Pakistan Cricket Coach Was Murdered

They said it was a heart attack.

Some thought it might have been a suicide.

Now the mysterious and untimely death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer has been confirmed as being something far more sinister – a murder.

The man who watched his team go down to defeat against Ireland during a match in Jamaica on the weekend was found Sunday in his hotel room.

Police in that country have been probing his death ever since and evidence has now surfaced to show he’d been strangled.

“The official report from the pathologist states that Mr. Woolmer’s death was due to asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation,” Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas noted in a statement. “In these circumstances, the matter of Mr. Woolmer’s death is now being treated by the Jamaican police as murder.”

Officials won’t say much about the death, except to confirm it as a homicide, and hint that the hotel where the cricket coach was staying is pivotal to the investigation.

The Pakistani cricket players Woolmer coached just days before were fingerprinted Thursday, adding to the bizarre circumstances surrounding the sudden death. No one, it would appear, is being ruled out as a suspect.

But so far, there have been no arrests and if local police have any firm suspects, they’re not saying.

“After a thorough investigation, fingerprints not belonging to Mr. Woolmer were found in the room,” Assistant Police Commissioner Les Green confirms.

Investigators with the International Cricket Council are looking into corruption allegations as a possible motive, with intimations that gamblers may have played a part in the killing. But there’s no proof to back that up.

“It is our belief that those associated with or having access with Mr. Woolmer may have vital information to assist this inquiry,” Thomas relates about the team’s involvement in their probe.

The 58-year-old was discovered by cleaning staff as they came into his hotel suite. Speculation about what happened to him ran rampant, but few expected this shocking news.

But the victim’s wife now says she had her suspicions.

“Some of the cricketing fraternity, fans are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and what happens in the game, and also a lot of it in Asia, so I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that (murder),” Gill Woolmer told a British broadcaster.

“It fills me with horror. I just can’t believe that people would behave like that or that anyone would want to harm someone who has done such a great service to international cricket.”