The body of Bob Woolmer, the late coach of Pakistan’s cricket team, began its long trip home from Jamaica on Thursday and is expected to arrive in South Africa by Sunday, police said.
Woolmer (58) was found dead in his Kingston hotel room on March 18, the day after Pakistan had crashed out of the World Cup in an upset loss to Ireland. Police ruled his death a murder.
The casket bearing Woolmer’s embalmed body left early on Thursday for the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
It is scheduled to arrive at London’s Heathrow Airport on Saturday, then land in Cape Town the following day, said Mark Shields, the police officer in charge of the murder investigation.
A team of Jamaican police officers are to travel to South Africa in early May ”to speak with the relatives of Mr Woolmer and have talks with the South African police”, said Karl Angell, a spokesperson for Jamaica’s Constabulary Force.
Woolmer’s body was held in a legal limbo for weeks after a post-mortem examination determined that the former England international was strangled to death.
The Kingston coroner in charge of the case ruled that Woolmer’s body could not be released until after an inquest that had been scheduled to begin April 23 had been completed.
The inquest, however, was cancelled following concerns of a lack of police resources as the Cricket World Cup semifinal game was to be played at Sabina Park on the following day, police said.
Shields said that two Pakistani police officers, Deputy Inspector General Mir Zubair Mahmood and Senior Superintendent Syed Khalid Imam, were in Jamaica as ”observers” in the case.
Mahmood told reporters in Kingston that they were satisfied with the investigation into Woolmer’s murder.
”I am going home fully satisfied and feel that the investigation is heading in the right direction,” Mahmood said. ”We will remain in touch and available to the Jamaican government and police as and when they require our assistance.”
About 30 police investigators are working full-time on the Woolmer investigation with over 100 witness statements taken.
Woolmer’s death has led to a fevered round of speculation as to a motive. The most common theory is that his death was linked to match-fixing and illegal betting in cricket. — Sapa-AFP