Private investigators hired by Arturo Gatti's former manager lay out results of their 10-month probe of his death that point to murder, not suicide

Published: Thursday, September 08, 2011, 3:03 AM
By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal

Private investigators Paul J. Ciolino, left, and Joseph Moura, seated fourth from right, hold a news conference on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, at the Global Boxing Gym on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen where a panel of experts presented their findings from a 10-month investigation they say conclusively shows that boxing world champion Arturo Gatti did not commit suicide but was murdered.

Boxing champ Arturo Gatti didn't commit suicide, experts say

Private investigators and a panel of experts didn?t pull punches yesterday in presenting the results of a 10-month probe into the death of boxing champ Arturo Gatti that they say prove the fighter was murdered.

?In my opinion, he was attacked by another person and that resulted in a blunt force injury to the back of the head? before he was strangled while incapacitated, said Brent Turvey of Forensic Solutions at the press conference held at Global Boxing Gym.

Gatti died in a Brazilian hotel in July 2009 and police originally charged his wife, Amanda Gatti, with murder. A short time later, his death was ruled a suicide by hanging and she was released. The case remains open and Amanda Gatti was the only person in the hotel suite when Gatti died, investigators said.

Gatti?s former manager, Pat Lynch, hired private investigators Paul Ciolino and Joseph Moura to look into the boxer?s death and they assembled the panel of experts that made presentations yesterday.

The investigation, which took into account results of a second autopsy and involved interviews in three countries, looked into phone records, bank records and social interactions leading up to Gatti?s death.

The experts used photos from the death scene, computer simulations, and other tools to contest the notion the onetime Jersey City resident committed suicide.

The severe laceration on the back of Gatti?s head could not have been caused by a fall as police in Brazil have said, the experts claimed. And the position in which he was found, with his head under a cabinet, was not consistent with having fallen after hanging himself, they said.

Also, the purse strap Brazilian police say Gatti used to hang himself was not strong enough to support his weight and in a test it failed in seconds to support 78 pounds, the panel members said, adding the ligature marks on Gatti?s neck did not form a ?V,? as would be expected in a hanging, but instead were straight and more consistent with strangulation.

Brazilian attorney Eduardo Trindade said he will turn the voluminous report over to the Brazilian officials, adding: ?I expect the prosecutor will start a process against Arturo?s wife.?

?She is an extreme person of interest and the Brazilians, to my knowledge, are not looking at another person,? Ciolino said of the wife. ?Amanda makes Anna Nicole Smith look like June Cleaver.?

Amanda Gatti, who is fighting the boxer?s family over his fortune, valued at several million dollars, told the Canadian Press yesterday that ?I know it was a suicide. It would be easier for me to explain to myself that it wasn?t a suicide, but I?m positive it was.?

At the civil trial in Montreal over Gatti?s estate, friends of Gatti described the couple?s relationship. At the center of the trial is the validity of two wills with different beneficiaries.

Carmine Mercadente, a lawyer representing the Gatti family at the trial, said, ?I?m not going to comment on that because I have a civil case over here and it wouldn?t be fair.?

A three-time champ, Gatti was raised in Montreal but later called Jersey City home after befriending Ringside Lounge owner Mario Costa. He is most remembered for his epic trilogy of bouts against Mickey Ward. Gatti retired in 2007 with a record of 40 wins and 9 losses.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Video: Actor Mickey Rourke speaks about Arturo Gatti?s death outside Jersey City memorial

August 2, 4:25 AM

Hundreds of people gathered together in Jersey City to honor the fallen boxer, Arturo Gatti.

One of those present was actor and former boxer Mickey Rourke, who expressed his belief that Gatti did not commit suicide, as ruled by Brazilian authorities.

See the video of Mickey Rourke below:
http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime- ... side-Jersey-City-memorial

Actor Mickey Rourke among mourners in Jersey City to remember Arturo Gatti

by Patrick Villanova/The Jersey Journal
Thursday July 30, 2009, 10:14 PM


DYLAN WILSON/JOURNAL PHOTO
Actor Mickey Rourke attends Arturo Gatti's memorial mass at St. John the Baptist church in Jersey City.

Carl Moretti, a boxing promoter and friend of Arturo Gatti, always knew one of boxing's greatest unwritten rules: never fall in love with a fighter. The late Gatti seemed to make that rule nearly impossible to follow for all those who knew or rooted for him.

