East London Advertiser : East End link to body in bag spy death

East End link to body in bag spy death

Julia Gregory, Senior reporter | December 29, 2010

Detectives investigating the death of M16 agent Gareth Williams would like to speak to anyone who may have seen him at an East End cabaret evening.

The 31-year-old’s body was found in a bag in his flat in West London in August.

Detectives are anxious to hear from anyone who may have met Mr Williams at a drag cabaret act at Bistrotheque in Wadeson Street on Friday August 13. He had also bought tickets for two other shows at the Bethnal Green venue.

A police spokeswoman said: “We would like to hear from anybody who was there who spoke with him or had any interaction with him.”

Two days after he visited Bistrotheque Mr Willams was spotted on CCTV shopping in the West End. His body was discovered in his flat on August 23.

Anyone who met Mr Williams should contact the incident room in Hendon on 020 8358 0200 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

This Is Gloucestershire : Dead spy 'had been learning a new identity'

Dead spy 'had been learning a new identity'

December 28, 2010

GCHQ spy Gareth Williams was training to take on a new identity eight months before he was found dead, it has emerged.

And a close friend has insisted the Cheltenham man was not gay after detectives suggested he may have died at the hands of a mystery bondage sex partner he met on London's gay scene.

Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33, told the Mail on Sunday that before he died, Mr Williams was studying for a new identity as he visited her central London flat.

She said: "He said he was learning his new identity. It was all so relaxed."

And she said Dr Williams was a straight man who was looking for a girlfriend.

She said: "He was open with his family and, if he was gay and had any temptations, he would have spoken about them."

Dr Williams, 31, was on secondment at MI6 from GCHQ in Cheltenham when he was found dead in a padlocked holdall in his flat in London four months ago. He had worked in Cheltenham for 10 years and rented a flat in Bouncers Lane.

Police have said it would have been impossible for the dead man to lock himself in the holdall where his naked body was found.

The death has sparked a frenzy of speculation after postmortem tests and a police inquiry failed to determine how he died.

Isle of Man Today : Friend: Suitcase death spy was not gay

Friend: Suitcase death spy was not gay

December 28, 2010

MI6 spy Gareth Williams was training to take on a new identity eight months before he was found dead, it has been reported.

And a close friend also insisted he was not gay after detectives suggested the 31-year-old may have died at the hands of a mystery bondage sex partner he met on London's gay scene.

Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33, told the Mail on Sunday that before he died, Mr Williams was studying for a new identity as he visited her central London flat.

She said: "He said he was learning his new identity. It was all so relaxed.

"He often came round with his work. That night he came over with his box file and started going through it. He had two passports."

And she said Mr Williams was a straight man who was looking for a girlfriend.

She said: "He was open with his family, and if he was gay and had any temptations he would have spoken about them, especially to his sister.

"Hand on heart, there were no innuendos about him."

She added: "He cherished the time he had with his sister and with me and he wanted that with other girls."

Police have said it would have been impossible for the dead man to lock himself in the holdall where his naked body was found.

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2010, All Rights Reserved.

The Age [Australia] : British bondage spy a sleeper

British bondage spy a sleeper

London | December 27, 2010

A British spy whose body was found inside a padlocked bag at his London flat in August had been training to take on a new identity in the months before his death, a report says.

A close friend of Gareth Williams, 31, told the Mail on Sunday the MI6 code-breaker was not homosexual.

Police have suggested his death was linked to London's gay or bondage scene. Women's clothing worth thousands of pounds was found in his flat.

''He said he was learning his new identity,'' said Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33, a close childhood friend from Wales.

''He had two passports.''

London's Metropolitan Police revealed Williams had been logging on to bondage websites and had visited a drag cabaret four days before his death.

Sun : Spy in a bag set for 'MI6 mission'

Spy in a bag set for 'MI6 mission'

By MIKE SULLIVAN, Crime Editor | December 27, 2010

THE codebreaker found dead in a sports bag was being prepared for an undercover assignment by MI6, it was claimed yesterday.

Gareth Williams - on attachment to the secret service from GCHQ - had two passports and had been given a new identity, a close pal said.

