A Jefferson woman says she was shaking and couldn’t breathe after winning a $20,000 Iowa Lottery scratch-game prize. “It was an experience I had never had before,” says 46-year-old Nicole Murphy. “I’m guessing people who jump out of airplanes maybe get that experience, but I was on the ground and I was, like, lifted.” Murphy won the major prize of the “Top Dog” scratch game, which debuted June 7. She bought the tickets at the Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh station in Jefferson as a way to help pass time while working at the food truck she owns. But she was much busier than expected during the Mahanay Bell Tower Festival and just didn’t have time to scratch the tickets until after she got home. After slowly revealing one zero after another, she says she went crazy, “rolling around like a fool on the ground screaming.” Murphy is the mother of four and will use the winnings to pay off her car and a credit card and then put some away for use at a later date. “Top Dog” is a $2 Iowa Lottery game that has overall odds of one in 3.83 and 10 top prizes of $20,000.
