Thread: Bob Woolmer Death - All articles here

The Independent says police cannot confirm identity
'CCTV footage reveals likely suspect' - Report
Source: Cricinfo.com

April 21, 2007


The investigations into the murder of Bob Woolmer, the late Pakistan coach, are reported to have reached a significant breakthrough with a likely suspect being identified through footage from the hotel security camera. According to a report in the UK-based The Independent, detectives from Scotland Yard and a team of 30 officers studied the digitally-enhanced footage and the suspect was understood to be a male, though police were unable to confirm his identity.

"The cleaned-up images from London show at least one individual of considerable interest to the inquiry," a source close to the investigation told the paper. "The time of the footage and its location mean that this individual must be considered a suspect. Further work is being done on statements given by individuals to look at any inconsistencies. It is good progress."

Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room in Jamaica on March 18, a day after Pakistan's loss to Ireland, and though the cause of death was determined, the authorities had struggled to develop lasting leads in the murder case. There was speculation that Woolmer may have been poisoned first before being strangled, as a toxicology report stated that samples taken from his blood, stomach and urine had shown the presence of a foreign substance.

An inquest into the murder was scheduled for April 23 but had to be postponed owing to 'significant developments' into the case. Twenty witnesses were due to provide evidence but a statement from the Jamaican justice ministry on Thursday said the hearing would be postponed following advice from the coroner.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmz i wonder who that will be. Well lets hope they r able to identify him

April 20
"New and significant developments" in the investigation delay the inquest that was due to start on Monday. A statement from the Jamaican justice ministry says the hearing will be postponed following advice from the coroner. "The coroner wishes that these new and significant developments be pursued with the utmost urgency."


April 19
Ireland's players end their World Cup adventure by giving statements, fingerprints and DNA samples to Jamaican police. "These tests were carried out with a view to eliminating the Ireland squad from their enquiries," a team spokesman says. On the night Woolmer was murdered none of the Ireland squad was in the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica. The players were celebrating St Patrick's Day and the victory over Pakistan in Ocho Rios, which is "some 50 miles away".


April 17
Speculation that Woolmer was poisoned is resurrected by local newspapers in the Caribbean claiming to quote the toxicology report which states that samples taken from his blood, stomach and urine have shown the presence of a foreign substance. An unnamed government source says that this substance could have been poison.


April 16
It is reported that police officers from Jamaica will visit Pakistan to quiz players over "inconsistencies" in statements.


April 15
A report in the UK Sunday Times quotes police sources as saying that Woolmer was poisoned before being strangled. Mark Shields announces he will fly to South Africa to meet with Woolmer's family.


April 12
Jamaican police announce that CCTV footage from the Pegasus Hotel has been sent to Scotland Yard in London for further analysis.


April 12
Jamaican police announce that CCTV footage from the Pegasus Hotel has been sent to Scotland Yard in London for further analysis.


April 11
It is reported in Kingston that the coroner's inquest into Woolmer's death will start on April 23. Sources say that Patrick Murphy, the coroner for Kingston, will hold a full hearing, complete with live testimony from as many as a dozen witnesses who were in the process of being summoned to appear.


April 9
Inzamam-ul-Haq said the World Cup would have been stopped if Bob Woolmer's death had happened in any other country. The replacements for Woolmer and Inzamam as coach and captain will be discussed on Tuesday when the Pakistan Cricket Board's ad-hoc committee meets in Lahore. Inzamam told a parliamentary committee the World Cup defeats were part of cricket and he was "hurt" by match-fixing allegations.


April 8
It wasn't a day for good news, with Mark Shields, the chief investigator, saying it may take another eight weeks to get the results of Bob Woolmer's toxicology tests. The reports are crucial to proving whether Woolmer was poisoned or drugged and the delay means a quick end to the investigation is unlikely. "It's in everyone's interest to know exactly when he died and how," Shields said. "But frustrating as it may be, science goes at a certain pace." Apparently Woolmer's last meal was lasagne.


April 7
Gill Woolmer, Bob's widow, has given permission for the publication of his book which will be published in September.