Fashion stylist Sian Lloyd-Jones insisted Mr Williams was not gay.

She refuted police suggestions the 31-year-old died after a bizarre sex game - which involved him being locked in the bag by another person - went wrong.

And she insisted 15,000-worth of unopened designer dresses and shoes found at his flat in Pimlico, central London, were intended as gifts for her and his sister Ceri.

Ms Lloyd-Jones, 33 - a friend of the maths genius since they were at school together in North Wales - said: "He was so generous you wouldn't believe."

Referring to the gay hints, she added: "I'm not in denial and nor is his mum, dad or sister.

"I truly believe if he had any interest in homosexuality he would have spoken to his sister and to me as well."

Mr Williams accessed five bondage websites before he died, several featuring claustrophilia, in which people are aroused by confined spaces. And cops remain convinced his death was connected to his sex life.

A source said: "Ms Lloyd-Jones' comments appear designed to salvage the reputation of her friend Mr Williams.

"They also tend to suggest the motive for his death could have something to do with his professional life. We do not believe that is the case."

Express : MI6 SPY LOCKED IN BAG GARETH WILLIAMS ‘WASN’T GAY’

MI6 SPY LOCKED IN BAG GARETH WILLIAMS ‘WASN’T GAY’

The mystery over MI6 spy Gareth Williams’ death deepened yesterday

By Cyril Dixon | December 27, 2010

THE mystery over MI6 spy Gareth Williams’ death deepened yesterday after a friend said he was not gay and was about to begin a new tour of duty.

Sian Lloyd-Jones claimed the maths genius, 31, was set to take on a new identity for an assignment with the intelligence agency.

The 33-year-old former school friend of Mr Williams claimed £15,000 worth of women’s clothes and accessories found in his flat were gifts for someone else. The naked body of Mr Williams, a Cambridge-educated codebreaker, was found inside a padlocked holdall at his flat in Pimlico, central London, last August.

Last week police revealed details of the unworn designer clothes and wigs in his wardrobe, and released images of a couple they wanted to trace.

But Miss Lloyd-Jones said the outfits were probably gifts for herself or his sister Ceri.

“He said he was learning his new identity,” she said. “It was all so relaxed. That night he came over with his box file and started going through it. He had two passports.

“He was open with his family, and if he was gay and had any temptations he would have spoken about them.”

Police say it would have been impossible for him to lock himself in the holdall.

Independent : Dead MI6 spy 'was to assume new identity'

Dead MI6 spy 'was to assume new identity'

By Chris Corbishley | December 27, 2010

The MI6 spy Gareth Williams was training to take on a new identity eight months before he was found dead, a friend claimed yesterday. Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33, also insisted that he was not gay, after detectives had suggested the 31-year-old may have died at the hands of a mystery bondage sex partner.

Ms Lloyd-Jones told The Mail on Sunday: "He said he was learning his new identity... [One] night he came over with his box file and started going through it. He had two passports." Police have said it would have been impossible for Williams to lock himself in the holdall in which he was found dead in his flat in Pimlico in August.

Evidence indicates other people were in his flat, but detectives have been unable to trace them. An inquest will be held at Westminster Coroner's Court on 15 February.

Gulf News : Spy found dead at home was assigned new identity

Spy found dead at home was assigned new identity

Details of the 31-year-old's role within the secret services are disclosed in an interview with his confidante and childhood sweetheart, Sian Lloyd-Jones

By Daniel Boffey, Daily Mail | December 27, 2010

London: The spy found dead in a sports bag had been given a new identity by his MI6 bosses in the months leading up to his mysterious death.

Gareth Williams, a GCHQ codebreaker on secondment to MI6, had two passports and told his best friend that he was preparing for an undercover operation.

Details of the 31-year-old's role within the secret services are disclosed today in an interview with his confidante and childhood sweetheart, Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, she said: "I find it difficult to see anything in his personal life which could lie behind this."

Williams was training to take on a new identity eight months before he was found dead, she said.

The maths genius was found dead two days before he was due to visit Paris with his sister.

The revelations shed new light on Williams' work which, until now, had been regarded as highly technical and carrying little risk.

