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Man nabbed with help from lottery ticket gets life

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to life in prison for a 2005 double murder at a Chicago convenience store after police used lottery numbers he played to track him down.

Cook County prosecutors say police matched the numbers on a lottery ticket abandoned at the crime scene to the address of 43-yeaer-old Timothy Fountain. He was convicted of murder in the killings of clerk Graciela Rodriguez and customer Nicolas Guerrero.

Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns also sentenced Fountain on Friday to an additional 30 years in prison for armed robbery.

Prosecutors say Fountain bought the ticket before pulling a gun on Rodriguez. He emptied the cash register and dismantled surveillance equipment before shooting her, and shot Guerrero during a struggle.

DNA evidence found under Guerrero's fingernails matched Fountain's.

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