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Subscribe to RSSUrooj Khan, 46, won $1 million off a scratch lottery ticket he bought at a 7-11 in Chicago last June, but just one day after receiving his check, he died. Now, his death has been ruled a homicide, as toxicology reports showed deadly cyanide in his system. NBC's Andrea Canning reports.
A lottery winner was fatally poisoned with cyanide just as he was about to collect his payout on a $1 million instant lottery ticket, a Chicago medical examiner said Monday.
Urooj Khan died July 20, one day after the state issued a check to him for $425,000, which represented the after tax amount on the lump sum payout on his winning ticket. The check wasn’t cashed until Aug. 15, likely by a member of his estate.
After a limited exam, Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina found no trauma or unusual substances in the 46-year-old's body, and the medical examiner's office declared that he died of natural causes.
Khan was buried at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, but within a week a concerned relative asked the medical examiner's office to take a closer look.
“They had concerns that it was deemed a natural cause of death and wanted us to look harder,” Cina told NBCChicago.com. “And we did.”
The medical examiner’s office determined from comprehensive toxicology reports that Khan had ingested a deadly amount of cyanide and his death has been reclassified as a homicide.
Police are considering exhuming his body as part of the investigation.
Lottery winner killed by cyanide was immigrant, family man
“It’s a very lethal drug,” Cina said of the lethal dosage of cyanide investigators found in Khan’s toxicology samples. “It’s a chemical poison. It basically asphyxiates you at the biochemical level, so a little goes a long way.”
Khan bought his winning ticket at a 7-Eleven near his home in West Rogers Park, a neighborhood on Chicago's North Side. A native of India, he came to Chicago in the late 1980s and began working at a dry cleaners. He grew his business to include three Chicago-area dry cleaners, and reportedly planned to invest his lottery winnings in his stores.
He also planned to give some of his winnings to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Khan described his gleeful reaction to winning in a June press release from the Illinois Lottery. “I scratched the ticket, then I kept on saying, ‘I hit a million!’ over and over again,” Khan said. “I jumped two feet in the air, then ran back into the store and tipped the clerk $100.”
Khan’s wife declined an interview with NBCChicago.com outside one of her deceased husband’s dry cleaners. Her husband was a “kind and good-hearted person,” she said.
“He was a family man who worked hard for his family,” friend Jimmy Goreel told NBCChicago.com. “I just can’t see it happening. If that’s true, it’s sad."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Was it poison that killed him or the shock that gov't took 575 thousand from his million. Who said the rich weren't paying their share!
LOL. They should check on that possibility too!
Where is Quincy when you need him?
I agree that lottery winnings should be kept secret. Even from relatives and friends.
What planet do you live on sweetie?
smartprlady lives on a smarter planet than you do cybercraig!
On a brighter note, since he is from Chicago he is still eligible to vote in the next election.
The Lottery is the killer not allowing winners to remain anonymous. omg crazy stuff with this lottery. why do we even have it.
If I had to look at that ugly SOB every day I'd poison him too! I'd stuff it into his triple cheeseburger!
How sick and rude of you! Your parents must be so proud! Not!
Sad that he got poisoned but I think the real crime is that he got taxed 57.5%on his winnings
Hell, I'd be tickled to death. Let me ask you this: Would you turn it down, if you had to pay 60%?
YIKES....didn't see the lethal dose the first time?? they hire mental cases for medical examiners now....holy @!$%#! We're in trouble for sure!!
Cyanide difficult to trace....unless one has a reason to look for it. Don't you watch TV? LOL, LOL, LOL!
He DID have a reason to look for it...a coroner is supposed to look for ALL possibilities and as easily as it is to obtain cyanide he should have been smart enough to look for that and all other poisons.
I'll make sure he knows your opinion Glenda! Ha ha ha!
@AllPeopleRights....well, how come they checked a second time and found it...moron!! BTW, are you one of those welfare bums that watch the boob tube all day long?? LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!
