Abraham Shakespeare

Abraham Lee Shakespeare (April 24, 1966 – c. April 7, 2009) was a Casual laborer from the US who won a $30 million lottery jackpot in Florida, receiving $17 million in 2006.

Dorice Donegan "Dee Dee" Moore (born July 25, 1972) was the prime suspect in the death of Abraham Shakespeare.

She was married to James Moore in 1992, and has a son born in 1995.

In 2001, Moore was convicted of insurance fraud and falsely reporting a crime; she served a year of probation.

Moore filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

Before police found Shakespeare's body, Moore said Shakespeare had decided to leave town and had gone to Texas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, or Orlando, Florida, or was sick in a hospital.

Moore also said that Shakespeare was tired of people asking him for money, so she helped him leave town.

After police found his body under a concrete slab, in the backyard of the home she put in her boyfriend's name, Moore told police different versions of what happened to Shakespeare.

Moore in turn blamed drug dealers, a lawyer and her 14-year-old son.

She later said she killed Shakespeare in self-defence.

Soon after the disappearance of Shakespeare, Moore, who was living in Shakespeare's house, kept using his cell phone and sending text messages to his friends and relatives, pretending she was Shakespeare.

Recipients thought they did not sound like him and were suspicious because Shakespeare was illiterate.

When people texted Shakespeare's phone back with questions that could not be answered by Moore, no response was given.

The Florida Lotto winning ticket worth thirty million dollars was sold at a Town Star convenience store in Frostproof, Florida, on November 15, 2006.

On that day, Abraham Lee Shakespeare and co-worker Michael Ford were headed toward Miami when they stopped briefly at the convenience store in Frostproof to buy drinks and cigarettes.

Ford got out of the truck and asked Shakespeare if he wanted a soda.

Shakespeare instead asked Ford to buy him two lottery tickets.

Shakespeare said that he paid Ford $2 for the tickets out of the $5 he had on him that day.

Ford later approached Shakespeare demanding a share of the jackpot of no less than $1 million, which Shakespeare refused to pay, prompting Ford to Sue Shakespeare and alleging that Shakespeare stole lottery tickets out of Ford's wallet.

The jury did not believe Ford's stolen lottery tickets story and Shakespeare prevailed in the courts.

Shakespeare had chosen a one-time, lump sum cash payment of $17 million.

He moved out of his working-class neighborhood in Lakeland, Florida and into a gated community.

Several months after his lottery win, apart from a $1 million home, his only other major purchases included a Nissan Altima and a Rolex watch from a pawnshop.

In 2009, his family declared him missing, and in January 2010 his body was found buried under a concrete slab in the backyard of an acquaintance.

Dorice "Dee Dee" Moore was convicted of his murder and is now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On November 9, 2009, Shakespeare's family reported him missing, stating that they had not seen him since April of that year.

Family and friends had originally hoped that he had taken his money and was living on a beach in the Caribbean Sea.

A tip-off led investigators to the backyard of a home purchased by Moore, where Shakespeare's body was found buried under 9 ft of dirt under a newly constructed concrete slab.

Shakespeare was 42.

Hillsborough County detectives say Shakespeare died April 6 or 7 in the single-story ranch home in Plant City.

By late January 2010 the sheriff involved in the investigation of Shakespeare's disappearance told AP that the lottery money "is gone now."

Friends stated Shakespeare had grown frustrated with the apparently constant appeals for money from both hangers-on and strangers.

He told his brother, "I'd have been better off broke," and told a childhood friend, "I thought all these people were my friends, but then I realized all they want is just money."

One of these was Dorice Donegan "Dee-Dee" Moore, who launched a business with Shakespeare, Abraham Shakespeare LLC, giving herself control of the firm's funds.

Moore subsequently withdrew $1 million and bought herself a Hummer, a Chevrolet Corvette and a truck before going on vacation.

She later claimed that the money was a gift from Shakespeare.

Police took Moore into custody on February 2, 2010, in connection with the murder of Shakespeare.

A judge set a $1 million bond.

The police stated Moore had tried to convince an acquaintance to unearth the body and move it a week after the death, and had continued to try to convince others that Shakespeare was still alive.

On February 19, 2010, Moore was formally charged with first degree murder.