Boxer Arturo Gatti's death: Suicide or murder?

In 2007, one month after Arturo Gatti walked out of the ring for the last time, he married 21-year-old Amanda Rodrigues at the Grand Canyon.

"He was very romantic, you know," Amanda told Erin Moriarty. "The love he had for me was like, crazy love, you know ...When he retired we both were very happy, you know. ... The day we married he already wanna have kids."

Gatti already had a daughter from a previous relationship. About a year after his wedding to Amanda, she gave him the baby boy he's always wanted.

"His son meant the world to him," Casino explained. "If you didn't know that Arturo Gatti's son meant the world to him, you didn't know Arturo Gatti."

"He had Amanda and he had little Arturo Jr. Life was goin' good for him," said Micky Ward.

But only on the surface. Arturo Gatti, who went into real estate in Montreal, was having trouble adjusting to life outside of the ring and away from the limelight. As "48 Hours" learned, he was struggling with ongoing alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence.

Photos: Gatti's life and career

According to Amanda, Arturo took retirement hard.

"Well, he got depressed ... He didn't know what to do," she said. "He started drinking a lot..."

Gatti had always partied hard. His longtime friends, Tony Rizzo and Gisella Minieara, never saw it as a problem.

"He used to party like everybody else, he used to have a few drinks," said Tony.

"He did drink, we all drank," Gisella said. "But I can't say that, I didn't really see him in a state where I would say, 'you know, this guy is an alcoholic.'"

Public records tell a different story about Arturo Gatti. A decade before he met Amanda, he had already been convicted on drunk driving charges in three different states and eventually lost his license.

According to Casino, "He couldn't drive for 10 years."

And it wasn't just driving. Arrest reports obtained by "48 Hours" show Gatti's drinking led to fights with police officers and that another confrontation left a Florida man brain damaged.

"And Amanda was living with him. So she got the brunt of it," said Casino.

"There was the man I fell in love [with], the funny, the romantic, the lovely husband and father. And then was this person that would change when he was drunk," said Amanda.

"In what way?" Moriarty asked.

"He would become aggressive...nasty," she replied. "He was a completely different man when he was drinking.'"

What's more, "48 Hours" has learned that in early 2008, just six months into his marriage -- and while the couple was on vacation in Maui -- Arturo was cited for domestic violence.

"You found out you were pregnant in Hawaii. You have one of your awful fights with Arturo in Hawaii," Moriarty noted to Amanda.

"Yeah."

"Did he hit you when you were pregnant?"

"No," Amanda replied. "But I, I don't like to talk about that."

"It was like a roller coaster. There was no relationship. It was constant fighting," according to Tony Rizzo, one of Arturo's longtime friends who have lined up against Amanda. He claims she gave as good as she got. "She took a broom and hit him over the head. ...I seen on numerous occasions, he had black eyes."

Tony says Amanda could hurt Arturo in ways no boxer could. "She would tell him, 'You're good for nothing. You're a bad fighter. You embarrass me. You're a druggie, you're an alcoholic' - she only used to look at his bad things," he explained.

"The only reason we used to fight was the drink," Amanda told Moriarty.

"Would you hit him?"

"No. But I used to throw things on him," she replied. "When I was mad, it happened. I'm not gonna lie, you know. But I never touched my husband."

Amanda says their fights were all about getting Arturo to stop drinking.

"She tried to help him," Casino said. "I was there when she tried to help him."

But Arturo wouldn't listen. By the spring of 2009, he was living apart from Amanda and the baby and even talking divorce. "I would just say, 'Oh, it's over... Oh, I'm leavin.' You know, 'I cannot take this anymore,'" she explained.

According to Gisella, "He was fed up with her, fed up of living that life."

But separation - and even a court order demanding Arturo stay away from his wife - didn't end the bickering. The Gattis began furiously texting each other.

"For me you are an embarresment inside and out of the ring..." wrote Amanda... "wake up looser. Noone is jeualous of your f----d up life!!!!"

In another: "i hope u crash wan u text"

But just as quickly as the Gatti relationship could erupt into violence, it could settle back into domestic bliss.

"One day that it's over, he couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't hack her attitude, her character," Gisella explained. "And then three days later...we'd know they were back together. We couldn't understand."