Hundreds of family members, friends and fans attended Gatti's memorial Mass tonight at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Jersey City to mourn the former boxing champions death, but also to celebrate his life.

"I think it's safe to say that many, if not all of us here tonight, simply ignored that rule when it came to Arturo," Moretti said.

After a tradition Catholic Mass, Moretti, as well as other boxing promoters, spoke about Gatti's life and boxing legacy.

"During the resurgence of Arturo's career, with the first of his three legendary fights with Mickey Ward, Arturo brought together (all kinds of) people who loved and cared for him and who loved and cared for each other," said Kathy Duva. "Tonight our tribe is here together again in attempt to remember him.

On a day when Gatti's tragic death was ruled a suicide by Brazilian authorities, Lou DiBella, another Gatti promoter, spoke of the boxer's passion for living.

"Arturo Gatti fought with passion. Arturo lived with passion. He did everything in his life with passion. He loved life," DiBella said. "And I know and you know, everyone in this room knows, and God knows that Arturo Gatti never quit in his life. And Arturo Gatti did not quit on himself."

DiBella called for truth and justice in the investigation of Gattis death. DiBella's appeal was followed by a thunderous ovation from those at the service. Also in attendance were Gatti's sister, Anna-Maria Gatti, and actor Mickey Rourke. Numerous mourners were clad in commemorative t-shirts with Gatti's picture printed on the front and the worlds Champion of Champions on the back.

I think this pretty well captures the NJ spirit in and support for Gatti. It may not be Izenberg's best writing (his ten-part series was amazing), but it's the right words coming at such the wrong time.

I mean... I'm not the most avid boxing consumer. It's hard without HBO and Showtime, but I watch the big fights and I try to keep on top of things. So, whatever the depth of my attention to the sport, I'm a huge fan of boxing. When I first came across Gatti, I was floored.

Jersey guy Arturo Gatti packed a special punch
by Jerry Izenberg/The Star-Ledger
Monday July 13, 2009, 9:47 AM

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerArturo Gatti, whose career took flight while fighting predominantly in Atlantic City, "touched the emotions and the heartbeat" of those in New Jersey.

To understand the impact the tragic death of Arturo Gatti in Brazil on Saturday has had on so many people in this state, you have to know that going in, New Jersey was, is and always will be the state of long-shot dreams, of hard knocks, high hopes and getting off the deck for one more shot. In every facet of what makes this state what it is, this is the state of a Puncher's Chance.

It has always been this way. In urban enclaves, no matter how they change, no matter the ethnicity or the skin color or the economic status. Nobody has to remind us.

''The Puncher's Chance.''

It is the mantra of this state's psyche as it struggles to overcome the ''Rust Belt'' Burden. In other slices of geography they succumb to the awful dirge of the Rust Belt Blues. Here we respond with the code of The Puncher's Chance. And the fire in that determination explains who we are and why we do not store our dreams away in the closet.

It explains how the son of an Italian immigrant, who, himself, became an immigrant from Montreal, touched the emotions and the heartbeat of those North Jersey cities that still have neighborhoods. Gatti wasn't fancy and he wasn't quick. What you saw was what you got.

He was, pure and simple, a living example of ''The Puncher's Chance.''

Listen to coach Bob Hurley, who was born and raised in one of those enclaves. The sound of his voice could pass for the music of North Jersey's cities. He can explain the legend of Arturo Gatti:

''People have dreams. So do neighborhoods. They were his people. You look back when you grow up and you remember the toughest kid on the block and years later you think, 'Well, he made it. Why not me?' So you keep on trying. In so many ways, he is what we are sometimes, back on his heels, bleeding, hurt and then coming back again because he would not yield his Puncher's Chance.''

Try Carl Moretti, the matchmaker for so many of his fights:

''He was my friend. It was like if you really needed something no matter where or what time, he'd be there for you. He's the guy I would have wanted in my foxhole whether the other guys were coming with guns or dynamite or tanks.

''He was North Jersey. He came from another country but he was one of us and they knew it. When he got hit, they got hit. When he bled, they bled. And when he won, they won. He was their kind of guy. Before the Mayweather fight we had to do a studio shot with HBO so Pat (Lynch, the manager), and Buddy (McGirt, the trainer) and Ted Cruz (the conditioner) and I are standing in front of his apartment house and this limo about the size of a battleship pulls up and he says, 'What's that?' Pat says, 'It's for us,' and Arturo says, 'Not any more.' Arturo walks over to the driver and hands him 200 bucks and tells him, 'This isn't us. Take the day off.'

