Be careful what you wish for. Horror tales of lottery winners

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Andrew "Jack" Whittaker Jr. became an instant celebrity after winning a record $315 million Powerball jackpot on Christmas night in 2002, and even flew off in a private jet with his family to appear on New York City morning television shows after hitting the jackpot.  Whittaker’s life quickly took a tumultuous turn as he began struggling with drinking and gambling, his wife left him, several family members tragically died, and he was twice charged with driving under the influence and also with assault by three female casino employees.  Whittaker, who was already a wealthy businessman when he won the lottery, was also robbed multiple times, with thieves stealing over $100,000 from him on separate occasions, and he was believed to be broke in the years leading up to his death in 2020. "I wish I’d torn that ticket up," a sobbing Whittaker told reporters after the death of his daughter.

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David Lee Edwards, a convicted felon from Kentucky, won a $27 million share of a record $280 million jackpot in 2001 and quickly started a spending spree that included a mansion, dozens of luxury cars and a private jet with a personal pilot.  Five years later, the money was gone and Edwards was living with his wife in a storage unit contaminated with human feces. Edwards's wife ended up leaving him and he died penniless in hospice care in 2013 at the age of 58. 

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Florida man Abraham Shakespeare was illiterate and regularly unemployed when he won a $17 million jackpot in 2006. By 2009, Shakespeare had squandered most of his money and was convinced by a friend to wire her a $1.3 million ownership stake in his home. That same friend, Dorice Moore, shot and killed Shakespeare in his own backyard shortly after and was convicted of murder in 2012, earning her a sentence of life in prison.

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Mack W. Metcalf and his estranged wife Virginia G. Merida shared a $34 million jackpot in 2000 and quickly got to work spending the fortune on drugs, a mansion and exotic pets. Three years later, the couple were dead after Metcalf died from complications of alcoholism and Merida from a suspected drug overdose.  "If he hadn’t won, he would have worked like regular people and maybe had 20 years left," Marilyn Collins, Metcalf’s first wife, told The New York Times in 2005. "But when you put that kind of money in the hands of somebody with problems, it just helps them kill themselves."

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