Arturo Gatti's Death Ruled Suicide
By Tom Miller. Posted on .
As you may recall, the boxer Arturo Gatti was a force to be reckoned with in the ring. The boxer held the Super Featherweight, Welterweight and Junior Lightweight titles during his 16-year career. He was an absolute warrior in the ring. Even the nine career losses (against forty wins) were great matches. His fights were some of the most entertaining to watch because there was no quit in him. That may be why some people are a bit surprised that his death in a Brazilian resort town was ruled a suicide.
According to ESPN, Brazilian authorities Arturo "Thunder" Gatti's July 11th strangulation death was not at the hands of wife Amanda Rodrigues. Gatti and his wife were arguing (with shoving) the evening before and their tumultuous relationship was likely heading to a split. Evidently, previous details were omitted from reports to the media as Gatti's body was allegedly "found 'suspended and hanging'" rather than choked in a supine position by a "bloody purse strap."
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After being released and basically cleared as a suspect, Amanda Rodrigues explained that Gatti was drunk and upset that she might leave him the next day following their most recent fight. But Gatti's family is not sure that the cops in Brazil did their jobs right and are likely to have his body exhumed for an autopsy in North America. Shortly after his death, Gatti's mother, Ida Gatti, was quoted as saying that she heard Rodriguez threaten to kill the former boxing champ on occasion. It should be noted that Gatti was charged with assaulting Amanda Rodrigues and ordered to stay 200 meters away from her in the spring of 2009. Read: Why Do Victims Of Domestic Violence Stay?
While this case lacks the Hollywood flair and alleged ninjas of David Carradine's death, they both involve possibly accidental strangulation, more questions than answers and the disbelief on the part of the first world that local cops can get anything right. Interesting, sad and strange.
