Act of a Trained Killer

The nature of Bob Woolmer's death suggests his attacker or attackers may have been trained in strangulation holds and had a personal motive for the killing, according to a forensic pathologist who has worked in Jamaica.

Police found no marks on Woolmer's neck, making it unlikely that a rope or cord was used. The assailant is also unlikely to have used hands in a frontal assault. Such attacks are almost always directed at women, where a male attacker has strength advantage. These assaults usually leave disc-shaped bruises on the victim's neck.

One possibility is that Woolmer was asphyxiated using a specialised strangulation hold, such as the "carotid sleeper", in which the attacker stands behind the victim and hooks a forearm around the neck, closing off the carotid artery and starving the brain of oxygen. The hold can be fatal in 20 to 30 seconds, but some individuals die from heart failure within seconds. Although the hold often leaves no external marks, internal bruising or fractures are usually picked up during autopsy. "That would imply specifically that the person using it was trained," the pathologist told the Guardian on condition of anonymity.

Woolmer's killing is unusual for Jamaica, which has one of the world's highest murder rates. "Strangulation is a very personal way of killing someone and in the Jamaican context, it would be unusual because guns are so widespread. It suggests there was a highly personalised motive for the killing."

Forensic pathologists will first have diagnosed the mechanism of death. Asphyxia causes the face to become filled with blood and take on a bluish colour. Strangulation victims often suffer scratch marks, inflicted by their own nails, as they try to relieve pressure around the neck. Victims often have traces of skin from the attacker under their fingernails.

The pathologist said it is possible the Jamaican police inflicted damage to Woolmer's neck while moving his body. This will be cleared up when the autopsy has been confirmed by independent investigators.