Kingston (Jamaica): A jury began deliberations today in the inquest into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer after hearing testimony from more than 50 people.
The inquest in the Jamaican capital was triggered by wide-ranging speculation about what killed the 58-year-old coach, who was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room a day after his heavily favored team was ousted from the Cricket World Cup on March 17.

The 11-member jury, which heard witnesses and medical experts testify over five weeks, is expected to decide whether anyone bears responsibility for the death. Police said it would be up to Jamaica s coroner to issue the official cause of death after the inquest.

Four days after Woolmer died at a hospital, Jamaica's pathologist, Dr Ere Sheshiah, ruled he had been strangled, setting off a high-profile murder probe that took DNA and fingerprint samples from witnesses including players from Pakistan and other cricket squads.

But Jamaican police called off the investigation three months later, saying three independent pathologists from Britain, South Africa and Canada concluded that the coach died from natural causes, most likely heart disease.

In his testimony at the inquest, Sheshiah stood by his contention that Woolmer had been strangled and said he had also been poisoned by a pesticide.

Specialists outside the government claimed Sheshiah misinterpreted his own findings and his medical techniques did not meet international standards. Independent tests on Woolmer s stomach samples found no traces of any pesticide.

Source : PTI