Lottery winner who won $20 million died in brutal circumstances after having affair
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
A lottery winner who won a huge $20 million died in the most brutal of circumstances following an affair he became involved in.
Jeffrey Dampier Jr. took home the massive jackpot back in 1996 after winning the Illinois state lottery. But shortly after, Dampier divorced his wife at the time - giving her half of his $20 million winnings.
He later remarried, but Dampier ended up having an affair with his sister-in-law.
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As you can expect, things didn't turn out well as a result of his cheating.
Following his divorce, Dampier relocated from Chicago's West Side to Tampa, Florida, and met Crystal Jackson - whom he went on to marry.
He was generous with his money, especially with his new wife's family.
Dampier even moved Jackson's sisters, Victoria and Terri, to Tampa and, as they had no means of their own, the gourmet popcorn shop owner took care of their finances.
But Dampier ending up having an affair with his wife's sister Victoria, and apparently Victoria's boyfriend Nathaniel Jackson soon found out.
Rather than leave Victoria, he and his girlfriend plotted against Dampier - presumably in a bid to get his money.
According to sources, in 2005 Dampier was lured to Victoria's apartment as she was claiming to be having car troubles.
Upon his arrival, Dampier was tied up by Nathaniel who threw him in the back of a van that was being driven by Victoria.
Nathaniel is said to have repeatedly hit Dampier with a gun and demanded his money - but he didn't cooperate.
As a result of this, Nathaniel turned to Victoria to try haggle with her other boyfriend and handed her the gun.
Reportedly, he then backed her into a corner and told Victoria: "Shoot him or I'll shoot you."
Victoria proceeded to shoot Dampier in the skull and was later found guilty of first-degree murder, armed kidnapping and armed carjacking in 2006.
She was handed three consecutive life sentences, with Nathaniel receiving a similar punishment.
Dampier isn't the only person who fell on hard times after winning the lottery; one woman in California was forced to her give fortune away to her husband after not telling him about her success.
In 1996, the same year Dampier won his money, Denise Rossi won $1.3 million.
Less than two weeks later, she filed for divorce from her husband of 25 years - but never disclosed her newfound fortune to him.
Mr Rossi didn’t find out about the win until around two years after the divorce when he got a letter from a company that pays lump sums for lottery winnings.
He then obtained an injunction a few days later and took his former wife to court.
There, they ruled that his ex-wife must pay him 20 annual instalments of $66,800, although Ms Rossi’s attorney called the ruling ‘very punitive’.