Winning the Lottery to Murder | Abraham Shakespeare Case Analysis 

Abraham Shakespeare is a cool name

If you win BIG in the lottery, get out of the country and don't tell anyone. Live simple and don't flaunt your wealth.

This is why I'm so glad I live in a state where lottery winnings can be collected anonymously. The state has to know for tax purposes, yes, but you're not obligated to show your face or name for the big photo op.

Very sad story. He needed an authentic financial advisor and true friends.

Hi Dr. Grande. Back in 2006, I was working in Salmon, ID. While at work, a thousand pound beam fell on me and as a result, I became an amputee (my right foot) and my back and hips were messed up. I hired an attorney and seven years later I won a settlement. It took a long time to settle as I had many surgeries and needed time to heal. My settlement was no where close to Abraham’s. Not even one million. But, I feel for him as people I didn’t even know would come to me and ask for money. People would come up to me and want me to pay their utility bills, car payments. Buy their groceries. Pay their mortgage or rent. And they would tell me all kinds of sob stories. It was crazy!!! So sad what happened to him. But I can say first hand, money makes people do crazy things!! I’m glad she was caught. Thanks Doc. ❤️💜💚

My mom’s uncle won a $32M lottery in the early 1990’s and it caused a lot of division in the family. He was smart with his money. He took the incremental payments, kept working, paid off his 30 year old house and lived like a normal working guy until he passed in 2009. But my grandma (his sister-in-law) started a feud because she felt like he should shell out since they’re family. She, in turn, called him greedy and said he didn’t care about the family, when SHE was the one being greedy. His daughter died in a car accident, so my uncle raised her daughter. We were the same age and lived in the same town, so we grew up close. She never had anything more than I did. He’s buy us ice creams and treat us to the movies and stuff like that, but he wasn’t buying her $300 jeans and *NSYNC concert tickets, I’ll put it like that. But he used to say the worst beggars were the local churches. He was a former Navy sailor covered in tattoos, and pre-lottery, he was too much of a sinner for their comfort. After winning the lottery, it was, “Would you please bless the community with a donation for the kids to go to Bible camp?” 🤢

Humanity's greed is the undoing for us all.

The warning about winning lotteries and shady people should also be heeded by folks who get an inheritance. Just saying.

If we won the lottery (which we won’t bc we don’t play the lottery) we would not tell anyone. My husband & I would try to be wise & truly put forth a plan & a budget. Neither of us are greedy. We aren’t poor. We have extra money after paying bills & it goes to charity. As for Abraham, my heart broke when I heard this story the first time. That woman should never ever be let out of prison. She took advantage of a kind person.

Claim via an Irrevocable Blind Trust, move in the middle of the night, take the annuity, don’t tell anyone (including family) and remain anonymous

Wow! Another "Mastermind!" 😂 Thank you Dr.Grande for illustrating the perils of hanging out with scumbags, whether you're wealthy or not.

I've seen a documentary on this man years ago and the situation still brings me to tears. RIP Mr. Shakespeare

I find this to be a really sad and depressing case. He didn't do anything wrong, he just got taken advantage of.

What an evil and greedy woman. This poor man needed real friends

Im familiar with this really sad case. He was taken advantage of, abused and then discarded. Greed and lust for material possessions drives people to do awful things. Their desire for stuff overrides any respect for life. I find it repulsive.

Wow, this guy had everything to live for but trusted the wrong person. Very unfortunate.

I am from Plant City, Florida. This was a very sad story. This is a cautionary tale of what can happen when the wrong people are in your life.

"The world is full of dangerous people and money often attract them" I agree with your analysis Dr. Grande. This is a particularly sad case...Thank you for all the perfect guidance regarding the " lottery" and have a nice day!

This is why if you ever win a huge jackpot, hire a lawyer from a good law firm and have them collect things as your representative so people don't know its you who have one, if possible. Some states allow this, some don't. Then go to a good financial firm and have them manage your money. Also a good accountant.

Poor guy....the lottery winning became a curse instead of a blessing

I heard about the Shakespeare case a few years ago when I listened to a true crime channel. It always broke my heart because you have a man that was a very good person who had a huge heart. I feel that Abraham was absolutely miserable with his money as he realized that the people that surrounded him outside of his mother only hung out with him and supported him because of his money. He seemed to have been the kind of person that loved people regardless of who or what they were and was so desperate to be loved in return that he would ignore the red flags in a relationship just so that he wouldn't be alone. My heart breaks for Abraham. I can only imagine the pain and betrayal he would have felt when he realized that somebody he called a friend was going to kill him. And for what? Money? Money can't buy you happiness, and if it does, it's going to be there only as long as you have money to spend. If I had known Abraham, I would have advised him to get somebody at the bank to help him with his money. There are people for that.