And that's exactly what seemed to happen in late May 2009, When Amanda says her husband surprised her with a trip.

They would spend two weeks in Europe, and then fly to Brazil for a family graduation. She says it was a second honeymoon. But Arturo's friends think he had his reasons for patching things up.

"His son, he was scared to lose his son," Tony Rizzo said. "I spoke to him about it a few times. He said, 'Tony, I have to see my son, I got to stick to this no matter what."

And they believe Amanda had her own agenda.

"The way I saw it at the end of the day it was a money relationship," said Tony.

"I think if Arturo didn't have this money, I don't think Amanda would've been with him," said Gisella.

Amanda insists she didn't even know he had money when they met. But according to Tony Rizzo, Amanda's relationship with Arturo didn't start as a walk in the park as she claims.

Although even Arturo told some people they'd met walking dogs, Tony Rizzo says he heard it actually was at a New Jersey strip club where Amanda reportedly worked. "He said he met her at the Squeeze, the strip bar," he said.

"It's a lot of things I've done in the past of course I'm not proud of," Amanda told Moriarty. "But I never worked in this place."

But "48 Hours" was given taped statements from four employees of the Squeeze Lounge who contradict her.

Lanette Sciarra: "I met her when I was working at the Squeeze Lounge."

Michael Prosperi: "She was a stripper."

Lanette Sciarra: "Exotic dancer, stripper, however you want to label it."

Naomi Prosperi: "...she was actually on stage."

Lanette Sciarra: "I have a picture of her on stage."

Amanda says that picture was taken at a party in the Squeeze Lounge, but there's no record that she ever worked as a stripper in the club and she has sued publications that reported that she did.

"Why [would] so many people say you worked in this strip club?" Moriarty asked.

"They just want to make me look bad," Amanda replied.

"The reason why it matters is there are critics who say if you're not honest about that -"

"Of course."

"What else are you not being honest about?"

"Of course. I believe that, too. But I never worked there," she insisted.

Suspicions about Amanda deepened when, just before the couple left on their trip to Europe and Brazil, Arturo drew up a new will leaving nearly everything he had - an estate worth millions - to his wife and son.

"That was signed like few days before we went to Europe," said Amanda.

"I mean less than a month before he died," Moriarty commented.

"Yes."

"Had you pushed him to do it?"

"No. Not at all," said Amanda.

"He signs a new will, and three weeks later he's dead? Come on," said Tony Rizzo.

After signing the new will, the couple took off for Europe.

Three weeks later, when Arturo's friend, Gisella got news of his death, she remembered an outburst from Amanda in the midst of one of the couple's angry texting sessions. At one point she says Amanda turned toward her, saying words she'll never forget.

"'I'm gonna show him what bad is. I'm gonna show him what a bitch is. I'm gonna kill him,'" Gisella recalled.

Amanda denies she said it, and has her own supporters.

"There are a lot of people who think she's a gold digger, that she married him for his money and might be responsible for killing him for his money," Moriarty remarked to Tom Casino.

"I happen to disagree" he replied. "I think she was a loving wife that tried to help him."

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[pipesmygame]

At the N.J. presser for Arturo Gatti they said he got hit over the head in the room causing his head to bleed . I myself do not buy it , there was to many people saw his head bleeding outside the room .Taxi driver and hotel staff and bystanders . There was even blood on the head rest of the cab . Also at the N.J. presser they said there was no blood transfer . They did not show upstairs where there is blood transfer on the sheet of the bed . If there is blood upstairs its part of the crime scene .There is more that i do not agree from the N.J. presser . I do think 48 hours is more for killing himself.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7382189n#ixzz1ZrIefoFC

[silveradocool]

Lets be honest this man was murdered - killing himself with a purse strap come on - he loved that lil boy to much to do that he met this woman out in the streets of NJ for crying out loud did you hear how she talked very streetish arrogant and full of it. As far as security goes any system can be defeated any of them. This girl came out of jail smiling and strutting like a rock star or something - and a couple questions that were posed to her by the 48 Hours Interviewer she refused to answer - string her up.

[SilverFieldHOA]

Agree! Her story has so many holes. Let's see, where to begin...

