The report into the 2009 death of champion boxer Arturo Gatti by Dr. Jean Brochu, a Quebec coroner, has concluded that he died a violent death, but clear evidence of an involvement of another person could not be found.

Gatti, who was a welterweight world champion, was found dead in a Brazilian vacation home on July 11, 2009. Local authorities at first detained and questioned his wife, Amanda Rodrigues, about her role in her husband's death. She was later released after they concluded that the retired boxer had hanged himself with a handbag strap. His will left everything to her. His family claims Rodrigues pressured him into signing a will weeks before his death.

Brochu said, The death scene was visibly altered - the police used the expression 'contaminated' - before photographs were taken, and some photos showed one investigator with no protective equipment, not even gloves, placing evidence in plastic bags.

All the pathologists and the investigators agree that Mr. Gatti's death occurred from asphyxia by neck constriction, he wrote. I also agree with this conclusion of violent death.

The conclusion of the Montreal pathologists to the effect that there is no clear evidence of foul play in Mr. Gatti's death means I cannot dismiss the formal conclusions reached by the authorities of the country where it occurred, he added.

Boxing