Such a sad story. From other reports everyone said Abraham was a sweet person. He was scammed by a dumb criminal.

Dr. Grande I would listen to you read the dictionary. Your voice always calms me and helps me make sense of this wild world. ❤️

Your analyses are way better than winning a lottery, because lottery win isn’t always a “win” but your videos are always a “win.” 🙌🏼 Thank you as always and I hope you have a great weekend Dr. Grande.❤️

I used to have a tshirt in college, that I had made as head of the Econ club, that said “the lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math”. I do really like how you went over the lottery a bit.

Against incredible odds, I personally know 3 different people who have won large lottery jackpots. Two were guys I was in school with, and one was a neighbor who moved back to the small town where I lived and he grew up in. All of them had happy experiences with their lives after winning those lotteries. The two guys were just high school grads who invested their winnings and live very quiet, comfortable lives. The third one was an executive of a major manufacturing company that won nearing his retirement. He and his wife moved back to my hometown, built their dream home and another next door for their adult daughter who helped take care of her elderly parents. Not all lottery winners end up miserable or dead. But we all prefer to hear about the ones who screw up or end up being murdered.

Great analysis Dr Grande. I believe that people who win the lottery, should be allowed to remain anonymous. If that had happened, maybe Mr Shakespeare would still be around. That woman who entered his life,was greedy, controlling and had no empathy for murderers this man. Thank you Dr Grande.

Sadly money, greed brings out the worst of people. Great video Dr Grande!!!

She was smart enough to talk someone out of his money, and so completely stupid that she got caught. Can't fix stupid.

I always automatically like Dr. Grande's videos and I never have to go back on that decision.

"The house is always going to win." What an incredible video, Dr. Grande! As someone who is extremely fascinated with the human brain- yours fascinates me! I feel so terribly sad for Abraham! He had the sensitivity to know that winning the lottery was a bad thing for his life.

I remember seeing this case on American greed. What a sad story, this guy was really nice, just didn’t have the capacity to stop the vultures. People are despicable.

It's especially galling that 2 of her first explanations for why she had his assets (avoiding child support and buying drugs) were so dependent on racist stereotypes.

TY for this. I watched, I think, a days-long interrogation, with this woman, or rather a meeting with the cops on the case, because I think she requested the meeting. (Vain attempt to bolster her innocence) Her circular logic and tone were maddening in the extreme. That she ever thought she had really broke into his "social group", is beyond laughable. That she ever thought she could convince people of her innocence, after it had been proven that she bribed witnesses, is just plain low down ignorant.

This was a great analysis. I remember seeing DeeDee in an interview on some crime show. She was definitely 2 sandwiches short of a picnic basket! Thanks for another great vid, Dr. Grande. Oh, I love the BLUE and white checkered shirt! 💙💙😉

Perfect timing Dr. Grande, I’m about to win the powerball so I needed this advice. 😏

In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" the end result was the same even if the end arrived quicker for the winner.

Dee Dee reminds me of one of those people or relatives who come to your home unannounced, and then because they have no where to go, try to explain to you why YOU need THEM there. They are there because “Someone needs to help you take care of these things in this big house!!” Which would be better phrased “Someone needs to help take these things out of this big house, let me help you.” They also have hides as thick as a Rhinos because they won’t or don’t hear that “It’s time for them to move on,” to some other relative. I never disliked someone so much as I did this Dee Dee woman. She really made Abraham her “mark” and drained him dry. I’m not surprised that she killed him. She probably thought she “deserved” that money for “her services.” Yeah right.

The lottery curse kinda reminds me of the Alanis morissette song called ironic. The part where she says "he won the lottery and died the next day"

I buy a lottery ticket about once a year and every time I am absolutely convinced, without a doubt, that I am going to win. That couple of days imagining how I will spend my winnings are pure magic until, unbelieveably, my dreams are shattered. it takes me weeks to recover 😂. Very sad story of how greed and corruption caused the death of this, ultimately, poor man 😥.

I am in gambling Anonymous and today I have 50 days clean I have no need to make a bet because I will never win but I was losing my lives

My grandma won the lottery. The money, the house, the cars and such only lasted a year. We all moved into a mansion, but even the money couldn't help the fact that she just isn't a great person to be around. In the end it caused a huge painful rift in the family and we moved out quick. I went from extreme wealth to poverty as a child, overnight. I have money-related trauma. Afterwards, a 'lovely family' came into her life and swindled her out of the house and money. She had just enough left for a small apartment. My family pays her elderly care bills now. Welp. Mo' money, mo' problems.

