Hillsborough Co. Woman Charged with Murder of Lottery Winner

Dee Dee Moore of Plant City has been charged with first degree murder in relation to the death of Abraham Shakespeare last year. Shakespeare won an estimated $30 million in the Florida Lottery in late 2006. His remains were found in January 2010, buried behind a home in the Plant City area owned by Moore and her boyfriend.

According to law enforcement, Moore approached Shakespeare in 2007, telling him that she was interested in writing a book about his life. She ultimately become something of a financial advisor to Shakespeare. Within a few months, she had control over $3.5 million of his assets.

Shakespeare went missing last April, although his family did not report him missing until November.

Police now say that Moore went to extreme lengths to make it seem that Shakespeare was still alive. She even had someone call Shakespeare’s mother, pretending to be Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s mother didn’t think it sounded like her son and police traced the phone number back to Gregory Todd Smith. They found Smith the next day, meeting with Moore.

Smith told police that Moore had paid him to make the call as well as a call to a Polk detective to claim he had recently spotted the missing man alive in Miami.

Records indicate that Shakespeare was shot twice with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver that deputies said Moore turned over to Gregory Todd Smith, who was working with authorities. Moore reportedly asked Smith if he knew anyone who would be willing to confess to killing Shakespeare. Smith said he knew someone already facing a lengthy prison term who would be willing to do it for $50,000.

But the man was an undercover Lake Wales police officer who met with Moore and Smith on Jan. 21. The officer said he would need more details about the killing to make his confession convincing. During the meeting, police said, Moore agreed to tell him where Shakespeare’s body was buried and that she had the gun that killed him.

After she showed him where the body was buried, police obtained a search warrant and discovered Shakespeare’s body.

The 22-page arrest affidavit said Moore kept switching the blame for Shakespeare’s slaying from a drug dealer named Ronald; to herself in self-defense; Shakespeare’s cousin; her own 14-year-old son, R.J.; and finally Plant City attorney David Stitzel, who had arranged many of the transactions transferring Shakespeare’s assets to Moore.

“Ms. Moore has provided several accounts as to how Abraham Shakespeare was killed,” recounts the affidavit. “In every account, Ms. Moore has admitted being present when Abraham Shakespeare was killed.”

Moore was already being held on a million-dollar bond for a charge of accessory after the fact to a first-degree murder in connection with Shakespeare’s death. The first-degree murder charge was added Friday night.