Money does not bring happiness: These are stories from people who managed to win very large sums in the lottery. However, they managed to lose them very soon. But instead of solving the problems of their lives, they managed to create more than they had before winning the lottery. In more detail:
Money Does Not Bring Happiness - True Story: Abraham Shakespeare
Abraham Shakespeare won $ 30 million in the lottery and, choosing to collect the one-time winnings, took in his hands a sum of 17 million dollars. He was convinced that money would not change him. Shakespeare was always a kind man, helping those in need, and he intended to stay that way. Unfortunately, Shakespeare's kindness became known to the whole world. People stopped him on the street, others took him after him and everyone bombarded him with their bitter stories, the misfortunes that had befallen them and the cries for help. And he could not resist, offering his help to anyone who asked for it.
Shakespeare was just as generous as his friends, but his kindness quickly depleted his bank account. He met a woman, Doris Moore, who offered to help him manage his money. He accepted and Moore opened an account with Shakespeare. Spend a million dollars on expensive cars and luxury vacations. But it was not enough for her, she wanted all his money. When he got them, he shot Shakespeare twice in the chest and buried his body in a field.
He told his friends and family that Shakespeare had left town, wanting to escape the people who kept asking him for money. Moore pretended that Shakespeare was alive for months. He sent gifts to his son, texted him, allegedly arranged meetings with him, even hired someone to pretend to be Shakespeare, calling his mother.
Shakespeare's family was not fooled by Moore and reported him missing. Police soon found his body and arrested Moore, who was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Money Does Not Bring Happiness - True Story: Uroit Khan
When he earned a million dollars - 425.000 in cash as a lump sum after taxes - he decided to throw the money in his business and make a donation to a children's hospital.
After attending the press conference, holding the oversized check, he returned to his home, where he celebrated it with a traditional Indian dinner, accompanied by his daughter, his wife and his father-in-law. Khan did not feel well after dinner and went to bed early. He woke up in a state of panic and collapsed when he tried to stand on his feet. His wife called an ambulance and Khan was taken to hospital. He died the next day.
His death was attributed by doctors to natural causes - a type of cardiovascular disease. No autopsy was performed. Khan's brother, however, was not convinced by the explanations for his sudden death. He asked for an autopsy on his brother's body. This time the tests showed the presence of a lethal amount of cyanide in Khan's blood. Police searched for the killer, but so far to no avail. The case remains open until today…
Money Does Not Bring Happiness - True Story: Andrew Whitaker
Andrew Whitaker earned $ 314,9 million and received $ 113,4 million in taxes. He considered himself blessed and immediately began to "deposit" money for charity. He donated millions to his church and set up his own charity to help people find work, buy food or get an education. More and more people started asking him for money and receiving so many letters that he had to hire three people to open and sort them, working more than eight hours a day.
But some people were not willing to wait for a donation. Many came to his house every day to report his financial problems and pressure him to help them. Some of them became angry when he rejected them, and threatened his family. So they started suing Whitaker and filing lawsuits against him, with him spending over three million dollars (!), In order to repel hundreds of false and non-existent lawsuits.
Money Does Not Bring Happiness - True Story: The Story of Andrew Whitaker
Whitaker could not manage this new publicity and soon began to frequent strip clubs, where he participated in high-level gambling. One night, while he was in such a club, he opened his briefcase, which contained $ 545.000, someone saw it, watered it with drugs and stole his briefcase. The money was recovered, although the incident made his new bad habits public.
Although he was now resigned, his family still adored him. He was particularly close to his only grandson, Brady, whom he had raised, as her father had died and her mother, his daughter, was suffering from cancer. He gave 15-year-old Brady everything he asked for and many times, for no reason, he gave her thousands of dollars. The cash attracted drug dealers and soon the little girl became addicted. He sent her for detoxification, but she was not successful.
Two years later, Brady disappeared. Her body was discovered wrapped in plastic tarpaulin. The cause of death was reported as unknown, although drugs were found in her body. Brady's death broke up the Whitaker family. He and his wife divorced after 42 years of marriage. The following year his daughter died - his only child. Whitaker died a week ago at the age of 72.
Money Doesn't Bring Happiness - True Story: Jeffrey Dabier
He and his wife won $ 20 million in the lottery. They soon divorced and everyone got half the profits. Jeffrey met Crystal Jackson and started a relationship. The couple moved to Florida and Crystal took her two sisters with her, who ate and drank at Jeffrey's expense.
Victoria, Crystal's sister, called Jeffrey one day and invited him to her house. When he got there, he was confronted by Victoria and her boyfriend, Nathaniel. Although Jeffrey financially supported Victoria, she and Nathaniel wanted more. Nathaniel pulled a gun on Jeffrey. He ordered Victoria to tie his wrists with laces. They searched Jeffrey and found several thousand dollars in his pockets. It was not enough for them.