Training exercise

His body was found inside a zipped and padlocked North Face holdall in the bathroom of his MI6 flat on August 23. A post-mortem was inconclusive.

"He said he was learning his new identity," Lloyd-Jones said.

"In February he said he'd be unavailable for nine days because he was on a training exercise. He'd often go away, so I didn't think any more about it."

She added that she last heard from Williams on the day he was last seen alive when he was "happy and warm and the same as he always was".

Herald Scotland : [Letter] Echoes of the Devil’s Music

Echoes of the Devil’s Music

December 26, 2010

You raised the possibility that Mossad had secretly "signed off" its handiwork by including the Latin word "myrtus" in the computer code that recently disabled Iran’s nuclear facilities (Assassins, cyber worms and Iran’s nuclear ambitions, News, December 5). You report that the Hebrew word for myrtle is Hadassah, also the birth name of the Jewish Queen Esther, famous for persuading her husband to execute a pre-emptive strike against their enemies.

The probability that this Mossad signature was deliberately planted is strong. The intelligence services have a high conceit of themselves, and secret agents naturally look for forms of recognition that are normally denied them.

For example, the recent enquiry into the death of the British code breaker, Gareth Williams, was named "Operation Finlayson". Why? The explanation may be simple. There is an old story in Highland Scotland about a Mary Finlayson, who at a dance in Ross-shire announced she would dance any man in the hall – even the devil himself – off his feet. All night, Mary Finlayson danced with a tall dark stranger whom nobody knew – to the tune Bog an Lochan, known as the Devil’s Music. "Next morning they found the girl – lying cold, spread-eagled – on the floor of the hall". This story was told to me by Alec John Williamson, the last great Traveller Gaelic tradition-bearer on the mainland of Scotland and is an allegory of the dangers facing anyone who challenges the dominant order.

Now we know that the intelligence operative, Gareth Williams, was a brilliant mathematician and code-breaker from the Isle of Anglesey, the great centre of British druidism. We also know that it was in Anglesey that the Romans slaughtered "the last" of the Druids; that it was where Edward Langshanks slaughtered the remnants of Welsh druidism, and it is where the body of Gareth Williams now lies. At his funeral, Sir John Sawers, head of MI6, made a surprise appearance.

Is it possible that Gareth Williams, like Mary Finlayson, overstepped the mark and suffered death not just as a personal reward but as a clear signal to others that political hubris will not be tolerated?

Timothy Neat

Wormit, Fife

UKPA : Friend: Suitcase death spy was not gay

Friend: Suitcase death spy was not gay

UKPA | December 26, 2010

MI6 spy Gareth Williams was training to take on a new identity eight months before he was found dead, it has been reported.

And a close friend also insisted he was not gay after detectives suggested the 31-year-old may have died at the hands of a mystery bondage sex partner he met on London's gay scene.

Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33, told the Mail on Sunday that before he died, Mr Williams was studying for a new identity as he visited her central London flat.

She said: "He said he was learning his new identity. It was all so relaxed.

"He often came round with his work. That night he came over with his box file and started going through it. He had two passports."

And she said Mr Williams was a straight man who was looking for a girlfriend.

She said: "He was open with his family, and if he was gay and had any temptations he would have spoken about them, especially to his sister.

"Hand on heart, there were no innuendos about him."

She added: "He cherished the time he had with his sister and with me and he wanted that with other girls."

Police have said it would have been impossible for the dead man to lock himself in the holdall where his naked body was found.

Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

Wales Online : Police probe dead Welsh MI6 spy’s bondage links

Police probe dead Welsh MI6 spy’s bondage links

by Paul Rowland, Wales On Sunday | December 26, 2010

REVELATIONS that mystery death spy Gareth Williams visited bondage websites before his death were “not intended to add salacious detail or tittle-tattle” or embarrass his family, senior officers have insisted.

The denial came after officers investigating the death of the 31-year-old MI6 codebreaker, from Anglesey, revealed he had viewed sites showing people bound and tied, which included do-it-yourself guides.

Detectives also found an unworn £15,000 collection of women’s designer clothing, including tops, dresses and shoes in his wardrobe.

