By Sue Montgomery
MONTREAL - The long and messy saga over the late boxer Arturo Gatti's will seems to be approaching at least a partial end as his widow and family were locked in closed-door talks Tuesday.
Amanda Rodrigues, Gatti's 25-year-old widow, and Fabrizio Gatti, Gatti's younger brother, were seen together with their lawyers at the Montreal courthouse as the hearing over the will was suspended.
"Hopefully, tomorrow (Wednesday) morning we'll have some good news," said Pierre-Hugues Fortin, who represents Amanda Rodrigues, Gatti's widow.
On Monday, Fabrizio Gatti told Quebec Superior Court that his brother's assets - worth about $3.4 million - should be divided equally between the boxer's two children.
Gatti has one son, Junior, with Rodrigues and a daughter with another woman, Erika Rivera.
The family claims Gatti was pressed by Rodrigues in June 2009 to sign a will leaving everything to her. Three weeks later, the champion boxer was found dead in Brazil, where he was vacationing with his wife and son.
The family says a will from 2007 in which Gatti left his assets to his daughter, mother and Fabrizio should be honoured. But no one has a signed copy of that document.
But even if this legal battle is settled, Rodrigues's war with her husband's past won't be over.
Rivera has filed a wrongful-death suit in New Jersey, claiming Rodrigues either bludgeoned and asphyxiated her husband, or conspired with others to do so. As a result of that suit, all of Gatti's assets have been frozen.
Sue Montgomery is a reporter for the Montreal Gazette.