Police Say Cricket Coach Was Murdered

Mar 23, 08:42 AM

Current Headlines: PAKISTAN cricket coach Bob Woolmer was murdered, the Jamaican police said late last night.A post-mortem examination showed his death was caused by asphyxia, as a result of manual strangulation, police said.A murder inquiry has been launched.Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious by staff at the Pegasus Hotel, in Kingston, on Sunday morning, the day after Pakistan's shock defeat to cricketing minnows Ireland in the Cricket World Cup.It is understood the coach was found in the bathroom area. He was then taken to hospital where he died.Police on the island had, until last night, stopped short of saying he was murdered and were treating his death as suspicious.Woolmer's widow, Gill, spoke earlier to Sky News about whether he might have been murdered but described it only as a possibility.She said: "I suppose there is always the possibility. I mean, some of the cricketing fraternity, fans, are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and what happens in the game."I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that."She added: "It fills me with horror. I just can't believe that people could behave like that or that anyone would want to harm someone who has done such a great service to international cricket."Former Pakistani fast-bowler Sarfraz Nawaz claimed on Wednesday that Woolmer had been murdered as part of a match-fixing plot."Woolmer's death has some connection with the match-fixing mafia, " he told the Associated Press."I've been saying this for the last four days that Woolmer's death is not natural, but it's a murder."Jamaica's deputy police commissioner, Mark Shields, said last night he had not ruled out the possibility that more than one person had been involved in Woolmer's murder.He said: "It would take some force, because Bob was a large man. It would have taken some significant force to subdue him, but of course at this stage we do not know how many people were in the room at the time."It could be one or more people involved in this murder."Mr Shields confirmed Woolmer had shown no signs of life when he was found in his hotel room, and said there had been no signs of a struggle."In these particular circumstances, we had to make sure because there were no visible external signs (of his murder), " he said."Not until the report was concluded were we able to draw conclusions."International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said the World Cup would continue.He said Woolmer's death had been a "huge shock" for the cricketing community.

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