Autopsy Concludes Gatti Is Dead, Little Else

Just when you thought a retired athlete could be killed by by a scorned paramour, and that would be the end of the story, comes a report out of Brazil that answers no questions, but generates plenty of new headlines.

The autopsy conducted on Arturo Gatti doesn't rule out the possibility of suicide, which, for those of us sick of celebrity tragedies this summer, is unwelcome news. Now we'll get a slew of alternate theories, and a trial for his wife, and more gruesome details then we ever wanted to know.

The report finds that Gatti's body was "suspended and hanged, indicating he may have committed suicide." That doesn't explain much, especially how his wife could have been in a room with a hanging body for 10 hours and not noticed something amiss. So the autopsy also retains the possibilities of "murder or accidental death," the latter I can only assume referring to David Carradine.

So: suicide, or maybe murder, or maybe an accident? We only learn two things: that, yes, Gatti is conclusively dead, and that death by purse strap isn't considered natural causes, even in Brazil.

The results of my journalism post-mortem indicate that this story has legs.

Report: Gatti May Have Committed Suicide [AP]