What happened to Abraham Shakespeare? Details explored ahead of 20/20 on ABC
The upcoming episode of 20/20 will delve into the murder of Abraham Shakespeare, a casual laborer from the US, whose life changed after he won a $30 million lottery jackpot in Florida. But with all the money, the change was hardly a positive one. Within three years of the win, Abraham Shakespeare was already dead and gone, and so was the money.
This highly publicized case will be the subject of the upcoming episode of 20/20, which also aims to give a more exclusive insight into this twisted crime, a lot of whose secrets remain shrouded. A brief synopsis for this episode, which premieres on April 18, 2025, at 9 pm EST, reads:
"In 2006, Abraham Shakespeare won $30 million in the Florida lottery, and he was generous with his winnings, helping friends and family pay off mortgages and, oftentimes, giving money to those who needed it, including strangers. But three years after his windfall, Shakespeare mysteriously vanishes. Police searched for a killer and identified Dorice “Dee Dee” Moore as a person of interest."
Abraham Shakespeare's body was found months after he seemingly disappeared, and what unfolded was a conspiracy beyond anything anyone would have imagined. Ahead of the upcoming episode of 20/20, let us go over who Abraham Shakespeare was and what happened to him.
Who was Abraham Shakespeare, and what happened to him?
Born on April 24, 1966, Abraham Shakespeare was a native of Lakeland, Florida. Abraham quit school early on and started working as a casual laborer. He practically did all kinds of work and tried to support his family.
On November 15, 2006, Abraham and his co-worker, Michael Ford, were headed toward Miami when they stopped by a Town Star convenience store in Frostproof, Florida. There, his co-worker asked him if he wanted a soda, but he instead asked him to buy him a lottery ticket. That ended up being the winning ticket, and he won a $30 million lottery jackpot in Florida, receiving $17 million in 2006.
He was sued by Michael Ford in court, who wanted a part of his winnings and claimed that he stole the lottery tickets out of Ford's wallet. The case was dismissed, and Abraham got to keep his winnings.
This transformed his life, and he soon moved away from his neighborhood and bought a house in Redhawk Bend, a gated community in North Lakeland. He also bought a Rolex watch and a Nissan Altima. Apart from this, most of his money went to help others, even strangers.
This eventually led to Dee Dee Moore entering his life, who came on the pretext of writing a book about him. She soon took control of his financial assets, and in April 2009, he disappeared.
As Moore had tried hard to keep his death a secret, he was not reported missing till November of that year by his family. After this, an investigation began, and what unfolded was a huge web of deceit, with Dee Dee Moore at the center of it all.
After a lot of police work, finally, Abraham Shakespeare's body was found buried in the backyard of a home purchased by Moore under a newly constructed concrete slab. An autopsy confirmed that he was shot to death.
Dee Dee Moore was eventually convicted of the crime.
The upcoming episode of 20/20 will cover this murder in more detail.
