Leah Berenson

Leah Berenson

January 22, 2025

Man won massive lottery and died weeks later spending it!

Winning the lottery is a dream for most people, an opportunity to win large sums of money. Sadly, one winner, Antonio Lopes Siqueira from Brazil, passed away before he could reap all the benefits of his winnings. 

Mega-Sena Winner

An image of a man with glasses. Black background.
Image Credit: The Mirror

Antonio Lopes Siqueira won the $32 million jackpot in the Mega-Sena lottery on an 83 cent ticket. It’s Brazil’s largest lottery game and participants pick 6 numbers. Winners have to match all 6 numbers and the odds of winning are estimated to be around 1 in 50,063,860.

Lottery Winnings Paid for Dental Surgery

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Source: Shutterstock

Antonio had won the 10th largest lottery prize in the game’s history and opted to use some of his winnings to undergo necessary dental surgery. Sadly, things took a dark turn during the operation and Lopes Siqueira didn’t make it.

Suffering from Cardiac Arrest

A dentist office.
Image Credit: Pixabay

While on the table, Lopes Siqueira went into cardiac arrest, and it took emergency services around 30 minutes to arrive on the scene. Although they attempted to resuscitate him, there was nothing they could do and he was pronounced dead. Antonio’s body was buried in Jaciara, about 90 miles from where he was born, according to The Mirror

Law Enforcement Comments

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Image Credit: Pixabay

Edison Pick, head of local police commented on the lottery winner’s untimely death. “It has not yet been determined whether the cause of death was natural or induced. If it was a sudden illness, the clinic will not be held responsible. We are waiting for the results of the autopsy to clarify the facts,” he explained. 

Shocked by the News

Loser scratch off lottery ticket close up
Source: Shutterstock

Meanwhile, his neighbors were shocked. “He was a simple person; no one expected something like this to happen to him, much less that it would end so quickly,” one local commented. 

Mega Millions Lottery

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Source: Shutterstock

Most people dream of winning the lottery, so Antonio’s story is especially disappointing. However, he isn’t the only winner to experience a tragedy within weeks or months of winning. Rather, so many people have experienced unfortunate events that some have suggested winning the Mega Millions lottery is a curse. 

Read More: Family Go On Spending Spree After They’re Given $10.4 Million Instead Of $100 Refund

The Lottery Curse

MIAMI FLORIDA USA - 08-13-2023 Close up of lottery tickets for Mega Million and Powerball lottery in Florida, USA.
Source: Shutterstock

ABC15News reports that around 70% of winners have experienced some sort of tragedy after winning. Eerily, some died unexpectedly, while others witnessed their loved ones suffer. Either way, the lottery curse may make you think twice about playing. 

Lottery Winners Die

Neenah Wisconsin, USA, May 6, 2023: hand holding 2 power ball usa national lottery tickets
Source: Shutterstock

For example, Abraham Shakespeare was the $30 million Florida lottery winner in 2009 but in April of that same year he passed away. According to reports, Shakespeare, who was 47 at the time, was shot twice in the chest and buried in a cement slab and found in someone’s backyard. Moreover, he wasn’t reported missing until several months after his disappearance. As such, one might argue that whomever took his life was aware of, and wanted access to, his lottery winnings. 

Murdered over Lottery Winnings

Excited caucasian senior man doesn't believe his eyes holding filled winning lottery ticket and celebrating victory. Lucky happy smiling thumb up elderly man won a jackpot.
Source: Shutterstock

It turns out that Shakespeare was murdered by a woman from Tampa named, DeeDee Moore. She befriended him, claiming that she would help him manage what was left of his winnings. Instead, she killed him and stole the money. 

Excessive Spending

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Source: Shutterstock

Meanwhile, people like David Lee Edwards reportedly lost all their lottery winnings within years, some dying with nothing to their name. Sadly, Edwards was one of those people. He won part of a $280 million lottery in 2001. However, he’d squandered away all of his earnings and lived in a storage unit until his death in 2013. 

Read More: ‘I Ask Men To Show Me Their Bank Balance On The First Date Because I Only Want To Go Out With Wealthy Guys’

The “Popcorn King”

A close up image of lottery balls.
Image Credit: Pixabay

Another example of someone who died shortly after winning the lottery is Jeffrey Dampier. He won $20 million in 1996 and became a “popcorn entrepreneur.” However, he was kidnapped by his wife’s sister in 2005 and shot in the back of the head. 

Importance of Trustworthy People

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Image Credit: Pixabay

Many of these stories reflect the importance of having trustworthy people in your life and not sharing with others when your finances are skyrocketing, as greed has seemingly been the cause of premature death for several winners. However, Antonio suffered from “natural causes” so it’s possible that there is a lottery curse. Regardless, the lottery is popular in many parts of the world, and it has a long history. 

History of the Lottery

Exeter, UK - January 2023: Selection of UK National Lottery scratchcards, a instant win gambling game, first introduced by Camelot in 1994
Source: Shutterstock

According to Britannica, playing a lottery for money is considered gambling and often has a larger grand prize along with some smaller cash prizes. As a result, participants must be at least 18 years of age in the U.S. Purportedly, the concept of a lottery has been around for centuries and references can be found as far back as the Old Testament. The lottery was brought to the U.S. by settlers in the 1600s, after King James I authorized a lottery to finance the ships. By the late 1670s, gambling and participating in the lottery had become part of daily life in New England and in only a few years it became the chosen method to help fund bridges, roads, and colleges. 

Read More: Couple At Odds Over $1.3 Million Lottery Win With Boyfriends Wanting His Share

However, lotteries were outlawed by congress in the 1890s, according to NPR, but made a comeback in the 1960s. Since then, hundreds of lottery winners have been announced. Actually, last year alone there were 7 winners in the U.S. according to USA Today and 2 won the Mega Millions.