Lottery winner's luck turns

The West Virginia wife of the lottery winner who took home the richest undivided jackpot in United States history says she regrets his purchase of the US$314 million ($447.7 million) ticket that has thrust her family into the public spotlight.

"I wish I would have torn the ticket up, " Jewel Whittaker told the Charleston Gazett.

Since winning the lottery two years ago, her husband, Jack Whittaker, 57, has been arrested twice for drunken driving and has been ordered into rehab. He also faces charges he attacked a bar manager, and is accused in two lawsuits of making trouble at a nightclub and a racetrack.

He has also suffered several thefts.