Man on Welfare Returns $7.6-Million Lottery Ticket : Honesty Brings Reward of $1.2 Million

An unemployed man said he debated for about two hours whether to seek out the rightful owner of a lottery ticket worth $7.6 million that he found on a Montreal street. When he finally did, the owner gave him a reward of about $1.2 million.

William Murphy, 28, said he is heading back to his hometown, Vancouver, British Columbia, with the reward given him by 51-year-old Jean-Guy Lavigueur.

Both men spoke to reporters Tuesday in Montreal.

Lavigueur, who also is unemployed, said he bought several lottery tickets with his three children and a brother-in-law.

One lottery ticket won $7,650,267 in Canadian money or about $5.5 million U.S. It was among several tickets in a wallet that Murphy found on a Montreal street Sunday morning.

Lavigueur gave him a $1.2-million share, or about $850,000 U.S., for returning the ticket. “One million for him,” Lavigueur said. “It was worth it.”

Murphy, who has been on welfare, said he checked the address in the wallet and mailed it to the owner, but kept the tickets. He said he “kept the tickets so I could check them out later. I figured it might be good for $10 or something.”

“About four hours later I was sitting down having a coffee, I’d bought a newspaper and was checking the tickets, and that’s when I realized (one) was worth $7 million,” he said.

He said he had only 56 cents and thought for about two hours “of keeping all the money to myself,” but then decided he could not do it.

He remembered the address from the wallet, but it took him two trips to the Lavigueur home in east Montreal before he succeeded in returning the tickets.

Yves Lavigueur, 18, answered his knock at the door Sunday night, but he spoke only French. Murphy speaks only English. He left, but returned Monday night with a bilingual friend.

Associated Press

Jean-Guy Lavigueur kisses William Murphy. “He came to our house and said, ‘You’re a millionaire,’ ” said Lavigueur, who had lost the wallet as he got out of his car Saturday night. “I told him to come in, but I didn’t believe him until I saw the ticket.”

“And I said to him, ‘I’m giving you $1 million.’ How many honest people are there around these days?” Lavigueur told reporters.