4 Lottery Winners Who Died Tragically

There are stories of those who won the lottery and thought themselves the luckiest individuals on earth. But no sooner had they cashed in their prizes before realizing that with money comes danger!

The six individuals mentioned here never got to fully enjoy their winnings, because their lives were cut short. While the cause of their deaths vary, they all had one common denominator: their lottery winnings. Let’s see how choosing not to remain anonymous ended their lives tragically.

Urooj Khan: Poisoned

The death of Urooj Khan is still a mystery to this day. His lottery windfall was thanks to a winning scratch off ticket that granted him 1 million dollars. He hadn’t even gotten around to cashing in his prize before dropping dead the day before.

He had already contacted the lottery office before dying, telling them that he wanted his prize in one big lump sum. Had he claimed it, he would have cleared $424,000. It’s suspected that someone must have known about Khan’s winnings, because the cause of his death was cyanide poisoning. A lethal amount of the toxin was found in his blood after a relative asked for an autopsy. He was only 46 years old, and 25 years later, no arrests have been made.

Gerald Muswagon: Suicide

Many tragic lottery winner stories end with suicide, and this is often because of uncontrolable spending. This was the case with Canadian-born Gerald Muswagon who committed suicide after his life spiralled out of control.

Choosing to spend his lotto winnings of 10 million dollars on expensive sports cars and luxury parties, it wasn’t long before his cash began to run dry. Muswagon blew a large portion of his winnings on drugs and alcohol, as well as expensive gifts for his friends. Within a period of approximately two years, he took his own life by hanging himself.

One of Muswagon’s biggest mistakes was not using a good lottery lawyer or financial advisor, which caused him to spend recklessly. Still in his early forties, this tragic lottery winner lost out on all the benefits he could have enjoyed with his lottery winnings.

Doris Murray: Stabbed to Death

It was Doris Murray’s 41st birthday when she won a jackpot of 5 million dollars. She naturally shared news of this windfall with her boyfriend Derrick Stanley, who was later convicted of her murder. The boyfriend killed Doris Murray by stabbing her to death only one year later.

But it’s hard to say whether the cause of the stabbing had anything to do with money. In fact Murray was commended for her ability to spend her lottery winnings wisely. The couple were in the middle of an argument due to Murray wanting to break up with Stanley. After the stabbing, her family found her lying on the ground in a pool of her blood, and saw Stanley fleeing the scene—his face covered in blood.

The former boyfriend was later arrested after being pursued by the police, and was convicted of her murder shortly afterwards. Unfortunately Murray only had about a year to enjoy her lottery winnings before dying tragically at the hand of her boyfriend.

Craigory Burch Jr: Shot During Armed Robbery

One of the most tragic stories of the biggest lottery winners is the one about Craigory Burch Jr. He won an excess of 400 thousand dollars in 2015 only to be murdered during an armed robbery the following year. Tragically, his murder happened in his home while he was with his family.

Craigory Burch Jr. was targeted by the assailants because the fact that he had won the lotto jackpot was public news. The legal system has since passed a bill allowing lottery winners to remain anonymous based on Burch’s case.

Wrapping Up

As you can see, the reasons why many lottery winners go broke are different, but a main reason is because they don’t remain anonymous. As tragic as these stories are, people still play on sites like theLotter and dream of spending their winnings wisely. Perhaps part of that wisdom would be to remain as anonymous as possible and to get good financial advice for how to invest it.

FAQs