The article said "Arturo took their 10-month-old baby... and took off.
...When he returned minutes later to look for his wife, the angry crowd began throwing things at him. "
1. Why would someone drunk would took a baby with him?
2. If #1 is true, she don't care enough for her baby's safety by calling the cops in stopping him from harming himself and the baby.
3. I don't know that any angry crowd would throw things at man with a 10-month old with him unless she approved it.

Later, "When Arturo and the baby caught up with her, she says she noticed a cut on the back of her husband's head..
"He was like, 'Look what happened to me. I got in a fight with four people in the street, four guys.'""
4. Althought it's psossible, but it's unlikely that 4 guys would rob/fought a drunk man with a 10-month old on a stroller.
5. Four-Five hours later, she still in the condos and don't care enough for her baby's safety by calling the cops in looking for them?


"According to Amanda, she had finally had enough and took their son with her to bed."
...he just say, 'So I guess it's over, huh?' And I look at him and I say, 'It's over.' I couldn't take that anymore."

6. Really? a reasonable person at this point would leave the hotel and move to another motel or with relatives. I suspects she stays to make sure he is dead.

"she came downstairs about two hours later... still so upset, she was ready to say goodbye."
7. Hmm, that's not a typical abused spouse response - upset, but nice enough to bye to a guy who had beaten you up. That is a weird behavior.


"I wanted to believe that he was just pass[ed] out, so I started shaking him.... I was calling his name. I say, 'Arturo I forgive you, please wake up!"
8. Huh? I thought she was ready to say goodbye minutes earlier, but forgive him. This is now getting really fishy.

Asked if she knew what happened to Arturo at that point, Amanda told Moriarty, "Yes, I knew. I knew.... My husband kill himself! Oh my God, my husband killed himself."
9. People don't kill themselves at a foregin place, they like to do it at comfortable place like their home or a known suicide areas like a tall bridge in a familiar town.

[aoket2010]

Today, the mother of his first child was confronted with allegations she had made in court documents, perhaps in court testimony as well, that Arturo tried to kill himself in 2005. There is all kinds of French articles about it. Now, she is saying she lied. A big witch hunt of a young girl whose husband committed suicide, or what murder because he punched the wrong person in the face that night maybe. But, no way, no how is a 100 pound 5 foot - short girl going to be able to do that and with no evidence to say it was not a suicide there is no way I am ever going to see where you're going with it. If you're going to suggest someone else did it, maybe I could see the angle. To say someone did something without solid proof that he did not kill himself is odd. If you look at Arturo's body it's covered in marks, nothing was moved in the whole place, and if he was beaten or there was a struggle in that small space it would be obvious. People that get hit in the head as many times as he did because he always got a good beating really pay for it mentally. Think about what a 1000 punches in the head, hard punches, would do to a person. Then many people said he talked suicide. The mother of the first child said it in court documents. Sorry, her saying that she lied in court documents now is pretty bad, but these are the type of things the widow has to deal with. People like you looking for guilt when there is so much evidence that speaks loudly of the truth. It's a sad truth, but it must really be accepted sooner than later so people can learn what needs to be learned. I watched his fights and he really took a lot of blows and I feel sorry that it damaged him to that degree. Nobody was able to help the man, even the people who tried, and denial was a big reason that it's such a shock to the people who loved him. Just this summer there was a young hockey player, just retired, same thing, but he OD. This fame thing adds another element to it.

[pipesmygame]

