Virginia Metcalf Merida, Powerball winner
Louisiana Lou
11/26/2005, 8:55 a.m. CT
The Associated Press
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/national-55/113301744961410.xml&storylist=topstories
NEWPORT, Ky. (AP) — A woman who won a $65.4 million Powerball jackpot
with her husband five years ago was found dead at her home overlooking
the Ohio River. Police said she had been dead for days before anyone
found her.
Virginia Metcalf Merida's son found her dead Wednesday. Campbell County
Police are awaiting autopsy results and toxicology results before
announcing a cause of death.
Investigators said there was no sign of forced entry at the
5,000-square-foot, custom-built geodesic dome house that Merida, 51,
bought for $559,000 in 2000.
Her husband, Mack Wayne Metcalf, died in 2003 at age 45 while living in
a replica of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate built in Corbin.
His death followed multiple run-ins with the law in the days following
the lottery win.
When they won the jackpot, the couple refused dozens of interview
requests but told lottery officials they were going separate ways to
fulfill lifelong dreams. Merida was quitting her job making corrugated
boxes and planned to buy a home. Metcalf, a forklift operator, wanted to
start a new life in Australia.
The couple split the winnings of the $3 ticket bought at a Florence
truck stop and opted to take a $34.1 million lump sum instead of annual
installments. Merida took 40 percent, or $13.6 million, while Metcalf
moved to Corbin with the remaining $20.5 million.
Neighbors said Merida shunned attention successfully until last
December, when a body was found in her home.
Campbell County Deputy Coroner Al Garnick confirmed that a man died of a
drug overdose at the home, but he couldn't recall the person's name.
Official records were unavailable because of the Thanksgiving holiday
weekend.
Merida had used part of her winnings to buy a second home, but when she
tried to evict the resident of the home, the renter sued her in Hamilton
County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court. A hearing in the case is scheduled for
Wednesday.
Carol Terrell Lawson, who is still renting the home, said Thursday that
she never met Merida in person and only learned of the death after
reporters began calling her.
David Huff, who bought the Mount Vernon look-alike home from Metcalf's
estate, said Metcalf died of multiple ailments complicated by alcoholism.
"It was a classic case of a person who never had anything and didn't
know how to handle it," Huff said. "I think things went from bad to
worse when he got the money."
After winning the jackpot, Metcalf was first ordered to pay $31,000 in
back child support. Court workers in Kenton County said at the time that
he was behind in support payments for his daughter from his first
marriage since 1986. A judge ordered him to establish an $800,000 trust
fund to take care of his daughter's future needs.
A month after winning the lottery win, a Boone County judge issued a
warrant for Metcalf's arrest after he failed to appear in court on a
drunken driving charge. It turned out that Metcalf had crashed into
several parked cars while driving drunk through a mall parking lot a
month before he won the lottery.
Metcalf eventually served four days on the DUI conviction but not before
he was fined for causing a bar brawl in Florence.
He also sued to reclaim $500,000 that he allegedly gave to a woman while
he was drunk.
Court records were unavailable Thursday to determine the outcome of that
case.
Metcalf saw the Corbin home he eventually bought and liked it so much
that he made an offer. He asked the owner what it would take to buy the
home, complete with all the furnishings, and then handed over the asking
price, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Saturday.
The lawyer, Robert Hammons, who still lives in Corbin, declined Thursday
to say what he got for the home. The 4,000-square-foot residence estate
is on 43 acres, with an outdoor pool and a metal building that would
eventually house Metcalf's dozen classic cars.
"It is really a bizarre story," Huff said. "Sad, when you think about
it. He had a real hard life. I'm sure there are a lot of things that
went wrong in his past that no one knows about."