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Subscribe to RSSOften depicted as the perfect poison in antiquated crime novels, cyanide – the drug police believe to be the cause of death of a lottery winner in Chicago shortly before he was to collect his winnings – is a potent, painful killer that essentially suffocates its victims.
David Benjamin, a professor of biomedical forensic sciences at Boston University, said cyanide is the murder weapon of choice for some because it "can be used surreptitiously, it’s very potent and few drugs act as rapidly.”
Indeed, the Cook County medical examiner initially ruled the death 46-year-old Urooj Khan, a $1 million lottery winner, to be arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a condition involving the hardening of arteries, after an external examination. No autopsy was performed, because there were not obvious injuries and no reason to suspect foul play.
“Unless there’s significant trauma to the body, and without having a knife sticking out of the guy’s chest, the medical examiner will probably say, 'Oh, it was a cardiac event,'" Benjamin said.
But several days after Khan's body was released for burial, a family member approached the doctor who examined the body and suggested officials look into the matter further.
More in-depth toxicology tests, blood analysis and new screening results revealed a lethal level of cyanide in Khan's blood, according to the medical examiner's report. And with that, like something out of a Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie murder mystery, Khan’s official manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Poisoned lottery winner had no enemies, wife says
Usually found only in scientific labs, cyanide is a potent poison that can be ingested or inhaled. It cannot be legally purchased.
“It’s basically a poison that impedes your body’s ability to use oxygen,” Benjamin said. “It blocks the ability of your blood to circulate oxygen throughout your body, and you basically die from suffocation.”
Cyanide poisoning would probably feel “like someone had wrapped your face with Saran wrap,” he added.
Deborah Blum, an expert on poisons who wrote about the detectives who pioneered forensic toxicology in "The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York," said the once-popular homicidal poison essentially results in "this explosion of cell death."
AP file
This undated photo provided by the Illinois Lottery shows Urooj Khan, 46, of Chicago's West Rogers Park neighborhood, posing with a winning lottery ticket.
But Blum said the use of cyanide in killings has become rare because it is difficult to obtain. It can also be easy to detect in some cases, leaving blue splotches on a victim's skin, making it less stealthy than killers would like.
"The thing about it is that it's not one of those poisons that's tasteless," Blum told The Associated Press. "It has a really strong, bitter taste, so you would know you had swallowed something bad if you had swallowed cyanide. But if you had a high enough dose it wouldn't matter, because ... a good lethal dose will take you out in less than five minutes."
Other cyanide poisonings have made headlines in recent years.
- A 42-year-old man in North Carolina poisoned himself in November of last year by ingesting or inhaling potassium cyanide. The incident prompted a hazardous material cleanup.
- The wife of a once-powerful Chinese politician admitted responsibility for poisoning British businessman Neil Heywood in November 2011 with cyanide over dinner. Heywood was found dead hours later in his hotel room. An internal Chinese report confirmed that he died from potassium cyanide added to his drink.
- An Ohio emergency room doctor was convicted of aggravated murder in March 2010 for lacing his wife's calcium supplement five years earlier with cyanide so he could be with his mistress. On that day, his wife, Rosemarie, collapsed while driving and crashed her SUV into another vehicle.
Chicago Medical Examiner Stephen Cina, who is overseeing Khan's case, told the AP that out of 4,500 autopsies he has performed, he has only seen two incidences of cyanide poisoning.
Khan's body will be exhumed within the next two weeks, Cina said, in order to complete an investigation into his death.
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For a suspect(s) start with who has the lottery ticket or has the money. This will be a family member.
No doubt it has to be a family member since the person who came forward to inform the Doctor, who did the autopsy, to look deeper was a family member, its just a matter of time before someone is arrested.
