Lottery winner Urooj Khan was found dead only a month after winning $1 million in the Illinois lottery from a scratch ticket.
Khan won the lotter at a 7-Eleven in the Rogers Park area of Chicago on June 26. He said according to a press release from the Illinois Lottery, "I scratched the ticket, then I kept 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."
CNN reported that at first, investigators said that his death was from natural causes but after a relative asked for a closer look, medical examiners reevaluated the case and determined that there was cyanide in his system.
"That ... led us to issue an amended death certificate that (established) cyanide toxicity as the cause of death, and the manner of death as homicide," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Steve Cina said to CNN.
"We are investigating it as a murder, and we're working closely with the medical examiner's office," Chicago police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said to CNN.
Police have not made any arrests and are now wondering if his winnings were the motive for the poisoning. Khan, 47, died unexpectedly on July 20. The Chicago Tribune reported that according to an internal police department document he came home to his West Rogers Park home had diner and about an hour later went to sleep. He was later heard screaming and taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, the document said.
Khan's wife and daughter were home when the incident occurred. Khan's wife, Shabana Ansari said he was extraordinary, nice, kind and lovable." and "the best husband on the entire planet," reported The Chicago Tribune.
Khan moved to Chicago in the late 1980s from India and began working at dry cleaners. He then opened three dry cleaners in different locations which he ran, supervising about 10 employees.
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