The Coroner Saga Torrent Download [key]
Nelson Suggs
These dates of key events in the Azaria Chamberlain saga, subject of a major documentary on the 40th anniversary, were compiled by Alice Springs historian ALEX NELSON (pictured).
This criticism was broadcast on national TV when he handed down his findings, it was a front page story in the local newspaper in Alice Springs and prompted Chief Minister Paul Everingham to initiate an investigation into the police.
Yep, the time-line fits perfectly. Thank you for that expose!
Some ratbag names now fit in very well to the overall corrupt scheme. I always thought it was about protecting the projected tourism industry. We always wondered how on earth some ambitious or egotistical cops / politicians / legal mongrels in the NT managed to get away with using such a sexed-up media slam-dunk (similar as that used to invade Iraq) to frame the Chamberlains, and actually got away with it. Your fine analysis has filled in a few gaps that were missing from my own jigsaw.
Alex, some-how I missed your key dates post of the Chamberlain debacle.
Many thanks for making this well researched effort.
Always appreciate locals who step up to join the dots and highlight examples of bastardry and incompetence that taints us all by association.
In similar vein we can draw some comfort from the findings of the first coroner, Denis Barritt who did his job with independence and integrity.
On the occasion of Bob Woolmer's tenth death anniversary in March, the Cricket Monthly published a feature on his legacy to the global game. This month, the ICC communications manager at the time of Woolmer's death draws on fresh interviews and evidence never before reported to reconstruct a story that shook the cricket world.
When the 47-year-old hotel chambermaid Bernice Robinson left her home in a suburb of Kingston, Jamaica, at dawn on March 18, 2007, it was a work day like any other. Passing through the quiet city streets early that Sunday morning, she arrived at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in the business district of that vibrant and troubled city shortly before 7am for a shift she would never forget.
Three-seventy-four was an unremarkable room on the 12th floor of the equally forgettable, tired but comfortable four-star hotel, host to four teams participating in the first cricket World Cup staged in the Caribbean.
At about 9.30am, Robinson knocked on the door to room 374. No response. Knocked again. Nothing. And a third time. When she still received no answer, she opened the door with the key card that had been assigned to her that morning and went inside. She heard a low noise through the darkness, figured that the occupant was still asleep and decided to leave him to his snoring.
She cleaned three other rooms before returning to knock on 374's door at about 10.50am. Again she received no answer. This time when she opened the door she noticed a chink of bright sunlight through the curtains ahead of her and could see that the slept-in king-size bed to her left was empty. She ventured further inside and looked around the room. There was what looked like blood on a pillow at the head of the bed, a chair was overturned and a putrid smell of vomit filled the still air. Concerned, she went to see if there was anyone in the bathroom located just by the door on the left.
"Sir, sir, is everything okay?" she shouted at the man. Yet again there was no response from the occupant of room 374. The smell of vomit mixed with alcohol was intense and through the gap in the door she could see blood on the floor. She panicked and hurried off to raise the alarm.
The man in the bathroom was Bob Woolmer, coach to the Pakistan cricket team, former professional cricketer for Kent and England, father, husband and much respected stalwart of the cricketing world. Despite the best efforts of Dr Asher Cooper and Novellette Robinson RN, who tended to Woolmer at the scene, he could not be revived. He was pronounced dead at Kingston University Hospital at 12.14pm by Dr Cooper and Dr Simone French, a member of the medical and health committee for the 2007 World Cup. In all likelihood, according to Dr Cooper, he had passed away at the scene.
So, what chain of events led to one of the world's best and highest-profile cricket coaches lying dead in a Jamaican hotel bathroom during the sport's biggest event? While the cricketing world grappled with that question, they were soon to be hit with another bombshell. On March 22, the Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF) announced to a room full of stunned sports journalists that the cause of death was "asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation".
Not that this was an unusual event in itself. Not in Kingston anyway. When Jamaica gained independence in 1962, the murder rate was fewer than four per 100,000 inhabitants. By 2005, that had risen 1450% to 58 per 100,000, with no fewer than 1674 people having been murdered that year. In a country of just 2.7 million, this gave Jamaica the highest murder rate in the world at the time. Rarely a day went by without the details of another gruesome murder making it into the pages of the Gleaneror the Jamaica Observer.