RwEvans: The ME did further toxicology screening which revealed the presence of cyanide. The autopsy has NOT been done yet; his body has to be exhumed first. A report I read stated it was Khan's brother who demanded further testing-he and Khan's wife were squabbling in probate court (Khan left no will) because he was concerned Khan's daughter (from a previous marriage) would not get her fair share. Khan and his wife Ansari had no children together. I can surmise that Khan was deeply in debt as it was reported that a 7-11 employee stated Khan had a serious gambling addiction spending $700 a day on scratch tickets. Khan went to Saudi Arabia, returned and vowed to change his ways; yet, he still was not over the addiction as he bought two scratch tickets, one, a winner. I think Ansari had the motive as she did not want to see the winnings gambled away. I agree with you Evans, it's only a matter of time before someone is arrested and in my opinion it will be Ansari. A search warrant of Khan's home has been obtained and completed. Does make one wonder how many persons have died of *natural causes* when maybe they were poisoned and did not have extensive toxicology tests done because nothing seemed suspicious and no one raised an alarm as Khan's brother did. ME say poison by cyanide is rare. How can they say that with certainty when toxicology screening is not the norm and death is therefore listed as *natural causes* as was the original finding of Khan.
@Katy Katy I believe the same thing , you detailed all, now my theory is that the wife is the one suspicious...
One commentated that the daughter moved out after the burial took place .......lets wait .....
thats a great headline.sounds like a commercial.why should you use cyanide to kill? its potent and discreet!!!!! get yours today!!! at fine stores everywhere!!!! wtf?
My thoughts exactly. Do we really need articles like this to give crazy people ideas to help in their attempts to inflict evil on others? Why on earth would MSNBC put this kind of info out there?
No kidding! I don't know why they feel it's necessary to provide a blueprint of how these murderers committed their crimes. I remember after the school shooting, they pretty much gave a play by play of how the guy got in the school and where exactly he went. I understand reporting the news, but is it really necessary to provide so much detail? Also, I find it to be disrespectful to the victims and their families. You think they really want to read about every detail so they can imagine how it went down?
one-two-bbq - well said !!!!! totally agree , what a complete joke!!
but i guess its business for media....
The money has never been awarded. It currently is tied up in probate.
If the wife did it, she was counting her chickens before they hatched; if she didn't, the next closest family member was the teenage daughter.
The lotto check has been cashed and maybe by a family member, the check was cashed on Aug.15 for the sum of 425.000, so who has the money?
Sorry to say, but every lottery winner has made an enemy of every person who bought a ticket and lost; if you happen to of a minority, the insult felt by a loser is even worse. Have a photo taken then plastered all over the news? Not a good idea; now everyone knows not only who you are but what you look like. The time when people could be happy with the good fortune of the winner are long gone; today to become a lottery winner brands a huge target to the middle of the winner's back.
Gee NBC thanks for the ideas. ..........has Chicago solved the problem by taxing it yet?
Your same comment here is as silly as it was on the other thread regarding this story. Can you BE any more juvenile?
They should ban and restrict the availability of Cyanide! (oh wait, they already do.)
They should ban almonds! (you can derive Cyanide from almond shells.)
They should make it illegal to kill someone! (oh wait, they already do.)
Goes to show how effective laws are at preventing devious minds from committing crimes and murder.
There is a long list of plants that are poisonous. Google List of poisonous plants. Caster oil plant comes to mind. Excellent ground cover, kills and deters moles and has nice flowers. Save your apple seeds and eat them all at once. Tomato plant leaves and stems. Asparagus stems or roots. Asparagus is rough enough to eat as a food item. Ugh.
Skeptic-47579.......you said:
So, are you suggesting that we should not have (some) laws because they are imperfect at preventing (some) crimes?
OR
That we should NOT "restrict the availability of cyanide" because (through an involved process) some folks MIGHT be able to "derive Cyanide from almond shells"?
Please, be clear what your point is.
(Philosophical) skepticism requires assertions be supported by evidence.
Do you have evidence that NO crimes have gone uncommitted because of laws limiting the availability of cyanide?
Can you refer us to a case where it was proven (even reasonably believed) a person was killed or injured by application of cyanide (derived from almond shells by the attacker or accomplice)?
