Now a second autopsy likely to be ordered

Mark Shields, Jamaica’s Deputy Police Commissioner, told reporters here that the second post-mortem would pre-empt any claims by a defence lawyer at a murder trial that the Indian-origin pathologist Seshaiah had made mistakes in concluding that Woolmer was throttled. The second post-mortem, likely to be done by a pathologist who may be called in from the US, will also enable the police to release Woolmer’s body for burial without waiting for an inquest.

Rejecting the theory that the burly coach may have died of natural causes after Pakistan’s shock defeat at the hands of Ireland, Shields said he was in possession of evidence from the crime scene that has not been made public and that clearly indicated it to be a case of murder. “There is very clear evidence of murder,” he said.

Shields also denied claims that the Pakistani players had been ruled out of the inquiry as potential suspects. The claim had been made by Pakistani team spokesman Pervez Mir who had stated that the team were not suspects in the case. “That is a pretty inaccurate statement because nobody at this stage can be ruled out of the inquiry,” he said.

Shields confirmed that a possible match-fixing link to the murder “keeps coming to light.”

Shields also sought to dispel suggestions that he was under pressure to slow down investigations into Woolmer’s murder. “At no time has anybody put any pressure on me to slow down the investigation. My intention is to catch the killer or killers of Bob Woolmer as quickly as possible,” he said.

The former Scotland Yard police superintendent, who is leading the probe, said the culprits in the death of Woolmer were difficult to be identified, affecting their pace of work. “The fact is that everybody is a potential witness or a potential suspect. If I do not have enough suspicion, anybody not just Pakistanis, anyone is free to go till such time we have sufficient evidence,” he said.

The coroner’s office is still awaiting a police report, five days after the inquiry was ordered. Coroner Patrick Murphy had not yet received the report from the police but they have begun the process of summoning potential jurors.

Meanwhile, Seshaiah, said he was confident about the job he had done. “I took two hours and I did the complete post-mortem. So I arrived at the cause of death and I prepared my report and gave it to the police high command,” said Seshaiah, who hails from Andhra Pradesh.

Asked if no one could question his work, he said “questions are always there”. But “I did it to the best of his ability. We did our best”, he told a television channel.

And the senior PCB official, who refused to be identified, said they had received information that there could have been mistakes in the first autopsy on Woolmer’s body.

“We believe that the autopsy by the pathologist may have had error counts and they (police) are now considering having a second autopsy to confirm the cause of death. The feedback that we have got, is that there are some contradictions in the version of events after Woolmer was found unconscious,” the official said.

Nothing explosive in book

Durban: Publishers of slain Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer’s autobiography in Cape Town say the book, which Bob had co-authored with Professor Tim Noakes and Helen Moffet, does not contain any “explosive revelations” about match-fixing.

“The book is the expression of Bob’s philosophy of playing and coaching cricket, and is the product of a lifetime’s involvement with the game,” he added. Wafawarowa was drawn into the saga after former South African captain Clive Rice claimed he believed Woolmer was about to disclose inside information regarding match-fixing.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor in the King Commission of Inquiry into the match-fixing case involving Hansie Cronje in 2000, Advocate Shamilla Batoyi, said she did not call Woolmer to give evidence because he had no knowledge of match-fixing prior to the inquiry.

‘We are innocent’

London: Two of the Pakistanis fans, wanted by Jamaican police for questioning in connection with the murder of coach Bob Woolmer, have said they were innocent.

Erfan Chaudhary (a medical technician, who works in Queens, New York): “I was really shocked, obviously I had nothing to do with it as I wasn’t even there.”

Tariq Malik (47, car dealer in Jamaica): “I didn’t kill Bob, far from it. I’m here to help with the investigation, I’m innocent.”

Police were still hunting for two other fans named Hamad Malik, thought to be from London, and Jundie Khan, from Florida. (PTI)

Pointers & theories on Woolmer’s death

• Shields said he was in possession of evidence from the crime scene that has not been made public and that clearly indicated it to be a case of murder. “There is very clear evidence of murder,” he said.

• Second post-mortem would pre-empt any claims by a defence lawyer at a murder trial that the Indian-origin pathologist Seshaiah had made mistakes in concluding that Woolmer was throttled.

• Seshaiah: “I took two hours and I did the complete post-mortem. So I arrived at the cause of death and I prepared my report and gave it to the police high command,”

• Shields: Woolmer’s killer or killers were unlikely to be Jamaicans because locals’ “favoured weapons” were knives and guns. “It seems highly unlikely a Jamaican has walked to the 12th floor in a secure lift, gone along to his (Woolmer’s) room, got into his room without any sign of forced entry, murdered him and then not stolen anything at all.”

• “There are no explosive revelations in the book which Bob had co-authored with Professor Tim Noakes and Helen Moffet,” said New Africa Books managing director Brian Wafawarowa. “No proofs of the book have gone missing.”

• Hotel’s closed-circuit security video recordings show only the corridors outside the elevators and stairwell entry on each floor—not the doors to Woolmer’s room or others.