Woolmer: It Was Murder

Jamaican police last night launched a murder investigation into the death of the Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer after announcing that a pathologist's report found that he had died from asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation.

Mystery had surrounded the circumstances of Woolmer's death after he was found in his room on Sunday morning, the day after his team had been beaten by Ireland in the cricket World Cup.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force commissioner, Lucius Thomas, last night said: "Mr Woolmer's death was due to asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation. In these circumstances, the matter is now being treated as a case of murder.

"The JCF is making an appeal to anyone who may have information that would help us to identify Bob Woolmer's killer or killers to come forward in order that his wife, Gill, and his family can begin the process of healing."

Jamaica's deputy police commissioner, Mark Shields, said he had not ruled out the possibility 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."

He said police were ruling nothing out and had "lots of lines of inquiry".

The assistant commissioner of police, Owen Ellington, said that security surrounding teams had been stepped up in response to the death. "Since the death of Mr Woolmer, we have increased uniformed security presence at the hotel with a focus mainly on control."

Earlier in the day detectives from the Jamaica force interviewed and fingerprinted all the Pakistan players and managers in a room in the Pegasus, the 17-storey hotel where Woolmer was found unconscious in the bathroom of room 374 on Sunday. They were individually quizzed by officers in a development which Pakistan authorities insisted was "standard procedure".

There has been fevered speculation for days about marks allegedly found on Woolmer's body. Several reports from media outlets suggested that he was found with broken neck bones, which was interpreted as a sign of a violent struggle or strangulation, now confirmed by the pathologist's report.

A pathologist from Florida arrived early yesterday to add firepower to the forensic investigation and provide a second opinion on the results of the post mortem.

The questioning of the Pakistani team delayed the team's departure from the capital Kingston to a retreat in Montego Bay.

Pervez Mir, the spokesman for the team, said that each member had been cautioned at the start and told that giving false testimony would lead to prosecution. But he stressed that was normal under Jamaican law.

Questions followed a set formula, Mr Mir said, addressing their movements after Saturday's shock defeat to tournament newcomers Ireland; when they last saw Woolmer and their last conversation with him; and anything that they noticed about his behaviour or state of health.

"Naturally this isn't very pleasant, but police inquiries have to be followed because it is the law of the land," he said.

The manager of the Pakistan team, Talat Ali, emerged from the room used by the police for their investigations, his fingers stained with black fingerprinting ink. "We are cooperating and want to find out the facts," he said.

He added that the impression that members of the team were the "chief suspects" was false.

Woolmer's widow, Gill, appeared yesterday to soften her earlier insistence that there was no violence involved in her husband's death.

"I suppose there is always the possibility," she told Sky News. "Some of the cricketing fraternity, fans, are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and what happens in the game, and also a lot of it in Asia, so I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that."

She dismissed any involvement on his part in match-fixing.

The Pakistan team had been scheduled to leave the country tomorrow for Pakistan, via London. Woolmer's body had been due to travel with them as far as London and then on to his family in Cape Town, although whether it will be released is now in doubt.