Jamaican police have confirmed they now believe Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes.
Police announced today that new evidence had contradicted their previous assertion that the 58-year-old former Warwickshire coach had been murdered.
Woolmer was found dead in his Kingston hotel room on March 18, the day after his side had suffered a shock defeat to Ireland in the World Cup.
Deputy police commissioner Mark Shield said at a press conference this afternoon: "From all the work we have done and the opinion of the three pathologists, Bob Woolmer died of natural causes."
Jamaican Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas said authorities sought the opinion of three independent pathologists and reviewed a toxicology report before reaching their conclusion.
He also rejected media reports that Woolmer had been drugged or poisoned.
"No substance was found to indicate that Bob Woolmer was poisoned," Thomas said.
The announcement that Woolmer had been strangled sparked a number of conspiracy theories and overshadowed the tournament.
The entire Pakistan squad was questioned in relation to the death and there have been suggestions that the country’s cricket authorities will consider legal action.
The police’s handling of the case, particularly with regard to the number of theories that arose from it in the media, has attracted considerable criticism but Shields made a robust defence of his investigation.
He said: "We have conducted a thorough, professional investigation throughout. We said from the very beginning we would keep an open mind, we said we would search for the truth.
"Had we not gone elsewhere for assistance in terms of getting second, third and fourth opinions from pathologists and seeking a review at an early stage, we may be in a different position today.
"I believe it is through the JCF [Jamaica Constabulary Force] conducting such a thorough investigation that we are in a position to give you the facts as they are today.
"We were given facts or an opinion at the beginning which we took at face value. We had to conduct an investigation - there is no alternative.
"We are not in a position where we can second guess, publicly, a pathologist’s opinion.
"Our job is to keep an open mind, conduct the investigation and see where the evidence takes us, and as it developed, that’s exactly what we did."
Woolmer was diabetic and had been suffering from breathing difficulties at the time of his death but the initial pathologist’s report concluded he had been strangled.
There were rumours that he might have been killed by someone linked to illegal match-fixing and betting or by an angry fan.
