Bob Woolmer: Murder Enquiry Launched

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Police in Jamaica have launched a murder investigation into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer.

Following the results of a post mortem examination, police said Mr Woolmer had died of asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation.

The chief police commissioner appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

Woolmer, 58, was found in his hotel room on Sunday, the day after his team lost to Ireland in the World Cup.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Thursday, 22 March 2007 23:54 (eighteen years ago)

The nightmare begins. This isn't how sport should be.

― unfished business, Thursday, 22 March 2007 23:56 (eighteen years ago)

"The defender ought to be shot for that"

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 22 March 2007 23:57 (eighteen years ago)

Still going on SSN for those who haven't caught up.

― unfished business, Thursday, 22 March 2007 23:57 (eighteen years ago)

From the Cricket World Cup thread:

Even though Pakistan are deeply in the mire they still have plenty of overs left and if Akmal stays in they'll set Ireland too high a target.

Matt on Saturday, 17 March 2007 16:46 (5 days ago)
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"If".

Pakistan 109/8

Noodle Vague on Saturday, 17 March 2007 17:06 (5 days ago)
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I think someone is gonna get sacked!

jel -- on Saturday, 17 March 2007 17:10 (5 days ago)
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I think someone's been to the bookies.

Noodle Vague on Saturday, 17 March 2007 17:13 (5 days ago)

Hindsight, eh?

"The defender ought to be shot for that"

Yes, I'm very much in mind of Andres Escobar with this. Though some people put his death down to a coincidence as well, I think.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:02 (eighteen years ago)

Faark me. That's truly awful.

― Drooone, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:03 (eighteen years ago)

Basically, speculation seems to be on three fronts:

(1) He was murdered because people lost money when Pakistan played really badly in the World Cup.
(2) He was murdered because he was about to blow the whistle on *why* Pakistan played really badly in the World Cup
(3) He just got murdered, and it was nothing to do with Pakistan at all (my hopeful theory, wouldn't sell many papers, no idea what's being said at the press conference to make this look daft)

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:05 (eighteen years ago)

as unthinkable as all this has been, (2) has the direst, most unthinkable consequences IMO

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:10 (eighteen years ago)

It's that old classic, a "room robbery gone wrong" I reckons.

― Mark G, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:11 (eighteen years ago)

News24 says that there was no sign of a forced entry in his room. And nothing was stolen apparently.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:12 (eighteen years ago)

oh, mark :-(

no signs of forced entry, plus, it was a strangling rather than a shooting or a blunt-force blow, this has to have been planned to some extent.

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:12 (eighteen years ago)

Dickie Bird on News24. He's distraught.
""who would want to harm bob woolmer, he's a gentle soul. I can't believe it. I'm absolutely shocked""

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:14 (eighteen years ago)

Surely strangling rather than gunshot or poisoning would indicate that it was more likely to have been a spur of the moment thing rather than an assasination.

― Dom Passantino, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:14 (eighteen years ago)

Well, I'm just discounting the possibility of it being a botched break-in. There could have been a spur-of-the-moment decision to carry it out, but it's the kind of thing that one settles upon before entering the room.

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

Ha, we've all been watching too much CSI!

Nice people get murdered sometimes, btw, Dickie, you fool.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

Dickie Bird = heart is broken ;_;

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

Surprised it took them four days to make this startling discovery. Found dead in room, with bruising to neck and mouth wide agape, room is covered with blood and vomit across walls and ceiling. Hmm, diabetes-linked heart attack all right.

― .stet., Friday, 23 March 2007 00:17 (eighteen years ago)

Cricket will never be the same again now.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:18 (eighteen years ago)

Also, if you're going to engage in match-fixing, surely you do it as far away from the public eye as possible? Not in, you know, the world's sixth or seventh biggest sporting event.

― Dom Passantino, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:18 (eighteen years ago)

Paul Condon is assisting with the murder enquiry.

I wonder if they're looking into gambling patterns prior to the loss...

― we woz robbed, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:19 (eighteen years ago)

They probably 'knew' straight away, but they had to play for time in order to interview certain people (and prepare the investigation) before the news was broken.

