The family of Boyzone star Stephen Gately are to hire a private investigator for a fresh inquiry into his death because they still have unanswered questions about what happened.
Tony Gately, the former singer’s younger brother, claims his family never had a full explanation from Gately’s partner Andrew Cowles after the Boyzone star was found dead in the apartment they shared in Majorca five years ago.
Official reports at the time found he died of natural causes after a fatal build-up of fluid in the lungs, thought to have been brought on by a heart attack.
But Mr Gately said his family still want answers about exactly what happened that night.
They plan to hire an private investigator after a dispute with Mr Cowles about how the late star’s £1.5m estate should be divided up is settled.
The family claim Mr Cowles is holding onto Gately’s possessions which have sentimental value for them.
Gately was found slumped on a sofa in the apartment he shared with Mr Cowles in 2009.
The couple had apparently gone out celebrating and had met Georgi Dochev in the gay nightclub, the Black Cat.
The trio then went back to the £1m apartment in the upmarket area of Port Andratx. He was found on the sofa the next day in what has been described as a ‘prayer-like’ position.
‘Only two people know what went on the night he died,’ Mr Gately told the Sun on Sunday.
‘They are his husband Andrew and a Bulgarian guy, Georgi, who was invited to their apartment. Neither of them have fully explained to me what happened.’
Boyzone singer Gately met Mr Cowles in 1996 after being introduced by Elton John. The couple had a civil partnership in 2003 and set up home in north London.
After debts were cleared Gately’s £3.3m fortune was worth around £1.5m and as he never made a will the majority is expected to go to Mr Cowles, his civil partner.
The rest will go to his parents Margaret and Martin but the family are unhappy as they claim Mr Cowles has put a price on some of the star’s treasured possessions.
Thousands of fans attended Gately’s funeral and his coffin was carried by his former bandmates. Mr Gately later travelled with Boyzone to bring his body home.
He added: ‘Stephen was everything to me. He was my older brother.’
He said he pleaded with investigators after his brother’s death to re-open the case so the family could understand what had happened on that day.
There is nothing to suggest Mr Cowles or Mr Dochev was involved in the death but Mr Gately said he wants to determine what happened on the night he died.
A Majorcan police statement taken from Bulgarian Giorgio Dochev, 25, who was in their holiday apartment that evening, reveals that Gately had smoked a cannabis joint and that the trio had been ‘intimate’.
An official medical report found had died from natural causes, the medical report recording pulmonary edema or fluid on the lungs, thought to have been brought on by a heart attack.
Police said there were no suspicious circumstances regarding his death.