This will be my third post and my theory is to not connect the murder, but to put Arturo Gatti upstairs in the bedroom. They went out that day to a number of places and i will pick it up from the fight . When Arturo pushed down Amanda he had Jr. in his arms. I think the fight started over jr when she told him you are in my counrty and Jr. is staying here. She would say she would take the baby to Brazil many times when she was in the United States. She takes off after Arturo pushed her down and then leaving the baby with Arturo. Arturo was getting into a taxi when a man asked him whats going on. He turn and hit the man a number of times knocking the man out. Bystanders seen this and started throwing rocks and a bike hitting gatti in the head causing him to bleed from the head . He gets in the taxi and the taxi driver said gatti said I WOULD OF KILLED THEM ALL IF IT WAS NOT FOR MY SON . This can be found on youtube real sports arturo gatti video .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN1aE7wKrIo The cab driver saw him bleeding from the head and also on the head rest of the car . They get back to the resort and she is there. He gets out of the cab with Jr. in his arms and resort staff saw him with jr. They get in the room and she asks for Jr and she goes upstairs to the bedroom with Jr and locks the door. Before that she tells Arturo she is leaving him. I think there is some truth in every lie and Arturo took the baby upstairs and locked the door. If you look at the crime scene photo you can see a blood smear on the bed sheets. There are two twin beds pushed together and in 48 hours they are apart. If you look at the ear smear that is from his left ear. He laid across one bed and his ear smear is just on the other bed . But then is legs would be hanging off the bed with how tall he is. I think it is his ear smear and he was in a pre-natal postion with Jr on the bed with him. He made a phone call in the past that was recorded and he was pissed off and he was going to come home sooner. This is my theory on some of what i think happened.

[aoket2010]

Sorry, I think you're really grasping...For example, the beds were apart because they usually are and so they were when they went back to do the "special" they were. If anything, and I do believe all the facts say suicide, you have things confused, and maybe he pissed someone off enough that night enough that they followed him back to the hotel. However, they had camera's everywhere and security and nobody entered the room. You can't say someone murdered someone without a lot more evidence than this. His head was bleeding a lot and that bed would have been covered. He was attached by 20 people and hit in the head by a bike. That was confirmed by multiple witnesses.

[pipesmygame]

I can show he was probably upstairs and there were no cameras at the resort, as stated by the police in Brazil. The police said the doors where timed lock when you come in. Also, they said that they had security and security at the gate. I myself was shocked that this resort had no cameras at all. I did make 2 videos showing how i came up with him on the bed. These were sent out to the people in charge of looking into gatti death. I showed over thirty people my videos before sending them out to the right people. They all believed that it was enough to put him upstairs. I am not saying that she murdered him by any means, but I do believe that he did go upstairs and thats what I am trying to prove. In one of the videos on the internet they have the two beds next to each other with a blood stain. If you Youtube Real Sports Arturo Gatti, then you will see what I am talking about. I have viewed the crime scenes over and over and any other videos that I could find relating to this particular case. I can tell you one thing and that is that I could show more evidence supporting my theory than what I have seen on the internet or on TV. N.J.

[aoket2010]

If you want to say some body builder strung him up while the girl was sleeping, maybe. But, this tunnel vision on this girl is a dead end street. Maybe if this had been looked at from some other angle, but all the past suicide attempts and the fact that half a dozen CLOSE friends, his ex-fiance swore in court document to a previous attempt, so we have to use common sense too. All the speculation still points to one big elephant in the room, and I can tell you that I've worked on cases where you pay specialists to support your theory and without fact, evidence, you've got false allegations. This family calling this widow a murderer, when his older brother believes he made as many as three attempts to take his life are facts that you cannot ignore. You can look at pictures, you can look for guilt, but if there was something to find it would have been. What we saw is simply more unproven allegations and a lot of bs that did not contain the facts. He was beaten by 20 people, he punched someone in the face, and that by itself in a foreign country could lead to a tourist getting murdered. The investigators glazed right over that and somehow decided that it was the widow who did that. I find it all pretty disturbing, since I've worked on wrongful conviction cases and there is nothing worse than accusing people when there is such compelling evidence that suggests there is a significant history of depression, suicide, violence, substance abuse, spousal abuse, and his former fiance said all of the same things. This is all a sham and you fell for it. It's all about money. The family said they didn't want anything and then the former fiance said it wasn't settled because everybody didn't get cash. They are all high functioning borderline retards who think they are doing something honorable. If you read it as it plays out it court you would be really taken back by the level of vindictiveness of the family. It is pure evil.

[aoket2010]

Also, they were staying in a 4 star hotel and you honestly believe there was no cameras. There was. It's a luxury resort. They saw no one enter the room, nobody entered through a window, there was no forced entry, nothing was moved. Even if there was blood on the sheets and he went upstairs, so what?