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:19 (eighteen years ago)

Which would explain why they chose Ireland/Pakistan: surely due to St Paddy's a disproportionate amount of money would have been bet on Ireland anyway?

― Dom Passantino, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:19 (eighteen years ago)

xp, obv,

― Dom Passantino, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:19 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, I think football's recovered all right from the various match-fixing scandals, together with the offing of Andres Escobar. Until we know what's happened, I don't think we can be too doom and gloom about the implications on the whole sport.

Coach murdered in case of mistaken identity/botched opportunistic break-in != oh noes cricket is doomed!

Surely murdering someone to cover something up = biggest way of sticking a ten-mile-high neon flashing "WOO LOOK SUSPICIOUS STUFF AHOY!" sign over the situation.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:21 (eighteen years ago)

If the match was fixed, and Woolmer was killed in order to prevent this information from being leaked (it will anyway if true, I'd guess), Pakistan should be booted out. For a good long while.

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:22 (eighteen years ago)

Surely murdering someone to cover something up = biggest way of sticking a ten-mile-high neon flashing "WOO LOOK SUSPICIOUS STUFF AHOY!" sign over the situation.

This is the one crumb of comfort, that this ^^^^^^ is too awful to be true.

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:23 (eighteen years ago)

At least this might get the Americans interested in Cricket.

― King Boy Pato, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:24 (eighteen years ago)

Surely you'd have to off some Pakistani cricketers too, just in case they felt like blabbing as well? They've all been interviewed at some length.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:24 (eighteen years ago)

I think international cricket could start an ILX thread about bottle openers shaped like mercurial Brazillian stars and Americans still wouldn't care.

― Dom Passantino, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:25 (eighteen years ago)

careful, dom... :-P

Definitely NOT a botched break-in, I'll say again.

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:26 (eighteen years ago)

I bet Flintoff can open bottles with his teeth.

― onimo, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:26 (eighteen years ago)

Half the South African team already does that.

― King Boy Pato, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:27 (eighteen years ago)

Will the Pakistan team be allowed to fly home?

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:28 (eighteen years ago)

No, they'll be made to walk as a punishment for losing to Ireland.

(real answer: don't see why not, none of them have been arrested or anything)

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:33 (eighteen years ago)

how 2 walk from jamaica 2 pakistan ;_;

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:36 (eighteen years ago)

I would imagine they will be questioned again (unless the culprit is found)

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:50 (eighteen years ago)

culprit(s)

kerr and i have been speculating. could it have been a lone fan? could it have been a member of the tour party? apparently the security is lax. i myself reckon it was partially organised, but there's no ruling out a spur-of-the-moment decision. there IS cctv footage, apparently, so our answers may well have to come from there.

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:53 (eighteen years ago)

It could be anyone in the hotel.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:56 (eighteen years ago)

My money's on Professor Plum in the conservatory with the spanner.

You pair after a job with the Jamaican polis or something?

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:59 (eighteen years ago)

i am hearing the voice of quincy in that last post

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:59 (eighteen years ago)

xpost to kerr, obv

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 00:59 (eighteen years ago)

Don't forget it could be anyone *not* in the hotel as well, btw.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:03 (eighteen years ago)

So whoever dumped a whole heap of money on Ireland would be shitting their pants right now.

― Drooone, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:04 (eighteen years ago)

I mean, obviously they were in the hotel at the time, but saying "it was someone who was in a room with their hands round his throat" isn't exactly Columbo-esque detective work.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:04 (eighteen years ago)

It was St Patrick's Day. LOADS of people were pissed and flinging money at Ireland to win.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:05 (eighteen years ago)

We can't blame hstencil for this one.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:07 (eighteen years ago)

I have heard a rumour that an enormous amount of money was placed on Ireland in Pakistan. Just a rumour, obviously, but it comes directly from a Pakistani source.