''Then he gets in his car and we get in and he drives, no retinue, nobody to hold the door and patronize him, just friends like always. We get to the tunnel and the (Port Authority) cops and toll-takers all recognize us and they are shouting, 'Hey, Arturo, you gonna beat that guy?' To them he wasn't a star. He was more than that. He was Arturo from the block.''

As a case in point, after the third Micky Ward fight, he was still bleeding when he walked over to the press conference. Lynch held the door open and Gatti grinned and slammed his hand against it, screamed and pointed to the blood near his eye. Lynch looked at mob of Gatti aficionados and blurted ''Jeez, Arturo, you want to get me killed?''

That was Arturo Gatti.

But what was Gatti's hold on urban New Jersey? How did it happen?

For Arturo Gatti, it began like this. On June 10, 1991, his manager, Pat Lynch, turned him pro at the Meadowlands Convention Center against an older guy named Jose Gonzales.

"I looked across the ring and I saw him and I was like, 'Oh, man.' I was scared to death," Gatti once said. "Here was a guy fresh out of the can with a ponytail and tattoos all over his body. I was a teenager. I never saw anything like him before in my life."

But in the third round he caught Gonzales with the kind of left hook for which all the tough-guy ritual trappings in the world have no answer.

And so it began.

Actually, he insists it began long before that. When he was 8, his immigrant father, Giovanni, would take him over to Gentile Cafe in Montreal's Little Italy, stand him on a chair and say, "Here he is, look. Look at him closely. One day he will be a champion."

This is the same kid who got very good grades at Louis Joseph Pepino High School and told his teacher he wanted to drop out and fight for the Canadian amateur team. She thought of all the immigrant kids who needed education so badly and what they were up against and wanted to help, so she sent him to the principal.

When the principal heard that, he told Ida Gatti to tell her husband to put his foot down and stop their son from watching all those "Rocky" movies.

"I wasn't a wise guy," Gatti once told me. "I even tried night school later on, but it wasn't for me. My father made me go to work for him as an electrician. I wasn't very good. Hey, I was terrible. If it weren't for boxing, I could have been responsible for burning down half of Montreal."

So this is the way it was when Gatti left Canada and came to Jersey City and morphed into the neighborhood kid who swallowed Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall. You could walk down the boardwalk on Gatti fight night and, if you came from Newark or Jersey City or Paterson or Bayonne, every 50 feet, you saw somebody you knew. They were not only headed for a fight; they were headed for a reunion.

Boardwalk Hall belonged to them. They were his home team ... from the rafters to the floor seats ... from ringside's $750 seats to the $50 section in nosebleed heaven ... the joint was packed with Jersey guys and Jersey gals who had come to see a Jersey fighter in his element.

He was transplanted from the St. Leonard Italian ethnic section of Montreal to Jersey City in what seems like another incarnation, but he owned this state from the Delaware Water Gap to Cape May ... from the tank farms along the Jersey Turnpike to the rolling hills of Sussex County. He was the athlete who carved out a blue-collar autograph with his sweat and his blood.

This was a neighborhood guy who flipped burgers for pay days after he left Canada for Jersey City. He gave every blue collar in this state Jersey boxing the way it used to be ... Jersey boxing as it once was in Newark's old, rickety Laurel Garden and Meadowbrook Bowl and down the road in the Elizabeth Armory and in places like North Bergen's Embassy Hall along the way.

Even when Arturo Gatti was the main-eventer, he still fought with the passion of a club fighter ... the honest workman who never checked his hunger at the door just because life was easy and he had a world title. He fought a puncher named Micky Ward three times in matches so brutal and so passionate that they could have fought inside a pay telephone booth.

If you were there you will remember, and thousands, who were not, will say they were there as well.

The details of his murder are horrific. But in time they will not be how he is remembered. He will be remembered as Arturo from the block, laughing, caring and most of all, as the man who always kept his and their ''Puncher's Chance'' alive.

Arturo Gatti strangled in sleep with wife's purse strap, Brazilian police say

by The Associated Press
Monday July 13, 2009, 1:22 PM

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Police investigating the death of former boxing champion and New Jersey native Arturo Gatti are working on the assumption his wife strangled him with her purse strap while he drunkenly slept.

