Nicaragua boxer's widow says death was suicide

Published Jul. 9, 2010 6:03 p.m. ET

foxsports

Former boxing champion and Managua mayor Alexis Arguello's widow says his death was suicide - not murder, as several of his children have claimed.

Karla Rizo told a Nicaraguan TV station Friday that she was present when Arguello decided to kill himself last year. Rizo said she was going to get help when she heard a gunshot, went back and found her husband face-down on the floor.

Investigators have said Arguello's death was likely suicide because there were traces of gunpowder on his hands. He died on July 1, 2009, of a single gunshot to the chest.

Arguello was elected mayor of Nicaragua's capital in 2008. He had spoken publicly of his struggle with depression and alcohol and drug use.