investigators were strained. >> pete didn't make friends doing this? >> no, he burned a lot of bridges. >> within days of pete's funeral, lauri is feeling the heat. octagon is hit with a surprise visit from the us department of agriculture which enforces standards of care and treatment of animals exhibited to the public. the authorities say that lauri must fix conditions that put the public and the animals in danger. she thinks they're just out for blood after years of butting heads with pete. >> one inspector he was like, if you don't get your fence fixed, i'm closing you now. it was a fence they had been okaying for 30 years. >> lauri frantically seeks out new donations. her problems only get worse when she digs through octagon's paperwork. lauri comes across four

years' worth of property tax bills unpaid. >> he left you with a mess. >> he did. yeah, he did. >> the amount due is $7,400. money lauri doesn't have in the bank. >> i'm thinking, what do we do? i didn't go through everything all those years prior to that to just give up. >> with lauri unable to cover the taxes, octagon board members graciously agree to corvett cover the debt. >> we sent this to the lawyer yesterday. county officials are about to put the property up for auction. >> finally a stroke of luck. >> she shook her head. if you waited another day, this property would have been gone. >> that would have been the end right there. we would have left the whole sanctuary. >> lauri also beats the clock with the fencing.

thanks to timely donations from local business. even with the 11th hour bailouts, lauri faces one more crisis. when a would-be whistle-blower drops a dime on octagon. >> i was shaking my hey america, still not sure whether to stay or go to your people? ♪ well this summer, stay with choice hotels twice and get a $50 gift card you can use for just about anything. go you always have a choice. book now at choicehotels.com

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thank you jamie: in 2 thousand 5, laurie's husband dies and leaves her the sanctuary, she is protected by wildlife officials. >> irs, also came knocking. they showed upside we're here, to do an audit, somebody called, and said, that even being a nonprofit we were not doing

anything with our nonprofit, we had zero animals. jamie: laurie assumes that call came from an adversary of pete, but the irs finds no misuse of funds, since then laurie made it her mission to do all repairs needed. including the relationships that pete damaged. >> i strive to she we're doing the best we can, get out of that shadow. >> and has to keep the wolves from the doorstep and her own. animals need 700 pounds of food a day, averagein $7,000 a month. none of 40 sanctuary workers takes a salary, including

laurie. >> do you have a day where you think i'm not going to have enough food to feed these animals. >> absolutely. jamie: what is it like? >> horrifying. jamie: do you think you will be able to pull it off. >> yeah. i'm not one to give up easy. jamie: a good thing that laurie is a fighter, there will always be animals like onyx who was once near death that needing on the gone octa gone. jamie: how is onyx well. >> he is good and vocal. jamie: call of the wild? >> yeah. >> glad high made it, what do you think that pete is saying right now. >> i hope he would be proud.

jamie: lawy and pete worked side by side for years here before they started dating, but is it possible the wild beasts were on to them, before they were even on to themselves? several years before laurie came on the scene, pete had taken in a baboon named max from a circus, max formed a bond with pete, then laurie shows up, and every time max sees her working with pete he acts out badly in his jealous rage, max tosses -- his tossings as laurie with impeccable aim that gave her pause, so to speak to keep her wondering if something might be going on between pete and herself, i am jamie colby, for

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