Jeffrey Dampier Jr. (March 24, 1966July 26, 2005) was the winner of a 1996

Illinois Lottery The Illinois State Lottery (known simply as the Illinois Lottery) is an American lottery for the U.S. state of Illinois, operated by Allwyn Illinois. Overview The Illinois Lottery began operations on July 1, 1974, when lotteries in the United ...

jackpot of million (equivalent to $million in ). He was murdered by his sister-in-law and her boyfriend in 2005.

Early life

Dampier was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's West Side. His father was Jeffrey Dampier Sr. His widow was Crystal Jackson Dampier.

Winning the jackpot

Dampier and his ex-wife won the

jackpot in 1996. It was worth approximately US $20 million. They eventually divorced and split the money 50/50. Soon after, Jeffrey met Crystal Jackson, dated and married her. Two years later, the two moved to

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

. Once in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Dampier used the money to invest in a popcorn business called Kassie's Gourmet Popcorn, based in Tampa Bay's Channelside entertainment district. Shortly after, he moved Crystal's two sisters, Victoria and Terri Jackson, to Tampa as well. With no means of their own, Dampier took care of both of the sisters' finances and continued to buy presents for many of their family members, including his sister-in-law Victoria Jackson (with whom he was having an affair).

Murder

On July 26, 2005, Dampier was murdered by Victoria Jackson and her boyfriend Nathaniel Jackson, presumably for his jackpot winnings. There are multiple accounts of the murder. According to some sources, Dampier was lured to the Jacksons' apartment by Victoria Jackson, who claimed that she had car problems. Dampier's hands and feet were bound with shoelaces. Nathaniel Jackson then pointed a gun at Dampier and forced him into his van. Terri Jackson, Victoria's sister, was also at the scene of the murder. Afterwards, Nathaniel gave the shotgun to Victoria and reportedly said, "Shoot him or I'll shoot you." Dampier was shot in the back of the head.

Trial and reaction

Victoria Jackson was tried and found guilty of first-degree murder, armed kidnapping and armed carjacking in 2006. She was sentenced to three consecutive

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

s. Nathaniel Jackson was prosecuted similarly. Jeffrey Dampier Sr. said that "I think everything was correct. I think the state did a good job. I'm very happy. I think my family is happy."

Media

Jeffrey Dampier’s homicide has been featured on the

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

series '' Blood Relatives'', the

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series '' Snapped: Killer Couples'', and the TV One series ''Fatal Attraction''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dampier, Jeffrey 1966 births 2005 deaths Lottery winners American murder victims People from Chicago 2005 murders in the United States Deaths by firearm in Florida