Gabriel Costa, Gal Costa's son, asked a São Paulo (Brazil) court on Wednesday for permission to exhume his mother's body and undergo a new autopsy. The singer's sole heir also wants his mother's remains to be deposited in Rio de Janeiro (they are currently in São Paulo).
According to the death certificate, reported by the Brazilian press, Gal Costa, who died in November 2022 at the age of 77, died as a result of an acute myocardial infarction, and it was also described that another cause of death was a malignant tumor in the head and neck.
Gabriel disputes the information in the death certificate and therefore now requires a new forensic examination after the exhumation to determine the cause of the singer's death, arguing that the day before her death, Gal Costa appeared to be in good health.
“The situation is so ambiguous that the applicant, the only son and heir, wonders how his mother, who appeared to be healthy, going about her daily life in her home, died, and suddenly became suddenly succumbed to death, without the witnesses describing how and why,” the defense noted. “There are no explanations.”
The singer's son's lawyer said that Gal Costa died “a natural death of an unknown cause” and not of acute myocardial infarction, noting that at the time of death there was no doctor present to attest to the true cause of death.
The lawyer added, “The case pains Jal's son and the singer's close friends, who have demanded, since her death, an investigation into the causes of death.”
The defense also states that Wilma Petrillo, Gal Costa's widow and Gabrielle's godmother, received emergency medical care at the place where the singer died and at that time prohibited “any autopsy that would provide further information” and immediately ordered her burial elsewhere. Private deposit with restricted access.
Gabriel also intends to deposit his mother's remains in Rio de Janeiro (they are currently in São Paulo).
“Gal, despite his intuition, must have predicted this. It is not fair that she should be buried in a grave that is not hers and that it should be difficult for fans and friends to have access to honors and final farewells. Why is all this happening? Who would want to erase and hide such a beloved person to so many? What Behind all this?,” Paolo wrote in an Instagram post.
Following the death of Gal Costa, Wilma Petrillo asked the court to recognize her 24-year relationship with the singer as a stable union. If that were the case, he would have been entitled to 50% of the assets left by the artist, sharing them with the only direct heir.
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