Drugs and Lottery – A Popular Combo of Lethal Characteristics among Lottery Winners
Only good guys find bounty, you say? Talk about the bounty, some lottery winners banked massive fortunes, spent them on (what we would call) lavishly expensive pursuits and finally blew it all…
The Good, The Bad and The Addicted
Here’s what you might hear in a conversation between a drug addicted lottery winner and another person, “You might have been rich but today you have nothing to give”. That’s right, ‘drugs and lottery – a popular combo of lethal characteristics among lottery winners’. So what is it that makes lottery winners pick such deadly passions that unfortunately leave them speechless (read: dead)? One such lottery winner that comes to mind is David Lee Edwards; a man who had everything yet had nothing at all. Confused much?
David Lee Edwards – A Richest Poor Lottery Winner
David Lee Edwards was well-known as a school dropout, an ex-con who had robbed a gas station when he was in his mid-20s and a proud owner of $27 million cash. Let’s rewind a bit, shall we? After spending most of his life in and out of jail, David was receiving unemployment benefits and even owed many months of back child support. On the 25th of August 2001, 46-year old Edwards purchased lotto tickets worth $7 from Clark’s Pump-N-Shop in Westwood, Kentucky hoping to win a fortune to make things right. What he won is a dream for all lottery winners… the jackpot for a whopping $27 million. He wanted to make things right, but unfortunately it was, perhaps, too late…
Words of Wisdom Washed Away by the Sea of Drugs
‘You know, a lot of people, they’re out of work. Doesn’t have hardly anything. And so I didn’t want to accept this money by saying I’m going to get mansions and I’m going to get cars (which he did), I’m going to do this and that. I would like to accept it with humility. I want this money to last, for me, for my future wife, for my daughter and future generations (it didn’t even last for him)’ said Edwards after winning the lottery.
Drugs and a Whopping $27 Million
David had the entire world at his feet. He had money, time, family and friends – everything a man could ever dream of. Unfortunately, he was addicted to crack, prescription meds and heroin. David, who wanted to make things right, sadly ended up spending all his money on whatever he fancied like a Lamborghini, a private jet and a pilot, multiple homes and businesses, private tennis and golf court, cheap medieval armor and weapons, more exotic cars, jewelry and a $30,000 plasma screen TV. Jaw-dropping isn’t it? Three months after his win, he spent almost $3 million and a year later he had already spent $12 million! By 2006 he had lost it all to the point that he died owing thousands of dollars to friends. Died? Here’s part two of David’s drug filled life with a drug addicted partner.
David and Shawna – A Taste of Deceit
After winning the lottery, Edwards married long-time girlfriend Shawna (a drug addict who bounced in and out of drug rehab for addiction to OxyContin and other drugs) in Malibu and fathered a daughter they named Tiffani. During their stay together, both Edwards (who was consuming OxyContin, like free candies) and Shawna caught hepatitis from sharing tainted needles. Love is blind, deaf and dumb, I say. But not long after he lost most of his money Shawna left him, took $500,000 to hand over Tiffani’s custody to him and remarried. But marriage is an eye-opener, maybe?
The Fall of David Lee Edwards
Long story short, Tiffani wrote, “There is no money anywhere” on Facebook. She was also quoted saying that her father had left her with nothing – not even a life insurance policy. Not sure what she did with the $35,000 worth Hummer golf cart that Edward had bought for her… Within five years, unlike many lottery winners, Edwards was broke, sick and still very much addicted to drugs. Finally, on the 30th of November 2013 Edward, who was then 58 years old, succumbed to his ill-fate and died in hospice care leaving behind a lesson for other lottery winners to learn.
Other Drug Addicted Lottery Winners
David’s story might have left you alarmed, but he wasn’t alone. Joining him are fellow lottery winners Michael Carroll, Willie Hurt and Charles Riddle, all of whom were drug addicts. From what you have read, you might have concluded that in the rarest of cases, winning an incomprehensible amount of money through a lottery is just bad mojo. Instead of enjoying the pleasures of this world responsibly, it simply invites negative thoughts driving lottery winners to do exactly what they were not supposed to do.