While cautioning that nothing is being ruled out, lead investigator Moises Teixeira told The Associated Press today he is certain the woman acted alone.
Al Bello/Getty ImagesArturo Gatti during an Atlantic City fight onJuly 22, 2006. Brazilian police say the New Jersey boxing champ was strangled over the weekend while he slept, with his wife Amanda Rodrigues being the main suspect.

"It was technically impossible for a third person to have been in the flat," where Gatti was found dead early Saturday, Teixeira said. "The investigation isn't finished, but we continue to think she did this alone."

Gatti's 23-year-old Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, told investigators she awoke Saturday about 6 a.m. to find her husband's body in the apartment they rented in Porto de Galinhas, a seaside resort in northeastern Pernambuco state.
MORE COVERAGE

Jerry Izenberg: Jersey guy Arturo Gatti packed special punch

Brazilian authorities accuse Arturo Gatti's wife in his strangulation death

July 12 -- Arturo Gatti's wife is detained as suspect in his death

July 12 -- Former New Jersey boxing champ Arturo Gatti found dead at Brazilian resort

Rodrigues told police she had a fight with Gatti after dinner Friday night and he pushed her to the ground, resulting in minor injuries to her elbow and chin. Witnesses also reported to police the couple fought and that Gatti was drunk.

Rodrigues told police the 37-year-old former junior welterweight champion then got into a cab with their son and returned to their rented apartment, leaving her alone downtown.

Teixeira said witnesses told police Gatti left his son to sleep in the apartment, then returned to the city center to find his wife. She arrived at the apartment before he did and waited for him. They then both went upstairs together.

Rodrigues told police she slept on the second floor of the apartment with her son, while Gatti slept on the first floor. She told police she awoke at 6 a.m. to feed her son and discovered her husband's body. Police say he most likely had been killed at least four hours before that.

Teixeira said police do not think anyone else entered the apartment and killed Gatti -- he said there were no signs of forced entry and electronic locks indicated nobody else had entered the room aside from Rodrigues and Gatti.
AP Photo/Clemilson Campos/JC ImagemAmanda Rodrigues, center, is escorted by police officers after being arrested Brazil on Sunday. Brazilian authorities say they have detained Rodrigues, wife of former boxing champion Arturo Gatti, as a suspect following his death at a posh seaside resort.

The pair married in 2007 and according to Rodrigues had a rocky relationship. Authorities were told the couple was extremely jealous of each other and that Gatti constantly complained about her clothing when she traveled to Brazil, police spokeswoman Milena Saraiva said.

According to Brazilian law, police accuse a person of a crime but it is up to the prosecutor to formally file a charge. Teixeira said police have until July 22 to deliver their findings to the prosecutor's office, but he hoped the investigation would be completed before then.

Rodrigues was accused of the crime Sunday and taken into police custody. She has been transferred to a woman's prison in the state capital Recife. She maintains her innocence.

Gatti, Rodrigues and their 10-month-old son arrived in Brazil on Friday for what they told a local real estate agent was a second honeymoon. The baby, who was unhurt, is now with Rodrigues' family in Brazil.

Gatti, a Canadian, fought an epic trilogy with Micky Ward that branded him one of the most exciting fighters of his generation. He retired in 2007 with a career record of 40-9 and 31 knockouts.

Known for his straightforward punching and granitelike chin, Gatti captured the super featherweight title in 1995, when he defeated Tracy Harris Patterson in Atlantic City, N.J. He won the junior welterweight title in 2004.

My family is devastated. We've been following his career since the Tracy Harris Patterson fight. We've had the pleasure to see him fight in the Garden. And I've met him four times in person - three times in Hoboken, once in Jersey City. He was a gentleman, down to earth, an all around great guy.

Check out these fights:
Gatti vs Tracy Harris Patterson
Gattil vs Wilson Rodriguez
Gatti vs. Gabriel Ruelas
Gatti vs. Ivan Robinson (I, II)
Gatti vs. Terronn Millet
Gatti vs. Mickey Ward (I, II, III)

damn... jc's adopted son. anyone who hasnt seen his older fights should try and find them online. a real beast

RIP

Wow. He was good for the state, the region, and the sport.

Former boxing champ Gatti found dead in BrazilAssociated Press
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Updated: July 11, 2009, 8:35 PM EDT
SAO PAULO (AP) - Former boxing champion Arturo Gatti, whose epic trilogy with Micky Ward branded him one of the most exciting fighters of his generation, was found dead in a hotel room in the posh seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas early Saturday.

