Posted on 11/27/2004 4:07:31 AM PST by DirtyHarryY2K
A Sad but True Texas Lottery Winner Story
Originally Posted: Nov 24, 2004 Revised:
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Less than two years after Billie Bob Harrell Jr. took the $31 million lottery jackpot, he took his own life Harrell, a former Pentecostal preacher, was a Home Depot stocker when he hit the jackpot.
Billie Bob's (Mis) Fortune
BY STEVE MCVICKER
Houston Press
From the Week of Thursday, February 10, 2000
Many have the same dream: finding the six magical numbers that unlock the treasure known as the Texas Lottery. Then life would be good. Problems would vanish. There are even the collective fantasies of what to buy and with whom to share this new, instant wealth.
Billie Bob Harrell Jr. shared those common visions by common souls seeking the salvation of sudden fortune.
And in June 1997, he found it.
He sat in his easy chair one evening and looked at his Quick Pick and then at the Sunday newspaper. Harrell studied the sequence of numbers again and began to realize the wildest of notions. He and wife Barbara Jean held the only winning ticket to a Lotto Texas jackpot of $31 million.
Harrell, a deeply religious man, knew he had a godsend from heaven. After being laid off from a couple of jobs in the past few years, Billie Bob had been reduced to stocking the electrical-supply shelves of a Home Depot in northeast Harris County. He was having a damn hard time providing for himself and Barbara Jean, much less for their three teenage children.
Every Wednesday and Saturday those kids were on his mind when he'd scrape together a few spare dollars to purchase a couple or so lottery tickets. Sometimes he'd use the sequence of his children's birth dates to choose his numbers. Other times he'd let the state's computer do his choosing for him. That random selection finally paid off, transforming Harrell into a millionaire overnight on a warm evening in June.
The hard times were history when he arrived in Austin about a month later, with an entourage that included his family, his minister and his attorneys, to collect the first of 25 annual checks for $1.24 million.
Life had been tough, he said at the formal lottery ceremony, but he had persevered through the worst of it.
"I wasn't going to give up," said Harrell, then 47. "Everyone kept telling me it would get better. I didn't realize it would get this much better."
In fact, it was great. At least for a while. Harrell purchased a ranch. He bought a half-dozen homes for himself and other family members. He, his wife and all the kids got new automobiles. He made large contributions to his church. If members of the congregation needed help, Billie Bob was there with cash.
Then suddenly Harrell discovered that his life was unraveling almost as quickly as it had come together. He relished the role of being an easy touch. But everyone, it seemed -- family, friends, fellow worshipers and strangers -- was putting the touch on him. His spending and his lending spiraled out of control. In February those tensions splintered his already strained marriage.
And on May 22, 1999, 20 months after hitting lottery pay dirt, Harrell locked himself inside an upstairs bedroom of his fashionable Kingwood home and stood at the point of no return. Investigators say he stripped away his clothes, pressed a shotgun barrel against his chest and fired.
Billie Bob Harrell was gone forever. So was the fortune, and even the family that had rejoiced with him when the shower of riches had first rained upon them. A schism has widened between the children and grandparents, who cannot even agree on whether Billie Bob took his own life. And an intrafamily war looms over the remnants of the fortune, which may not even be enough to pay estate taxes.
Perhaps the only thing not in dispute about his life and death is the jarring impact of money: It may not have caused his problems, but it certainly didn't solve them.
Shortly before his death, Harrell confided to a financial adviser: "Winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me."
Exactly, if you want to give your money away have enough sense to set up a foundation and have a board (your family) decide which request gets granted. The guy doesn't sound like he was playing with a full deck to start with. How is it you can barely make ends meet but you go out and buy lottery tickets?
Very true, that. It's not called "The Stupid Tax" for nothing.
Here in GA, it effectively is a politically acceptable method of funding college educations with a voluntary tax on the poor and uneducated.
Agree...money does not buy happiness....but it sure does put you in a good position to bargain.
I've been there....and here is one thing that I have learned...if you earn your fortune the hard way...you get an education as you earn it. If you come upon your fortune the easy way...you do not have that education and thus it can be very hard to maintain your good fortune.
re: They will never be the same. Suicide is not the answer
My grandfather committed suicide 50 years ago this weekend. I was 12 years old and I can't begin to explain the effect his death had on my family, especially on me. I never really understood the 'reasons' behind his action, but know that it had to do with his health and financial problems brought on by being too generous in helping his family. I often wonder if he had had any idea idea that a full half-a-century later his grandson would remember that day like it was yesterday would it have maybe altered his decisions. I doubt it, but I sure do understand the truth of your observations.
Like the bitter cold in Minnesota, 14 foot alligators help "keep the riff-raff out".
your post made me realize that
it's a shame what people can do to money!
An excellent question. They don't call it a "stupidity tax" for nothing. (But I still play - but but I can afford to do so).
Another "Liberty is the problem" poster.
I'm always amazed at the conservatives who want the government to stay out of their own lives and pocketbooks, but think it ought to control the lives and pocketbooks of those deemed less moral or less intelligent.
That deserves a bump to the top
Idiot
Man, you have no compassion whatsoever do you? If you can't discuss this thing rationally and with some pity, then don't discuss it at all. It's comments like that ("idiot") that give freepers a bad name in other forums.
Remind me never to call you if I need encouragement.
Being laid off all the time does not mean he cant manage his life.
Unless you have been there, you wouldn't understand.
To make the claim, however, that being laid off caused you to lose control of your life, that's different.
< tinfoil >
Because he won the money during the Golden Years of Clinton.
Everything unravelled thereafter.
It's W's fault, of course. The story had been lovingly saved for a post-election tantrum.
< /tinfoil >
My stock of compassion for a selfish narcissist who takes his own life and leaves his family to clean up the mess is low to non-existent. Suicide is the ultimate selfish act.
If you can't discuss this thing rationally and with some pity, then don't discuss it at all.
Bite me. I'll discuss what I like. If you don't like it, then don't read my posts.
It's comments like that ("idiot") that give freepers a bad name in other forums.
BS. "idiot" is completely appropo and describes to a T a person who commits suicide and leaves family members behind.
Remind me never to call you if I need encouragement.
Don't call me if you need encouragement.
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