April 6
Gill Woolmer says her husband Bob did not mention match-fixing or being scared in his final emails. Mrs Woolmer, who did not want Bob to take the coaching position with Pakistan, thought the police were doing a "good job" but she wanted a "speedy conclusion" to the investigation. Woolmer was keeping a World Cup diary and planning to write a book about his time with Pakistan, but Mrs Woolmer said "it is best if that book never appears now". "If it is going to cause upset, it is not worth publishing."


April 5
No major developments in the case have emerged a day after the memorial service for Bob Woolmer in Cape Town. Ian Chappell writes that Woolmer's murder ended any chance of his brother Greg continuing his role as India's coach. "Such an ugly incident is sure to focus your concentration on life's priorities. Greg is probably better off without all the angst that comes with one of the most demanding jobs in cricket."


April 4
Allan Donald says Bob Woolmer "lived for the game and succumbed to the game" during a memorial service for his former coach in Cape Town. Donald also read a statement from Woolmer's widow Gill and her two sons while Tim Noakes, who co-authored a book with Woolmer, described him as a "cricket missionary". The Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf attended the service at the Wynberg high school and said: "We in Pakistan loved Bob." Woolmer's body is still in Jamaica and there are reports it has been embalmed, which could make a second post-mortem difficult.


April 3
Four Scotland Yard detectives were due in Jamaica on Tuesday and they should be joined by a high-profile Pakistani policeman in a growing list of assistants. Mir Zubair Mahmood, who successfully led the investigation into the murder of the US reporter Daniel Pearl, is due to travel to Jamaica with another Pakistan security official on Wednesday. "It's a big, big responsibility on our shoulders and I hope we will be able to live up to the expectations," Zubair said. Interpol's Dr Susan Hitchen, a forensic expert in DNA analysis, has also arrived in Kingston to help the local police.


April 2
Mark Shields, the chief investigator, says there is a possibility a poison was used to incapacitate Bob Woolmer before his death. "I have said from the beginning that if he was manually strangled, there are certain aspects that don't quite add up," Shields told AFP. Shields did not comment directly on a report that aconite had been used to kill Woolmer and said it was pointless speculating before the toxicology reports returned. In The Age there are concerns Jamaican bureaucracy will hold up the inquiry into Woolmer's death.
Meanwhile Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan board, has confirmed that the Pakistani policeman who led the probe into the murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl will travel to Jamaica to help police investigating the death of cricket coach Bob Woolmer

Inzamam-ul-Haq lays a wreath during a memorial service for Bob Woolmer in Lahore © AFP

April 1
A memorial service is held for Bob Woolmer in Lahore and Inzamam-ul-Haq was there with six of his team-mates. Four hundred mourners attended and they hear Woolmer was like a "second father" to the squad. "After Woolmer's family, the Pakistan team was the most aggrieved by his death," Inzamam says during the hour-long service. The Jamaica Gleaner says a blood-stained pillow was found in Woolmer's room, but Mark Shields, the chief investigator, does not confirm the report. Media speculation intensifies with reports in some papers claiming he was poisoned with the herb aconite.


March 31
More official cavalry is arriving in Jamaica with a team from Scotland Yard due to land in the next week after a request for help from the local police. Three detectives and a scenes of crime officer will make the trip to review the investigation into Bob Woolmer's death. There will be even more foreign assistance in trying to track down the killers after Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, says two Pakistan police officers will also travel to Kingston. Ashraf, who says no players were involved in the crime, will attend Woolmer's memorial service in South Africa on Wednesday. He also says the next coach will be a Pakistani and announces the players' contracts would be suspended.


March 30
Pakistan has offered to send a three-person team to Jamaica to help with the investigation, following reports of dissatisfaction within Pakistan over how the case is proceeding. If approved by the Jamaican authorities, the group would likely include one PCB official, one diplomat and one senior investigative officer. A report in the Daily Telegraph also indicates the Jamaica police have requested a group of Scotland Yard detectives fly to Kingston to review the inquiry. Plans for a memorial service in Cape Town next Wednesday were also announced, with speakers to include Allan Donald.


