Comments

You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name

Your e-mail (optional)

Website (optional)

	My Original Nic Pic-a-Nic Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Foto

Submit your comments on this article

-Lurid Crime Tales-

Death of a decent man

2007-03-25

The last moments of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan cricket team coach murdered in extraordinary circumstances in Jamaica, remain shrouded in mystery.

Ugh. Possibly the worst choice of metaphor I have ever read.

Now, as the sport's links to corruption are examined, police are investigating whether an argument with his players may have played a part in the affair.

I've cut out quite a bit of the article to post just the parts about the timeline and investigation. The whole article is worth a read.

Bob Woolmer was in a dark mood as he returned to the Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, Jamaica, last Saturday evening, after one of the most disastrous days of his long and distinguished sporting career. As he stepped off the team bus at 6.30pm, he brushed past cricket supporters and the local Rastafarian drug-pushers who hover outside the hotel to offer "ganja", "white powder" or a visit to the nearby "titty bar". The precise movements of Mr Woolmer over the next hour are not known but, at about 7.30pm, he walked through the bustling lobby, entered the lift and pushed the button for the 12th floor of the 17-storey, 300-room hotel in the heart of the city's commercial district. It is thought that Mr Woolmer did not leave his room - number 12-374 - for the rest of Saturday evening, apparently ordering dinner and a drink from room service at about 9pm before turning in for the night. Yet, possibly troubled by Pakistan's embarrassing exit from the World Cup and his own uncertain future, it seems he slept badly.

For at 3.12am local time, he pressed the "send" button on his laptop and dispatched an email to his wife, Gill, who, along with the wives and girlfriends of players and staff, had not been permitted to join the squad during the early stages of the tournament. In it, he poured out his feelings of disappointment at the result of the match against Ireland and dealt with some family matters, but there was nothing to shed any light on what would happen about seven hours later.

Later, probably at about 10am on Sunday morning, a man or men entered Mr Woolmer's room. There was no sign of a break-in, so police suspect that there was a knock on the door and that Mr Woolmer let in the man or men, possibly because he knew him or them. Only the killer or killers know what happened next. But, at some point, things turned violent and, after apparently forcing Mr Woolmer into the bathroom, the coach was attacked and strangled to death. A bone in his neck was broken and further tests will determine whether Mr Woolmer was also drugged or poisoned before or during the assault. A hotel maid, using her master key to enter the room, found him slumped on the bathroom floor, with vomit at his side, at 10.45am. He was naked, open-mouthed and his face was angled towards the lavatory. There was no sign of a violent struggle, so she called for help, suspecting he had suffered a heart attack or a stroke. Even when news of Mr Woolmer's death flashed around the world and the tributes to him poured in, there was nothing to suggest foul play.

It would be another four days before police on the Caribbean island felt confident enough to confirm that the 58-year-old coach had, in fact, been murdered - strangled, according to Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields, the former Scotland Yard officer who is in charge of the investigation, in what he described as "extraordinary and evil circumstances"... Police are now investigating whether an argument with one of the team may have played a part in his subsequent murder. The police took statements and DNA samples from each of the players before they returned home to Pakistan yesterday. Officers are also poring over CCTV footage, as well as the coach's mobile records and emails for clues.

Posted by:Seafarious

00:00