Sisters Feud Over $500,000 Lottery Prize

A sad story of a sisterly bond being broken. The elderly women share over 80 years of history together and find themselves in court over a $500,000 lottery jackpot prize. Here's the story from the Hartford Courant.

Lottery Jackpot Testimony: 'She Said I Wasn't Going To Get a Dime'

NEW BRITAIN — The damage to the bond of two elderly sisters from a dispute over a $500,000 Powerball jackpot could be measured by how little love was on display in court Tuesday.

Rose Bakaysa, 87, and Theresa Sokaitis, 84, never seemed to lock eyes.

There were no smiles or waves.

Bakaysa referred to her sister as "Mrs. Sokaitis."

But even while testifying against each other, signs of a past sisterhood were evident.

Sokaitis recalled how Bakaysa paid the school tuition of one of Sokaitis' six children and gave her money when her car was repossessed. And when Bakaysa had heart surgery, Sokaitis visited her in the hospital every day.

"I love my sister," Sokaitis told the judge. "There was no reason for us not to be partners."

Superior Court Judge Cynthia K. Swienton told the sisters that their five-year wait to get the court to resolve their dispute could be over in the next few months when the judge would likely make a ruling in the case.

Despite a close relationship that testimony showed spanned nearly seven decades, the two sisters were unable to settle the dispute on their own. Read the whole article...