They revealed he visited a drag cabaret in east London four days before his death and held tickets to two more. Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell said police hoped the details may encourage people to come forward.

He said: “This is not intended to add salacious detail or tittle-tattle. We feel there is a small sub-group of the community or individuals who may know something about this matter and the nature of Gareth’s death.

“They are embarrassing, hurtful and distressing for the family, but they are aware of the matters we are raising.”

Mr Campbell added that investigators are sure someone else involved with the bondage or gay scene has “linked in” with Mr Williams, but police “cannot find that trace”.

He said: “We are very sure someone else was in that flat.”

Mr Williams’ body was found in a padlocked holdall in the bath of his Pimlico flat on August 23. The keys were inside.

AFP : Dead spy was in training for new identity: report

Dead spy was in training for new identity: report

AFP | December 26, 2010

LONDON — A British spy whose body was found padlocked inside a bag at his London flat in August had been training to take on a new identity in the months leading up to his death, a newspaper reported Sunday.

A close friend of Gareth Williams, 31, a codebreaker for Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, also told the Mail on Sunday paper he was not homosexual and wanted a girlfriend.

Police have suggested his death was linked to London's gay or bondage scene and thousands of pounds worth of women's clothing was found in his flat following his death.

"He said he was learning his new identity," said Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33, a close childhood friend from Wales, referring to an evening earlier this year when Williams paid her a visit.

"He often came round with his work. That night he came over with his box file and started going through it. He had two passports."

Speculation over how the intelligence agent met his mysterious death had been shifting away from his work and towards the idea it was linked to his private life.

Earlier this week, police said investigators believed someone involved in the bondage or gay scene had "linked in" with Williams.

London's Metropolitan Police revealed Williams had been logging onto bondage websites and had visited a drag cabaret in the British capital four days before his death.

But fashion stylist Lloyd-Jones, dismissed suggestions he was homosexual and said the 15,000 pounds worth of unworn designer clothes were likely a gift for her and the spy's sister, Ceri.

"I truly believe if he had any interest in homosexuality, he would have spoken to his sister and to me as well," she said.

"It would have been fine if he was but he had too much interest in women. He wanted a girlfriend and he wanted a wife and family."

On the stash of clothes, she said: "I truly believe that Ceri and I were going to receive the clothing. He was so generous you wouldn't believe."

Police have said that an expert who examined the red North Face bag in which Williams's naked body was found on August 23 had concluded that he could not have locked it himself. The keys were found inside the bag.

Police said on Wednesday they were trying to trace a couple of Mediterranean appearance known to have visited his flat in late June or July.

Williams was last seen alive around a week before his body was discovered.

He died just days before completing a one-year secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, Britain's electronic "listening post" which monitors communications for intelligence purposes, located in Cheltenham.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

Observer : MI6 codebreaker's bizarre death provides fodder for conspiracy theories

MI6 codebreaker's bizarre death provides fodder for conspiracy theories

Gareth Williams, whose body was found inside a sports bag four months ago, joins a list of unexplained deaths that fuel conspiracy theories

Jamie Doward | The Observer | December 26, 2010

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams, whose decomposing body was found locked inside a sports bag four months ago, is the latest addition to a small group whose unexplained deaths provide fodder for conspiracy theorists.

An early entrant to the club was Lionel "Buster" Crabb, an MI6 diver who in 1956 was dispatched into Portsmouth harbour to reconnoitre a Russian ship and was never seen again. A headless and handless corpse was found in the vicinity a year later, but there was no proof it was Crabb.

One of the most famous unsolved deaths is that of Roberto Calvi, found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in 1982. Suggestions that the Italian financier, who is alleged to have had links to the Vatican, the mafia and freemasonry, took his own life were dispelled and his death was classed as murder. Five people were tried in Rome in 2007 for the killing, but no one was convicted.

In 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian communist defector living in London, died after being stabbed in the thigh by a man holding an umbrella. A postmortem examination established that he had been killed by a tiny pellet containing the poison ricin. No one was charged and the subsequent deaths of those believed to have sanctioned the killing helped to perpetuate interest in the case. Markov's death bore similarities to the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in 2006 by suspected Russian agents but, again, no one was charged.