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:07 (eighteen years ago)

The fact that there's no forced entry and nothing stolen does suggest it was someone he knew.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:11 (eighteen years ago)

No it doesn't. There are LOADS of reasons you would let someone into your hotel room. Staff. Workmen. Journalists. People with passes or badges or paperwork or uniforms or whatever to make you think they are doing someone other than coming in to murder you. They might have got a copy of his key and been in there waiting for him.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:15 (eighteen years ago)

Doing someTHING, not someone, obviously.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 01:16 (eighteen years ago)

Skipping 26 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

This has taken a spectacularly long time to answer a simple question. Could you not have just said "Ireland won fair and square" straight off - that was all I was looking for! I got sidetracked into irrelevant David v Goliath analogies starring a cast of people that mean nothing to me and countries that have bugger all to do with this.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 03:14 (eighteen years ago)

Whoa. I don't think the "David & Goliath analogies" are completely irrelevant, no doubt there'll be much scrutinisation of the game itself. I'd like to see what some of the experts (read thick ex-players) think about it.

― Drooone, Friday, 23 March 2007 03:34 (eighteen years ago)

Do you understand the staggering gulf between Hamilton Accies v AC Milan and how that makes it seem like this is equating Ireland to a pub team or something? Given that this analogy came from someone who watches lots of cricket, saw this match and didn't think "OMG FIX!" at any point, I'm simply wondering the point of the quick tour through the history of cricket to get there, taking several aeons to concede that it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Ireland could have beaten them simply by being better than them on the day. I've learned that Pakistan are erratic, and that Ireland are pretty good for a non-Test nation. It didn't automatically raise anyone's suspicions at the time until the boss ended up dead. Then people started scrabbling for links between the result and Woolmer's death.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 08:46 (eighteen years ago)

The problem for some years has been that Pakistan's corruption scandals have made it near-impossible to tell whether the erraticness was deliberate or not.

I still kinda feel like, if it is a murder, it mightn't be betting related.

― Noodle Vague, Friday, 23 March 2007 10:01 (eighteen years ago)

FWIW I don't think the game was a fix. I think Ireland deserved to win. They won fair and square in my eyes.

Agreed. What convinces me is that they nearly threw it away towards the end. I think the rain adjusted target helped them too - and I'm fairly sure betting syndicates can't make it rain.

― onimo, Friday, 23 March 2007 10:03 (eighteen years ago)

Noodle otm. It's not so much Pakistan losing that's the thing. It's Pakistan losing on St Patrick's Day against proper minnows (in cricketing terms this was comparable to, say, one of Yeovil Town's shock FA cup wins), followed by Woolmer's murder that raises all sorts of suspicions, whther these supsicions are well-founded or not.

― Neil S, Friday, 23 March 2007 10:35 (eighteen years ago)

You know, it's perfectly possible for this to be betting-related without the Ireland result having been a fix.

― Matt DC, Friday, 23 March 2007 10:50 (eighteen years ago)

Of course. It could even be related to Woolmer's tenure as SA coach during the Cronje match fixingf scandal. Apparently (according to the Guardian) he was working on his autobiography, which covered that period.

― Neil S, Friday, 23 March 2007 10:53 (eighteen years ago)

what, as in

man: "throw the next match and you will earn some!"
Bob: "fuck off"
man: "Righto, let me get your neck here..."

― Mark G, Friday, 23 March 2007 10:53 (eighteen years ago)

i have to admit that when i read the lead graf this morning and it included the words "jamaican police" i was like oh, boy, this story probably has a twist or two coming

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 23 March 2007 11:01 (eighteen years ago)

Pakistan v Ireland was a fair run game. There's nothing suspicious about Pakistan batsmen getting out to injudicious shot selection, plus the pitch was doing a lot early on. There's so many conflicting reports though that it seems pointless speculating as to motive (and also a little tasteless, a man is dead ffs).

― Matt, Friday, 23 March 2007 11:16 (eighteen years ago)

Since discovering this morning that the Gleaner actually exists, and isn't just the product of Ian Fleming's imagination, I can't help thinking about this in terms of Dr No.

― Madchen, Friday, 23 March 2007 11:18 (eighteen years ago)

x-post You're right, Matt, speculation on this doesn't help- sorry.

― Neil S, Friday, 23 March 2007 11:22 (eighteen years ago)

If it were betting-related then it would be more likely to involve the syndicates banging millions on Pakistan at 33-1 on, and then getting angry when they managed to lose, rather than backing Ireland and actively having to fix the match.

