Bob Woolmer not murdered, died of natural causes
(Bloomberg)Updated: 2007-06-13 10:12
Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes and wasn't murdered, Jamaican police said today, reversing their original assessment of his death at the World Cup in March.
 Pakistan's former cricket coach Bob Woolmer puts his team through their paces during a training session near Port of Spain, in this March 8, 2007 file photo. Woolmer died of natural causes, and not of murder as initially suspected, Jamaican police said on June 12, 2007. Police initially said Woolmer was strangled when he was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room on March 18 after his highly rated team lost to little fancied Ireland in the Cricket World Cup, triggering speculation he had been murdered by an irate fan or an illegal gambling syndicate. [Reuters] |
Woolmer's death was consistent with a heart attack, three independent pathologists decided. They rejected a conclusion by a first pathologist that Woolmer had a broken bone in his neck, a judgment that prompted police to say he was strangled.
"The Jamaica Constabulary Force conducted a thoroughly professional investigation where nothing was left to chance," police Commissioner Lucius Thomas said at a televised press conference in Kingston. "On behalf of the JCF I would like to offer my sincere apologies to Gill Woolmer and her family."
Cricket was plunged into crisis when Jamaican police said the 58-year-old Briton was strangled in his room in Kingston's Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on March 18, less than 24 hours after Pakistan was eliminated from the World Cup in an upset loss to Ireland.
Today's announcement follows an independent report into the death by London's Scotland Yard police force, based on an autopsy by U.K. pathologist Nat Carey. He, along with forensic specialists from South Africa and Canada, examined the bone from Woolmer's neck and concluded that it hadn't been broken.
Jamaica's deputy police commissioner Mark Shields, who led the investigation, defended the conduct of his force, which began a hunt for Woolmer's killer on the basis on the first forensic report. There will be a review into the investigation team's conduct, Thomas said.
`Open Mind'
"We are not in a position where we can second-guess publicly a pathologist's opinion," Shields said. "Our job is to keep an open mind, conduct the investigation and see where the evidence takes us."
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan urged his country's cricket authorities to carry out their threat to pursue legal action again the Jamaican police, who questioned and finger- printed members of the squad as part of its investigation.
"Someone has to pay for this," Imran, who led his country to victory at the 1992 World Cup, told the BBC. "You can't put a team through this. The country felt humiliated by what happened."
Malcolm Speed, chief executive officer of the International Cricket Council, said in April the tournament was likely to be remembered mostly for Woolmer's "tragic death" and an umpiring error at the climax of Australia's win in the final.
`Huge Embarrassment'
Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald, who was coached by Woolmer in the 1990s, had argued that the event should be abandoned as a mark of respect.
"This is a huge embarrassment to Jamaica," former England captain Bob Willis told Sky Sports today before the announcement. "It took the gloss off the tournament for quite a while and the Jamaican police investigation has a lot of questions to answer. What a trauma for Bob's family to go through. Terrible stuff."
Woolmer, a former England batsman, suffered from diabetes and had put on weight since taking the Pakistan job. Blood, vomit and diarrhea were found on the walls and floor of his hotel bedroom and bathroom, Shields said early in the investigation.
Gill Woolmer said her husband sent her an e-mail indicating he was "very stressed" after the defeat to Ireland, which had been given an 8-1 chance by bookmakers to beat the 1992 champion.
"My sons and I are relieved to be officially informed that Bob died of natural causes and that no foul play is suspected in his death," she said in a statement today.
Corruption Probe
The investigation sparked a media frenzy as reporters from around the world descended on the Jamaican capital. Police examined close-circuit TV images of the hotel, quizzed Pakistan players and other hotel guests and hired anti-corruption investigators to analyze whether his death was linked to a match-fixing plot.
Shields said at the time Woolmer probably knew his killer because there was no sign of a forced entry into his room. In the 2 1/2 months that followed, there were no arrests.
"Besides all the trauma, I was alleged to be, God forbid, involved in Bob's murder," Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan's captain at the time, told Pakistan's Express newspaper last week. "Now the true facts are coming out, I pray that Pakistani cricket never sees such days again."
Woolmer played 19 elite five-day matches for England between 1975 and 1981 before coaching English county team Warwickshire, South Africa and Pakistan. His pioneering methods included using computer analysis, and he spent three years as the International Cricket Council's high-performance manager, working closely with second-tier nations.
"The fact of his death is no less tragic," Cricket World Cup organizers said in a statement. "The international cricketing community has still lost a great practitioner and coach, one who gave much to the game."
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