10 Disturbing Crimes Solved By Amateurs
9. Greed: The Killing Of A $32 Million Lottery Winner
In a horrifying example of good luck turning into bad, Abraham Shakespeare was reported missing in November 2009 after winning $32 million in the Florida lottery. His corpse was found under cement in January 2010, and authorities began the hunt for his murderer in conjunction with the internet.
When the police suspected that Shakespeare’s financial advisor, Dee Dee Moore, had murdered the friendly father in an act of greed and jealously, Websleuths joined the speculation, prompting Moore to anonymously register to the site to defend her actions. Not only that, but Moore later e-mailed Tricia Griffith, the site’s co-owner since 2004, saying she had no idea who was making the defensive posts.
Griffith quickly matched the IP address in the e-mail to Moore’s computer, culminating in a detective thanking her and later arresting the Tampa phony. A 2012 court trial found Moore guilty of shooting Shakespeare twice in the chest with a 38-caliber pistol in April 2009, and she was sentenced to life in prison without parole.