JAMAICAN POLICE are maintaining that Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer was strangled amid reports of claims by the Pakistani press that two investigators from that country have said that local police are yet to establish conclusive evidence that Mr. Woolmer was murdered.

Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, director of communication for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Karl Angell, said the JCF's investigation was based on credible evidence.

"The pathologist did an autopsy. He said to us in a written report that the man died from asphyxiation occasioned by manual strangulation, based on that our investigation proceeded but we have always said that the investigation is an open investigation and all angles are being looked at," said Mr. Angell.

No conclusive evidence

According to a Pakistani news agency on the weekend, two sleuths, sent to the island to assist with local police investigations into the death of Mr. Woolmer, had submitted a 40-page report to the Pakistani Interior Ministry Saturday, claiming there was no conclusive evidence Mr. Woolmer was strangled.

But speaking with local police yesterday, one of the two Pakistani investigators who came to the island, Mir Zamair Mahmood denied speaking to Pakistani reporters on the issue and reiterated that he was satisfied with the direction the investigation was taking, Mr. Angell said.

"Mr. Mahmood has indicated to us that a report was submitted to his boss that he had no discussion with any journalists or with anybody else regarding the report. In private conversation with the Constabulary Force, Mr. Mahmood said that he is pleased with the way the investigation was going and he made no such deductions," said Mr. Angell.

No final results

Attempts to reach Mr. Mahmood for a personal comment were not successful.

Mr. Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his room at the Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, on March 18 and was later pronounced dead at the University Hospital of the West Indies, just hours after his Pakistan team lost to Ireland in the opening round of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Pathology reports stated that Mr. Woolmer died of asphyxiation due to manual strangulation. Toxicology results reportedly showed that a foreign substance, believed to be poison, was also found in samples taken from the coach's stomach, urine and blood. The complete results which are being analysed with the help of Scotland Yard are yet to be released.