Jamaica cops check security video for clues in Woolmer murder by AFP

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 26th March 2007

 

One week after the murder of Pakistani cricket coach Bob Woolmer, Jamaican police on Sunday analyzed security videos for clues that could indicate who strangled the former England international.

 

"It is critically important because it may provide an image of the killer or killers," Jamaica's deputy police commissioner Mark Shields told journalists here on Sunday.

 

He said investigators were carefully looking at images taken by closed circuit cameras in the Pegasus hotel and were focusing on the 12th floor, where Woolmer was found unconscious in his room on March 18. He was declared dead a few hours later.

 

His death came just one day after a stunning loss to minnows Ireland knocked Pakistan out of the World Cup, stirring speculation that match-fixing criminals may have been involved.

 

Shields said that while the video footage does not give a view of the room doors, it does show both ends of the corridor "and will give us an indication who was on that floor."

 

Investigators believe Woolmer probably knew his killer, or killers, as there was no sign of forced entry in his room.

 

Meanwhile, his team left Jamaica on Saturday, after investigators questioned captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, caretaker coach Mushtaq Ahmed and manager Talat Ali for a second time.

 

"There is nothing to suggest any of them is a suspect at this stage," Shields said.

 

The players were in London for a stopover before heading home.

 

Police had earlier questioned all members of the team and took DNA samples and fingerprints.

 

"They clarified a number of points," Shields said after Saturday's interviews.

 

He dismissed claims the players had been involved in a row with Woolmer after their defeat to Ireland on the eve of the killing.

 

"As far as I'm aware at the moment, the players and officials were very subdued and there was no heated exchange," he said.

 

A Pakistani diplomat who traveled from Washington to liaise with police in Kingston expressed anger over swirling rumors about the team.

 

"Please don't speculate. The team is traumatized," Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, the first secretary at the Pakistani embassy in Washington told journalists, adding: "There is no suspect or suspects."

 

Dalawar Chaudhry, who organized the London stopover, said the team were all "very, very down."

 

"I have had a word with all the boys and they have lost someone very near and dear to them. A father figure has been lost ... They haven't been sleeping well. It's been a very emotional time," Chaudhry said.

 

Nagging rumors of match-fixing in connection with Woolmer's death have cast a further shadow over the sport and the World Cup, which officials insisted had to go on despite the killing.

 

"Of course it's one of our lines of inquiry," Shields said of the speculation the criminal gangs may have been involved in the murder, either because Woolmer was about to expose the extent of the match-fixing practice in a forthcoming book or because of bets lost by Ireland's win.

 

Shields took up the issue with Jeff Rees, the chief investigator of the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit, who is currently in Kingston.

 

"One aspect is, what were the odds on Ireland if Ireland won? I understand that they were extremely good if you bet on Ireland," Shields told the London observer.

 

Woolmer's body will remain on the island until the conclusion of a coroner's inquest, which authorities said will be held as soon as possible.

 

A former England international, Woolmer had coached the Pakistan team since 2004.

 

Before that, he was coach of South Africa when their former captain Hansie Cronje was bought off by bookmakers in 1996, but was never alleged to have been involved himself.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)