The body of murdered Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer will stay in Jamaica until an inquest is held into his death, police have said.
A coroner on the Carribean island has ruled that the inquest, with a jury, will be held "as soon as practical" but a date has yet to be set. The development followed talks between the coroner and former Scotland Yard detective Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner of police in Jamaica.
Pakistan's cricketers are preparing to leave the country today after being interviewed and asked to provide DNA samples. Police have been scouring CCTV footage and other electronic records from the Kingston hotel where Mr Woolmer was strangled. Yesterday detectives said Mr Woolmer probably knew his killer — or killers — as there was no sign of forced entry.
But hotel officials said there are no records of anyone else entering Mr Woolmer's 12th-floor room on the night he was murdered.
The 58-year-old former England player was found unconscious in his room on Sunday, a day after Pakistan's shock defeat to Ireland in the Cricket World Cup.
A statement released by the Jamaica Information Service on behalf of the commissioner of police said that the coroner had directed that Mr Woolmer's body "remain within his jurisdiction" until an inquest is completed.
The statement added that although the Pakistan players were expected to leave Jamaica today, two team officials would remain in Kingston. It also said the Pakistani government was sending two officials to the island to liaise with the Jamaican authorities over the investigation.
Mr Shields said yesterday that he found it "difficult to believe" that Mr Woolmer's killer or killers were complete strangers to him.
He said: "It's imperative we keep an open mind, but I have to say at this stage it looks as if it may be somebody somehow linked to him because clearly he let somebody into his hotel room and it may be that he knew who that person was."
As well as there being no sign of forced entry into his hotel room, he said former England player Mr Woolmer's possessions were undisturbed.
Pakistan cricket team media spokesman PJ Mir claimed yesterday that Mr Woolmer had told him a proof of the book he was writing, the only copy, had gone missing.
Speculation is growing that Mr Woolmer may have been preparing to blow the whistle on match-fixing in the book. The match-fixing allegations may have dated back to Mr Woolmer's time in charge of South Africa.
He was coach during the period former captain Hansie Cronje, who died in a plane crash in 2002, accepted money from bookmakers to fix the results of one-day internationals, although there is no suggestion Mr Woolmer was involved in any match-fixing ring.
PA