Cops confirm Woolmer's murder

2007-03-29 14:07

Karachi - Pakistan Cricket Board officials suspect that the death of coach Bob Woolmer was due to natural causes and that the Jamaican police acted hastily by declaring it a murder.

A senior official of the board, who asked not to be identified, said they had received information that there could have been mistakes in the first autopsy on Woolmer's body.

"We believe that the autopsy by the pathologist may have had error counts and they (police) are now considering having a second autopsy to confirm the cause of death," the official said on Wednesday.

"The feedback we have got is there are some contradictions in the version of events after Woolmer's body was found unconscious. But we will get a clearer picture after our manager briefs the board on what took place there," he said.

Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his hotel room on March 18, the day after Pakistan had lost to Ireland and been eliminated from the World Cup. He was declared dead later in hospital.

The suggestions from Pakistan of a natural death were dismissed later on Wednesday by the policeman leading the investigation in Kingston, Jamaica.

"I think that we should stick with people who were involved in the post mortem, the pathologist, and you know that he has actually released a statement or a report which has given a cause of death," deputy commissioner Mark Shields said.

"And that is quite clear and that's why we're treating this as a murder investigation. It will stay as a murder investigation," he told a news conference on Wednesday.

Briton Shields said on Tuesday that it could take months to piece together a complicated murder case with hundreds of potential witnesses.

The PCB official, meanwhile, said the board were convinced none of its players were involved in any wrongdoing. "We are backing our players to the hilt," he said.

- Reuters