Lottery winner’s cyanide death ruled homicide, body exhumed for tests, arrest

After exhuming lottery winner Urooj Khan’s body, a medical examiner hopes to find more evidence that could lead to an arrest and possible trial in the case of the lottery winner’s death. Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina hopes that exhuming the lottery winner’s body will provide an opportunity for a deeper analysis and tests that could be used if the cyanide murder of the lottery winner goes on trial. An ABC News update on Jan. 8, 2013, reports that “Khan's death on July 20 was initially ruled a result of natural causes. But a relative's request for a deeper look resulted in the startling conclusion months later that Kahn was killed with the highly toxic poison as he was about to collect $425,000 in winnings.”

As of Jan. 8, 2013, no suspects in regard to the lottery winner’s death have been arrested according to Chicago police.

In June, Urooj Khan, who is an Indian immigrant and Chicago dry cleaning store owner, won the Illinois Lottery after buying the winning ticket at a 7-Eleven in Rogers Park. During a June 26, 2012, lottery winner ceremony, Urooj Khan, who was accompanied by his 32-year-old wife, Shabana Ansari, their daughter Jasmeen Khan, and several other friends, said that “Winning the lottery means everything to me.”

Lottery winner Urooj Khan wanted to use some of his winnings for his dry cleaning businesses but also donate some to St. Jude Children’s Research hospital.

Lottery winner Urooj Khan had come to Chicago in the 1980s and initially worked in a local dry cleaning business. In 2004, he opened his own Style Dry Cleaners in the Rogers Park area of Chicago. By 2012, lottery winner Urooj Khan owned three dry cleaning stores and five rental condominiums.

The moment lottery winner Urooj Khan scratched his ticket and discovered that he had won $1 million, he was overcome by joy. “I scratched the ticket, then I kept on saying, ‘I hit a million!’ over and over again. … I jumped two feet in the air, then ran back into the store and tipped the clerk $100. … Winning the lottery means everything to me.”

On July 20, 2012, just one day after lottery winner Urooj Khan’s check for about $425,000 was issued by the Illinois Comptroller’s Office, 46-year-old lottery winner Urooj Khan died according to a NBC News report on Jan. 8, 2013.

A “limited exam” on lottery winner Urooj Khan’s body which was completed by Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina, showed no signs of trauma and the cause of death was determined to be death “by natural causes.”

After the insistence of one of the lottery winner’s relatives, a further toxicology analysis found that lottery winner Urooj Khan’s body showed lethal amounts of cyanide. ”’It's pretty unusual,’ said Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina, commenting on the rarity of cyanide poisonings. ‘I've had one, maybe two cases out of 4,500 autopsies I've done’."

The night lottery winner Urooj Khan died, he had eaten dinner at home with his family according to ABC News. During the night, after having gone to bed, lottery winner Urooj Khan woke up screaming. Urooj Khan was declared dead at St. Francis Hospital to which he was taken.

Shabana Ansari, the 32-year-old lottery winner’s wife of 12 years, described her husband as ““workaholic” and that he “made clients happy by doing his job. He could not be everywhere, but he had to be everywhere.”

Lottery winner Urooj Khan had “sworn off gambling in 2010 after going on the hajj, the pilgrimage all faithful Muslims are obligated to make once in their lives. He yielded to temptation one last time, and laid down $60 for a pair of scratch-offs.”

As of Jan. 8, 2013, Chicago police are investigating why lottery winner Urooj Khan’s “last time” became indeed his “last time” of playing the lottery.

By exhuming lottery winner Urooj Khan’s body and performing more tests, Chicago police might find further evidence that could lead to an arrest and possible trial.

More articles by this author…

Money/Shopping:

Science:

Culture/Politics: