Arturo Gatti's widow gives testimony

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MONTREAL -- The testimony of Arturo Gatti's widow concluded with her in tears as she faced questions about her behavior before and after the boxer's death.

Amanda Rodrigues capped a third day on the stand by sobbing through her final answers in the morning Friday and she did not return to court in the afternoon.

Her testimony contradicted several other witnesses who have offered different accounts of when she met the boxer, whether he intended to keep living with her before he died, and details of their life together in between.

Rodrigues broke down when the Gatti family lawyer asked why she wouldn't let her in-laws see their grandson, Arturo Jr.

Rodrigues is in a bitter dispute with the Gatti family -- represented by his mother Ida and brother Fabrizio -- over who should get his $3.4 million fortune.

Rodrigues has a will, signed three weeks before the boxer's death in July 2009, that leaves his estate to her.

But the Gatti family counters that he was pressured into signing that will and that a previous will, an unsigned one from 2007 that leaves everything to his family, is the valid one. They believe she should be declared ineligible to inherit the estate.

Rodrigues criticized the Gatti family after the boxer's death. She began to cry Friday when asked about her estrangement with the family and why she wouldn't let members see Arturo Jr.

She said she was scared they'd take her son because of their legal and personal battles following the death.

"It was hard for me. Ida thought I'd killed her son," Rodrigues said.

"I know I was not a perfect wife. I could have been better, I did a lot of bad things," the sobbing Rodrigues said.

The Gatti family says it doesn't believe the conclusion of Brazilian authorities that he committed suicide.

Brazilian authorities are taking a second look at the case on the heels of a privately financed report by Gatti's manager; it classified his death as a homicide.

Rodrigues will return to the witness stand later. The trial continues next week.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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