Police investigator Edilson Alves told The Associated Press that the body of the former junior welterweight champ was discovered in his room at the tourist resort, where Gatti had arrived on Friday with his Brazilian wife Amanda and 1-year-old son.

Gatti through the years Photos: Arturo Gatti was one of the most exciting and courageous fighters of his era. Take a look at his storied career.
Alves said police were investigating and it was unclear how the 37-year-old Canadian died.

"It is still too early to say anything concrete, although it is all very strange," Alves said. He declined to provide any additional details.

A spokeswoman for the state public safety department said Gatti's wife and son were unhurt. The woman declined to give a name in keeping with department policy.

"There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor," she said.

Brazilian boxer and four-time world champion Acelino "Popo" Freitas told the G1 Web site of Brazil's largest TV network Globo that he was a close friend of Gatti and his wife, and that he "knew they were having some sort of problem and were about to separate."

Known for his straightforward punching and granite-like chin, Gatti captured the junior welterweight title in 1995, when he defeated Tracy Harris Patterson in Atlantic City, N.J. His brawling style and natural charisma made him a fan favorite, and he became one of New Jersey's adopted sons while fighting some of his most memorable battles on the Boardwalk.

"I never saw a crowd show so much love for someone like the way that the crowds flocked to Arturo's fights in Atlantic City," said referee Randy Neumann, who officiated Gatti's last fight against Alfonso Gomez two years ago. "I mean, they were so into him and the crowds were electric. He just fought his heart out every fight."


Arturo Gatti was 40-9 with 31 KOs in his career. (Al Bello / Getty Images)

Gatti continued to keep a home in New Jersey after he retired in 2007, with a career record of 40-9 and 31 knockouts.

"His entire boxing career he fought with us, we've known him since he was 17," Kathy Duva of promoter Main Events told The Associated Press. "It's just an unspeakable tragedy. I can't even find words. It's a horror."

Gatti defended his title three times before moving up in weight and getting stopped by Angel Manfredy in 1997. He lost twice more before running off four straight wins, setting up a big payday against Oscar De La Hoya.

Although Gatti was knocked out in the fifth round of a lopsided fight, his almost cult-like following never wavered in its support.

"He just captured the imagination of so many people," Duva said. "We used to joke it was a crowd like the Grateful Dead's, it was the same people every time."

Gatti would later lose to big names like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Carlos Baldomir, but it was his three-fight series against Ward that left an indelible impression on fight fans.

The first time they met, in May 2002, the 140-pounders traded devastating blows for 10 rounds before leaving it up to the judges to decide a winner. Ward earned the mixed decision, by one point on one scorecard and two points on another, in what Ring Magazine called "Fight of the Year."

The rematch was just as brutal, with Gatti knocking Ward down in the third round with a big right. Ward not only recovered from the blow, which broke Gatti's hand, but managed to go the distance. This time, Gatti earned a clear unanimous decision.

Gatti and Ward had their rubber match at Boardwalk Hall in June 2003, and it was again called "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine. Ward knocked Gatti to the floor in the sixth round, but despite fighting with his right hand broken again, Gatti managed to win the decision.

"I was sitting him at the post-fight press conference - I can't remember which one - and I looked at his hand and it was three times the normal size," Duva said. "He gave me this goofy grin and he said, 'Yeah, I know. We'll party tonight and I'll go to the hospital tomorrow."'

Gatti attempted a comeback in July 2007, getting knocked out in seven rounds by Gomez. Afterward, with his legion of fans cheering for him in the arena, Gatti announced his retirement in the dressing room at Boardwalk Hall.

Neumann said it was tough for him to end that fight, simply because of Gatti's incredible ability to come back in fights.

"I couldn't stop that fight, simply because he was Arturo Gatti," Neumann said. "He was much more dignified to go out that way. He had to be counted out. When he fought, you never knew if he could come back. He looked beaten and still came back."

With that loss, Gatti acknowledged the end of all his travails and triumphs.

"I remember walking away from his last fight, and somebody walked up to him in the casino late at night and congratulated him," Duva said. "And he said, 'Why did he congratulate me?' And I said, 'He was excited to meet you.' And he kind of looked very surprised by that.

"He had no idea what an icon he was or how much he meant to people."