Woolmer was not murdered

Pakistan's World Cup cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes and was not murdered as earlier announced, Jamaican police said on Tuesday, ending an embarrassing, three-month investigation that gripped the cricket world. The murder suspicions triggered speculation he had been killed by an irate fan or an illegal gambling syndicate. But police reversed course after reports from three independent pathologists and a toxicology test said the 58-year-old former England international cricketer died of natural causes and had no poisons in his body, said Jamaican Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas.
"The JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) has accepted these findings and has closed its investigation into the death of Bob Woolmer," Thomas said, reading from a prepared statement.
The statement did not immediately clarify why Woolmer died but media reports have referred to his ill health and speculated that he suffered from diabetes. The Kingston coroner's office said it could give no details on when it would release a statement on the cause of death.
In South Africa, Woolmer's widow thanked the Jamaican police for the way they conducted the investigation in the face of intense media scrutiny.
"My sons and I are relieved to be officially informed that Bob died of natural causes and that no foul play is suspected in his death," Gill Woolmer said in a statement.
WHO TO BLAME?
Thomas said the Jamaican police had always kept an open mind on the murder suspicions and had carried out an extensive investigation including taking 350 statements from people and seeking help from British and Pakistani police. He appeared to put the blame for the original declaration that Woolmer had been murdered squarely on pathologist Ere Seshaiah, who said he found signs that the cricket coach had been asphyxiated through manual strangulation.
"The investigation team's strategy was based on the assumption that if Bob Woolmer was murdered, it was critical to identify, locate and interview as many people who were closest to him at the time of his death," Thomas said.
But the sudden about-face was likely to embarrass the police force in the Caribbean country, and in particular the lead investigator, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mark Shields, a former Scotland Yard officer who has come under criticism from colleagues in recent weeks. Immediately after the initial autopsy findings that Woolmer died of strangulation, Shields said repeatedly that he was conducting a murder investigation and searching for Woolmer's killer or killers. Shields said on Tuesday he accepted the conclusion that Woolmer had died of natural causes.
'TRAUMATIC PERIOD'
Pakistan's cricket board said it was relieved that a period of stress and tension for Pakistani cricket was finally over.
"It has been a traumatic period for all of us because of the unnecessary delay in resolving the cause of Woolmer's death. But finally we are relieved it is all over now," a spokesman for the board said.
He declined to comment on reports the board was contemplating suing for damages from the Jamaican police.
International cricket players reacted with a mix of criticism and relief.
"The way the whole affair was handled was so messy. To give the impression that someone has been murdered is a serious matter," said South African all rounder Shaun Pollock. "It still doesn't take away from the fact that Bob died, but at least this gives his family some closure."
The family of Bob Woolmer expressed relief on Tuesday at the Jamaican police announcement.
"We hope that this matter will now be closed and that our family will be left to grieve in peace," his widow Gill Woolmer said in a media statement in South Africa, where the highly respected coach was cremated in May.
She also thanked Jamaican police for treating the family well over the course of the three-month investigation.
"We realise that this investigation has been problematical to conduct given the circumstances and the media spotlight that has been focused upon it," she said.
But Pakistan cricketers had few kind words for the police.
"It has been a traumatic period for all of us because of the unnecessary delay in resolving the cause of Woolmer's death. But finally we are relieved it is all over now," Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Ehsan Malik said.
The announcement in late March by Jamaican police that Woolmer had been strangulated triggered speculation that irate fans or an illegal gambling syndicate lay behind the murder.
"There is no doubt Pakistan cricket came under great pressure because of the speculations and suspicions surrounding this high-profile case," Malik said.
Malik declined to comment on reports the PCB was contemplating filing for damages against the Jamaican police.
In South Africa, whose national team Woolmer coached from 1994 to 1999, the reaction combined relief for his family with anger at the tortuous investigation.
"Bob left a tremendous legacy in cricket, and to have to go through all this fumbling and bumbling without knowing what happened has been tough," Gary Kirsten, a former South Africa opener, told Reuters.
Current South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said the finding that Woolmer died of natural causes would help clear the air in the broader cricket world.
"It's a selfish point of view and I know this news doesn't make his family feel any better, but cricket doesn't need more scandals," he said.
Jamaicans reacted with embarrassment to news that Bob Woolmer was not, in fact, murdered, after a saga that started as a tragedy, became a mystery, and now turned into a farce. Attention focused on how police appeared to botch their highest-profile investigation in years by announcing on March 22 that they were treating Woolmer's death as murder, and then declaring nearly three months later he died of natural causes. Police defended their performance but commentators said Jamaica's image had taken a hit and the way the probe was conducted could even affect voter perceptions of the ruling People's National Party ahead of elections due by October.
"First it was shock," said political commentator Kevin O'Brien Chang on reaction to news of Woolmer's death on March 18. "Then horror at the fact that he was murdered. Now we feel ashamed at the gross incompetence on the part of our guys."
It has been "a real comedy of errors. You couldn't get any more errors than that. It's a bunch of clowns," he said of detectives involved in the case.
The news cast a shadow over the island of 2.7 million, which deepened when police announced he had been murdered.
POLITICAL IMPACT
The potential impact of the Woolmer affair may go beyond Jamaica's international reputation. When Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller took power in February 2006 she rode a wave of popularity as the country's first female leader but a series of scandals have damaged the fortunes of a party in power since 1989. Cricket fever and a successful World Cup could have boosted the party's fortunes despite criticism over the amount of money spent on rehabilitating Sabina Park stadium in Kingston and building a second stadium near Montego Bay. In one speech, Simpson-Miller, often called "Sista P" by her supporters, sought to capitalize on the attention given to the national sport.
"I have the strength to swing the bat," Simpson-Miller, was quoted as telling a campaign rally.
In the event, the failure of the West Indies to progress beyond the second round of the competition and Woolmer's death in a Kingston hotel dampened euphoria. The opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) said it would not seek to turn the investigation into a political issue, arguing voters were more concerned about government failure to invest in health, education, water and rural infrastructure.
"We would never expect it (Tuesday's announcement) to have political repercussions," said James Robertson, a deputy leader of the JLP.
"It does make our police force look incompetent ... As a country we must be embarrassed by what took place (but) the opposition would never make a political football out of this. We would never take advantage," he said.
Jamaicans were more concerned about crime and the high murder rate than about Woolmer's death, said former West Indies cricketer Maurice Foster, who now hosts a radio talk show. Even though Woolmer died of natural causes, the effect of the saga would be to focus attention on the ability of the police to combat crime, he said.