When Abraham Lee Shakespeare won US$30 million (A$46 million) in the lottery on November 15, 2006, his life changed forever.
But the massive sum of money ended up ruining his life, before he was murdered just three years later.
Shakespeare had given co-worker Michael Ford two dollars and asked him to buy him two lottery tickets at a convenience store in Florida.
But when Shakespeare won the big prize, he was sued by Ford.
Ford claimed Shakespeare had stolen the winning ticket from his wallet. A jury thought otherwise.
But for the remaining years of his life, he found himself continually approached by friends, hangers-on and strangers wanting money from him.
“I’d have been better off broke,” he told his brother.
In 2008, a woman named Dee Dee Moore approached Shakespeare, ostensibly seeking to write a book about his rags-to-riches story.
Abraham Shakespeare was murdered several years after he won the lottery. (Supplied)
Though she had no experience writing, he said yes.
By this point, he had already given away most of his winnings.
Moore offered to become Shakespeare’s financial adviser, gaining control of his assets.
She then transferred all his money into a company bearing his name. But Shakespeare had no access to the cash.
Then, in April 2009, he disappeared.
His family hoped that he had done what he had spoken of doing in the past, taking his money and disappearing into anonymity, somewhere in the Caribbean.
The truth was far more grim.
After months with no contact, his family reported him missing in November that year.
Moore had told people Shakespeare had left town to go to Texas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico or elsewhere in Florida.Â
She also sent text messages from his phone to friends and family pretending to be him, in spite of the fact he was illiterate.
Then, in January 2010, police searched her house.
Shakespeare’s body was found buried underneath a concrete slab.
Moore blamed others for his death, including a drug dealer, a lawyer and even her own teenage son.
Then she claimed she had shot him in self-defence.
Dee Dee Moore remains in prison for Abraham Shakespeare’s murder. (AP)
But the jury was unconvinced.
She was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. She remains behind bars.
Shakespeare’s murder prompted calls to allow anonymity for lottery winners in Florida.
Unlike in Australia, Florida law requires that lottery winners be publicly revealed.
That includes their name and city of birth.
But the law wasn’t changed, and lottery winners remain on the public record.
Remarkably enough, Shakespeare’s ex-girlfriend Antoinette Andrews won the lottery herself in 2017.
The mother of his teenage son won US$1 million (A$1.53 million) in 2017.
Her other son told WTSP they intended to be careful with who they trusted and were hanging up on well-wishers before they could ask for money.