[pipesmygame]

I am very open minded for the first year of his death i thought he killed himself . Things just do not add up . yes you call it a 4 star hotel but staff at the resort who went to the room when gatti was dead. They seen the hotel key was still in the door from the night before . aoket2010 you said you been following his death from when he died . It sounds like you are grasping and have tunnel vison for some reason . Am i a fan of arturo gatti yes . Can i except if he killed himself yes. why so many other people rock stars movie stars etc hand drug problems and killed them self . Did they treat each other with respect no way.

[aoket2010]

I have tunnel vision? Sure. I do not see one piece of evidence so far that would suggest this woman killed him, or that anybody else did. The key was a card, and yes there was security all over the place. You can google it they had cameras, that is if you know the name of the hotel, but you said you know for a fact that they do not have cameras and the place is covered with them. So far, there has been no evidence whatsoever to suggest this is anything more than a suicide, even after a witch hunt...

[aoket2010]

I have tunnel vision? Sure. I do not see one piece of evidence so far that would suggest this woman killed him, or that anybody else did. The key was a card, and yes there was security all over the place. You can google it they had cameras, that is if you know the name of the hotel, but you said you know for a fact that they do not have cameras and the place is covered with them. So far, there has been no evidence whatsoever to suggest this is anything more than a suicide, even after a witch hunt...

[aoket2010]

Also, if she was upstairs, so what? What does that prove? where are you going with your theory because I have no clue.

[aoket2010]

Also the police in Brazil did say there was cameras and security guards.

[pipesmygame]

As far as brazilian police you can not take every thing they say to heart . Because A judge who had heart was killed at her house . Because she just wanted to clean the system of bad police . I do not even live in that country and feel bad for what happen to her . This is my last message to you aoket2010 its been real.

[aoket2010]

I'm just trying to point out the facts, not the fiction, but it is the type of case where you could try to make one if you really wanted to. I mean they held the girl for three weeks, they are not going to put their reputation on the line, they could only go with the facts. This case is nonsense. This man needs to RIP.

You never really answered my question, of where it's going? What evidence? Because I have posted to you because I do not understand and just like many other things in life I may never know. The police are corrupt to a certain degree in every country, but you can be sure that when a high profile case comes up they don't take so many chances, and for what to help the girl. The evidence helped her. That's as someone who has 0 emotional attachment to any of it and is just looking at witnesses, statements, facts, pictures and last but not least his autopsy, the marks around his neck, and then his history, actions while he was drunk...

[pipesmygame]

ALSO YOU CALL THIS A 4 STAR HOTEL LOOK AT THE LANDSCAPE ETC . Inside and out look like a dump hole . I stayed at better places than this . Giving this place 2 stars would be over rated . No cameras if he went to a 4 star they would have cameras . With the money they had this place is a dump hole .

[aoket2010]

The point is there was indeed cameras

[max308]

Couldn't confirm her employment in the strip club?
Amanda was in the US illegally. Might that be a reason? Amanda was deported shortly after she married Gatti...

[canadianjustice]

Dr. Gil Grissom, Lieutenant Horatio Caine,
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Alexx Woods
and the cast and crew of CSI Las Vegas,
Miami and NY would have done a better job
to protect Arturo Gatti's crime/homocide
scene than how Brazilian Police Officers
concluded to date.

Brazil has a corrupt Police force. I doubt
Brazilian Police Officers did all in their
power to safeguard forensic evidence at the
crime/homocide of Arturo Gatti.

Very sad when a Brazilian Police force
mishandles a homocide and does not care
to work diligently to find the dead victim's
killer.

Brasil Police requires to reopen this cold case.

[aoket2010]

They sure did do a better job than those hired investigators who clearly had tunnel vision.

[aoket2010]

CBS did not show a crucial part that the fifth estate did.

There were belt buckle notches and fibre from the handbag strap on the stairwell where he would have hung himself.

As for those saying Amanda should have helped her husband when he was on the floor...She said he blacked out and passed out on the floor before when he was loaded drunk. So, after being pushed down and injured I'm sure she wasn't feeling the love and just thought it was part of his drunken state again.

[pipesmygame]

I think he was upstairs in the bedroom and thats why he was found in his underwear. There was blood smear on the bed sheets . what i am saying she said she went up stairs if she is being truthful . Also with blood on the sheets up stairs that should be included in the crime scene . If you youtube real sports arturo gatti you can see the blood on the bed . Also if you look at it looks like his left ear smear. If you like to see more email [e-mail]

[aoket2010]

I've been following it for two years and there was no mention of him being in bed, or upstairs at all. Watch the show again and watch the fifth estate and you will not see any mention of him being upstairs. She's always maintained it is her who went upstairs. I've read it all, watched it all and there was no blood anywhere else. She went in the room and she locked the door.