― Mark C, Friday, 23 March 2007 11:31 (eighteen years ago)

I don't agree that sensible speculation via 'discussion' is tasteless at all, an incident like this is naturally going to raise a debate. We're not doing any harm by holding a forum about possible motives are we ?

― Ste, Friday, 23 March 2007 11:31 (eighteen years ago)

I guess it's a fine line between sensible specualtion and insensitive conspiracy theorising. Hope I didn't cross it above!

― Neil S, Friday, 23 March 2007 11:41 (eighteen years ago)

Like the word implies, it's a matter of taste innit? I don't agree that all the speculation was "sensible". The stuff upthread about "well he was strangled so it's different from being shot etc" was revolting, possibly I've gone too far the other way as a reaction. Obviously it's a matter for discussion.

― Matt, Friday, 23 March 2007 12:02 (eighteen years ago)

Just so we can finally close the "It's like x beating y" debate, if you extrapolate the amount of teams playing ODI cricket in the world and their rankings into the FIFA World Rankings, this result becomes the equivalent of Colombia beating Spain.

― Dom Passantino, Friday, 23 March 2007 12:02 (eighteen years ago)

Spain have of course lost to Cyprus and Northern Ireland in recent years. It happens.

It didn't look like a thrown game, to be honest. Seeing as it put them out of the World Cup, I very much doubt such a game might be thrown.

The batting in the West Indies game, however, did look suspiciously slow... :-P

― unfished business, Friday, 23 March 2007 12:04 (eighteen years ago)

Not that much of a shock then.

― Neil S, Friday, 23 March 2007 12:04 (eighteen years ago)

TMS are being extremely scrupulous in mentioning nothing to do with the Woolmer case during their commentary on India v Sri Lanka. No doubt some editorial decision has been made by the Beeb, but it does seem to be ignoring the elephant in the room.

― Neil S, Friday, 23 March 2007 15:22 (eighteen years ago)

Nah, Woolmer belongs in the news reports now, I don't think the case needs dragging into every commentary for the rest of the tournament.

― Noodle Vague, Friday, 23 March 2007 16:28 (eighteen years ago)

And they've just mentioned it anyway.

― Neil S, Friday, 23 March 2007 16:28 (eighteen years ago)

Jamaican police seek DNA samples from Pakistan team

i love that this headline implies that there's something more to this than routine policework. "DNA samples, eh? I've never trusted that Younis Khan fella."

i hope Shoaib Akhtar has an alibi.

― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, 23 March 2007 16:53 (eighteen years ago)

FWIW, I was just asking, in passing, since Louis mentioned about some reliable source suggesting large amounts of betting against Pakistan, if this was a match in which Ireland winning would ring great big alarm bells re match-fixing. It's not my fault it took about three hours to get an answer.

I'm still quite willing to believe that he just got murdered, as people sometimes do, *despite* rather than *because of* who he was. Some of the whole "the World Cup should be scrapped" thing seems a way of the cricketing community, or at least some vocal sections of it, pretty much conceding his murder was linked directly to his job. Allan Donald actually came out and said it.

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 17:13 (eighteen years ago)

But he hates sport!

― Madchen, Friday, 23 March 2007 17:44 (eighteen years ago)

Not that one!

― ailsa, Friday, 23 March 2007 17:45 (eighteen years ago)

Just joshing.

― Madchen, Friday, 23 March 2007 17:48 (eighteen years ago)

Inzy and a coach have been questioned in connection with the death of bob woolmer according to sky news. My dad has a freeview/tv and he saw it on that.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Saturday, 24 March 2007 20:57 (eighteen years ago)

its on bbc24 too.
Not that we should be jumping to conclusions. It's possible they were just the last to see him alive and are being requestioned before flying home.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Saturday, 24 March 2007 20:58 (eighteen years ago)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6492207.stm

Pakistan's cricket captain and the assistant coach are being interviewed by Jamaican police investigating the murder of Bob Woolmer.

Team spokesman Pervez Mir said police had asked to talk to Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed.

