Bob Woolmer was murdered

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Oct 15, 2008

By Will last year, at the end of March Leave a comment on this post

Bob Woolmer was murdered last Sunday and died of asphyxia by manual strangulation, Jamaica police have confirmed.

A crushing revelation. The death was shocking enough - but murder? Full coverage of this dreadful news at Cricinfo.

Tags: 2007-world-cup, asphyxia, bob-woolmer, murder |

Comments to “Bob Woolmer was murdered” Angus wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 12.23 am

This is some of the darkest news in cricket history. I feel sick right now. Poor, poor Bob. Absolutely awful.

Ken wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 12.26 am

Good Lord. How could someone do such a thing? They should just call the World Cup off now.

Philip wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 12.49 am

First the Cronje death - strange as it seemed back then, then the potential of a book which could have revealed a world of deceit. Poor Bob, RIP old friend

Emma wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 1.12 am

I can’t even find words for how nauseous this announcement has made me feel. It’s frightening that any sport, let alone cricket, could ever lead to murder.

naeem wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 1.20 am

i am shocked. my mate just called me and let me know. as a pakistan cricket fan this is the worst news i have heard. i hope whoever was behind this is caught asap. reports are suggesting it could be match fixing agents who were upset at the pakistan defeat as they probably lost millions on a game which pakistan should have cruised. this has put me off cricket all together,

Angus wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 2.06 am

As awful as this event is, I don’t think they should cancel the tournament. It would cause utter chaos in the Caribbean, spell financial ruin for West Indian cricket, and every business dependent on the games. It would shut down most of the travel companies around the world who are arranging tours. It would be sad for all the players, and also for all the fans who have spent their life savings on the trip.

Now there is a police chase on. With free movement between islands brought in for the World Cup, this makes it more difficult. I heard that most murders are solved within the first 48 hours, but this has taken 4 days to establish the cause of death. Who knows where the killer could be now? Who knows how close they are to the team?

It opens up a whole can of worms, for gambling, match-fixing, player involvment, etc. Very dark days.

Rest in peace, Bob.

Pratik wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 2.21 am

Oh my god! Oh my god!

Tom wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 5.44 am

Largest of all cricketing scandals/issues - pales the matchfixing, Warne’s drug suspension, and Hairgate.

Extremely sad, and shocking. Cricket has been largely immune from tragedy, however if this what the outcome of a game has lead to, I wonder if it will become like football…

Rob Cornelius wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 8.07 am

The news is both sickening and astonishing at the same time. The implications are far reaching and worrying. But until the murderer(s) are caught my thoughts rest with Bob’s familly.

Innocent Abroad wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 8.25 am

This is going to get worse, a lot worse, before it gets better.

No sign of forced entry, and definitely not the way a professional hit-man would go about things.

Suave wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 11.09 am

I was devastated when I saw the news that Bob Woolmer had passed away.
I am incredulous now!

How could someone take the life of another human being over a game.

I am passionate about cricket, more so than most other things in life (much to the disdain of my beloved), but the thought of harming someone over it, is beyond belief.

Aside from that, how will the PCB now find a replacement for a great man? Who in their right mind would want to take a job, where murder seems to be the cricket equivalent of “you’re fired”.

The darkest days of cricket have returned, to a tournament that was supposed to show the world, how much enjoyment, fun, celebration etc.. could be had from this glorious game.

Now, the only new people watching this tournament, or the news of it, are the sort of people so intrigued by mysterious deaths.. The kind of people inclined to read serial killer biographies.

Words are hard to come by, at present, and I hope that whoever committed such a heinous crime, are brought to justice.

Graham E Smith wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 1.03 pm

4 days to conclude that a person has been murdered by manual strangulation ! ???
Perhaps the Jamaican police should be renamed..The Keystone Cops?
As for how and why, Bob died….all we have is the usual load of unfounded speculation by the Media.
Let us hope that the local police authorities are seeking help from International Police experts,for the sake of his family.

marcus wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 1.29 pm

I think they’ve now called in a couple of Scotland Yard detectives to help with the investigation. I really hope Innocent Abroad’s wrong about this- it’s just unthinkable that someone close to the team could have done the deed and not be driven crazy by their consciences. I think the bookie explanation seems the best so far, but Innocent’s right about one thing, that it doesn’t sound very professional. Hopefully that means that they’ll be caught fairly easily. Until that happens, I suppose all this speculation’s fairly unproductive; I just hope they catch the killer(s) quickly.

Caroline wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 2.13 pm

Is there any hope that violent fanatics will take notice of this and change their behaviour? How did we get to the state of burning effigies and destroying people’s homes because of the result of a game?? Do people realise the significance of the words they shout, when calling for the death of another human being? They are utterly desensitised.

