Boxing: Police say Gatti killed himself

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RIO DE JANEIRO — Boxer Arturo Gatti's death was ruled a suicide by police Thursday and his wife, once suspected of killing the former champion, was released from jail.

Lead investigator Paulo Alberes told The Associated Press authorities decided Gatti killed himself on July 11 while at a seaside resort in northeastern Brazil.

When asked if police had determined the case was a suicide, Alberes said "yes." He offered no details, though a judge — in ordering the release of Gatti's wife — cited the police investigation and wrote that "the victim took his own life, committing suicide by hanging."

The boxer's widow, 23-year-old Amanda Rodrigues, said in a phone interview as she walked out of jail she thinks Gatti may have killed himself because he was afraid she was going to leave him.

"We had an argument in the street. Then he pushed me and I hurt myself," Rodrigues said. "He did that in a moment of weakness. He was drunk, maybe he didn't know what he was doing."

A day after Gatti, 37, was found dead, police said that Rodrigues had strangled him with her purse strap as he drunkenly slept. But police backed off the accusation a week later after a coroner's report said Gatti may have killed himself as he was found "suspended and hanged." The report didn't exclude the possibility he was slain or died accidentally.

Gatti's family and friends were incredulous at the report. "It doesn't make any sense," said Howard Grant, a friend and fellow boxer.

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