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Pathologist set to testify in Woolmer inquest after stroke

A pathologist who concluded Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was strangled in his hotel room at the Cricket World Cup is still expected to testify at the inquest despite a mild stroke.

"He is recovering well and should be here next week," said Dirk Harrison, one of the inquest prosecutors.

Ere Sheshiah, a Jamaican government pathologist, is a key witness because he has made few public statements since his autopsy concluded Woolmer had been strangled within hours after Pakistan was upset by Ireland and eliminated from the World Cup.

Woolmer was found dead on March 18, the day after his team was eliminated.

Four days later, Jamaican police announced Woolmer had been strangled. In June, authorities ended the probe after pathologists in Britain, South Africa and Canada concluded the coach died from natural causes.

British pathologist Nathaniel Cary, who criticized Sheshiah's autopsy technique, testified on Wednesday he believed heart disease caused the coach's death.

Another major witness, Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields, is recovering from dengue fever but is also expected to testify, police spokesman Karl Angell said.

Novelette Robinson, a registered nurse who was assigned to the medical team for the Jamaica leg of the World Cup, on Thursday testified that several attempts to save Woolmer's life had been unsuccessful.

Robinson said when she rushed to Woolmer's room she was surprised not to see him on his bed. He was found naked in the bathroom.

She said she made her way into the bathroom, which proved difficult because Woolmer's body was blocking the door.

"The first thing I felt for was the pulse, but there was none, then there was no response from the chest," she told coroner Patrick Murphy and the 11-member jury.

She said she administered CPR and chest compression, but "this did not work."

Robinson said that Dr Asher Cooper arrived shortly thereafter and also administered CPR, but this again failed.

Dr. Herb Elliott, in a television interview on Tuesday, said when he entered Woolmer's room, the coach was still alive. It is not clear if he arrived before or after the nurse, but he is expected to testify later at the inquest.

In an interesting twist, the hotel's information systems manager Lorraine Taite, who also took the stand, told the inquest that the team's physiotherapist Maurice Stephenson's room had been opposite Woolmer's, but he requested to be relocated because of noise that was coming from near by.

Taite said after he was relocated, the swipe card to his former room was used to gain entry to the room, but could not say who would have re-entered the room.

She was unable to say if another guest was given that room.
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