Members of the media talk to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields (facing camera), after members of the Pakistan Cricket World Cup team were interviewed and fingerprinted yesterday, as investigations, continued into the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer. In the foreground is material used to clean fingerprint ink.

Shelly-Ann Thompson, Gleaner Writer

Dr. Garfield Blake, president of the Jamaican Association of Clinical Pathologists, said yesterday that the assessment of the post-mortem report in the death of Pakistan cricket coach, Bob Woolmer, was obviously not handled properly.

"The final conclusion of this being a manual strangulation, I would not expect the first word to be inconclusive," Dr. Blake told The Gleaner yesterday. "Maybe they just didn't handle the thing properly."

At the same time, post-mortem expert, Dr. Jephthah Ford, has strongly criticised the initial autopsy report.

Dr. Ford, who has been conducting post-mortem examinations for 27 years, said that after hearing of the discovery of blood, which was reportedly found in Mr. Woolmer's vomit, he was wary of speculation that the death may have been a result of suicide.

"On Tuesday when they announced 'inconclusive', I said 'this matter is being badly handled', as there are some things they could say right away," Dr. Ford said.

Certain conclusions

He continued: "There are certain conclusions that they could have announced, such as his heart was in a good condition, so heart attack is ruled out. They may not be able to say what is the cause of death, but you could say what is not the cause of death."

Dr. Ford questioned whether a second post-mortem was done since the first one was said to be inconclusive.

Dr. Blake added: "Something like strangulation is clear-cut. Here is a gentleman of fair complexion. I would expect that great force would be employed to strangle, so there would be bruises, scratches on the neck or on the skin. That should be pretty clear cut."

Dr. Blake, who is also a consultant pathologist at Cornwall Regional Hospital, said he was yet to speak with Government pathologist Dr. Ere Sheshiah, who conducted the autopsy on Woolmer's body on Tuesday.

He, however, cautioned those who might be criticising Dr. Sheshiah for producing an inconclusive report.

"Probably he (Dr. Sheshiah) has a way of how he operates. Probably he wanted everything, including the toxicology tests results, before he revealed anything," said Dr. Blake.

shelly-ann.thompson@gleanerjm.com