KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – A local newspaper is claiming that former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of heart failure and was not strangled one day after his team was booted out of the Cricket World Cup (CWC).
The Sunday Gleaner newspaper said its story was based on information provided by the London-based Scotland Yard investigators, who were asked to assist the Jamaica police probe the death of Woolmer.
"A pathology report submitted by the Scotland Yard team is now saying that the former Pakistan cricket coach died of natural causes and not manual strangulation as was initially reported by Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields" the newspaper said.
"According to Scotland Yard, there was no evidence to suggest that he (Woolmer) was murdered, a case which the JCF is yet to prove conclusively", the paper said quoting a London-based source.
The newspaper article contradicts earlier reports by the investigative arm of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and local pathologist, Dr. Ere Sheshiah, that Woolmer had been strangled.
Last week, a Pakistan news agency reported that two Pakistani sleuths who visited the island and spoke with local investigators, concluded that there was no clear evidence to prove that Woolmer had been murdered.
But the Jamaica police have not commented on any of the reports.
Woolmer died at the University of the West Indies Hospital, one day after his team was booted out of the Cricket Worlds Cup (CWC) by Ireland in the first round. Woolmer had been found unconscious in his hotel room on Sunday March 18 and was pronounced dead at hospital soon after.
Last month, the Jamaican authorities cancelled a coroner's inquest into Woolmer's death and returned his body to his homeland in South Africa.
Shields is now in South Africa meeting with Woolmer’s widow, Gill, as part of the ongoing investigations.