Coach Woolmer 'was Not Murdered'

[LaoPo]

Coach Woolmer 'was not murdered'

There have been a host of theories surrounding Mr Woolmer's death

Scotland Yard detectives have told Jamaican police that the former Pakistan cricket coach, Bob Woolmer, was not murdered, the BBC understands.

The apparent verdict follows work by a UK Home Office pathologist, who flew to Jamaica to probe Mr Woolmer's death.

Bob Woolmer's widow Gill said she had heard nothing new from the Jamaican police about her husband's death.

Mr Woolmer was found dead in his hotel in Jamaica on 18 March after Pakistan's first-round exit from the World Cup.

Days later Mark Shields, Jamaica's deputy police commissioner, announced at a news conference that the 58-year-old former England Test cricketer had been murdered.

But a UK newspaper has reported that Jamaican police are to announce that Mr Woolmer died of natural causes.

According to the Daily Mail, police in Kingston now believe Mr Woolmer died of natural causes, brought on by chronic ill-health and possibly diabetes.

Former Pakistan player Asif Iqbal has criticised the Jamaican police investigation.

"When they said it was suspicious, after that it should have been dealt with in a normal way instead of being a Hollywood, or Bollywood kind of investigation," he told the BBC.

"Every day there were different stories in the newspaper, every day there was a different way of his being murdered. I think they made a mess of it to be very honest."

There has been no confirmation of the report.

In May, several other reports suggested Mr Woolmer was not murdered, often citing sources close to the investigation.

One member of Jamaica's Labour Party said the case had become a "global embarrassment" for the country's police force.

From:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6714545.stm

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

'New Woolmer material' is studied

Jamaican police say they are studying "new material" regarding the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer.

A police commissioner said a statement on the issue would be made "shortly".

He did not comment on recent reports that the coach may have died of natural causes rather than being murdered, as was earlier claimed.

Mr Woolmer died soon after being found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica after Pakistan's humiliating exit from the World Cup.

An initial autopsy report proved inconclusive.

Days later, Jamaican Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas said the former England player had died as a result of "manual strangulation".

"In these circumstances, the matter of Mr Woolmer's death is now being treated as murder," he told a news conference at the time.

'Ill-health'

Speaking on Thursday, Police Commissioner Thomas said new evidence had emerged in the Woolmer case.

"We are in receipt of some material. We are studying it and we will make a statement shortly to address the whole issue of Bob Woolmer," Mr Thomas said.

He did not comment on reports over the weekend that a pathologist attached to Scotland Yard had concluded Woolmer died of natural causes.

"I am not yet in receipt of all the reports from Scotland Yard, so I cannot comment on certain things at this time," Mr Thomas said.

The London-based Daily Mail newspaper had quoted investigators as saying Mr Woolmer had died of heart failure, brought on by chronic ill-health and possibly diabetes.

from:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6729733.stm

LaoPo