One Mega Millions winner comes forward
<p>Jim and Carolyn McCullar, of Ephrata, Wash., who bought on of the two winning Mega Millions lottery jackpot tickets, talk to reporters Thursday in Olympia, Wash. The McCullars will split the $380 million prize with another person who purchased a ticket in Idaho.</p>
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - No, Carolyn, it's not a heart attack. It's a fortune.
The man who bought one of two winning tickets in the $380 million Mega Millions lottery frightened his wife when he woke her Tuesday night to share the life-changing news.
"I was pale, shaking. She thought I was having a heart attack," retiree Jim McCullar recalled.
When his wife, Carolyn, asked if he was OK, he replied: "I'm perfect."
On Thursday, the couple and their adult children stepped forward to publicly claim one half of the second-largest lottery jackpot in history. Whoever is holding the other winning ticket, purchased in neighboring Idaho, remained a mystery.
At a news conference in Washington's capital city, the McCullars took hold of the oversized check, marveling at all the zeros in $190 million. Jim McCullar, 68, then promptly handed it over to his wife, 63.
"We've been married 41 years," he said. "I know what to do with this check."
The $190 million would be paid in 26 annual installments. But the Idaho winner could choose to take an $81 million lump sum payment.
In Washington, where no state taxes would apply, the lump sum would be $90 million after the 25 percent federal tax. The McCullars said they hadn't decided how to take the payment.
Jim McCullar, a retired Boeing Co. worker, bought his ticket at a supermarket in Ephrata in eastern Washington, about 125 miles from Post Falls, where the other ticket was sold.
McCullar said the money will, of course, help his large extended family: six children, including two from an earlier marriage; 23 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
The winners had to match five numbers plus the "Mega ball." The numbers were 4, 8, 15, 25 and 47, and 42 as the Mega ball.