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Police chief's doubts on Woolmer's 'murder'
Last updated at 00:07am on 30.03.07
Murdered: Woolmer was found strangled in his hotel room
The police chief investigating Bob Woolmer's death appears to be wavering in his certainty that the cricket coach was murdered.
Former Scotland Yard detective Mark Shields voiced his doubts to avoid being "professionally embarrassed" if his initial assertion that Mr Woolmer was strangled proves incorrect.
Eight days ago, Mr Shields stunned a press conference in Kingston, Jamaica, by announcing unequivocally that Mr Woolmer, 58, had died from asphyxiation after being throttled in his hotel room on March 17.
He later stated that he was "100 per cent certain" that Mr Woolmer had been murdered.
Fears that the post-mortem examination was flawed have been voiced by Dr Garfield Blake, past president of the Jamaican Association of Clinical Pathologists.
Pakistani cricket authorities have also questioned the report. They are concerned because there were no visible signs of strangulation, and pathologist Ere Sheshaiah's initial examination of the body was "inconclusive". Previously, Mr Shields has spoken of clues at the murder scene, which he refuses to reveal publicly, that convinced him Mr Woolmer was murdered. But, for the first time, he appeared to wobble.
Asked whether there was a "smidgeon" of doubt, he replied: "I will keep an open mind because you never know. I can't close my mind to anything.
"I'm treating this as a murder investigation based on all the evidence I have both from the forensic pathologist and other information.
"But I must always keep an open mind because every investigator has found it embarrassing – professionally embarrassing – if at some stage in future something else comes up and he or she has closed their minds to it. That's always a danger.
"I'm not less certain but I have to be led by the science. But there are other factors in this case that lead me to believe that this is murder."
Mr Shields was pressed to explain how a killer could possibly strangle someone without leaving marks on the victim's neck.
He indicated that he believes the murderer throttled the Pakistan World Cup coach with some sort of implement – possibly one of the towels in his hotel room.
