Chicago Lottery Winner Died From Cyanide Poisoning One Day After Collecting $1 Million Jackpot

[DonRedwood]

Poor fellow.... He must have felt like the luckiest guy in the world!

Chicago Lottery Winner Died From Cyanide Poisoning One Day After Collecting $1 Million Jackpot

Last June, Urooj Khan, a 46-year-old who owned several dry cleaners in Chicago, won a cool million in the Illinois lottery. He reacted in an appropriate enough way, yelling "I hit a million, I hit a million!" repeatedly before leaving the 7-Eleven, only to return after a few moments to tip the store's clerk $100. Several weeks later, at a ceremony where he was presented with an oversized check, Khan said "Winning the lottery means everything to me." Khan added he had plans to donate some of the post-taxes sum of $425,000 to a local children's hospital and then invest the remaining cash into his business.

Happy enough story so far, right? Well, exactly one day after the Comptroller's office cut the check, Khan was found dead, with no signs of trauma. Authorities initially ruled the death the result of natural causes, but after a request from one of Khan's relatives, did an "expanded screening." Now, six months after the initial ruling, authorities are saying Khan died after ingesting cyanide.
"It's pretty unusual," said Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina, commenting on the rarity of cyanide poisonings. "I've had one, maybe two cases out of 4,500 autopsies I've done."

Chicago police launched a homicide investigation and will likely exhume Khan's body. As for the money, the check was cashed August 15th, three weeks after Khan's death, presumably by a relative or someone representing his estate.

Just one more reason why you should never want to win the lottery.

http://gawker.com/5973973/chicago-lottery-winner-died-from-cyanide-poisoning-one-day-after-collecting-1-million-jackpot

[MightyMopar]

1. Winning a lottery often seems a curse, bad things often happen

[zbdent]

6. I'll take the chance ...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. How dreadful.

I think winning the Lottery isn't the problem...

Publicizing it IS.

Nuff' said...

Poor guy. Someone might have killed him for the money...

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

9. Yep. You don't need to advertise that you win a million.

So or any future DUwinners. Play it safe. Play it cool. And above all hire a food taster.

[TwilightGardener]

3. They didn't do toxicology tests during an autopsy?

Seems like that's something that would normally be done when someone is found dead, especially with no sign of injury and having been in good health. Instead they let the trail go cold for six months.

[REP]

8. Tests for poisons are not routinely done

[reformist2]

4. So, who got his money???

[riverbendviewgal]

5. This happened in June

and it is just out in the news today. And no word of what the police found in their investigation.

I find this very strange.

[Control-Z]

7. I wonder if winners are required

to have their names published in order to collect.

'Several weeks later, at a ceremony where he was presented with an oversized check, Khan said "Winning the lottery means everything to me." '

I will admit, I have thought (dreamed) about what I would do were I to actually win a sizable sum of money. And I've already decided I would keep the win a secret from everyone, including my family, at least for a period of time. When it came to sharing the money with family, friends, and charities, I would still conceal the total amount I had won. (Not because of them but because of others who might want to take advantage of someone (me) who has a history of being used and taken advantage of.)

Such a sad story. Sounds like it will be almost easy to find a suspect in this case. Who ended up getting the money?

[duffyduff]

10. Article in the Arizona Republic a few days ago

The differing approach to releasing information on the winners reflects a broader debate that is playing out in state Legislatures and lottery offices nationwide: Should the winners’ names be secret?

Lawmakers in Michigan and New Jersey think so, proposing bills to allow anonymity because winners are prone to falling victim to scams, shady businesses, greedy distant family members and violent criminals looking to shake them down.

Lotteries object, arguing that publicizing the winners’ names drives sales and that having their names released ensures that people know there isn’t something fishy afoot, like a game rigged so a lottery insider wins.

When players see that an actual person won, “it has a much greater impact than when they might read that the lottery paid a big prize to an anonymous player,” said Andi Brancato, director of public relations for the Michigan state lottery.

Most states require the names of lottery winners be disclosed, albeit in different ways. Some states require the winner to appear at a press conference, like Missouri winners Mark and Cindy Hill did on Nov. 30.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/free/20130104secret-lottery-winners.html


You may have read about the sensational Abraham Shakespeare murder case where he won the Florida lottery, only to fall prey to a con artist who murdered him and took what was left of his winnings. His killer, Dorice "Dee Dee" Moore, was convicted and sentenced to life without parole.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. No, the winners are not required to do that.

I've read articles where it said that the winner was remaining anonymous.

You're wise to keep the info from everyone. Again, I've read that winners who talk about it are inundated with "family" members who are looking for a handout.

[duffyduff]

12. Read my linked article

Most states REQUIRE winners' names to be made public.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. OK, I did read it. That's interesting, and a shame too.

Oh well.

I don't play...

[Incitatus]

14. "commenting on the rarity of cyanide poisonings"

Maybe that's because they're ruled natural causes without expanded screenings. Authorities didn't think a 46 year old dying of natural causes right after winning the lottery was suspicious enough to do that in the first place? I wonder how many more they missed.