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Williams signed a pact, children say Court filing states three chose cryonics By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff, 7/26/2001
''JHW, Claudia and Dad all agree to be put in bio-stasis after we die. This is what we want, to be able to be together in the future, even if it is only a chance,'' reads the creased and stained document, allegedly handwritten by son John-Henry Williams on scrap paper as his father lay in a Florida intensive care unit with congestive heart failure on Nov. 2, 2000. John-Henry, Ted, and Claudia Williams, Ted's youngest daughter, each signed it, one after the other, with no other witnesses present, according to a family lawyer. It was then folded and left in the trunk of John-Henry Williams's car for months, getting oil stains, before the family decided to more carefully preserve it, according to the lawyer, who would not elaborate on John-Henry's storage method. The pact, if authentic, is the first signed document indicating Williams abandoned his long-held desire for cremation in favor of cryonics, the practice of freezing bodies until scientists develop methods to raise the dead. But the Splendid Splinter's eldest daughter, Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell, said through her lawyer that the pact was not enough to convince her to abandon her challenge to the cryonic arrangement. Her lawyer said it bore marks of possible fraud or forgery, with the date noticeably altered and no independent verification that Ted Williams's signature was not added before or after the signing, or perhaps forged. She also raised questions about Williams's mental competence when he allegedly signed the pact. By 2000, the once-powerful slugger was hobbled by heart and lung problems. He was surgically implanted with a pacemaker four days after the pact was allegedly signed. However, he appeared lucid during a Nov. 4, 2000, telephone interview with the Globe in which he discussed his health, hospital food, Red Sox personnel changes, and the looming presidential election. ''I'm pretty good. I don't know where everybody's getting the news that I'm at death's door and all that crap,'' he said. ''I'm going to vote; don't you worry about that.'' The Williams family has been pressed for written proof of their father's approval of cryonics since the controversy erupted July 6. The pressure intensified following the release last week of Williams's 1996 will, in which he clearly specifies cremation. Along with disclosing the pact, John-Henry and Claudia Williams yesterday offered their first public explanation of their controversial decision to freeze their father in a Scottsdale, Ariz., cryonics facility, insisting he experienced a change of heart regarding his post-death plans about 20 months before he succumbed to heart failure. ''Our father was originally skeptical when the subject of cryonics was first broached. We talked about it many times,'' said a written statement by John-Henry and Claudia Williams. ''His skepticism softened to acceptance and then, in November of 2000, when we were together prior to his surgery, he embraced the idea as his own.'' They explained that faith in scientific progress - that science might eventually conquer death - led to the pact. ''Our father was not a religious man,'' the statement reads. ''The faith that many people place in God we place in science and other human endeavors.'' Most scientists remain highly skeptical of cryonics, and it appears that even the three Williams family members signing the pact had doubts, calling the procedure ''only a chance.'' Robert Goldman, their attorney, said the family waited three weeks to release the pact because they hoped to privately settle their dispute with Ferrell, who vehemently opposes the cryonics plan. ''We wanted to keep this matter private. We wanted to work it out in the family living room,'' he said. ''Bobby-Jo hasn't allowed us to do that.'' The day after Williams's July 5 death, Ferrell threatened to file a lawsuit. She held off when Ted Williams's estate submitted a request to a Florida court asking for legal guidance on the dispute. But John-Henry and Claudia Williams have argued in court papers that only they have the right to determine the fate of Ted Williams's remains. Yesterday, the younger Williams siblings asked the court to dismiss the guidance request. They also argued that a Florida judge has no power over a body resting in another state, which would render the case moot. Williams's body is suspended upside down in a large tank of liquid nitrogen at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, according to family associates. Alcor requires clients to sign legal documents approving posthumous freezing, as well as a $120,000 payment to carry it out. Williams's Alcor paperwork has yet to be produced. It was uncertain whether the written pact filed yesterday would alone be sufficent to supersede the terms of the will. Lawyers for Ferrell, the younger Williams siblings, and the Ted Williams estate are working with a judge in Citrus County, Fla., to set hearing dates for the case. If the case is not settled or dismissed, it could end in a civil trial with witnesses and evidence. Ferrell's attorney, John Heer, said that, upon first glance, the pact appeared ''suspicious.'' ''The date looks like it has been changed,'' he said. ''It's not clear if the signatures were placed on the document at the same time or before or after the text was placed there.'' ''Bobby-Jo obviously remains unconvinced,'' said Heer, who added that his legal team plans to submit a response soon. Ferrell believes John-Henry Williams, her half brother, manipulated their father during his frail, final years, possibly coercing him into accepting cryonics. ''What was Mr. Williams's condition during this time frame? Was he capable of making decisions?'' asked Heer. He said his legal team had contacted witnesses who say Williams insisted on cremation to his dying day. Despite the lack of witnesses to the ''bio-stasis'' pact, John-Henry and Claudia Williams's attorney dismissed doubts over its authenticity. ''It's authentic because my clients were there,'' Goldman said, adding that there was other evidence of authenticity he could not disclose yesterday. ''I can tell you unequivocally that it's an absolutely authentic document,'' said Goldman. ''As a matter of law, it's the last expression of the intent of Ted Williams'' that supersedes his will. That will ordered his body to be cremated and the ashes spread off the Florida coast. Goldman said the bio-stasis pact was in poor physical condition -marred by brown stains and creases - because John-Henry Williams, lacking legal training, did not think to treat it as a legal document. As for Williams's mental capabilties in November 2000, Goldman said that doctors said at the time that he was mentally clear. Moreover, he explained, the mental competence standard in Florida was low. ''Literally, there are many zoo animals that could'' pass legal competency tests, he said. Just days before Nov. 2, 2000, when the pact allegedly was signed, Ted Williams checked into the intensive care unit of Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., with congestive heart failure. Just three months earlier, he'd been treated there for breathing difficulties. Williams, the victim of major strokes in 1990 and 1994, suffered from an increased heart rate and high blood pressure. By Nov. 2, his heart rate was fluctuating dangerously. Doctors were considering implanting a pacemaker. On Nov. 6, doctors put in the pacemaker. He was released two weeks later. During the whole episode, the aging slugger was consistently listed in fair condition. But breathing and heart troubles continued, and two months later Williams underwent major open-heart surgery from which he never truly recovered. During this time, John-Henry Williams took control of Williams's personal and business matters, with many of the son's subsequent investments failing. According to family friends, John-Henry also became fascinated with cryonics, visiting Alcor's facilities several times in 2001. Yesterday, he and his sister said they were aware of the controversy surrounding the field, which most scientists dismiss as foolish. ''We expected skepticism. We were not quite ready for ridicule and derision,'' they said in their statement yesterday. They also denied accusations that they wished to eventually sell their father's DNA, rebutting charges that the cryonics plan was financially motivated. Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 7/26/2001.
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ed Williams and two of his children signed a private pact agreeing to preserve their bodies after death with the hope scientists would one day revive and reunite the family, according to papers filed by the Williams family in a Florida court yesterday. The pact marks the first written evidence to suggest the Red Sox legend had changed his mind about being cremated.