Shane Warne: The moments leading up to legend’s shock death in Thailand

Police have shed new light on what happened in Shane Warne’s hotel room of the night of his sudden death - releasing photos and alarming details of his frantic final moments.

Australian cricket legend Shane Warne ready to auction his baggy green

Shane Warne’s manager has revealed chilling details of the spin king’s shock death, detailing how he was found unresponsive in his Thailand villa.

Warne’s long-term manager James Erskine has told the ‘Remembering Shane Warne’ special on Fox Cricket of the moment the Australian cricket legend was found by a colleague after running late for an engagement.

“I got a phone call at 10.37 last night from our guy in Melbourne called Andrew Neophitou, who was actually with Shane in Thailand,” Erskine told Fox Cricket.

“Shane had sort of decided he was going to have three months off and in fact he wanted a year off, and I said, ‘There’s no way you can have a year off, they would’ve forgotten you by a year’, so he decided to have three months off.

Shane Warne was found unresponsive inside his Thailand villa

“And this was just the start of it, and they’d only arrived the day or night before.

“They were going to have a drink at 5pm or go and meet someone to go out and have a drink at 5pm, and Neo knocked on his door at 5.15 because Warnie is always on time.

“And he went in there and said, ‘Come on, you’re going to be late’ and then realised something was wrong.

“And he turned him over and gave him CPR and mouth to mouth, which lasted about 20 minutes and then the ambulance came.

“They took him to the hospital, which was about a 20-minute drive and I got a phone call about 45 minutes later saying he was pronounced dead.”

Late on Saturday night Thai police released photos of Warne’s hotel room where he died in Koh Samui, Thailand.

They also revealed new details of the cricket champion’s death. Police found blood stains on three towels and a pillow, and two further blood stains on the carpet. They are believed to be the result of Warne coughing up blood as his friends desperately tried to revive him.

Police in Shane Warne's Villa

There were no reports of alcohol bottles in the room, with Warne watching cricket on television before planning to head out for a drink on Friday evening with friends.

Forensic police, who took photographs of the room at 1.30pm local time on Saturday (5.30pm AEDT) took samples from two water bottles for testing.

Satit Polpinit, commander of Surat Thani Provincial Police, said police were looking for CCTV from around the time that Warne was found on Friday.

DEVASTATED FRIENDS PAY TRIBUTE

Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting, two of Warne’s former teammates, have paid tribute to their friend and expressed their devastation following his shock death at just 52-years-old.

As the sporting world comes to terms with the superstar’s tragic passing, McGrath said he thought he was invincible.

He hailed his mate for the impact he had on the game and paid tribute to his role as a father.

“Just absolutely devastated today,” McGrath, who retired from cricket on the same day as Warne in 2007, wrote on Instagram.

“Warnie was larger than life. I thought nothing could ever happen to him. He lived more in his life than most people would live in 20. He was the ultimate competitor.

“He thought the game was never lost, that he could turn it around & bring us to victory, which he did so many times. I think he lived his life the same way. There seemed to be never a dull moment. He was a great mate & a loving father.

“He loved his kids so much & my thoughts are with Brooke, Jackson & Summer. My thoughts are also with Keith, Bridgette & Jason. Rest In Peace my good mate, there’ll never again be anyone like you.”

Hard to put this into words. I first met him when I was 15 at the Academy. He gave me my nickname.

We were teammates for more than a decade, riding all the highs and lows together.

Through it all he was someone you could always count on, someone who loved his family... pic.twitter.com/KIvo7s9Ogp

— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) March 5, 2022

Ponting took to his social media channel to pay tribute to a man who epitomised mateship.

“…someone who would be there for you when you needed him and always put his mates first,” Ponting wrote.

“The greatest bowler I ever played with or against. RIP King. My thoughts are with Keith, Bridgette, Jason, Brooke, Jackson and Summer.”

Originally published as Shane Warne: The moments leading up to legend’s shock death in Thailand