Hotel was scene of two murders

Port of Spain: The Bob Woolmer death mystery took a bizarre turn yesterday when it was discovered that the hotel where the Pakistan coach was staying was also the scene of two earlier murders in 2005.

A 23-year-old Air Jamaica flight attendant's naked body was found with 10 stab wounds in 2005 and an American national was also found murdered in December 2005 at Pegasus Hotel.

The revelation came as Pakistan's World Cup players gave statements to Jamaican police yesterday. "We're going through a process of speaking to people, including members of the team," said Mark Shields, the deputy chief commissioner of Jamaica police.

Two Jamaican newspapers as well as Radio Jamaica claimed that 58-year-old Woolmer had been strangled. Quoting a police source, the radio station said Woolmer had injury marks on his neck and that a bone in the lower part of his face was broken.

Scotland Yard role

However, in a statement the police said that they were not in a position to comment since they were yet to receive the pathologist's findings. According to the police, "a bone in the neck, near the glands, was broken. This suggests that somebody might have put some pressure on it."

Woolmer's wife Gill added to the dramatic turn of events and said yesterday she had not ruled out the possibility that her husband had been murdered.

"I suppose there is always the possibility, I mean some of the cricket fraternity fans are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and about what happens in the game ... so I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that [murder]," Sky Sports quoted her as saying.

A pathologist from the US has arrived in Jamaica to bolster investigations while Scotland Yard investigators are also expected to arrive soon.

- With additional inputs from agencies