Inquest set to open into cricket coach Woolmer's death
An inquest into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer opens tomorrow, with Jamaican police not ruling out the possibility of foul play.
The inquest in the capital of Kingston aims to determine whether anyone bears responsibility for the death of the 58-year-old South African, who was found unconscious in his hotel room March 18, a day after his heavily favoured Pakistan was eliminated from the World Cup.
“There was a lot of speculation, and as a result of that speculation we are having the inquest,” Sergeant Dwayne Jex of the Jamaica Constabulary Force said today.
More than 50 people are expected to testify at the inquest, in a conference centre. Jex estimated the hearing would take more than two months.
Jamaican authorities initially said a preliminary post mortem examination proved inconclusive, but a few days after Woolmer’s death police announced he had been strangled, setting off a globe-spanning murder probe.
Investigators collected dozens of DNA samples and fingerprints from potential witnesses, including members of the Pakistan cricket squad and other teams.
Months later, Jamaica’s police commissioner announced that officers had closed their homicide investigation after getting opinions from three independent pathologists from Britain, South Africa and Canada and reviewing a toxicology report.
Police said it would be up to Jamaica’s coroner to issue the official cause of death after the inquest.
