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Evidence points to Arguello death a suicide

Managua mayor and former boxing star died of gunshot wound

Image: Arguello
Esteban Felix / AP
In this Nov. 5, 2008 file photo, Alexis Arguello, three-time world boxing champion, and Managua mayoral candidate of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front party, FSLN, makes the victory sign to supporters during a closing campaign rally in Managua.
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updated 5:16 p.m. ET July 2, 2009

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Investigators have released new evidence that points to suicide in the death of former boxing champion and Managua mayor Alexis Arguello.

The rising star of the governing Sandinista party, a movement he once bitterly opposed, died at his home of a single gunshot to the chest early Wednesday.

Assistant judicial police chief Glenda Zavala says traces of gunpowder were found on the 57-year-old Arguello’s hands, suggesting he shot himself. There were no other signs of violence in the room where he was found.

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Nicaraguans formed long lines Thursday at an open-casket ceremony at the Palacio de la Cultura in the capital. The Hall of Fame boxer was best known for his classic brawl with Aaron Pryor in 1982, which Ring Magazine called the “Fight of the Decade.”

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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