Orville Taylor, Contributor

Age quod agis. "Do it to the best of your ability." Our historical treasures, Wolmer's Boys' and Girls' schools, have been around since 1729. That makes them the oldest high schools in the anglophone Caribbean.

The benevolent bachelor, John Wolmer, bequeathed his home, furniture and 20 to his friend, another John (Williams) without children, or female associates, Wolmer did not die intestate and his will freed his slaves 109 years before emancipation. The motto gives no clue as to why his trustees established separate schools for boys and girls in 1896. Nonetheless, he left 2,360 for the founding of a free school in the parish of his death.

Originally established in downtown Kingston as a co-educational institution, it split after moving to National Heroes Circle in 1895. It has produced many stalwarts, such as Sir Florizel Glasspole, Edward Seaga, Olympian Seymour Newman, Ricardo 'Bibby' Gardner, and mighty midget, Michael Frater. Like other parents, this Father's Day, I acknowledge my son Derrick's benefiting from Wolmer's legacy.

Girls brighten national scene

The girls have also brightened our national scene in maroon and gold. Queen's Counsel Pamela Benka-Coker, broadcasting legend Norma Brown-Bell, and People's National Party (PNP) firebrand, Angela Brown-Burke, are all products of the tradition. Since 2003, for the first time in history, the top three administrators at Wolmer's are alumnae. At the University of the West Indies, some of my very best students, both in deportment and performance, are graduates of Wolmer's. And the list goes on and on ... like a murder/natural-causes saga.

In the year that we hosted the Cricket World Cup, the Wolmerian contributors to West Indies Cricket and the game generally, must be listed. These include, among others, Allan Rae, Franz Alexander, Jackie Hendriks, Maurice Foster, Jeffrey Dujon, and several present-day youngsters.

Located between the death scene and Sabina Park, the Wolmerian legacy is being eclipsed by another homophone. Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer, was found dead in his hotel room on March 18, 2007, hours after a devastating loss to Ireland. Initially, it was felt that being of ill health, he 'took it to heart' and died of 'cardiac arrest'.

Comtemplating arrest

Within two days, another type of arrest was being contemplated as the police proffered a theory of murder, based on the expertise of local pathologist, Dr. Ere Sheshiah. The name sounds like an English county. However, that is Cheshire. Were he from there, he perhaps, would not have been considered off the 'mark' and would have been 'shielded'.

'Police in Wonderland?' Interestingly, a smiling Cheshire cat appears in Lewis Carroll's 1865 classic, with a similar-sounding title. The cat, like Sheshiah, refused to bow and kept appearing and disappearing at will. Finally, when the English king ordered his execution, he disappeared once again, leaving only his head and then, only his grin remained. The hapless king, queen and executioner were baffled because it is impossible to behead or hang a cat if the body is not seen.

Woolmer would not have been difficult to kill reports indicated that the corpse was found blocking the bathroom door. Sheshiah concluded that he died from asphyxia, secondary to manual strangulation. It isunclear if strangulation occurs otherwise, such as mechanically or digitally, but it means that 'smaddy choke an kill im'.

'Nat murder!'

In the interest of transparency, the police sought a second opinion and British pathologist Dr. Nat Cary said, 'Nat murder!' Two others were also enlisted - South African, Professor Lorna Martin and Canadian Dr. Michael Pollanen - and they supported Cary's findings. This is perhaps the only time in Jamaican parlance that we don't say, "Three 'pon one a murder." Nonetheless, they never saw the body but used secondary information.

Swayed by the imposing opposing opinions, the Jamaican police backtracked, closing the investigation. Nevertheless, since March, like a poorly constructed project with cost overruns, the British press had been leaking contrary information. Reports surfaced about foreign toxins. No! Not 'Shieldicide' or 'Greenium', but aconite, an oriental poison and snake venom. No poisonous serpents exist in Jamaica this political season may unearth candidates who fit the profile. No local was suspected.

Anyway, there are calls to 'Fiah Sheshiah!' Despite local and international criticisms, that it is an indictment that he supposedly misread the signs, the British Metropolitan Service reportedly indicated that they would have done exactly what our Jamaican police did.

Why a second opinion?

The question then arises. Why was a second opinion needed in the first place? Was it truly for transparency or were there doubts? Were Sheshiah's conclusions wrong but justifiable? After all, even when patients are alive and able to reveal details about their ailment, specialist doctors sometimes differ.

Moreover, Britain has had several recent cases with botched pathologists' reports. In 1996, Sally Clarke was wrongly convicted for the murder of her two infant sons. She was released in 2003 upon the discovery of the flawed analysis of pathologists Allan Williams and Sir Roy Meadow. Donna Anthony was similarly released in 2005, after Meadow's work wrongly convicted her. Earlier, in 1976, faulty semen analysis led to the conviction of Stefan Kiszko for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Lesley Molseed.

In Canada, Ronald Dalton was found to not be a 'cereal' killer. Convicted of murdering his wife in 1988, subsequent medical evidence emerged that she choked on cereal. Many other Metropolitan cases abound but space is limited. By the way, John Wolmer died on June 29, 1729. Was he murdered?

Whether there was any professional misconduct is yet unknown. Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, is prudent in ordering a commission of enquiry. Nevertheless, what the case shows is that despite the arrogance of some medical folk, medicine is an imprecise science.

But, the sociology teachers at Wolmer's teach this.

Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.