Judge Rules for Fossey Family, Throws Out Will

ITHACA, N.Y. —  A judge threw out the will of slain American zoologist Diane Fossey on Friday and said her mother should inherit her estate, including about $4.9 million in royalties from a recent book and upcoming movie.

“We are not satisfied that Dr. Fossey intended the purported will to be her last will and testament,” state Supreme Court Judge Charles B. Swartwood wrote in his decision. “Our belief is to the contrary. This document was simply a draft of her purported will and not a will at all.”

If the 1984 will had been ruled valid, Fossey’s personal property and assets would have gone to her gorilla preservation group, the Digit Fund Inc., which is operated by Morris Animal Foundation of Englewood, Colo., and to four other people. Fossey did not mention her family in the will.

Family Elated by Decision

Fossey’s mother, Hazel Fossey Price, and her husband, Richard C. Price, of Atherton, Calif., said they were elated by the judge’s decision.

Price said he and his wife are working on a project to preserve the work Diane Fossey did for the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, located in east-central Africa south of Uganda.

Fossey was murdered with a machete on Dec. 26, 1985, while working at the Karisoke Mountain Gorilla Research Center, which she started in 1967.

P. Stacey Coil, Fossey’s personal secretary and vice president of the Digit Fund, said she was disappointed by the decision, but said it was unlikely that she would appeal.