'Show me or tell me'

Daughter wants proof Williams changed mind about will

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INVERNESS, Fla. (AP) -- The oldest daughter of Ted Williams is demanding proof that her father wanted to be frozen after his death.

A lawyer for Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell, who is feuding with her siblings over their father's remains, filed a motion Thursday compelling the other parties to submit any documents that show Williams changed his mind about being cremated, which he requested in his will.

"Show me or tell me," Richard Fitzpatrick, Ferrell's lawyer, told the St. Petersburg Times in a story published Saturday. "I want to see what kind of paper trail there is out there."

Williams' two children from another marriage, John Henry Williams and Claudia Williams, and the estate's executor, Al Cassidy, have 30 days to respond.

The motion also asks for any letters or contracts between them and Alcor Life Extension Foundation, where Williams' body was sent hours after his death July 5.

Ferrell is seeking to retrieve her father's body from the Arizona lab, have it cremated and sprinkle his ashes off the coast of the Florida Keys, as Williams' will dictates.

But Cassidy and the two other children said the Hall of Famer had a change of heart after the will was drafted in December 1996 and wanted to be cyronically preserved.

In court papers filed earlier this week, John Henry and Claudia Williams argued they were the sole owners of their father's body, and that not even the executor of the estate could challenge their authority.

Through their lawyer, the siblings said that their father's will was not the final authority on his last wishes. "The last will of Theodore S. Williams does not control the disposition of his body," their motion said.

Fitzpatrick responded Friday, arguing that Florida courts had ruled that it is the executor of an estate -- not the children -- who has ultimate responsibility for carrying out a person's last wishes as outlined in a will. Fitzpatrick cited a case from Florida's Third District Court of Appeal in which personal representatives didn't want to follow the decedent's wish to be cremated.

The court ordered them to follow the will and reminded them that it was "their duty as personal representatives to administer the estate in accordance with the terms of the decedent's will."

Neither the attorneys for John Henry and Claudia Williams, nor the lawyer for Cassidy, immediately returned telephone messages seeking comment Saturday.

 

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