Security video from the hotel where Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was strangled may contain images of the killer or killers, but police needed more time to analyze the footage because of the cameras’ limited scope, authorities said Sunday.
Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields said the video shows only the corridors at the end of Woolmer’s floor – not the door to his room or others.
“But at least it will give us a good indication of who went on those floors,” he told reporters. “It’s critically important because it may give us an image of the killer or killers of Bob Woolmer.”
Police were reviewing the digitally enhanced closed-circuit video from the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.
The 58-year-old coach was found dead in his hotel room on March 18, a day after his team lost to Ireland in the cricket World Cup. The humiliating defeat forced Pakistan’s first-round elimination in the sport’s biggest event, being played in the Caribbean.
Police have not identified any suspects. Authorities said there was no sign of forced entry, suggesting Woolmer likely knew the killer or killers.
The Pakistan team was allowed to leave the island Saturday, hours after three members of the delegation – including captain Inzamam-ul-Haq – were re-questioned. Police earlier fingerprinted and took DNA samples from all team members.
Shields defended the decision to allow them to leave but conceded the absence of players and other potential witnesses could complicate the investigation.
“This is an extraordinary investigation in that many of the potential witnesses are leaving the island,” he said. “The fact that people have left Jamaica doesn’t mean the inquiry stops.”
Shields said police plan to interview more possible witnesses and are awaiting results of DNA and toxicology tests.
“The Jamaica police are doing everything to bring closure to the matter,” Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said Sunday.
Speculation within the cricket world has focused on everyone from crazed fans to a gambling mafia and disgruntled Pakistani team members. The International Cricket Council has said it will investigate whether match-fixing was a motive.