Well, well: again more questions than answers. Perhaps reflects where many of us are at in processing this.

If I were Bob Woolmer’s widow I could not imagine how on earth to come to terms with such a senseless loss of life.

What a shocking, shocking loss . . .

Kathy wrote:
March 23rd, 2007 at 8.09 pm

I still can’t quite believe it. As you say, Caroline, it makes the intense overreactions to wins and losses look even more insane. Makes the job of Pakistani coach look a pretty dangerous one. Maybe they should bring in Imran Khan to clean things up in Pakistani cricket â€” according to Derek Pringle in the Telegraph, it was under his reign that things were straightest and cleanest.

andy wrote:
March 24th, 2007 at 4.48 am

as a west indian im saddened by Bob Woolmer’s murder. it has cast a huge cloud over the world cup that has produced some riveting cricket thus far. Latest rumors out of Jamaica suggest that three players remain the key focus of this investigation! If that turns out to be the case then how sickening it is that players can murder their coach over a game of cricket! The three suspects are said to be two senior players and one youngster making a return. hope that this is just rumor mongering and have no truth whatsoever! Condolences to Bob Woolmer’s wife and family.

abubaker wrote:
March 24th, 2007 at 9.20 pm

i was realy sad news for me and the news that his murder confirmation just like a electric jolt for me, i ‘m feelind sad,and have no word to explainn my feeling about bob wolmer death,i saw his interview in pakistani television he said that pakistani team member is very young and they all are just like my children, all they respect me alot, this all shows his commitment dedication towards cricket and his profesion, no doubt he was great couch a super guy and his name will be written in gold ever and ever again!. May her soule rest in heaven
and his killer escaped soon..

apuraja wrote:
March 25th, 2007 at 4.48 am

Who killed Bob Woolmer?

Why?

Will we ever know the truth?

Media hype aside, this is definitely going down as the biggest scandal in the history of our beloved sport … and sadly, we may never find out whodunit!

I have a stinking feeling this runs deep .. very deep .. not just match-fixing mafia or a few rogue players … but deep deep into the very leadership of world cricket …

I just can’t believe that such a high profile person can be murdered by force aka strangulation in such a busy and packed hotel … and the local police seem to have absolutely no clue … or do they? The investigations, inquest, post-morten etc etc have been handled so poorly thus far … it is just *not* possible for such a crime to go unwitnessed in an environment like this … and that’s why I just can’t get over that stinking nagging feeling that this is not just a simple “crime of passion” of an angry fan/bookie/player/whatever …

Money talks my friends … how easy would it be to cover up something like this in a relatively poor country like Jamaica? and how many mouths would need to be kept shut in a small police force such as this .. overwhelmed as it is without the WC2007 with a recent statistic of 5 murders a day since 2005.

The amount of money involved in cricket these days is nothing less than the amount of money involved in illegal activities like drugs, smuggling etc .. corruption is very rampant … remember “the departed”? not just developing countries like India and Pakistan .. these things happen in so-called advanced nations like USA, UK etc

I think we as citizens of the world and lovers of the sport need to ensure the culprits are exposed …whether they are mafia, bookies, players or administrators … I have no idea how to do this, sitting here on my laptop in the good ol’ US of A but I just can’t sit quiet reading all the stupid media “exclusives” hypes, misinformation and finger-pointing … but I am going to do something … like I said, I don’t know right now what but … something!

Notes4Bob wrote:
March 25th, 2007 at 4.15 pm

I have read and posted much on various blogs about this horrific act of brutal violence; a senseless murder! As far as I am concerned, the media ’spokesperson’ for Pakistan is overdoing their halo, somewhat. And somewhat suspiciously, methinks!

Bob Woolmer is not around to defend himself; suddenly we’re told there was ‘no row’ on the bus back to the hotel after the match. I say nonsense! As for Pakistani ‘zero tolerance’ in match-fixing - well that’s like saying there’s no milk in Cadbury’s chocolate.

Mr. Mir doth protest too much. He’s implicating or associating the Pak team with everyone else …. I’m smelling a rather large, plague and flea ridden RAT.

RIP Bob; you most certainly did not deserve this. The low-life that snapped your high-life WILL be flushed out ~ they had NO IDEA how much you were loved and admired, nor that the entire world would react this way.

It’s diabolical; too atrocious for words - a wound now lies in cricket that will NEVER heal because it is so seriously and deeply infected.

Lord in heaven - this is the worst incident in a world sporting event in my entire life. Finally, the Pak Cricket Team’s Official ’spokesperson’ ought to be ordered as gagged. Enough, now, Mir! Your team did not win and they are under valid-enough scrutiny. Dragging other teams in to your orbit does not make FACTS disappear as readily as you would have the world believe.

