Autopsy: Chicago lottery winner poisoned to death
CHICAGO (AP) - With no signs of trauma and nothing to raise suspicions, the sudden death of a Chicago man a day after he collected a large pile of lottery winnings was initially ruled a result of natural causes.
Nearly six months later, authorities have a mystery on their hands after medical examiners, responding to a relative's pleas, did an expanded screening and determined that Urooj Khan, 46, died shortly after ingesting a lethal dose of cyanide. The finding has triggered a homicide investigation, the Chicago Police Department said.
"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."
In June, Khan, who owned a number of dry cleaners, stopped in at a 7-Eleven near his home in the West Rogers Park neighborhood on the city's North Side and bought a ticket for an instant lottery game.
He scratched off the ticket, then jumped up and down and repeatedly shouted, "I hit a million," Khan recalled days later during a ceremony in which Illinois Lottery officials presented him with an oversized check. He said he was so overjoyed he ran back into the store and tipped the clerk $100.
"Winning the lottery means everything to me," he said at the June 26 ceremony, also attended by his wife, Shabana Ansari; their daughter, Jasmeen Khan; and several friends. He said he would put some of his winnings into his businesses and donate some to a children's hospital.
Khan opted to take his winnings in a lump sum of just over $600,000. After taxes, the check, issued July 19 from the state Comptroller's Office, was about $425,000, said lottery spokesman Mike Lang.
Khan died a day later.
No signs of trauma were found during an external exam and no autopsy was done because, at the time, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office didn't automatically perform them on those 45 and older unless the death was suspicious, Cina said. The cut-off has since been raised to age 50.
A basic toxicology screening for opiates, cocaine and carbon monoxide came back negative, and the death was ruled a result of the narrowing and hardening of coronary arteries.
But a relative came forward and asked authorities to look into the case further, Cina said. He refused to identify the relative.
"She (the morgue worker) then reopened the case and did more expansive toxicology, including all the major drugs of use, all the common prescription drugs and also included I believe strychnine and cyanide in there just in case something came up," Cina said. "And in fact cyanide came up in this case."
Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Melissa Stratton confirmed the department was now investigating the death and said detectives were working closely with the Medical Examiner's Office.
Nearly six months later, authorities have a mystery on their hands after medical examiners, responding to a relative's pleas, did an expanded screening and determined that Urooj Khan, 46, died shortly after ingesting a lethal dose of cyanide. The finding has triggered a homicide investigation, the Chicago Police Department said.
"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."
In June, Khan, who owned a number of dry cleaners, stopped in at a 7-Eleven near his home in the West Rogers Park neighborhood on the city's North Side and bought a ticket for an instant lottery game.
He scratched off the ticket, then jumped up and down and repeatedly shouted, "I hit a million," Khan recalled days later during a ceremony in which Illinois Lottery officials presented him with an oversized check. He said he was so overjoyed he ran back into the store and tipped the clerk $100.
"Winning the lottery means everything to me," he said at the June 26 ceremony, also attended by his wife, Shabana Ansari; their daughter, Jasmeen Khan; and several friends. He said he would put some of his winnings into his businesses and donate some to a children's hospital.
Khan opted to take his winnings in a lump sum of just over $600,000. After taxes, the check, issued July 19 from the state Comptroller's Office, was about $425,000, said lottery spokesman Mike Lang.
Khan died a day later.
No signs of trauma were found during an external exam and no autopsy was done because, at the time, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office didn't automatically perform them on those 45 and older unless the death was suspicious, Cina said. The cut-off has since been raised to age 50.
A basic toxicology screening for opiates, cocaine and carbon monoxide came back negative, and the death was ruled a result of the narrowing and hardening of coronary arteries.
But a relative came forward and asked authorities to look into the case further, Cina said. He refused to identify the relative.
"She (the morgue worker) then reopened the case and did more expansive toxicology, including all the major drugs of use, all the common prescription drugs and also included I believe strychnine and cyanide in there just in case something came up," Cina said. "And in fact cyanide came up in this case."
Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Melissa Stratton confirmed the department was now investigating the death and said detectives were working closely with the Medical Examiner's Office.
$425K isn't even that much money....
So I figured this one out.. The wife poisons him.... But the daughter or son feel they should get more of that cash, so they turn in mamma in hopes of having it all, forgetting mama can spend it all on legal fees.. Oh, greedy people..