But with the eyes of the world - at least those of cricket fans - fixed on the region, the death of this high-profile foreign visitor was much more than a crime statistic. It was enormously embarrassing for the authorities, who had hoped the World Cup would show off the region as an idyllic holiday destination. The tournament's arrival in the Caribbean was soon overshadowed by the events that took place inside and, more to the point, outside room 374.
The day before Woolmer's body was found had been another seismic one, but for entirely cricketing reasons. A team of determined amateurs representing Ireland had taken on and beaten the former champions, Pakistan. The fact that it was St Patrick's Day was not wasted in the build-up, and there were prayers said in advance to Ireland's patron saint, the man believed to have brought Christianity to the Emerald Isle. Indeed, there are those who attribute some kind of divine intervention to the "miracle" that took place that day at Sabina Park. But the secret to Ireland's victory was far more prosaic, although equally green.
The playing surface certainly resembled something prepared by small cricket clubs in Dublin, Belfast and Derry rather than by a curator in the West Indies. Winning the toss, Ireland chose to field and their bowlers used the lateral movement and sluggish pace to lure Pakistan's batsman into false shots and reduce them to 132 all out. In response, a masterful 72 from Niall O'Brien took the Irish close to the finish. When Johnston hit a massive six over long-on to seal the deal, Ireland's joy was unconfined.
The late and legendary Irish journalist Con Houlihan called it the biggest sporting sensation since North Korea beat Italy in the football World Cup of 1966. The fans cheered Ireland's victory long into the night, the team joined their friends, family and other supporters at an Ocho Rios resort for a celebration worthy of the occasion. It was the first time Ireland had ever appeared at the tournament and, against all the odds, were about to take their place with the big boys in the last eight.
Not surprisingly, the feeling in Pakistan was very, very different. A mixture of despair and anger spread across the country, fuelled by a hysterical section of the media. Effigies of Woolmer were burned on the streets of Lahore - the team's homecoming was not going to be pleasant. That night, as he contemplated an early return to Pakistan, Woolmer had a drink in the Pegasus bar before retiring to his room early, ordering room service and polishing off a bottle of Mot Chandon. It was one of two such bottles given to him by Pakistan's non-drinker assistant coach Mushtaq Ahmed, who had been gifted them by a fan. The defeated coach sat alone in his hotel room, eating lasagne, apple pie with ice cream, and sipping champagne, wondering what to do after his inevitable and imminent sacking/resignation. He wrote a few emails, including one to his beloved wife, Gill, in their Cape Town home:
Feeling a little depressed currently as you might imagine. I am not sure which is worse being knocked out in the semi-final at Edgbaston [in 1999, when he was coach of South Africa] or now in the first round. At least we will not have to go to Guyana! Our batting performance was abysmal and my worst fears were realised. I could tell the players were for some reason not able to fire themselves up we just threw away our wickets all the time. I give credit to the Irish and we did fight hard in the field but what a horrible feeling. I don't know when I will be back but I would quite like to come home and see Dale and Pippa etc. So I am going to speak to the chairman tomorrow and see what he has to say. I hope your day was better but I doubt it as you were probably watching! Not much more to add, I'm afraid, but I still love you lots, B."
As the foggy-headed Irish in Jamaica woke that Sunday morning, they did so to the sobering news that Woolmer was in hospital and that the prognosis was bleak. Woolmer was well known and respected in Irish cricket circles from his days as high-performance manager at the ICC, where he helped make weaker teams more competitive at the highest level. Therefore, it was in part Woolmer's own hard work improving the standard of cricket in Ireland that led to his current team's exit from the World Cup, an irony that was not lost on him. He had mentioned the fact with a wry smile during the tense post-match press conference the night before.
Word of Woolmer's death spread rapidly. Tributes poured in and shock was expressed from every corner of the cricketing world, especially in his native England and in his adopted home of South Africa. As the days went on, rumours of foul play started to make it on the pages of newspapers from Mumbai to Manchester to Melbourne, as polite enquiry gave way to wild speculation.
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