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| April 01, 2007 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1428 |
London sleuths to help with Woolmer investigation
LONDON, March 31: London police will send leading detectives to Jamaica next week to review progress in the investigation into the murder of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer, they said on Saturday (see related story on Page 23).
Police in the British capital said they had received a request from Jamaican authorities to send a small team of detectives to review the Woolmer investigation.
“A team of four – three detectives and one scenes-of-crime officer – will arrive in Jamaica next week,” they said in a statement.
The team will be led by a detective superintendent from Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command.
A chambermaid found Woolmer, 58, unconscious in his hotel room in Kingston on March 18, shortly after Pakistan were ousted from the World Cup after losing to debutants Ireland.
A doctor failed to resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Four days later, in an announcement that stunned the cricket world, police said Woolmer had been strangled.
London police said it was normal practice for a review to take place soon after the start of an investigation and said Jamaican police remained the main investigating force.
Police have said there are no clear suspects in the case.
Jamaica deputy police commissioner Mark Shields, the British former Scotland Yard officer heading the Woolmer investigation, has said frequently that he would have no qualms asking for help from foreign police agencies if needed.
The mystery stirred speculation that angry fans, disgruntled players, gamblers or match fixers were involved.
Police said this week the killer's trail had not gone cold but they have revealed few leads. Closed circuit television from the hotel is being examined and forensic tests on evidence from the room have not been completed.
A memorial service for the former England player will be held in Cape Town on Wednesday, the Bob Woolmer Trust Fund said on Friday. Woolmer was a coach of the South African national team and lived in Cape Town for more than 20 years.
His body is being held by Jamaican authorities pending an inquest, the date of which has not been announced.—Reuters
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