Just What Did Ted Williams Want?

The feud over the body of baseball great Ted Williams was thrown into further turmoil Tuesday: The will showed he wanted to be cremated, but the executor of the estate said Williams later decided to be frozen indefinitely.

"After the time of his will, Ted chose to have his body cryonically preserved," executor Albert Cassidy said.

The will, filed and made public Tuesday, says that Williams wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered over the waters off the Florida Keys. But Cassidy said the slugger changed his mind, and he filed a petition asking a judge that Williams' body remain at a cryonics lab in Arizona.

Earlier Tuesday, Williams' three children said they had failed to resolve a stalemate over their father's remains, setting the stage for a contentious court battle over the will.

Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell "remains convinced that her father's last wishes were to be cremated and to have his ashes spread over the deep waters off the coast of Florida," said Richard Fitzpatrick, an attorney for Ferrell.

John Henry Williams and Ferrell, his half sister, have been fighting over their father's remains since he died July 5 after a series of strokes and congestive heart failure.

John Henry Williams had the body flown to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz. to be frozen, against the wishes of Ferrell.

A lawyer for John Henry Williams said in a statement that he believed family members could still reach an understanding and that the siblings hoped to arrive at a private resolution.

"Everyone in the family is motivated by their love for their father and their grief at his passing," said Robert Goldman, the attorney, who also said he was representing John Henry Williams' sister Claudia Williams.

Cryonics advocates say science might one day be able to thaw a body, cure whatever killed the person and restore life. Most experts say that's highly unlikely.

Ferrell has also speculated that her half brother may want to sell their father's DNA.

Ferrell, John Henry Williams and sister Claudia Williams met for hours Monday in discussions that were "civil, candid," Fitzpatrick said. During that meeting, Ferrell learned that she was not in the will because Ted Williams said, "I have provided for her during my life."

By Mike Schneider