March 29
The time of Bob Woolmer's death is still in doubt, but Mark Shields, the chief investigator, is certain he was murdered. He confirms again that Woolmer died due to manual strangulation, possibly with a towel. CCTV has revealed all the people who were on the 12th floor of the Pegasus Hotel, but police have to wait for an exact time of death before Shields can "tie down when we should be looking at the tape". Dr Ere Seshaiah, the pathologist who carried out the autopsy, is confident of his findings, despite questions arising about the manner of the death. In Pakistan a report from Reuters says the team was ordered to play the final group game against Zimbabwe or they would have been handed severe fines.


March 28
Jamaica police dismiss speculation that there will be a second autopsy on Woolmer's body in a bid to quash media speculation that he might have died after hitting his head on the bathroom sink rather than have been murdered; that follows comments from an unnamed Pakistan board official who said: "We believe that the autopsy by the pathologist may have had error counts and [the police] are now considering having a second autopsy to confirm the cause of death".


March 27
Jamaican police are reported to be searching for three mystery fans who they want to question; they also say that an examination of Woolmer's laptop shows no evidence of anything to do with match-fixing; Mark Shields, the deputy police commissioner, explains that the meal Woolmer had in his room is also being examined. "We are looking at whether his food was drugged, the meal was thrown away after he put the tray outside his room, but we are conducting toxicology and tissue tests." Pakistan are officially eliminated from the police investigation into the murder.


March 26
Pakistan start their long journey home, but not before police had again questioned three members of the group. A Pakistan official complains that the team have been kept in the dark over the investigation.


March 25
As investigations continue, reports that the murder was related to match-fixing continue, Lord MacLaurin, the former head of the England board, launches a stinging attack on the way the ICC is run.
Shaharyar M Khan - A gentle man, a superb coach
News - Inzamam controlled the team, not Woolmer


March 24
The police order an inquest. It emerges that Woolmer was preparing to write a book on his time as Pakistan coach, in addition to one he had just completed on coaching in general. A clearly emotional Pakistan side play their final match, beating Zimbabwe.
News - Bob's loss hurts more than elimination - Inzamam


March 23
Speculation abounds, with match-fixing groups widely rumoured to be involved in the murder. There are calls for the "World Cup to be cancelled, while others suggest the tournament is played in Woolmer's honour. The PCB reveal Woolmer had sent an email shortly before he died resigning as coach. The Pakistan side are questioned and undergo DNA testing as part of the routine enquiries. Officials deny the squad have been asked to stay on in Jamaica after their final game. Michael Vaughan, England's captain, admits he has a "gut feeling" that there is still corruption in the game.
News - Woolmer had decided to retire
News - Academy to be built in Woolmer's honour
News - Musharraf honours Woolmer


March 22
Police confirm that they have launched a murder investigation. "The pathologist's report states that Mr Woolmer's death was due to asphyxiation as a result of manual strangulation," Karl Angell, a police spokesman, says. "In these circumstances, the matter ... is now being treated by the Jamaica police as a case of murder."


March 21
Shields reveals that Woolmer's death is now being treated as "suspicious" although he refuses to go further. Two Jamaican newspapers run headline stories claiming that a senior police source says Woolmer was murdered.
News - Bob was more than a coach - Rhodes


March 20
The first autopsy is inconclusive and the pathologist asks for more tests before the cause of death can be identified. The police refuse to be drawn on rumblings in the media that there is more to the death than meets the eye: "Any sudden death is treated as suspicious till we can say otherwise," says Mark Shields, Jamaica's deputy police commissioner.


March 18
News filters through that Bob Woolmer has been found unconscious in his hotel room, within hours it is confirmed that he has died. Tributes pour in from across the world.
Obituary - Woolmer: a creative and adventurous coach
Tributes - 'He gave his life to cricket and died for it'
Osman Samiuddin - Thanks Bob, you did make a big difference
Comment - The price of passion
Kamran Abbasi - The tragedy of Bob Woolmer
Audio - 'Woolmer changed the way we played' - Cullinan
Audio - Cricket world poorer with the passing of Woolmer
Timeline - An eventful life, a premature end
Gallery - A life in pictures
Archive - Wisden Cricketer of the Year - 1976

Cricinfo staff
April 23, 2007
Cricinfo - Snake venom may have killed Woolmer - reports

Bob Woolmer: poisoned by snake venom? © Getty Images

The former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer may have been drugged with snake venom, according to the police who are investigating his death. A friend of the family said Gill Woolmer has been informed that her husband was probably subdued by a "natural toxin" which left his body by the time of the forensic examination.