FYI: http://ocw.usu.edu/english/introduction-to-writing-academic-prose/inductive-and-deductive-reasoning.html
Actually I would argue that restricting access to cyanide is pretty effective, as its use as a poisoning agent appears to be relatively rare, as compared to other means of homicide
You must have a relatively low IQ. The story gives proof that restricting the ownership of something keeps deaths from that something low.
Ian Emdee....get a life...Skeptic-47579...excellent post
2little2late-7381371......you said (above):
.....you said (on another thread):
Do you mean a life spent immersed in the arcane details of a two-bit television space fantasy? No, thanks.
The idea that laws restricting devices like poison and knives and guns prevents evil (a concept I am sure you reject) has been proved utter rot so often I am surprised anyone who seems reasonably educated would assert it at all. I give you New York City and Chicago. The thrust to criminalize all these artifices is to pass power from individuals to the state.
@YOUNG ....WHY not keep that info . for your self if you ever needed .......No need for more stupid ideea to kill ,more that it is outhere .The bottom line here is that man should not have his life taken away for the money ........Condolences to his family that lost him.
CN- what a devious little anion.
"I'm sorry O2 you can't attach to this iron atom, I'm currently residing here and I have no intention of leaving"
I thought it worked by blocking the electron transport chain...
Both, which kills you depends on the dose
Wow! I didn't know there were discreet methods of murdering someone. What an idea! (sarcasm)
Well obviously whoever was set to get the money if he died did it. Duh. And now all they'll get is a nice 8X10 cell.
Hopefully the Anthrax Killer isn't back at it again, in new form.
It's so awful way to die - and yet I just read on another article that some people about to embark on top secret missions have them in their shirt pocket - capture is unacceptable.
I think they learned that tactic from Hitler.
If only guns were so rare ...
The only way to stop a bad guy with cyanide, is a good guy with cyanide.
Cyanide doesn't kill people, people kill people. Haven't you been paying attention?
This article makes little or no sense. If it was ruled death by natural cause, how were the specimens for toxicology obtained. Usually, these are taken during autopsy. The above article says he had not been exhumed. So lacking in journalistic skill. Just pathetic!
If your spouse starts saving apple seeds, be careful. You learn something new every day.
Time for more cyanide control laws!
Ban all lotteries. They lead to murders!
Lottery violence must end NOW!
So many possibilities here. First I thought that because Khan had come into a large sum, his relatives were suggesting he get himself a third wife from India, and the second wife (the one he was living with, whom he had brought from India 12 years ago, who had not given him any children) was scared. The fact that Khan's 17-year-old daughter came from a previous marriage raises new possibilities with regard to motive. What happened to wife No. 1? Is she still alive? How is it that she has no contact with her daughter, and Khan's siblings are trying to get custody of the girl? Khan might have been the type of person who, because he did not want to pay any child support, forced the girl's mother out of the picture. In addition to the mystery regarding the girl's mother's disappearance, given that Khan was a compulsive gambler and a workaholic who apparently also put his wife hard at work in the businesses, I believe he may not have been an easy man to live with - and thus, the second wife decided to rid herself of him.
@Gaile Irene ......I hope someone will write such nice words about you when you pass ....your facts are all on speculations hopefully your are not selected on any jury duty .........Just a thought ,have a nice day .
The wife will be arrested within 2 weeks (if they find the source). Poisoning in India is rampant. If she don't crack they will have to find out how she got it. If it was mailed from India then they may never convict her. We will see.
Wait.....WHAT? A story dedicated on on how to use cyanide as a 'discreet' way to kill? Hey Mach, while yer at it, why not tell ' your readership' the best ways to administer cyanide, or better yet, how to make cyanide undetectable in a dead body? Lemme guess... did a real writer call in sick and they let you outta the mail room to write this gem?
Typical NBC... telling the enemy how to kill the right way.
Bet ya think you'll win a Pulitzer, huh Machy?
money makes most people CraZy, even Governments, what else is new ??.......
Is this just too sad or what?
Yes Randall we all have to say that instead of teaching people how to poison while at it .