Peter Roebuck's family employ lawyer to probe suicide theory
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/pe...e-suicide-theory/story-e6frf7jo-1226214123206
by: Lucy Carne in London
From: Herald Sun
December 05, 2011 12:50PM
Peter Roebuck's family has raised doubts about the police version of his death.
PETER Roebuck's family claims he would not have committed suicide and have sent a British criminal lawyer to Cape Town to investigate his death, according to a British report.
The Australian cricket commentator’s siblings and mother reportedly said his final communication to them revealed no indications that he would take his own life.
Roebuck fell to his death from a sixth-floor hotel room in Cape Town on November 12 after police had reportedly been in his room to speak with him about sexual offence allegations.
In his final email to his widowed mother sent four days before his death, and shown by his family to British newspaper The Times, Roebuck writes about looking forward to Christmas and his happiness in “now having 42 Africans under my wing”.
He adds: “All is going well as far as I can tell.”
He also told his family he was planning to spend more time in England, the paper claimed.
Roebuck’s body remains in Cape Town and no will has been found at his homes in Bondi, South Africa, or England.
Roebuck’s family told The Times that they plan to request a second post-mortem examination.
“We are allowed to ask for that as members of his family, and that is a standard part of our investigation,” Roebuck’s sister Beatrice Roebuck told The Times.
“We are not coming to any conclusion straightaway, but we want our lawyer to look at the hotel room Peter was in and to find out where we stand with the investigations into his death.
“The window arrangements in his hotel are questionable. A window in this kind of air-conditioned building is not easy to open.
“If it was open and Peter was sitting on the sill, he could have fallen out. Was he in the bathroom?
“We heard straightaway that his death was suicide, but conclusions were reached immediately and we do not have a coroner’s report.
“Some lovely things have been written about Peter, but also some vile things.
“We want Peter’s name to remain a good name.”
His sister also told the paper that Roebuck spent his last night having dinner with Nic Kock, who helped with Roebuck’s charity work in South Africa.
Roebuck, according to his friend, seemed to be in good form, but 30 minutes after he dropped the cricket commentator at his hotel, Roebuck was dead.
“Nic said that Peter was his normal self. If Peter was in the custody of the police, as we read, then we would like to know how he could have died,” Ms Roebuck said.
“I am not yet ready to meet the policeman who supposedly was in his room. We as a family do not have the legal power to investigate this ourselves.”
She said members of Roebuck’s family and their lawyers would be present for the inquest into his death to be held in the new year.
“We need to obtain some facts,” Ms Roebuck said.
“Peter was on record as saying that he would never commit suicide and all the information we have is being played out in the media.”
Anyone with personal problems can contact Lifeline on 131 114, Mensline Australia on 1300 789 978, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or the Victorian Statewide Suicide Helpline on 1300 651 251.