I say we ban money and start to trade goods again! Libs thoughts??
Far Right stupidity again! Think stupid, say stupid, then blame liberals. Ever realize what a joke you are? Thanks for the chuckles, though.
Describes you to a 'T' AllPeopleRights!! By your rants here, you are definitely a mental case!! First someone's a joke, then you're thanking them for the chuckles? Whewwwwww....SMH!!
@brandon10101;good observation.however,this country being as it is today,i be first to say it aint safe yet.add those bucks and alot of roaches come out of the woodwork.you can factor the rest yourself if tou want.this is maybe only example im kinda glad im lower on food chain.that aint in stone either.
See, this is why I'm not going to tell ya'll when I win!!
@Russ62 they werent taxed @ a 57% rate. they accepted the lump sum option which drastically lowers what the actual payout is before taxes
The article said his picture was undated. I suggest that it was taken the day he brought in the ticket. I'm smart like that, lol.
This is why medical examiners are scary places. Didn't toxicology come back on a 46 yr old man who suddenly died???? OMG! They didn't check for that?? I recently saw 48 hrs where Dr. Baden said a woman "fell" down the steps and landed to the right (bruises everywhere) vs another ME who said she had been strangled and beaten!! Give me Cyril Wecht any time. He questions everything!!
The old curse of the lottery. So sad.
leadin, Would that be the lib who made the comment about the 47% that you are talking about?
Sounds like one of the Chicago cops is in on this $425k...probably the one that didn't find any foul play initially...wonder which relative is paying him off?!?!
He's not really dead he bought 12 new taxi cabs and is living well.
you are all wrong--------- it was the butler
How the hell did gun control get brought up? The article is about a poisoning. Also for those for those numb-nuts who say "well maybe the liberals should ban cyanide" cyanide is illegal. Notice the lack of MASS POISONINGS in recent memory.
They're called TROLLS, Jordan. Anywhere there is an issue, the RW Trolls come out with their Whiny ,sour grapes, angry hate speech.
It is amazing how someone that hates people so much could claim to love their country.
Hate speech from RW? Let any LW without hate throw the first stone. The word hate was invented by libturds.
Yeah, it's the liberals' fault!--- cleaner air than the 1970's, LIBERALS FAULT. out of Iraq, LIBERALS FAULT
Social Security? LIBERALS FAULT Medicare? LIBERALS FAULT. unemployment insurance? LIBERALS FAULT, minimum wage? LIBERALS FAULT
Those Darn Liberals, they just keep making our society safer, and more civilized. How's a guy supposed to scam his neighbor and shoot him for his property with his brand new assault rifle with all these LIBERALS screwing it up for everybody?
Since the RWingnuts don't govern, (they just start wars and shrink the government they work in),
It's obvious it's the LIBERALS FAULT
Releigh. Most murders committed in the U.S. are commmitted by guns and not by hammers nitwit. Many times Cyanide poisoning can be diagnosed as a heart attack. This is why the iceman used Cyanide so often. Also, the person does not need to ingest the Cyanide if the Cyanide is in solution. It passes through the skin. Iceman would go to a bar, take a beer, put Cyanide in it then bump into the victim and spill some on his skin. Dead man and most people thought he had a heart attack. The motive in this case is the money and who would stand to inherrit the money if this man died is a suspect. Next an investigation as to where Cyanide is sold in the city and check records when someone last purchased Cyanide. Cyanide is not used for many purposes, apart from killing someone, except in the Gold mining industry.
uh, thanks Columbo
Song of Solomon 8:6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
Winner's names are annonced which is terrible. I wonder how many other winners were robbed or murdered. Winner's names should not be announced for their own safety and privacy.
I totally agree!
We can't blame anything on guns here? OK move on to the next story.
No Gun problem here,but it is Obamas Fault. Obama should have banned the manufacture of cyanide.