Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter
Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas (right) and Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields, listen intently as they field questions from journalists atyesterday's press conference, where Mr. Thomas announced that Pakistan's cricket coach, Bob Woolmer, had died of natural causes. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
Shortly after closing the book on the bungled investigation into the death of Bob Woolmer, Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas yesterday admitted the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) might have acted too hastily in concluding the Pakistan cricket coach had been murdered.
Commissioner Thomas said, despite the findings of local government pathologist Dr. Ere Sheshiah that Mr. Woolmer had been strangled, test results and reports from overseas investigators should have been received before a conclusion was made regarding the cause of the sudden death of the 58-year-old coach.
"We might have been too hasty," the police commissioner told The Gleaner yesterday after a packed press conference, attended by local and overseas journalists, as well as local human rights activists, at the Police Officers' Club, St. Andrew.
Another high-profile case
Mr. Thomas noted that in another recent sudden death of a high-profile personality - American model Anna Nicole Smith - all tests, including toxicology and investigative reports, were completed before a cause of death was determined.
After approximately seven weeks of investigations, led by forensic pathologists and toxicologists, it was reported that Smith died of combined drug intoxication.
"We should have made certain all facts were known before, and we probably should have sought assistance before we commented," added Mr. Thomas.
Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room on Sunday, March 18, and the police announced that he was murdered just days later on Thursday, March 22.
Mr. Thomas has closed the case and announced that reports from Professor Lorna Martin, chief specialist for Forensic Pathology Services for the Western Cape, South Africa, and Dr. Michael Pollanen, chief forensic pathologist in Canada, concurred with Dr. Nat Cary, consultant pathologist in the United Kingdom, that Mr. Woolmer died of natural causes.
Although not pointing fingers, the JCF has seemingly laid the blame for the bungling of the investigation on Dr. Sheshiah, who concluded that Mr. Woolmer died of asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation.
Commissioner Thomas said that, each time the JCF publicly commented on the investigation, it did so based on information received from the government pathologist and other experts.
"When the pathologist told us that the autopsy results were inconclusive, and that he required further histology and toxicology tests be done, we said so," Mr. Thomas said during yesterday's press conference.
He added: "As soon as it was made known to us that it was the pathologist's opinion that Bob Woolmer had been strangled, we established a major investigation."
HELD ACCOUNTABLE
Meanwhile, responding to local and international calls for someone to be held accountable for apparent foul-ups in the case, Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields, who was the face of the investigation, said there was no need for him or any other member of the JCF to feel embarrassed about the manner in which they conducted themselves.
"(I) don't think I have embarrassed Jamaica," DCP Shields said. "The fact is we got there to the end (of the case) through a thorough investigation. Through the modern techniques we have employed, through introducing a review process."
Commissioner Thomas also stressed that the investigation was conducted in a thorough and professional manner with nothing being left to chance or assumption.
" ... (We) adopted a policy of being open, transparent and forthright in providing information," he said.
During his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in Parliament today, Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, is expected to comment on the Woolmer case and possibly address the fate of Dr. Sheshiah.
shelly-ann.thompson@gleanerjm.com
