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Executor: Ted Williams wanted to be frozen

Williams in 1958

INVERNESS, Florida (CNN) -- The executor of Ted Williams' estate asked a judge Thursday to end a court case over disposition of the famed slugger's remains, saying he is satisfied Williams wanted to be frozen after death.

Albert Cassidy had earlier petitioned the Citrus County Circuit Court for guidance after Williams' children got into a contentious public struggle over his body. But he withdrew the petition Thursday, saying a handwriting expert confirmed that Williams' signature on a handwritten note, in which he agreed to be cryonically preserved, was genuine.

"I am completely confident that Ted's last wishes have been honored and, in turn, I have no additional responsibility with regard to Ted's remains," Cassidy said in his court filing.

Also, he said Claudia Williams, Ted Williams' daughter, has signed an affidavit confirming that she witnessed her father signing the note on November 2, 2000, during a stay in a Gainesville hospital. In the note, she, her brother, John-Henry, and their father all agreed to be cryonically preserved.

Claudia and John Henry Williams say that they and their father signed this note confirming that they all wanted to be frozen after death.

Miami handwriting expert Linda Hart, who examined the note, concluded the Williams' signature was consistent with 15 other documents he signed during the same hospital stay and that there is no evidence that the text of the note and Williams signature were written at different times.

Williams died on July 5. His body was taken to a facility in Arizona to be frozen over the objections of Bobby Jo Williams Ferrell -- Williams' daughter by an earlier marriage and a half-sister to John-Henry and Claudia.

Williams' will, signed in 1996, called for his body to be cremated. Ferrell -- who was disinherited in the will -- wants that instruction carried out, but attorneys for John-Henry and Claudia Williams have argued that the handwritten note, signed four years later, should supersede the will.

Cassidy's attorney, Pamela Price, said the executor holds that same view.

"A person may give written instructions relating to the disposition of the body other than a will," Price said in a statement. "Since the time of his original petition, my client has become confident that he has no further duties as personal representative regarding the disposition of Ted Williams' remains. As a result, there is no need to ask the court for direction."