12/06/2007

Woolmer 'not murdered'

Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was not murdered and died of natural causes, Jamaican police have announced.

Mr Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room in Kingston on March 18, just 24 hours after his team lost to Ireland in a shock defeat in the cricket World Cup. He died later that day in hospital.

Earlier in the investigation, it had been suggested that Woolmer may have been strangled or even poisoned.

A report by a government pathologist had initially said that there was no obvious cause of death, but he later ruled that the cricket coach had been strangled, sparking a murder investigation.

During the investigation, every member of the Pakistan cricket squad was questioned and fingerprinted.

A number of theories had been speculated about his death, including suggestions that he had been murdered by one of the team members, an angry fan or an illegal gambling syndicate.

(KMcA/SP)

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