Estate Backs Lab in Ted Williams Case
The daughter of Ted Williams has another adversary in the legal battle over his deep-freezing at an Arizona cryonics lab -- the baseball great's estate.
Bobby-Jo Ferrell has been trying to confirm whether her father consented to have his remains frozen by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. A pending lawsuit she filed in Arizona seeks a court order that would pierce Alcor's secrecy.
But in a complaint filed May 10 in Citrus County, Fla., the executor of the Williams' estate, Albert Cassidy, says Ferrell and her husband should be enjoined from pursuing the case against Alcor. Ferrell, he alleges, has violated the settlement of earlier litigation in 2002
by issuing both oral and written statements which continue to object to the disposition of Ted Williams' remains and by filing suit against Alcor.
Ferrell's lawyer, John A. Heer, says she has not objected to Alcor's storage of Williams' remains.
"All she has done is attempt to uncover the truth about her father's wishes," he tells ON POINT. "If the truth reveals that her father wanted to be cryo-preserved, then Bobby-Jo will be satisfied and will never object to the disposition of her father's remains."
Alcor has invoked the 2002 settlement in court papers opposing Ferrell's suit. Now the estate has, in effect, aligned itself with Alcor.
"Neither Alcor’s efforts to hide the truth, nor Al Cassidy’s new attempt to bully the Ferrells into submission will prevent them from seeking the truth," the Ferrells said in a statement.
Bobby-Jo has said her father's will stated that he wanted to be cremated.
In a related development, the Newark Star-Ledger reports that an attorney for the estate contacted Mike Piazza's agent after the baseball star said he was willing to help Ferrell in her cause. Piazza now says he will "let the family figure it out."
For other court documents relating to Williams' remains, click here.
5/21/04