Police are searching for the killer - or killers - of Bob Woolmer after revealing he was strangled in his hotel room on Sunday. During a press conference in Jamaica police confirmed Woolmer was murdered - he showed few signs of struggling with his attackers - and there were no suspects.
"The pathologist's report states that Mr Woolmer's death was due to asphyxiation as a result of manual strangulation," Karl Angell, the police spokesman, said. "In these circumstances, the matter of Mr Woolmer's death is now being treated by the Jamaica police as a case of murder."
Mark Shields, Jamaica's deputy commissioner of police, is now heading the investigation and said there were many lines of inquiry. "Bob is a large man and it would take some significant force to strangle him, but we don't know at this point how many people were in his room," he said. "There was very little evidence of a struggle."
In an interview with BBC Radio, Shields said that it was difficult to believe that the murder could have been committed by a stranger. "It is imperative that we keep an open mind, but I have to say at this stage it looks as if it may be somebody somehow linked to him, because clearly he let somebody into his hotel room and it may be that he knew who that person was."
When asked why it had taken so long to prove the case of strangulation Shields said: "There were no visible signs in this particular case and we had to make sure."
Shields said there was no reason why the Pakistan team would be detained in Jamaica, "but we're ruling nothing out". He said the coroners would decide whether Woolmer's body would be allowed to travel back with the team on Saturday. "I have a meeting with them in morning," Shields said.
Woolmer was pronounced dead at 12.14pm on Sunday, but Shields said "there were no visible signs of life when found". "He went to his room at 8.30pm in the evening and was found by a chamber maid at 10.45am. We don't have a time of death as of now, but I would say it's closer towards the time he was found."
When asked if there were any other injuries Shields said: "There were some other issues around the body which we'll take time to look at and examine."
Vomit and blood was also found in the room, but Shields was still waiting for the toxicology and histology results. "A full forensic examination of the body in the room was done for finger prints," he said. "We have sealed all CCTV records as well as all electronic records. Calls to the room, calls from his mobile all have been checked."
Shields said Scotland Yard, his former employers, had offered its assistance and he would take it "should we need it". Woolmer held a British passport, but split most of his time since taking the Pakistan job living in Lahore and Cape Town.
"We're also in touch with Pakistan and South African police," Shields said. "The ICC has offered us all assistance [with regard to the Anti-Corruption Unit] and we're exploring every avenue."
Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, confirmed at the conference the World Cup would continue and they would not be "put off by a cowardly criminal act". "This is not the first time that tragedy has visited a sporting event," Speed said, "but what we must all do now is to show how resolute the game is by proving ourselves strong enough to move on from what has happened."
3pm Jamaica time Sources tell Cricinfo that the Pakistan players left their Kingston hotel by the back door at 2-15pm, after spending an hour with Mark Shields, Jamaica's deputy commissioner of police who is now heading the police investigation. "It was always understood that they would talk to us after the game", Shields tells Cricinfo. "They all cooperated, and provided us with statements.' Shields also says that, as of now, the police are still treating this as a suspicious death.
2.50pm Jamaica time Reuters are reporting a story from Sky News that Bob Woolmer broke a bone in his throat while falling against against a toilet bowl. The report was unsourced.
1.50pm Jamaica time Talat Ali, the Pakistan team manager, released the following statement: "The media has been creating an impression that the Pakistan team are suspects. That is not true. They have been interviewed by the police but so have others too. The only reason they spoke to us first was because we had to leave for Montego Bay. They have finished taking our statements and we'll be heading for Montego Bay shortly."
1.40pm Jamaica time The Pakistani cricket team did not leave Jamaica for Montego Bay as planned, even though their luggage had been taken to the coach en route to the airport. Instead the team was taken down to the basement where Mark Shields, the police officer in charge of this investigation, spoke to the players and then they were fingerprinted.
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After a day of little apparent forward movement in the investigations of Bob Woolmer's death, Jamaican police officials began questioning members of the Pakistani team on Thursday morning, hours before they were scheduled to catch a flight to Montego Bay. The questioning comes on the same day that two Jamaican newspapers claimed that 58-year-old Woolmer, who died on Sunday, had been strangled.
"We're going through a process of speaking to people, including members of the team," said Mark Shields, the deputy chief commissioner of the Jamaican police force. Police officials later confirmed they had taken down the statements of all the team.
Colin Pinnock, the chief investigating officer, arrived at the team hotel at 8 a.m., and entered into a discussion with Inzamam-ul-Haq, the team captain, and Pervez Mir, the media officer, during which there appeared to be a couple of disagreements. Some of the players appeared upset because they felt that they were now coming under suspicion for their coach's murder. "Why should we have done that, we had no reason to", one senior team member told Cricinfo.
Pakistan team spokesman Pervez Mir confirmed that the probe had been extended to the players, saying that the police were trying to ascertain Woolmer's last movements and stressing that no cautions had been issued. The police, he said, asked the Pakistani players "general questions" - when they last saw Woolmer, what were his last movements, what happened after the game, did he order anything in his room.
The players were due to catch a flight to Montego Bay at 1-15 p.m. local time; they will stay there till Saturday before flying back to Pakistan.
The only official communication on Wednesday was a late-night statement from Karl Angell, the Jamaica Constabulary Force's director of communications, that an expert was being flown in from Florida to provide a second opinion on the autopsy. There is no press conference scheduled as yet for Thursday.
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