Inquest ordered into Woolmer's murder

The Jamaican authorities have ordered an inquest to be held into the murder of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach. Woolmer's family was informed that his body would remain in Jamaica till the inquest was over.

Coroner's inquests are held in cases of sudden or unexplained deaths.

The Jamaican Gleaner reported that according to the Commissioner of Police, Lucius Thomas, the coroner had directed the inquest be held "as soon as possible".

According to Les Green, the police officer heading the Major Investigation Task Force, no date has yet been set for the inquest. "We don't know when it will begin at this point," Green told the Jamaica Observer on Friday.

But a release from the government's public relations arm, the Jamaica Information Service, stated that the coroner gave an assurance that the inquest, which is to be held with a jury, would be conducted "as soon as practical".

The police also denied reports appearing in the foreign press that a man was arrested in connection with the case in Jamaica on Thursday night and that phone numbers of Pakistan and Indian team members were found in a cellular phone taken from the man.

TVJ, a local television channel, reported that Darren Lifsun, the Pakistan team physiotherapist, and Murray Stevenson, the trainer, would stay back in Jamaica till the inquest is completed. "We promised the family to stay until everything is sorted out," Lifsun told AFP. "The police informed the family first, then us, with everything, and then we told the team."

Woolmer died on March 18 in his hotel room in Kingston and five days later the cause of his death was confirmed to be asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation. The Pakistan team were fingerprinted and asked to provide DNA samples as part of the investigations.