Cricket world in shock after new developments
POLICE investigating the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer have confirmed he was murdered.
The shocking new development, which has stunned the cricketing world, was revealed in a press conference where Karl Angell, the police spokesman revealed a second post mortem on the former English cricketer had confirmed he died from “manual strangulation”.
“In these circumstances, the matter of Mr Woolmer’s death is now being treated as murder,” he told a news conference.
A number of press report in Jamaica in the days prior to this morning’s press conference had seemed to confirm the news saying a number of bones in Woolmer’s neck had been broken and there was bruising around his throat.
The Pakistani coach was found unconscious in his room just hours after he saw his team knocked out of the World Cup following defeat to Ireland.
While at first reports suggested he died of a heart attack, police were forced to concede they were treating his death as suspicious after an initial post mortem proved inconclusive.
Police said there were no signs of a forced entry and none of his possessions were taken. They are now studying CCTV footage as the murder investigation gets underway.
They are also looking into the strong possibility that more then one killer may have been involved in the murder, and that Woolmer may have known his killers.
Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields, formerly of Scotland Yard, said “Bob is a large man and it would take some significant force to strangle him, but we don’t know at this point how many people were in his room,” he said. “There was very little evidence of a struggle.”
“I have to say at this stage that it looks as if it may be somebody who’s somehow linked to him, because clearly he let somebody into his hotel room and it may be that he knew who that person was,” Mr Shields told the BBC.
News of the murder has stunned the cricketing world. Former South Africa star Allan Donald said the World Cup should be called off.
“I just don’t know how this World Cup can continue under the shadow of what’s happened”, he said.
“World Cup 2007 will be forever remembered for this. I just hope the individual or individuals are brought to justice because Bob was a great man and would never go to the lengths to put his life in danger.
“I just can’t believe that people can go to the lengths about a game of cricket.”
But he conceded that his former coach would not want the cricketing showpiece to end saying: “My personal opinion would have been to stop, but knowing Bob he would have wanted this to go ahead”, he said.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed confirmed the World Cup would continue.
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