When he won, he opted for the one-time payout, rather than the annual payments. And within a year of being an instant millionaire, Edwards went on a spending spree. His Palm Beach neighbors complained that Edwards had so many cars in his driveway, that it looked like a car dealership. He also spent on three losing racehorses, a limo business, and a fiber optics installation company. He also spent lavishly on medieval armor and swords to decorate his mansion -- most of it cheap knock offs of originals.
Within five years, he was broke. A strong earth daymaster where water was his wealth. He also sold off all of the bonds and stocks that Gibbs had invested for him. In addition to collecting cars, Edwards also started collecting antiques, swords, and armour. At one point, he had a collection of around of these items. By , just five years after hitting the jackpot, Edwards had spent all of his money and joined the ranks of lottery winners who went bankrupt. Like lottery winner Amanda Clayton , he and his wife Shawna both became addicted to drugs.
His ex-girlfriend sued him for part of his winnings and his brother reportedly hired a hitman to kill him, according to Forbes. The real problem, however, was his lavish spending. It was all gone in less than four years. Arcand bought a furnished house and several vacations, but the biggest hit came in the form of a failed investment. Arcand opened a restaurant in her hometown of Lawrence, which she was forced to close within a few years. Alex Toth died broke in at the age of He checked into a mental institution after splitting with his wife and getting charged with tax fraud by the IRS.
He squandered it all on an excessive lifestyle. He bought a house that doubled as a nightly party spot hosting his ever-growing legion of hangers-on. He also blew the cash on cars, partying and gifts, while racking up a string of legal entanglements, according to The Globe and Mail.
By the end, he was doing manual labor on a farm to support his girlfriend and six young children. Her donations were well-intentioned, but she simply gave too much. After donating huge sums to educational, political and social causes, she sold her rights to future annual payments in exchange for a lump sum, according to Time.
Swindlers, grifters and con artists see lottery winners as prey, a fact few people know better than Marva Wilson. Pearson was eventually sentenced to five years in prison. This was during the height of the crack epidemic, and Hurt was deeply tangled in the mayhem. His winnings became fuel for a raging rock cocaine addiction. By , he was broke and going through a divorce. He was also charged with murdering a woman while on a multiday drug and alcohol bender, the Associated Press reported.
She died in Five years later, her husband, Dr. Joseph Roncaioli was convicted of poisoning her. Ibi Roncaioli had squandered not only the lottery fortune but also the hefty salary her gynecologist husband earned. As of , his case remained unsolved. Mullins later took advantage of a change in lottery rules that let her receive her future payments in a lump sum, and she stopped making payments on the loan. In , a man named Thomas Rossi was shocked to learn that his wife of 25 years wanted a divorce from what he believed was a happy marriage — and she wanted it fast.
He took her to court and a judge ruled that Denise Rossi intentionally broke asset-disclosure laws to hide the jackpot winnings. She gambled much of it away, however, and gave away even more. Unable to control her spending, it was all gone by the turn of the millennium. More bad luck: You won't want to win the jackpot after reading these horror stories. But things didn't go well.
After he won the jackpot, Edwards and his wife spent the earnings on a mansion, dozens of expensive cars and a jet. They spent until the money ran out and left them both living in a storage unit after five years, according to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.
Edwards and his wife contracted hepatitis from their needle drug use and both were arrested multiple times for possession of crack cocaine, pills and heroin, according to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.
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