The police have cooled towards the idea that Williams's death was linked to his job, but if he had not worked for MI6 it would have gained little attention. Fascination with his demise will end only if the case is proven conclusively to have had nothing to do with his secret service activities.

Express : WAS MI6 GENIUS KILLED BY COUPLE SPYING ON HIM?

WAS MI6 GENIUS KILLED BY COUPLE SPYING ON HIM?

Detectives believe Gareth Williams was not alone in his flat when he died.

By James Murray | December 26, 2010

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams may have been murdered because he was becoming suspicious of a ­mystery couple befriending him.

Spy chiefs have been forced to ­consider the theory that the young, Mediterranean-looking couple seen at his home weeks before he died could have been foreign agents targeting him because of his superb encryption skills.

They are considering the possibility that Williams, whose naked body was found locked in a bag in his bath, was under surveillance because he was living at an address known to be used by security ­service staff in Alderney Street, Pimlico, central London.

Experienced foreign agents would have quickly built up a ­profile of the 31-year-old keen club cyclist’s double life and then worked on a plan to get close to him by exploiting his weaknesses: drag cabaret, gay bars and expensive women’s clothing and wigs. They could have befriended him by striking up conversation in one of his regular haunts.

Their approach would have been ­tailored to appeal to his fantasies. Once they had gained his confidence, they would have tried to see what secrets they could get from him.

If the couple were foreign agents trying to unearth secrets, they would have kept the relationship going for as long as ­possible. Williams may have been murdered because he started to question his new friends and they, in turn, feared being unmasked as spies.

A security source said: “With more details emerging it is obvious to see why his bosses at MI6 and GCHQ are asking more and more questions about this couple.

“If they had an innocent relationship with him and perhaps shared some of his private interests then you think they would have come forward by now just to clear themselves.

“Experienced spies would not leave a trail, which could explain why the police are seemingly banging their heads against the wall.”

Police are trying to find out who ­Williams was socialising with and want to hear from ­anyone who was at the ­Bistrotheque in London’s East End on August 13, 10 days before he died. He bought two ­tickets for two other shows at the same venue, which suggests he may have struck up friendships there.

They also want to speak to anyone who saw him at the Barcode gay bar in Vauxhall, south London, in May, when there was an unconfirmed sighting of him. Inquiries are also ­continuing at the Central St Martins College in Clerkenwell, where he had enrolled on a fashion course.

Williams’s wardrobe contained £15,000 worth of women’s designer clothes, including shoes by Christian Louboutin and items by Stella McCartney and Christopher Kane. Police want to know where he bought the clothes and why.

The mystery woman who went to his flat with a man one evening in June or July could have bought or worn some of the clothes.

Detectives believe Mr Williams was not alone in his flat when he died.

On August 23 he was found naked in a zipped and padlocked red North Face holdall which was in an empty bath in the en‑suite bathroom. The keys to the bag were under his body inside the bag.

Detective Chief Superintendent ­Hamish Campbell said: “We are very sure someone else was in the flat so we need to know the circumstances where you leave someone in that ­position by accident or design. It is unexplained and suspicious.”

There were no traces of drugs, ­alcohol or poisons in his body. An inquest will be held at Westminister Coroner’s Court in February.

Daily Mail : No more leaks about this spy Gareth Williams... just the truth

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: No more leaks about this spy Gareth Williams... just the truth

By Mail On Sunday Comment | December 26, 2010

A spy dies in sad, complicated circumstances during the summer doldrums, causing grief for his family and triggering a welter of media speculation.

Five months later, despite intensive efforts by the police and security ser­vices, we are no nearer to discovering why the body of Gareth Williams ended up in a sports bag in an MI6 safehouse.

Lurid claims have been made about his lifestyle and alleged sexual proclivities – many traceable to sources in the investigation – only to be swiftly repudiated.

The aim appears to be to suggest that his demise was linked to his private life.

Now we are told that he was not a GCHQ analyst who spent his time geekily buried in his books: he confided to his (female) best friend that he was in the process of acquiring a second identity, which suggests that his professional life was far more hazardous than we have been led to believe.