I live in Pinellas county FL and this was a huge story at the time. Unbelievably cruel crime.

I remember reading about this case a while back. It's so sad, no matter how you look at it. Abraham won an opportunity to live a life he could never have attained on his own given his education and background. And some greedy, evil person stole not only that new life, but his life in general. And for what? To enjoy 1 year of luxury that she didn't earn, win, nor deserve? Though, listening to Dr. Grande has given me a new perspective on something unrelated to this case. I prefer his acerbic nature to that of other psychologists' Mary Sue/Gary Sue cloying nature (like Dr. Honda and my former therapist). Don't get me wrong, I also enjoy Dr. Honda's content, I just find the dry, slightly caustic wit, like Dr. Grande, to be more trustworthy.

He was a generous good man and his friend's greed and selfishness lead to his death. He deserved better!

Great case to talk about Dr. Grande! I always love your witty commentary in every episode!! Love your channel ❤️

This story is WILD. Thanks for bringing awareness to it, Dr. Grande! Love your work and your calming voice 💜

I felt so bad for this dude. He probably had a difficult life, actually won the lottery and then gets killed. My friends dad got a settlement for a car accident all all the family turned on him constantly asking for money. He had to stop communicating with some of his family because of it.

The best advice I've gotten about winning the lottery is "you would need to give up your vices", but now I'm understanding it may be others vices that get you too.

Fascinating story as always, Dr. Grande; and perfect length to get all my dishes done 😊 Speaking as a recovering addict, I would also add that for someone in active substance addiction, winning the lottery would be a sure death sentence. This is another scenario where I would see things not going particularly well after sweeping the jackpot.

I agree 100% on the lottery. I look at it as a win every time I don't play, which is always.

One thing I learned from bad lottery winners, is that wealth is better when it's accumulated over time, e.g. earned, rather than one giant sum of money at once to people who aren't equipped. Especially if they are younger and burn through the winnings.

I once heard that if you ever win the lottery the first thing you should do is change your phone number. That pretty much says it all.

I speculated that Dr Grande would be speculating sometime soon today... In a well speculated speculative video in a situation like this; using powerful speculation techniques derived from speculating along with him in his valued, and of course speculative content. Thanks Dr Grande. ... But, to be fair that was all just speculation...

Pleasant surprise to see today's episode so early. Thank you!

Reading about or hearing about how lottery winners went on to better their lives and live well and financially sound lifestyles isn't compelling and doesn't feed our envy and desire for Schadenfreude like the story about the couple that wins the multistate lotto get divorced and spend a decade in court tearing each other apart.

But doc, you can't win if you don't play! 😀

That’s quite a bit of inculpatory evidence. I thought it would never end.

Or on the opposite end of the spectrum in 1988 my friend I was in the Air Force with was the Personal Assistant to the Base Commander. He called her into the office on Monday morning and gave her $5 and told her to go and buy some biscuits because he wanted to shout the HQ staff. As an ex- Air Force chef she thought she'd save him the $5 and rang the kitchen of the Officers' Mess and asked them to make up a morning tea for the boss. She then went in and gave him his $5 back explaining what she had done. At morning tea time he got up and made the announcement he and his wife had won $500 000 on lotto on the preceding Saturday night. The morning tea shout was his definition of really lashing out with the winnings.

Impeccable timing, Dr. Grande. Have a great weekend!

Rule One of winning the Lottery: *Keep your anonymity!*

The Mary Higgins Clark series of Regan O’Reilly mysteries have a lottery winner support group for just this reason!

The second crime here is hitting the lottery for $31 million but only walking away with $12 million. Since the lottery is a tax, albeit a voluntary one, the government is involuntarily taxing a voluntary tax. In this case the winner was immediately out nearly $20 million. What a crock.

Florida! Just stop!

You have got to be the best sycatrist that i have ever come across, your speculation. of people's personalities,motives and disorders etc,.., always seems to be SPOT ON!!! 👍

One big reason why I would resist any temptation to become a criminal is knowing that if I became too famous Dr. Grande would end up making a video with pretty devastating deadpan jokes about my personal life and honestly I'm not sure I would survive that.

It’s a good day for a man to wear a navy check shirt. Happy Saturday, Dr Grande! Thank you for your lottery thoughts.

