Nashville, TN-- It's been said that sometimes your conscience can get the better of you, especially if you knowingly committed a crime.
A Kentucky man is proving that point.
He turned himself in at the age of 72 for a crime he committed when he was 18 years old.
Although the case remained open, investigators probably wouldn't have solved it unless...the thief turned himself in with the evidence. And that's exactly how the story goes.
The crime was stealing two hydrangeas in May 1958 from Centennial Park in Nashville, the culprit, 72-year-old Bill Teitleff of Joy, KY.
His resolve, returning plants from the root system of the purloined flowers to the park last Thursday. ThE hydrangeas he brought back are from the original root system on his mom's farm in Kentucky. Teitleff said he did not go to a gardener or Lowe's, but rather he brought back exactly what he stole.
Teitliff told WSMV-TV in Nashville he took the flowering plant because he didn't have enough money at the time to buy a Mother's Day gift for his mother. At the time of the theft, Teitleff was 18 years old and just married.
Eventually, the past caught up with Teitleff and he didn't like how it felt.
Teitleff says he can now walk through Centennial Park without feeling guilty.