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Jamaican police are trawling through security camera footage from the hotel where Pakistan's cricket coach was murdered in what they say were "extraordinary and evil circumstances".
A lack of any sign of a struggle or forced entry to 58-year-old Bob Woolmer's 12th-floor room at the Pegasus Hotel in
the capital, Kingston, is adding to the mystery of his death the morning after his team's shock defeat by Ireland's debutant team at the World Cup.
But those circumstances have not reduced the horror surrounding his death, which followed the discovery of his unconscious body in a pool of blood in his bathroom, where the walls were splattered with faeces and vomit. His mouth was wide open. Woolmer died later in hospital.
Confirmation that Woolmer was murdered came only yesterday, after the police received results from an independent pathologist's report into his death last Sunday. An earlier report by a state pathologist proved inconclusive.
The second report, said by the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper to have been prompted by the discovery of a small broken neck bone, disclosed that Woolmer was strangled on the night of St Patrick's Day, after his team were knocked out of the World Cup that day by the country of his birth.
Mortuary photographs are understood to have shown blood streaked down his right cheek, vomit around his mouth, and what appeared to be a gash above his left eye. Woolmer is also believed to have been found half-naked, partially wrapped in a towel, but the police are not commenting on CCTV footage seized from the hotel.
"Mr Woolmer died as a result of asphyxia due to manual strangulation," said police spokesman Karl Angell yesterday, after a week of speculation about his death, which was initially attributed to his diabetes.
Police deputy commissioner Mark Shields, a former member of Scotland Yard's special branch who has taken charge of the murder inquiry, said yesterday there was no evidence that any of Woolmer's belongings were missing.
That, and the absence of any sign of struggle, suggested he may have been killed by more than one person of his acquaintance.
"Because Bob was a large man, it would have taken some significant force to subdue him, but of course we do not know at this stage how many people were in the room," said Mr Shields, who originally went to Jamaica to combat gang violence and help it to overcome its reputation as the murder capital of the Caribbean.
"It could be one or more people involved in this murder," he said.
Mr Shields declined to comment on reports describing the condition of the coach's body.
"There are some issues surrounding marks on his body, but for the moment I would rather we stick to the cause of death, which is asphyxia."
The police are also still waiting for toxicology tests for an indication of whether Woolmer may have been drugged before being throttled.
He rebutted speculation that notes from an autobiography Woolmer had been working on, in which he promised a tell-all account of match-fixing, were removed from his hotel room.
"All of Bob's possessions, as far as we can see, were intact."
International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed - seated next to Mr Shields during yesterday's murder announcement - admitted there was "a problem with corruption in the code " and accepted this could have been linked to Woolmer's death.
He disclosed that ICC anti-corruption unit head Lord Condon was likely to fly to Jamaica to investigate, as well as Scotland Yard detectives, even though "we believe that in the last few years we've had corruption under control in an environment where there's huge betting in cricket".
Reports from Lahore suggested Woolmer had failed to persuade former Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shahryar Khan to strengthen its hand against corruption on the pitch.
Woolmer wanted to ensure that only cricketers of impeccable character should be made team captains, given their vulnerability to approaches from corrupt bookies.
He proposed that Pakistani cricketers declare their net worth at the start of their careers and submit annual financial updates.
He also recommended all players be forbidden from using cellphones during matches, that all calls be routed through team managers, and that players' resistance to bribery attempts be strengthened by higher remuneration and authorised incentives for winning matches.
Police last night urged anybody with information to come forward.
Mr Shields said: "We have a few definite lines of inquiry. " CNN.com said he acknowledged later that betting on matches was among them.