Who knows if the money had anything to do with it, this could have been planned since before he won the lottery, it doesn"t sound like he was very poor prior, a string of dry cleaners and he had a hundo to throw the cashier. Just sayin?
The 7-11 clerk probably poisoned his Slurpee because of the lousy $100 tip.
If you should ever win, stay silent until you meet with legal advisors first. Lottery winners seldom have privacy, but announcing it to the world is a definite no-no! Personally, I'm still awaiting my opportunity to win anything. I guess luck has a lot to do with it, but why do folks who don't know what to do with their winnings always seem to win? LOL
The guy wins a million bucks, and a day after he collects the CASH, he drops dead.
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If that's not suspicious, I don't know what is! Sheesh!
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Q. What do you get when you cross 50 female pigs and 50 male deer?
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A. A hundred sows and bucks.  :-P
Was it Agatha Christie who wrote "Cyanide and Old Lace"?
 @Gravity Works! Arsenic and old Lace.. but I think poison about covers it all! ;P
A guy wins a million and dies a day later and they didn't think to do a drug test? I guess you can get away with murder in Chicago if the person is over 50.Â
Since he was married, and from the sound of it, his wife was also the mother of his children, she would be his sole heir, unless he had a will that specifically stated otherwise; even then, she'd be entitled to no less than 1/3 of his estate (you can't disinherit a living spouse). Soooo, unless there's somebody out there who was REALLY ticked off at him for having good luck, it would seem that the wife is the logical suspect. After all, since he ingested the poison, he was probably fed it in a meal, and who prepares the meals? That's right, loving wife and spouse!
 @Mick Wagner It is the preferred MOM for women, too.
Damn, sounds like he was a good dude too. Donating to charity and all...
"No signs of trauma were found during an external exam and no autopsy was done because, at the time, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office didn't automatically perform them on those 45 and older unless the death was suspicious, Cina said. The cut-off has since been raised to age 50"
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Wow... good to know. Â It's open-season on your middle-aged relatives (or anybody that ticks you off in general) in Chicago! Â Use any method you deem necessary as long as it doesn't leave external clues.
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 @negativerep I know, huh? But hey, the most he's had out of 4500 is two. So, he thinks. Wait.. he's not even sure of that. Might have been just one.
Easy one, find the person that heired his money.
If it ever comes to pass that I win a huge chunk of $ my will will state that any property that I own will be sold to pay off any final expenses. Any $ left over will be donated to a charity of my choosing. I really ticked my relatives off when I mentioned this, but I don't care. I only see them when they need something anyways.
 @JLO I've seen what so called "relatives" can be like when my ex's grand parents died.....they came in, ransacked the place, literally trashing it (weird finding your wedding photos in a pile of trash), they stole everything they thought had value, tossed it in a storage unit and then let it lapse and go to auction....if you hear the song dualing banjos you're not far off.
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Sadly some people are prone to loose some of their humanity when $ is involved, and some worse than others.
And he thought it was his lucky day.
Hits 1 Mill and takes home $450K.....that sucks....oh yeah, the fact that he was offed probably sucks for him too.
@deejm2112Â Â Â """"" Hits 1 Mill and takes home $450K.....that sucks...""""""
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from the article.......
Khan opted to take his winnings in a lump sum of just over $600,000. After taxes, the check, issued July 19 from the state Comptroller's Office, was about $425,000, said lottery spokesman Mike Lang.
Whoever thought this was natual causes should be fired immediately.....
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Seriously, healthy dude one day, fat wallet and dead the next. C'mon
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This should really be quite an easy case to solve (obviously, follow the money),  but given the complete incompetence upfront it may be a challenge for this dept to solve the crime.
First person I would check out is the one that suggested the autopsy. It could be an attempt to take the focus off of
a guilty conscience. What more reason did they need in the first place to do an autopsy? One of the two biggest motives for murder is money. Hey, great Police work!
Initial toxicology not preformed because it was not suspicious? How was this NOT labled suspicious death from the start??? Dead a day after cashing a check for 425,000, that screams murder.
It would have been a clean murder if not for the relatives. Follow the money. That will tell them who is involved.
Can you throw the government in jail?
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They already took one hell of chunk out of it and with estate taxes will take another.
@lgb6 Uncle Sam has been robbing me for years.
 @lgb6Â
Isn't that the truth.