Neil Manthorp, a respected South African cricket commentator, said in the English tabloid the Mail on Sunday: "I spoke to Gill and her sons Russell and Dale two days ago. The boys both said police had told their mum the toxicology results are inconclusive.


"The detective told Gill they believe it must have been a natural poison, such as a snake venom, which leaves the body fairly soon afterwards. The police theory is that this was administered to Bob in the bathroom of his hotel room to subdue him before he was strangled. The officer said that the only way to prove this was to look for tissue damage, which was why they had sent the results back to England for further testing."


The police suspect Woolmer to have been injected with venom and not bitten by a snake, as there are no venomous snakes in that part of the Caribbean. David Warrell, the professor of tropical medicine and infectious diseases at Oxford University, who has helped police in a number of international murder inquiries, said the vomit and faeces found near Woolmer's body were consistent with someone with venom in their bloodstream.


"Snake venom cannot be slipped to someone in a drink or food," he said. "It also cannot be injected into any part of the body. It has to go directly into a vein, meaning this man would have had to have been held down for the 20 minutes or so it would have taken for paralysis to set in."

Jamaica coroner releases cricket coach Woolmer's body for return to South Africa - International Herald Tribune

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: The body of slain Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was released Monday by a coroner and will be returned to his native South Africa.


Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields, who has been leading the homicide investigation, is working with a funeral home to repatriate the body as soon as possible, a statement from Jamaica's National Security Ministry said. It did not explain the timing of the body's release.


A coroner's inquest scheduled to begin Monday was postponed indefinitely because of undisclosed developments in the case.


Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room March 18 and pronounced dead at a hospital the morning after his powerhouse Pakistani squad was upset at cricket's World Cup by Ireland.


A pathologist who conducted an autopsy initially ruled that Woolmer's cause of the death was inconclusive, but four days later determined he had been strangled. Police said this month they had received results of toxicology tests but did not release them pending further analysis.

LOL these jamaican police are crazy they dont know wat killed woolmer

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Snake venom 'not used on Woolmer'

Jamaican police have ruled out the possibility of snake venom having been used to murder former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer last month.

Some recent media reports suggested Mr Woolmer, 58, may have been injected with snake venom before he died.


"It is not snake venom," deputy commissioner of police Mark Shields, who is heading the investigation, said.


Pathology and toxicology tests were nearly complete and police hoped to have the results soon, Mr Shields said.


Mr Woolmer was killed in his Kingston hotel room the day after his side lost to Ireland in the cricket World Cup.


Mr Shields said speculation about poisoning was "causing a lot of distress" to Mr Woolmer's family in South Africa.


"The priority is to see the truth. We are seeking experts and taking time to conduct a thorough investigation," he added.


CCTV confusion

Mr Shields said CCTV footage from Mr Woolmer's Kingston hotel room had been examined and the police had "an array of photographs which may or may not help in the investigation".


He said reports that the footage showed a man leaving Mr Woolmer's room may be wrong, because cameras on that floor were placed in the hall area near the elevator.

Our hope is that we will reach a conclusion on the case as soon as possible Karl Angell Jamaica police

Mr Shields will soon visit South Africa to see Mr Woolmer's family and talk to police there.
Two officers from Pakistan who went to Jamaica to help with the investigations are now leaving after working with local police for three weeks.


"I am leaving the island fully satisfied with the progress of investigations, which are heading in the right direction," Mir Zubair Mahmood, a deputy inspector general of Pakistan police said.


Match-fixing

Mr Mahmood said Pakistani players or officials would travel to Jamaica for further questioning if required.