"Those talks are going on now. We'll have to wait for the outcome," he said.

It is not yet clear why the pair are being questioned and it comes just hours before the rest of the team are due to fly home at 2340 GMT.

Pakistan's players had already given police DNA samples and fingerprints as part of the probe into Mr Woolmer's murder and were preparing to fly home.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Saturday, 24 March 2007 21:15 (eighteen years ago)

Apparently they have now been let go and they are being allowed to fly home as planned.

Move over now nothing to see.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Saturday, 24 March 2007 21:20 (eighteen years ago)

The Pakistan cricket team have decided to give up playing cricket altogether now, and unstead they're in training for the Winter Olympics. They're the Bobsleigh team.

― C J, Wednesday, 28 March 2007 08:26 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

Panorama: Murder at the World Cup will be broadcast on BBC1 at 20:30 BST, Monday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6606175.stm

Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer, who died of strangulation earlier this year, was also poisoned, a BBC investigation has learned.

The results of toxicology tests mean it now seems certain the ex-England player was rendered helpless before being strangled, the Panorama programme says.

Woolmer's murder in March during the Cricket World Cup in the West Indies cast a shadow over the tournament.

His remains were flown back to his home in Cape Town in South Africa on Sunday.

The casket, which had been sealed in a large wooden crate, arrived on board a commercial flight to Cape Town's International Airport from Jamaica.

He was found dead in his Kingston hotel on 18 March, the day after his side lost to Ireland in the World Cup.

A post-mortem examination said he had been strangled.

On 20 April the inquest into the death was postponed because the coroner was advised there had been "recent and significant developments".

'Unable to fight back'

Now a Panorama investigation has learned that a toxicology report on Woolmer's body shows that there was a drug in his body that would have incapacitated him.

The final results of the report are due to be given to Jamaican police next week.

"Those tests will show there was a drug in his system that would have incapacitated Mr Woolmer," Panorama's Adam Parsons says.

"It now seems certain that as he was being strangled, he'd already been rendered helpless - leaving him unable to fight back.

"The specific details of that poison are now very likely to offer a significant lead to finding his murderer."

The policeman leading the murder investigation, Mark Shields, told Panorama that it is "difficult and it's rare" for one man to strangle another.

"A lot of force would be need to do that. Bob Woolmer was a large man and that's why one could argue that it was an extremely strong person or maybe more than one person.

"But equally the lack of external injuries suggests that there might be some other factors and that's what we're looking into at the moment."

Family spokesman Gareth Pyne-James told the Associated Press news agency that Woolmer's funeral in South Africa would be a private ceremony.

"Arrangements have been made and the family will decide whether it's going to be an interment or cremation," Theo Rix, from a local funeral home, told Reuters news agency.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Monday, 30 April 2007 11:33 (eighteen years ago)

Anyone gonna watch this?

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Monday, 30 April 2007 18:42 (eighteen years ago)

yes.

― Frogman Henry, Monday, 30 April 2007 18:44 (eighteen years ago)

I caught about the last thirty seconds of this - reassurances that the police were going to try to catch the person who did it (which is nice of them, since that's what they get paid for), and his wife explaining how it'd be nice to know what had happened. I presume then that I didn't miss any stunning revelations whereby a couple of BBC hacks outwitted the police and unveiled the murderer.

― ailsa, Monday, 30 April 2007 20:11 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6658547.stm

Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was not strangled, a UK government pathologist has concluded, according to the Times newspaper.

Dr Nat Carey said after studying autopsy material that death was not by asphyxiation from strangling, it said.

The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper has separately cited Scotland Yard sources as saying Mr Woolmer was not murdered.

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

The comments from the UK sources led Jamaican opposition lawmaker Derrick Smith to say the case had become a "global embarrassment" for the Caribbean nation.

There have been a number of contradictory claims about the cause of Mr Woolmer's death since his body was found on 18 March.

Herbicide

The Times was citing sources close to the investigation of Dr Carey.

It said there was growing speculation that death was by natural causes, although it gave no new information on what may have led to Mr Woolmer's death.

The results of toxicology tests are still awaited but the Times said they might indicate the levels of a herbicide said to have been found in his body.