Nathaniel, under the threat of a gun, forced Jeffrey into his van. Victoria was driving while Nathaniel repeatedly hit Jeffrey on the head, demanding money. Victoria stopped at the side of the road and then Nathaniel handed her the gun and said, "Either you kill him or I kill you." She shot and killed Jeffrey. Both were later arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
Money does not bring happiness - True story: Rene Senna
Brazilian Rene Senna did not have a good life. He had worked in a butcher's shop, but had to stop when diabetes "caused" the amputation of both his legs. He had to make the street vendor to survive. His wife could not stand their new life. He took their children and left.
In 2005, Senna's life changed when she hit a rock: she won $ 16,8 million in the lottery. He quickly met another woman, Adriana Almeida, who was 25 years younger than him. She had known each other for a long time, however, she became interested in him after winning the lottery. They soon got married and Almeida became the manager of her husband's estate.
Almeida persuaded Senna to exclude his 11 brothers from his will. In his new will he left half of his money in Almeida, which had access to his bank accounts. She took $ 580.000 from their joint account and put it in her own bank account. Senna was furious when she discovered that she had used the money to buy a penthouse.
He thought that she had an extramarital affair - which he had - and warned her that he would end it. Almeida left him and left the house. A few days later Senna went to his favorite bar. Two armed men on motorcycles stopped him and threatened to kill him if he did not give them his money. He was shot four times in the head before leaving. Police found that Almeida was behind the murder and she was arrested, found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Money Does Not Bring Happiness - True Story: Craigori Bertz Jr.
Craigori Bertz did not believe it when he won $ 434.272 in a lottery. Unfortunately, this skyrocketing money soon brought problems. Bertz began receiving phone calls and text messages warning him to be careful because some people were planning to rob him. Two months later, the warnings came true.
Multiple shots were fired at the front door of Bertz's home and armed masked men stormed his home. Bertz was terrified: he was surrounded by his family and was holding his two-year-old son in his arms. The robbers threatened them all with weapons, he begged them not to harm his family and offered them his bank card. He took off his pants, threw them at the robbers to get his wallet, they could not find it and furiously shot him in both legs before leaving.
However, they soon returned. The robbers shot Bertz again, before leaving forever. Fortunately, the robbers did not bother Bertz's girlfriend and his children. His girlfriend ran to get help, but it was too late for Bertz, who had died. The robbers were arrested and seven people were charged with his death.
Money Does Not Bring Happiness - True Story: Maria Lou Devrell
David and Maria Lou Devrell were thrilled to win $ 5.000.000. They hired an old friend of theirs, Peter Kelly, as CFO to help them manage their money. The Devrells gave him power of attorney to control their expenses and bank accounts. He was also able to get money from their accounts for his own pay.
Peter did not approve of Maria's expenses and one day went to their house to talk to her about her finances. The conversation quickly turned into a quarrel and Peter and Maria started hitting each other. Peter angrily left the house and went to his car. He returned with a rubber mallet, which he had wrapped in plastic. He hit Maria on the head several times and then strangled her. He directed a robbery and left.
Maria's body was found later that day and Peter was arrested two weeks later. She said that their fight started when she remarked to her, because she was spending the money very quickly. However, in court it turned out that he was the one who had invested the couple's money incorrectly and had lost almost a million dollars. Maria had challenged Peter's financial advice and he did not want to lose control of Devrell's money. Peter was sentenced to 13-18 years in prison.
Money Does Not Bring Happiness - True Story: Basil Thorne
In 1960, Basil Thorne won .100.000 1,5 - over $ XNUMX million today - in a lottery. He and his family appeared on the front pages of newspapers: the articles included the family photo, the names, the address and the amount of the prize. The publicity caught the attention of Stephen Bradley, who wanted some of their profits for himself.
Bradley decided to kidnap Thorne's eight-year-old son, Graham, and keep him as ransom. Bradley watched the family and perfected his plan. One day, Graham was waiting on the street corner of his house for a family friend, Phyllis Smith, to pick him up for school. Unfortunately, Bradley was the first to reach the boy. Bradley dragged Graham into his car, drove him down a deserted road and gave him drugs, leaving the boy unconscious.
Meanwhile, Phyllis was surprised that Graham was not expecting her. He went and found his mother, who immediately called the police. A few minutes later, the phone rang. Bradley said he had Graham and wanted .25.000 400.000 ($ 12 today) to return him. Bradley called again, XNUMX hours later. He told them the money should be placed in two paper bags, but closed before leaving any further instructions. Bradley panicked because he had accidentally given too much drugs to Graham and the boy had died.
Several days passed without any contact between Thorne and Bradley. Police finally found the boy's body in a deserted field. Bradley was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
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