Widow of former Pakistan coach doesn't rule out murder

The widow of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer does not rule out murder as the cause of his death.

Photo: Widow of former Pakistan coach doesn't rule out murder

Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his Kingston, Jamaica, hotel room on Sunday and pronounced dead at a local hospital. The previous day, Pakistan was stunned by Ireland in a St. Patrick's Day victory that assured Pakistan's early ouster from the World Cup.

Police said Tuesday they are treating Woolmer's death as "suspicious."

"I mean some of the cricketing fraternity, fans are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and what happens in the game, and also a lot of it in Asia, so I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that (murder)," Gill Woolmer told Sky Sports in an interview Thursday from her home in Cape Town, South Africa.

"It fills me with horror," she said. "I just can't believe that people would behave like that or that anyone would want to harm someone who has done such a great service to international cricket."

The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, citing an unnamed high-ranking police officer, reported Thursday that authorities found a bone broken in Woolmer's neck and that investigators were treating the case as a homicide.

Gill Woolmer said her late husband was "very depressed" after the defeat to Ireland but ruled out the possibility of suicide.

"He always got depressed and down when the boys didn't do as he expected," she said. "But there is no way that suicide was involved. He would never, ever."

Gill Woolmer said the coach had Type 2 diabetes but was very fit and never took drugs except painkillers for his sore knees and ankles, reports AP.

She said she was waiting for the results of a second pathologist's report before her husband's body could be flown home to South Africa.