The herbicide is used for weeding cricket pitches. The tests may show whether the level was sufficient to have triggered the sickness and diarrhoea Mr Woolmer suffered before death, it said.

Heart trouble has been suggested as another cause for the death of Mr Woolmer, 58, who also suffered from diabetes.

The original autopsy said Mr Woolmer may have suffered manual strangulation, indicated by a broken bone in his neck.

UK authorities were asked to help with the investigation.

The Jamaica Gleaner said Scotland Yard's pathology report said Mr Woolmer "died of natural causes and not manual strangulation as was initially reported by Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields".

The paper said the report contradicted that of the local pathologist, Dr Ere Sheshiah.

Jamaican police spokesman Karl Angell said such press reports were "unhelpful" and urged the media "to refrain from speculation because of the additional distress it places upon the Woolmer family".

Derrick Smith, of the Jamaica Labour Party, said the case had jeopardised the reputation of the nation's police.

"The matter has become a global embarrassment for us," he said.

No-one has yet been arrested in connection with Mr Woolmer's death, which overshadowed the cricket World Cup.

Investigations have included the possibility of murder by a disgruntled fan, player or by figures concerned Mr Woolmer was going to make allegations of corruption.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 17:01 (eighteen years ago)

Blimey. Didn't see that coming.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 17:15 (eighteen years ago)

Is there a broken bone in his neck or not?

― StanM, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 17:24 (eighteen years ago)

Don't know. Bumbling police and no murder? Or when's the 1st "police have been paid off" claims gonna be made?

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 21:04 (eighteen years ago)

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 11:04 PM (Yesterday)

― StanM, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 07:45 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

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 now 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.
'Bollywood investigation'
The apparent about-face drew some sharp criticism of the Jamaican police investigation.

PJ Mir, Pakistan's media manager during the World Cup, said he was "saddened" at the news and suggested that Pakistani cricket authorities should consider legal action.
"I've been saying all along that Bob had died a natural death and let's not jump the gun, let's wait," he told the BBC.
"Today the Pakistan team players will be absolutely angry, because the amount of allegations that were levelled against them, or insinuations, or speculations against the Pakistan team."
Every member of the Pakistan team was interviewed and fingerprinted before returning home from the Caribbean, although police stressed at the time that they were not treated as suspects.
Former Pakistan player Asif Iqbal told the BBC that Jamaican police carried out a "Bollywood kind of investigation".
"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 Daily Mail 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.

― Herman G. Neuname, Saturday, 2 June 2007 16:10 (eighteen years ago)

Is there a broken bone in his neck or not?

Who knows

― Herman G. Neuname, Saturday, 2 June 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

Presumably the pathologists. And the police.

― ailsa, Saturday, 2 June 2007 20:05 (eighteen years ago)

Then they aren't telling anyone.

― Herman G. Neuname, Saturday, 2 June 2007 20:09 (eighteen years ago)

They did! The police said it right at the start (or at least a newspaper quoted a policeman as saying a bone was broken in his neck).

― ailsa, Saturday, 2 June 2007 22:13 (eighteen years ago)

"Today the Pakistan team players will be absolutely angry, because the amount of allegations that were levelled against them, or insinuations, or speculations against the Pakistan team."

Firstly: "absolutely angry" absolutely cross? very furious? absolutely peeved? very incandescent?
Secondly: "because the amount of allegations that were levelled against them" (....was outrageous? was unjust? was something, surely? you can't just end the sentence there) (or maybe it should say "because of the amount of allegations...")
Thirdly: is it really the amount of allegations, rather than the allegations themselves, which has caused this outbreak of absolute anger?

― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Saturday, 2 June 2007 22:31 (eighteen years ago)

Yes, I find poking fun at someone speaking in their second language to be good for a laugh too.

Surely the Pakistani team should be glad that an investigation was carried out and that their coach *wasn't* murdered. Would they rather the police *didn'* look into stuff? Also, they weren't actually accused of anything, were they?

― ailsa, Saturday, 2 June 2007 22:42 (eighteen years ago)

this case needed World Police

― Just got offed, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 15:55 (eighteen years ago)

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