Exactly four weeks ago, the sport of cricket, perceived to be that most gentlemanly of sports, was plunged into deep despair by the death of Bob Woolmer.
KINGSTON: Exactly four weeks ago, the sport of cricket, perceived to be that most gentlemanly of sports, was plunged into deep despair by the death of Bob Woolmer.
One month on, police are no nearer to solving the murder of the 58-year-old Englishman who was found unconscious in his hotel room the day after the Pakistan team he coached had been humiliated at the World Cup by Ireland.
"There are three possibilities," said Mark Shields, the Jamaica Deputy Commissioner of Police, here on Saturday.
"One is that someone could give themselves up. Two, there could be a massive breakthrough or, three, we are here for the long haul.
"At the moment we are certainly in category three. We would love to move to one but I think that is unlikely at this stage."
Woolmer was silenced by attacker or attackers unknown to Jamaican police.
The post-mortem said he died from asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation.
Even without a motive or suspect, police have been hard pushed to solve the mystery as to what happened inside room 374 on the 12th floor of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, the night after Pakistan crashed out of the World Cup.
There were no signs of forced entry nor was there evidence of robbery, factors which make the police feel Woolmer may have known his killers.
Shields, the lead investigator, has said that some 30 officers are working full time on the case, for which over 100 witness statements have been gathered.
Many of these statements will be put under the microscope from April 23 when the inquest into the death begins in Kingston.
Jamaica's Director of Public Prosecution (DDP), Kent Pantry, is expected to marshal evidence on behalf of the government.
Room 374 still remains a crime scene and has not yet been handed over to the hotel by the police.
Investigators are also still reviewing CCTV footage recovered from the hotel and Shields said there is some progress in the analysis of these materials, which were sent to Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom.
"I now have some of the results which are excellent and give a clearer picture of what took place," Shields said.
However, he added that this does not bring them any closer to identifying who entered Woolmer's room on the night in question.
"It's too early to speak specifically about a suspect," Shields said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the dozens of cameras and journalists which were a regular sight in the hotel lobby have long disappeared as the investigation drags on.
Since Woolmer died, several theories about the reasons for his death have emerged, the most popular being that he was aware of match-fixing in the sport and he was about to blow the whistle on corruption.
Woolmer's widow, Gill, has admitted that he had been writing a book but denied that this had anything to do with match-fixing.
Jeff Rees of the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit is trying to determine if match-fixing was a factor and Jamaica police have provided him with a liaison officer.
Woolmer's body remains in a local funeral parlour. From there, at some stage, it will transported to his Cape Town home.
It is unclear when the case will be solved.
With parliamentary elections due by October, some locals believe that the Woolmer investigation may be relegated in priority as police turn their attentions to keeping the peace on Kingston's volatile streets in the run-up to the polls.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}