IT IS WIDELY KNOWN & WITNESSED THAT certain team-members had the odd run-in with Bob. Not that this means a team guilty of this crime ~ but don’t start denying facts and throwing the spotlight on Brian Lara! Typical, I say. TYPICAL.

Quite vulgar, actually. Go to U-Tube and see the MANY clips, comments and posts on these disagreements.

Bob - we’re all here for you, friend. God bless you and your loved ones, Wonderful Warrior of Good Cricketing spirit! You are so loved …

Lisa wrote:
March 26th, 2007 at 6.53 am

ACTION REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY!!! The global public, fans, supporters, the global sporting world - all fields - as well as the ICC, the Olympic officials, the Jamaican, British, South African and Pakistani Police and relevant govt heads of ALL WC participants should DEMAND lie-detector tests and BACKGROUND checks of the Pakistani players and WC officials. Their phone records should be subpoenaed and their bank accounts investigated. This story is huge; it’s imperative the rats are brought out and int the open. Bob was murdered …. FOR WHAT????

Kathy wrote:
March 26th, 2007 at 7.38 am

Does Mike Marqusee get on anyone else’s nerves, or is it just me?

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cricketworldcup2007/story/0,,2042920,00.html

Fred wrote:
March 26th, 2007 at 10.49 am

Absolutely agree Lisa, L:ets hope the folk involve get hard core..

raj wrote:
March 26th, 2007 at 11.46 am

A gentleman who gave so much to cricket is murdered. And now all other human beings say “Cricket should go on”. It is a shame. They should have stopped for a month and caught the killers, exposed diry laundry of match fixing etc.

Fans would have tolerated another month of delay.

Now every win by any team should feel like a loss as we as human beings (?) let games become much more valuable than a human life who gave so much to cricket.

holdingwilley wrote:
March 26th, 2007 at 12.24 pm

Not surprisingly, my family back in the U.S. tells me that the tragic murder of Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer has been in the headlines. This must be a shocking revelation for the average American. I don’t mean to make light of a tragedy, but the shocking revelation is not the murder - the U.S. is the world’s #1 producer of crime-related TV series.

So, while we’re not devoid of empathy, we’re preconditioned to view such an event more as a mystery than a tragedy. The shocking revelation is that there’s a World Cup for cricket!

len wrote:
March 26th, 2007 at 9.31 pm

i think everybody is missing the point.the world has been hijacked.this is a (the) universal problem.

marcus wrote:
March 27th, 2007 at 12.24 am

I’ve heard that the police are just now looking at the CCTV tapes from the hotel room. It’s been something like 10 days since the event- you’d think that those tapes would be one of the first things they’d review.

ernold same wrote:
March 27th, 2007 at 3.18 am

mike marquesse likes getting on your nerves kathy believe me

Even speaking as a lefty…he stretches my patience…he has a rather childish, undergraduate prediclition for viewing EVERYTHING through a marxist lens…but then again im probably just being racist(according to him)

Kathy wrote:
March 27th, 2007 at 5.55 am

My feelings exactly, ernold. Someone lent me his book, Anyone But England, but after reading a page or two, I decided he and I were on different planets. Yeah, yeah, all the evil in the world is the fault of capitalism and the British Empire. Blah blah blah. And I don’t particularly want to be lectured on cricket or the correct way to think by an American socialist.

Graham E Smith wrote:
March 27th, 2007 at 7.43 pm

Specultation,speculation and yet more speculation!
Let us hope that this is soon over…so that Bob’s family can get some peace and come to terms with their tragedy.

Lisa wrote:
March 28th, 2007 at 4.43 pm

Indeed, Fred, every moment lost in universal action could be an eternal loss re information in the investigation. I trawl the ‘Net daily for news and information; this is the most vile and abhorent assassination in sporting history. The entire guest and visitor list of the Pegasus Hotel from 15th to 18th March should be ordered to provide DNA, phone/bank records, flight/transport details as well as undertake a lie-detector test! That the W C has continued is beyond me, perhaps not to others … but that cup is now a soured fake in my family, colleagues and friends opinions. It’s badly tarnished, especially KNOWING there remains ongoing betting, skulduggery and match-fixing rampant in the grottos and backstreets of some countries. Even if this assassination had nothing to do with match-fixing - the diabolical fact remains: Bob Woolmer was murdered in cold, calculating and cunning blood. What a dampner for the good and proud teams and those better players and nations that have participated in this series. The 3 most lethal roots of evil boiled up here: Money, Drugs and Power. Beware: GOD SAW WHAT HAPPENED TO BOB! And …. He will lead us to the killer/s.

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Bob Woolmer was murdered