As with the death of weapons inspector David Kelly – which has never been the subject of an inquest – the suspicion ­lingers that we are being denied the full story. The rash of conspiracy theories has been the inevitable result.

Next month there will be an inquest into the death of Gareth Williams, when we should be entitled to hear the truth about how and why he died. At least we hope that is what will happen. The recent record is not encouraging.

The hearing into the death of barrister Mark Saunders, killed by the police two years ago, was undermined by the fact that the police gave their evidence anonymously. They treated it so casually that some officers even incorporated song lyrics into their testimony.

Too often ‘security concerns’ are cited as a reason to limit access to the truth, undermining the basic constitutional principle that the Judiciary should operate separately from the Executive.

In the case of Mr Williams, we owe it to him, his family and his colleagues who risk their lives daily in the interests of our country, to hold a rigorous and fully independent inquest into his death.

France 24 : Dead spy was in training for new identity: report

Dead spy was in training for new identity: report

December 26, 2010

AFP - A British spy whose body was found padlocked inside a bag at his London flat in August had been training to take on a new identity in the months leading up to his death, a newspaper reported Sunday.

A close friend of Gareth Williams, 31, a codebreaker for Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, also told the Mail on Sunday paper he was not homosexual and wanted a girlfriend.

Police have suggested his death was linked to London's gay or bondage scene and thousands of pounds worth of women's clothing was found in his flat following his death.

"He said he was learning his new identity," said Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33, a close childhood friend from Wales, referring to an evening earlier this year when Williams paid her a visit.

"He often came round with his work. That night he came over with his box file and started going through it. He had two passports."

Speculation over how the intelligence agent met his mysterious death had been shifting away from his work and towards the idea it was linked to his private life.

Earlier this week, police said investigators believed someone involved in the bondage or gay scene had "linked in" with Williams.

London's Metropolitan Police revealed Williams had been logging onto bondage websites and had visited a drag cabaret in the British capital four days before his death.

But fashion stylist Lloyd-Jones, dismissed suggestions he was homosexual and said the 15,000 pounds worth of unworn designer clothes were likely a gift for her and the spy's sister, Ceri.

"I truly believe if he had any interest in homosexuality, he would have spoken to his sister and to me as well," she said.

"It would have been fine if he was but he had too much interest in women. He wanted a girlfriend and he wanted a wife and family."

On the stash of clothes, she said: "I truly believe that Ceri and I were going to receive the clothing. He was so generous you wouldn?t believe."

Police have said that an expert who examined the red North Face bag in which Williams's naked body was found on August 23 had concluded that he could not have locked it himself. The keys were found inside the bag.

Police said on Wednesday they were trying to trace a couple of Mediterranean appearance known to have visited his flat in late June or July.

Williams was last seen alive around a week before his body was discovered.

He died just days before completing a one-year secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, Britain's electronic "listening post" which monitors communications for intelligence purposes, located in Cheltenham.

Guardian : MI6 agent Gareth Williams was not gay, says friend

MI6 agent Gareth Williams was not gay, says friend

Sian Lloyd-Jones tells Mail on Sunday that codebreaker was preparing to take on new identity before his death

Press Association | December 26, 2010

MI6 agent Gareth Williams was preparing to take on a new identity eight months before he was found dead, it was reported today.

A close friend insisted the Williams was a straight man after detectives suggested the 31-year-old may have died at the hands of a mystery bondage sex partner he met on London's gay scene.

Sian Lloyd-Jones, 33, told the Mail on Sunday that before he died, Williams was studying for a new identity as he visited her central London flat.

She said: "He said he was learning his new identity. It was all so relaxed. He often came round with his work. That night he came over with his box file and started going through it. He had two passports."

She said Williams had been looking for a girlfriend. "He was open with his family, and if he was gay and had any temptations he would have spoken about them, especially to his sister," she said. "Hand on heart, there were no innuendos about him."

She added: "He cherished the time he had with his sister and with me, and he wanted that with other girls."

Police have said it would have been impossible for the dead man to lock himself in the holdall where his naked body was found.

They also say forensic evidence indicates other people were in Williams's Pimlico flat, but they have been unable to trace them.

