Feuding over body of homeless victim

But when Huddleston arrived, she was shocked to learn that someone she had never met or even heard of had tried to claim her brother's body. That man, Thomas L. Leslie, swears he is Huddeleston's nephew and Thomas Northington's son. "This is just a horrible situation," said Leslie, 33, of Brockton.

Northington, 59, had been disabled and homeless, living in shelters, seemingly detached from any family. Two weeks ago, he was struck and killed as he tried to board an MBTA bus in downtown Boston. Witnesses said the bus driver turned Northington away because he didn't have enough change. As the bus pulled away, Northington, carrying a pair of crutches and a bag full of clothes, was somehow pulled underneath the rear tires. He was killed instantly. Now, family members are battling over his remains, which are in the custody of the Boston medical examiner's office, and they will argue their case Monday in front of a Suffolk County probate judge.

"There are no words to describe our pain; it's like he's being held hostage," Huddleston whispered slowly, as she sat in the living room of a relative's Mattapan home. She is left wondering what could have been her brother's secret life and whether the claim for his body is a prelude to a lawsuit against the MBTA.

Leslie, a husband and father of two, is facing his own regrets, and he also questioned whether Huddleston would file a lawsuit. He learned about Northington's death from a relative who works at the Pine Street Inn, where Northington usually slept in the lobby of the homeless shelter, because he wasn't able to climb the stairs.

Afterward, Leslie told police that he and Northington were just getting getting reacquainted after years of little to no contact. "He wasn't named on my birth certificate," said Leslie, who wants to be declared the next of kin. He said he is willing to submit to a DNA test and has asked that tissue and blood samples be taken from Northington.

Just a few days before Northington's death, the two were making plans for Christmas, Leslie said. "I wish we had more time," Leslie said, quietly sobbing. "He was just starting to accept us, wanting to get to know my family."

Growing up, Leslie said, his relationship with his father consisted of occassional phone calls and a visit here and there. "My mother met my father after he moved here from Kentucky, more than 30 years ago," he said. "They had a six-year relationship, but they never married."

Leslie added: "I remember every conversation we had, from my childhood to adulthood. He ended it by saying, `I love you.' So I know I don't have to prove anything. I know he loved me."

But all this is news to Huddleston and to her Boston nieces and nephews, who said they were in contact with their uncle Tommy on a regular basis. No one knew about Leslie.

"Why don't I know that this is my brother's son?" she asked. "I had two sisters who lived here and who were in contact with him, and they never said anything about a nephew. Why didn't he have photographs? Why couldn't he decribe the scars on my brother's body, if he was his son?"

Northington, one of five siblings, was an artist and a kind-hearted eccentric who never believed he had met a stranger, Huddleston said. "Everyone he talks to is his best friend," she said, while flipping through pictures.

The death of one of his sisters two months ago left Northington despondent, his family said.

Because his body was so badly damaged, authorities asked his nieces and nephews to help indentify Northington. They immediately called Huddleston, who provided a birth certificate, photographs, and a description of the surgical scars Northington had from hip surgery.

Expecting to be handed her brother's body, Huddleston instead learned of Leslie.

"You are total stranger telling me your mother never married my brother, and you want to do all this stuff to my brother's body?" she said. "He's telling me he's just recently decided to rekindle a relationship? Come on."

While Huddleston struggles to make room in her mind for the possibility Leslie might be telling the truth, she said she fears that he might be a con artist.

Leslie acknowledged that he has had recent financial difficulties. Records show he filed bankruptcy in 1999 and almost lost his home in 2001. But he insisted that has nothing to do with his fight for Northington's body. "Just like any other individual, I do have financial issues, and I don't deny any financial hardships," he said.

The bus driver who struck Northington, a 32-year-old woman with 11 years of experience, remains on paid leave pending an investigation, said MBTA spokesman Joseph Pesaturo, who declined to release her name. "The MBTA has offered to pay for the funeral services, as an expression of our deepest sympathy," he said.

Huddleston and Leslie agree at least on this: After the court ruling, the funeral will be a peaceful end to a bitter ordeal. "We'll do the DNA, and if it turns out to be his son, he's his son, I'm through with it," Huddleston said. "But I would like to say goodbye and bury my brother."

Leslie said, "I would love to see a peaceful burial of my father. That may be my last connection to the Northington family."