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Woolmer drugged before being strangled: BBC


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Woolmer drugged before being strangled: BBC AP LONDON, April 30: Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer was incapacitated by drugs before he was strangled, a British Broadcasting Corp. investigative program said on Monday. Preliminary toxicology tests, due to be given to Jamaican police next week, indicated that Woolmer had been incapacitated by a drug, the BBC's Panorama program said. The program did not identify the drug or the source of its information. Woolmer, a 58-year-old former England Test batsman, was found unconscious in his room and later declared dead on March 18, the day after his squad was upset by Ireland and eliminated from the World Cup. Police said he was strangled. Woolmer's body was returned to his family in South Africa on Sunday. In an interview with the program, investigating officer Mark Shields said it would be difficult to strangle a man as large as Woolmer. "A lot of force would be needed to do that," Shields said. "Bob Woolmer was a large man and that's why one could argue that it was an extremely strong person, or maybe more than one person, but equally the lack of external injuries suggests that there might be some other factors and that's what we're looking into at the moment."

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Re: Woolmer drugged before being strangled: BBC Cricket coach Woolmer 'poisoned' Woolmer's remains were flown to South Africa on Sunday Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer, who died of strangulation earlier this year, was also poisoned, a BBC investigation has learned. The results of toxicology tests mean it now seems certain the ex-England player was rendered helpless before being strangled, the Panorama programme says. Woolmer's murder in March during the Cricket World Cup in the West Indies cast a shadow over the tournament. His remains were flown back to his home in Cape Town in South Africa on Sunday. The casket, which had been sealed in a large wooden crate, arrived on board a commercial flight to Cape Town's International Airport from Jamaica. He was found dead in his Kingston hotel on 18 March, the day after his side lost to Ireland in the World Cup. A post-mortem examination said he had been strangled. On 20 April the inquest into the death was postponed because the coroner was advised there had been "recent and significant developments". 'Unable to fight back' Now a Panorama investigation has learned that a toxicology report on Woolmer's body shows that there was a drug in his body that would have incapacitated him. The final results of the report are due to be given to Jamaican police next week. Some 30 detectives are investigating Woolmer's death "Those tests will show there was a drug in his system that would have incapacitated Mr Woolmer," Panorama's Adam Parsons says. "It now seems certain that as he was being strangled, he'd already been rendered helpless - leaving him unable to fight back. "The specific details of that poison are now very likely to offer a significant lead to finding his murderer." The policeman leading the murder investigation, Mark Shields, told Panorama that it is "difficult and it's rare" for one man to strangle another. "A lot of force would be need to do that. Bob Woolmer was a large man and that's why one could argue that it was an extremely strong person or maybe more than one person. "But equally the lack of external injuries suggests that there might be some other factors and that's what we're looking into at the moment." Family spokesman Gareth Pyne-James told the Associated Press news agency that Woolmer's funeral in South Africa would be a private ceremony. "Arrangements have been made and the family will decide whether it's going to be an interment or cremation," Theo Rix, from a local funeral home, told Reuters news agency. Panorama: Murder at the World Cup will be broadcast on BBC1 at 20:30 BST, Monday.

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Re: Woolmer drugged before being strangled: BBC LONDON: The latest dramatic hypothesis explaining Bob Woolmer?s death suggests that his murder was ordered by an Islamic fatwa. The revelation that Woolmer was poisoned and strangled in line with the edict of some radical Muslim clerics was made on BBC?s flagship investigative programme Panorama. The hour-long documentary was telecast on Monday night. A segment of the programme indicated that Woolmer may have upset some followers of the Tableeghi Jamaat, a Muslim missionary and revivalist movement, within the Pakistan team. PJ Mir, the team?s former media manager, said Woolmer had commented that senior players were more interested in praying than playing. Recalling an incident, Mir said, "A CD was being played which was a Tabliqhy CD and Bob, who was sitting behind me, said 'why don't you tell them to stop? If they want to listen to that they could on their iPods or personal devices', and he thought that he shouldn't be subjected to all that and I agreed with Bob." Mir said Woolmer had his apprehensions about the players' dwindling focus on cricket. "He wasn't particularly pleased when players were going out to say their prayers in the middle of the game.. and a substitute was coming in and then again... and this continued. He was totally against it," he said. Mir had already attracted a fatwa for publicly asserting that the team?s religious zeal may have been the reason for its poor results. ?If Bob has said what I?d said, I think there would have been a fatwa on him as well,? Mir said. The programme posited that preliminary drug tests showed a substance in Woolmer?s body that would have weakened him enough for someone to overpower and strangle him. Mark Shields, Jamaica?s deputy commissioner of police who is leading the investigation, told the programme that it would be difficult to strangle a six-foot-two man like Woolmer. ?Woolmer was a large man and that?s why one could argue that it was an extremely strong person, or maybe more than one person,? Shields said. ?But equally, the lack of external injuries suggests that there might be some other factors and that?s what we?re looking into at the moment.? The final results of the toxicology tests, expected to be presented to Shields next week, are likely to confirm the preliminary findings, BBC said. http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1093980

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