I find his last name just a little ironic

Good evening Dr. Todd.. always a pleasure to see you.

I'm just passing by to say that I always like all your videos..✌

The *love* of money is the root of all evil. 💰 + 💘= 😈

Geez....that is really sad. I can't imagine coming into that much money. (I won $98 on a Super Lotto ticket last week and was over the moon...) She's a real piece of work and she's right where she belongs. Unfortunately, there were a lot of fake friends around him that used him for money. RIP Abraham.

There is a certain irony to the fact that Mr. Shakespeare was illiterate...

A bang on assessment of lotteries by Dr. Grande.

People like Deedee who are unintentionally funny since they tend to overestimate their potentials fit Dr. Grande's humor the best. 🧡 I actually tend to almost overlook the murder part sometimes because of this humourous framework.

What a great analysis, but I already knew it will be ❤️❤️❤️

Love the consistency of uploads!

So glad you always look critically and empirically at people's beliefs - hopefully it makes a difference in some people's thought processes.

Thankfully in the UK you can opt to have no publicity if you win the lottery. It stops the begging letters and other avenues for opportunists to part you from your winnings. I do enter our lotteries, I'd love to be in a position to support the people and charities I hold close to my heart and its nice to have a day dream about the house you'd buy or the holiday you'd take. Thank you very much as always Dr. Grande for the very interesting video. :-)

My sole experience with any lottery win was decades ago with the NJ Lottery (Dr. G's favorite US state!). My then girlfriend's youngest brother sadly was mildly retarded plus an epileptic and forced to live at home in the care of his parents. The one thing this brother did was weekly play the NJ lottery religiously but had to name his father as guardian or whatever due to his condition. Back in those days the lottery commission actually called their home, asked for the father and announced the big win and the father immediately went into cardiac arrest. He did recover somewhat but after the ambulance and treatments.........so I concur with Dr. Grande on state lotteries being a very poor 'investment' for his reasons and this sad experience. Jim C.

I think the lottery is pretty much a bad idea. The people who are addicted win fairly frequently but then lose way more. It doesn’t matter if the win a million dollars. They will lose it fast. People who are financially savvy usually don’t bother to play.

Finding your RU-vid page and later Patreon was like winning the lottery for me in education and entertainment. Thank you for always sharing your insights with us. I absolutely love it.

Poor Abraham. Such a good person he was. That B undoubtedly had something to do with his murder smh, he trusted that piece of crap

Love the channel just want to tell you one thing your audio sounds incredible crystal clear

the joy of watching insigthfull dr. Grande Videos are priceless :)

Still shocks me how a person can blow so much money in such a short amount of time.

My mother poisoned me, used my sister to pose as me, after I'd signed deress on POA mom forced me to sign without allowing me to read it. And she lied about what POA meant, and I detected that. And I tasted something mediciny in the food she gave me to eat, just prior to the dirty deed. Didn't eat any, spit out what was in my mouth. No justice to date. Former judge Maureen Coffey almost released access to archived documents on trust, but then turned to me and said " your mother loves you, I know, I have kids". She refuses to talk to me now.

Hahaha.."it would be a short book". You always make me laugh..thank you for that.

Excellent ....a lot of people saw this on TV and we're all excited to hear your clinical analysis🧐🕵️🇺🇲📝👏🌠

If I won I wouldn't even tell my wife nor would I return to my childhood area. No one you used to know is any longer your friend.

I found this case very sad. I wonder if the lottery agency may in the future when awarding winnings provide the recipient with a free consultation with a financial planner who can guide them on what to watch out for in individuals and supply some contacts for an accountant and lawyer. The choice to receive a lump sum instead of the 31 million over his lifetime showed his inability to handle money. It was a tragic end the woman and her xhusband are parasites. Disgusting.

This is a good video Dr. Todd

That's right. First rule of Vegas: The house ALWAYS wins.

Damn, DeeDee blamed her 14 year old son?! 👀 Her poor kid. I'm glad she has no chance of parole. What she did to Abraham was so cruel, and what she did to her son is unfathomable to me.

Brilliant video 📹 The 🚔 police were very clever on how they recovered the body. Good advice 👍: it is good to win the lottery ticket 🎟. I am buying a ticket 🎟 now.

Another perfect analysis by Dr Big

Love your analysis

Thank you for the superb video.

Oh nice i love this case! RIP Abraham

Mr Grande, would you ever analysis Adolf Hitler? I always found it fascinating how nervous he is in later footage late 44 and 45 when he's losing the war compared to his earlier footage.