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Ted Williams' family seeks end to dispute
By CARRIE JOHNSON and ALEX LEARY INVERNESS -- Ted Williams' three children and their lawyers met for nearly 11 hours Monday in an attempt to avert a court battle over the slugger's remains.
Fitzpatrick said he hoped an agreement could be announced by noon today, a day after Ted Williams' will was supposed to have been filed in the Citrus County courthouse. Ferrell, 54, has said she was fighting to "rescue" her father's remains from an Arizona cryonics lab. She has accused her half-brother, John-Henry Williams, of preserving the body so the DNA can later be sold. Friends of John-Henry Williams have said he is motivated by devotion, not profit, and he thinks that, through science, his father could one day be revived. Ferrell contends that her father's last wishes were to be cremated and sprinkled over the Florida Keys, a story backed by several of his friends and former caretakers. Ferrell emerged from Fitzpatrick's office about 7:45 p.m. with her husband, Mark, and another lawyer, John Heer. She refused to comment and the trio ducked into a white Jeep and drove away. Moments before, the Hall of Famer's other children, John-Henry Williams and Claudia Williams, had exited with their Naples-based lawyer, Robert Wayne Goldman. John-Henry Williams, 33, the focus of intense media scrutiny since his father's death July 5 at age 83, was dressed in a dark blue blazer and smiled as he left. Claudia Williams, 30, who released a statement Sunday asking for privacy, wore dark sunglasses. They refused to speak with reporters. Under Florida law, wills are supposed to be filed within 10 days after a person dies. However, the rule is rarely enforced. More than two dozen reporters waited outside the courthouse all day. But the 5 p.m. deadline passed with no word from the attorneys. Lawyers have said they would ask a Citrus County circuit judge to decide what to do with the body when the will was filed. But no one is saying when that may be, and it was unclear Monday how an agreement may affect court proceedings. "At this point, things are too unsettled to really make a comment," Heer said Monday evening. "We've got to get some rest." Fitzpatrick said the discussion started at 9 a.m. at his office, a one-story brick building just down the street from the courthouse. Shortly after 5:30 p.m., the Ferrells and their attorneys rushed out of the building and into their cars. They returned 30 minutes later. Asked if the meeting with her siblings was almost over, Ferrell rolled her eyes and replied, "I hope so." But at 6:15 p.m., four pizzas were delivered from Little Caesar's and the meeting continued for an hour and a half. Usually, if a will doesn't specify what should be done with the body, the closest next-of-kin has the right to make that decision. John-Henry Williams was granted power of attorney for his father in 1996, according to Heer. What effect, if any, that would have on the custody fight was unknown Monday. If Ted Williams' will made no mention of how he wanted his body disposed of, a judge could face some thorny questions in deciding what to do with the remains, said Bruce A. McDonald, a Pensacola attorney who specializes in probate law. "A judge will decide what is the most logical, although I'm sure to some judges (freezing the body) will seem like science fiction and a wild scheme," McDonald said. "Other judges (may) think this is a good thing," he said. "It will be a head scratcher for the judge." -- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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