Lottery Winner Mysteriously Dies Due to “Natural Causes” a Few Weeks After Winning

The suspicious circumstances around Urooj Khan’s death

Ben Kageyama
Lessons from History

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Urooj Khan with his winning scratch card (2012), From the Illinois Lottery via the Chicago Tribune, Fair Use

Imtiaz Khan received a dreadful call on the morning of July 20, 2012. The voice behind the line announced that his brother just suffered a heart attack. Imitiaz rushed over.

When he arrived, it was already too late. His precious sibling had just died due to natural causes.

Imtiaz couldn’t accept it. He shouted:

“This wasn’t a heart attack! This was murder!”

His basis? The deceased, Urooj Khan, had just won a million dollars in the Illinois Lottery. Greed, after all, has historically been a motivation for foul play.

A Disturbing Discovery

Authorities initially proclaimed that Urooj Khan, a 46-year old immigrant and lottery winner, died due to natural causes. As part of standard procedure, the forensic pathologist on duty took a blood sample for basic toxicological testing.

They ran tests for opiates, alcohol, and carbon monoxide poisoning. All of these turned out negative, so the official forensic report declared that his arteries' hardening caused Khan’s death. Imtiaz Khan disagreed with their…

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