[pipesmygame]

IF YOU YOUTUBE REAL SPORTS ARTURO GATTI YOU CAN SEE IT . AFTER YOU WATCH IT YOU CAN EMAIL ME AND I WILL SHOW YOU HOW I THINK ITS HIS EAR

[aoket2010]

I watched it and it was probably her blood because her arms and face were cut pretty badly from when he pushed her down, and I'm sure they tested it. I mean the Brazilian police did hold her for three weeks, so it's not like they also didn't initially think she was guilty.

[canadianjustice]

Amanda Rodrigues:

Arturo Gatti Sr. spirit will haunt you and hope you continue to have sleepless nights, because that what happens to a person that has a guilty conscience.

I hope you encounter the same destiny that you pre-destined Arturo Sr to have.

To all persons that helped Amanda commit this homicide and looked the other way (including Brazil police force who were paid to look the otherway):

==> He who helps the guilty, shares the crime.

Make Arturo Jr. take a paternity test and you will find out
who is behind this homicide with Amanda the stripper/prostitute.

[aoket2010]

I guess you didn't see the little boy? He is identical to his father the spitting image.

I think Karma is a boomerang and those who look for guilt in the innocent will reap what they sow.

[pipesmygame]

We all have heard they had a fight and rocks and bike hit his head. The blood was on the head rest of a taxi. Resort staff seen his head bleeding . He was seen holding jr in his arm threw out the night during there fight .Maybe she told him you are in my country and jr is staying here . She said to arturo give me the baby and she went up stairs locked the door. There is some truth in every lie . I think arturo did not give her the baby and he went up stairs and locked the door . you do not hear any thing about the blood smear up stairs in the bed room on the sheets . I do think it is arturo blood from his head causing blood transfer from his left ear .

[aoket2010]

There was never any statement that he went upstairs, only that she went upstairs and the strap broke which would explain how he ended up on the floor and the fifth estate showed pictures of the fiber on the stairwell and the notches from the buckle on the stairwell case, which the these private investigators excluded from the evidence they collected. In addition to the chair not being where it was in the photographs and that specialist hired by the investigators who said the placement of the chair being different would change what he wrote and his opinion of where he was positioned. This is just a witch hunt by a bunch of people who don't want to see the truth and the family has decided to plant these seeds in the minds of people because it's easier to believe than the truth, which is he was in a dark place (getting beaten up by the crowd) that was his last fight and it put him in a dark place.

[pipesmygame]

Why do you thing he is in his underwear he was up stairs in the bed. she said she went up stairs and locked the door if she is telling the truth . let me ask you this can it be her blood or his blood ?

[aoket2010]

There is nowhere that it says he was upstairs. I think you've confused things somehow and you can watch it again.

[pipesmygame]

IF YOU YOUTUBE IT YOU WILL SEE WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT REAL SPORTS ARTURO GATTI YOU WILL SEE THE CRIME SCENE PICTURES . I ALSO BEEN FOLLOWING THIS FROM DAY ONE . IF YOU CAN NOT SEE IT SORRY.

[max308]

Why would someone come into thhe crime scene, find the stool at Gatti's feet, then replace the stool into the corner of the room, rather than set the stool into the center of the room? To place the stool in the corner, you'd have to step over the bloody body! If the stool was moved before the investigators arrived, what else was distrubed, removed, changed or planted?

[pr_boxer]

The suicide verdict is non-sense, Gatti was a total warrior, not a quitter. Plus, no man commits suicide by hanging himself by a womans purse straps. This was a corrupt police investigation plain and simple.This gal wanted Gatti's money, all of it!

[ReckonedTruth]

Really?

Quitters don't do illicit drugs/ alcohol abuse/ beat on his wife because he couldn't cope - no longer a boxer in the lime-light? I'm not trying to dimish Mr. Gatti's boxing record.. but did he not retire from his boxing career because of debilitating physicality?