Asked whether the incident had anything to do with match-fixing and cricket betting, Mr Mahmood said "every angle has been looked into".


Mr Woolmer's body was due to be flown to South Africa on Thursday after remaining in Kingston for a month, police said.


The only thing police have confirmed is that the cricket coach died "due to asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation" and that the case is being treated as a murder.

Mr Shields will visit South Africa to speak with Mr Woolmer's family

Since then there has been a flurry of unconfirmed media reports from around the world that the former Pakistan coach may have been poisoned by a deadly plant, aconite, or even snake venom before being strangled.


Other reports said the murder was linked to cricket betting, and possible revelations in a book that Mr Woolmer was writing.


"Our hope is that we will reach a conclusion on the case as soon as possible," Jamaica police spokesman Karl Angell told the BBC.


There has been much speculation in the Caribbean that authorities may not want to divulge details of the investigation and bring in any suspects for fear of spoiling the festival mood around the World Cup.


Some 30 detectives are believed to be working on the case. Four officers from Scotland Yard were in Jamaica to assist in the investigation, following a request from local authorities.


But locals have already decided to put the event behind them.


"It's a tricky one, this murder. But life has moved on in Jamaica. There are too many things happening here. I think it was somebody who knew him who killed him," says Harold Ivui, a taxi driver.

i would have thought the police would have learned their lesson by now about giving out fake news or even the media posting news w/out proper source. every day somthing new comes out n than changes

A BBC television investigation into the death of Bob Woolmer, to be shown on Monday night, will claim that toxicology tests support earlier reports that he was poisoned before being strangled.

The Panorama programme will say that there is evidence of a drug being present in his system that would have incapacitated him.

"It now seems certain that as he was being strangled, he'd already been rendered helpless, leaving him unable to fight back," said Adam Parsons, the show's producer. "The specific details of that poison are now very likely to offer a significant lead to finding his murderer."

Parsons' programme will also claim that while Woolmer had a good relationship with his players, there were deep religious divides inside the Pakistan team and that Woolmer was growing increasingly frustrated with the effect this was having on the side. An example given was that players left the field to be replaced by substitutes to enable them to pray during matches.

Pervez Mir, Pakistan's media manager, said that there were players who preferred to "pray not play", and he revealed that his comments had led to him receiving death threats on his return home.

source: Cricinfo

TV footage about two men entering Woolmer’s room issued


LONDON: The last CCTV footage of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer shows that he was with two other persons in the Jamaican hotel lobby on the night of his murder.

According to the last CCTV footage, Woolmer standing at some distance from two men pointing with his right hand at one of them. One man is dressed in a white shirt and black trousers and the other is in a black dress.

According to the UK-based television channel, results of the toxicology tests have shown that there was a drug in his body that would have incapacitated him.

The results of toxicology tests mean that it now seems certain that Woolmer was rendered helpless before being strangled, the channel said.

"Those tests will show there was a drug in his system that would have incapacitated Mr Woolmer," it was said on a programme of the channel.

"It now seems certain that as he was being strangled, he'd already been rendered helpless - leaving him unable to fight back. The specific details of that poison are now very likely to offer a significant lead to finding his murderer," he added.

bro, so many things have been going on
i dont know which source to trust now

Woolmer murder case: 80 people seen on CCTV to be identified



JAMIACA: Jamaican police said that it was investigating about the 80 persons, who were seen on close circuit television. They were supposed to have met with Bob Woolmer on that tragic night when he was reportedly murdered.

Deputy Commissioner Police Mark Schields told a foreign news agency that some 80 persons were seen on CCTV coming to meet Woolmer in the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica.
Investigations are being carried out for identifying dozens of them.

Mark Schields did not tell that how many of them have so far been identified.

He said that the police is considering the possibilities that if there was any religious tussle in the team behind the murder. However, he said that their investigations were not focusing this point.

Next week, Mark Schields will discuss the issue with toxicology experts in Britain and later proceed to South Africa for interviewing Gill Woolmer.

sad

^yup a very sad pic too but i still pray that inshallah NONE of the Pakistani players or management are implicated in this murder