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Pathologist still claims that Woolmer was strangled

Government pathologist Ere Sheshiah reiterated his opinion on Thursday that Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was strangled to death -- a finding that sparked an international murder probe but was later called into doubt.

Sheshiah repeated his belief that the 58-year-old Cricket World Cup coach died of asphyxia and pesticide poisoning, despite testimony from foreign pathologists who claimed he'd misinterpreted his own findings and his medical techniques did not meet international standards.

"It's quite unusual and an unacceptable procedure" for Jamaica to call upon international experts to investigate a local crime, Sheshiah told the court at an inquest to determine the cause of Woolmer's death. "I'm in a better position since I was the one who dissected the body."

Woolmer was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room on March 18, a day after his Pakistani team's unexpected loss in the Cricket World Cup. Four days later, Jamaican police announced he'd been strangled -- instigating an international murder probe and media frenzy.

The investigation was called off in June after foreign pathologists criticized Sheshiah's findings and concluded the coach had died from natural causes, most likely heart disease.

Sheshiah testified on Wednesday that a June toxicology report had revealed fatal levels of the pesticide cypermethrin in Woolmer's system at the time of his death.

Sheshiah, 65, has been the Caribbean nation's pathologist for 18 years and said he'd previously overseen many strangulation cases while working in his native India.

He acknowledged a "real possibility" that a bone in Woolmer's neck was not broken, as he'd previously ruled, but maintained the coach had been strangled.

"I stand by what I say," he told the court.

The inquest is expected to end on Nov. 9, after roughly 50 witnesses appear before the 11-member jury.
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