Gatti family only interested in money: widow
CBC News
Posted: Sep 16, 2011 7:52 PM ET
Last Updated: Sep 16, 2011 7:48 PM ET
Amanda Rodrigues, shown here with Gatti and their son in an undated photo, said no one from the Gatti family has expressed any interest in Arturo Jr. since her husband died. (Gatti family photo)
Arturo Gatti’s wife finished her testimony in court this week by tearfully telling the judge she wasn't the perfect wife.
But Amanda Rodrigues, the widow of the late boxing champion, also accused his family of being more interested in money than the couple’s young son.
The civil trial in Montreal is charged with determining if the fighter’s last will, which left his entire estate to Rodrigues, is valid.
Gatti was found dead at a Brazilian resort in 2009. Rodrigues was initially arrested in connection with his death, but released after Brazilian authorities deemed it a suicide.
Gatti’s family does not believe he took his own life.
They also contend that he was pressured into signing the will before the court and that a previous will, an unsigned one from 2007 that leaves everything to his family, is the valid one.
They believe Rodrigues should be declared ineligible to inherit the estate.
On Friday, Rodrigues testified that it hurt her to think her mother-in-law thinks she is capable of murdering her husband.
She said the Gatti family was not “normal,” pointing to the fact that some of the boxer’s siblings don’t speak to each other or to their mother.
Rodrigues said since her husband died, no one from the family has expressed any interest in her son, Arturo Jr.
She broke down and cried as she said she didn’t believe things with her husband would end the way it did.
Rodrigues did not return to court in the afternoon, saying she did not feel well.
Outside the courtroom, the family’s lawyer, Carmine Mercadante, said there is a lot of circumstantial evidence that shows Gatti was pressured into signing the will.
“If you can prove facts with assumptions that the guy didn’t know what he was signing or that he was influenced in signing that will, you can cancel it,” he said.
The lawyer said he has more questions for Rodrigues when the trial resumes next week.
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