MONTREAL – Arturo Gatti’s widow was spared having to testify about the boxer’s final hours as a judge in a civil case cut off questions Friday about that fateful night.
Over several days of testimony, Amanda Rodrigues had painted a vivid picture of their tumultuous relationship, which ended with Gatti’s mysterious death in Brazil in 2009.
Her narrative had reached the night before Gatti was found dead in their resort apartment.
Rodrigues testified Thursday that on the evening before his death Gatti drank heavily, hit her, became involved in a street brawl and shared an emotional moment with their infant son.
That’s where the testimony ended.
Lawyers for Gatti’s family, who are suing Rodrigues for control of the champion boxer’s $3.4 million estate, were planning to question her over what happened next.
But Justice Claudine Roy ruled that the line of questioning amounted to a “fishing expedition” and was irrelevant to the case involving Gatti’s will.
With little else to ask Rodrigues, the Gatti side let her stand down. She left the courtroom and did not return for Friday’s afternoon session.
Rodrigues has struggled to escape a cloud of suspicion since the death, when she was originally a suspect and was briefly arrested by Brazilian authorities. She was freed after an investigation indicated the boxer committed suicide.
But the Gatti family has never accepted authorities’ version of what happened and is fighting to keep his widow from inheriting the money.
Rodrigues’ lawyer argued in court, successfully, that his opponents had no right to turn the inheritance case into some mock murder trial.
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She was followed on the stand Friday by the couple’s babysitter, Victoria Purchio. The babysitter offered a portrait of Gatti at odds with earlier testimony characterizing him as a volatile man in a loveless marriage.
Purchio told the court that the Gatti she knew was devoted to his family and wildly in love with his wife.
“Junior and Amanda were his life,” she told the court. “A lot of love I seen in the couple.”
Purchio lived in the same Montreal condominium complex as the Gattis in 2009 and eventually became a trusted caretaker of their infant son, Arturo Jr.
She said she never saw the couple fight and recalled that Gatti would always refer to Rodrigues as his “baby.”
So trusted was Purchio that Gatti told her he planned to whisk his wife to Paris for a second honeymoon the summer. He even showed her the ring he had bought as a present.
But Purchio also admitted there were signs of trouble in Gatti’s life. Asked by Rodrigues’ lawyer if Gatti struggled with alcohol, Purchio said: “Oh, yes.”
“When he came to pick up the baby, I smelled alcohol on him,” she said. “He told me he had to find help for himself.”
There were other signs, too. She once visited the Gattis’ apartment with the boxer’s brother, Fabrizio, in order to tidy while the couple was away.
She testified that Fabrizio pointed to a hole in the wall and said, “What the hell is going on. It’s starting again.”
She also said Fabrizio Gatti had asked her to testify that Rodrigues suffered from alcohol problems as well.
Purchio refused, saying that didn’t fit with her perception of the couple. She appeared in court Friday as a witness for the widow.
“That was not the truth,” she told reporters in reference to Fabrizio Gatti’s request. “I had nothing to gain but to tell the truth. That’s why I came.”
The dispute over the will has taken several twists in recent days.
A private investigation funded by Gatti’s ex-manager determined the death was a homicide. Brazilian police have since reopened the investigation.
Then, in a startling move earlier this week, the two sides put the trial on hold to discuss a possible settlement.
The deal, however, has yet to materialize. Rodrigues’ lawyer, Pierre-Hugues Fortin, refused to comment Friday when asked whether the talks were still ongoing.
The Gatti family says their preference is for the fortune to be split equally between Arturo Jr. and his child from a previous relationship.
Before adjourning the trial Friday for several days, Justice Roy turned to the Gatti family and reminded them of their stated desire to secure the financial future of the boxer’s children.
“I have to note that your actions have had the opposite effect,” she said, pointing out that their legal squabbles have probably eaten up about $1 million of the estate.
“You have a one-week break. It will give you the chance to think things over.”
In the meantime, a pair of major documentaries into Gatti’s mysterious death could alter public perception of the case and increase pressure on the parties to reach a deal.
The CBC Television program, “The Fifth Estate,” is slated to air a documentary Friday night that claims Gatti harboured suicidal tendencies.
Early new reports from related Radio-Canada and CBC documentaries have cited acquaintances depicting the boxer as a serious substance abuser who used hard drugs and spoke several times about ending his life.
A CBS documentary Saturday will also examine what happened at the Brazilian resort in 2009.
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