Scotland Yard said it was impossible to say whether Williams was already dead when he was put in the bag or suffocated once zipped inside.

The spy also hoarded unworn women's designer clothes worth £15,000 in his wardrobe alongside several wigs.

Lloyd-Jones, who went to primary school with Williams before renewing their friendship four years ago, said the outfits were probably gifts for her or his sister Ceri.

"He bought me a high-end Balenciaga top, a Gucci bag, a Mulberry bag, an Armani fur. He did the same for his sister. "I truly believe that Ceri and I were going to receive the clothing. We received so many things from him, that wouldn't have been strange," she said.

Lloyd-Jones added that the wigs could have been for a fancy dress party in October, which he planned to attend as a Japanese superhero.

Williams, of Anglesey, north Wales, was found by police at his top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico, on 23 August.

Investigators believe he died in the early hours of Monday 16 August; he was last seen the previous day returning from a shopping trip to Harrods.

His decomposing body was in a large North Face holdall sealed by a travel-style Yale padlock through the zip fasteners. The keys were inside, under his body.

The mathematician worked as a cipher and codes expert for GCHQ, the government listening station, but had been on secondment to MI6.

Postmortem tests and a police inquiry failed to determine how he died. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said it would not be making any further comment on the investigation.

An inquest will be held at Westminster coroner's court on 15 February.

Daily Mail : The secret double identity of murdered spy: Friend insists Gareth Williams was not gay - and was being trained by MI6 for undercover role

The secret double identity of murdered spy: Friend insists Gareth Williams was not gay - and was being trained by MI6 for undercover role

The spy found dead in a sports bag had been given a new identity by his MI6 bosses in the months leading up to his mysterious death.

By Daniel Boffey | December 25, 2010

Gareth Williams, a GCHQ codebreaker on secondment to MI6, had two passports and told his best friend that he was preparing for an undercover operation.

Details of the 31-year-old’s role within the secret services are disclosed today in an interview with his confidante and childhood sweetheart, Sian Lloyd-Jones.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, she said: ‘I find it difficult to see anything in his personal life which could lie behind this.’

She reveals:

* He was training to take on a new identity eight months before he was found dead.
* He often purchased designer women’s clothes, but she insists they were gifts for her and his sister.
* The maths genius was found dead two days before he was due to visit Paris with his sister.

The revelations shed new light on Mr Williams’s work which, until now, had been regarded as highly technical and carrying little risk.

His body was found inside a zipped and padlocked North Face holdall in the bathroom of his MI6 flat on August 23. A post-mortem was inconclusive.

Last week police released e-fits of a couple they wish to question and provided intimate details about Mr Williams’s life, including his interest in bondage websites and his extraordinary collection of women’s designer clothes and shoes, worth about £15,000.

But Ms Lloyd-Jones, 33, claims Mr Williams would have confided in her and his sister, Ceri, if he had any homosexual urges. Ms Lloyd-Jones, a fashion stylist, said: ‘I’m not in denial and nor is his mum, dad or sister. It would have been fine if he was [gay].

‘I have seen every item of clothing that was there. I truly believe that Ceri and I were going to receive the clothing. He was so generous you wouldn’t believe.’

She finds it difficult to see anything in his private life which could have led to his killing.

But she reveals his work was more complex than previously believed.

‘He said he was learning his new identity,’ she said. ‘In February he said he’d be unavailable for nine days because he was on a training exercise. He’d often go away, so I didn’t think any more about it.’

Ms Lloyd-Jones added that she last heard from Mr Williams on the day he was last seen alive when he was ‘happy and warm and the same as he always was’.

But it was Mr Williams’s sister – who was due to accompany him on a trip to Paris later that week – who alerted her that something may be wrong when she couldn’t get hold of him on the phone. She said that was when she became worried ‘because he’s like clockwork, he’s so predictable’.

There's no mystery about those women's clothes. He bought them for me and his sister

To Sian Lloyd-Jones, it was just another ordinary evening. A fashion stylist, she was pottering around the sitting room of her Knightsbridge flat organising outfits for the following day’s photoshoot.

Meanwhile her friend, Gareth Williams, was sitting on the sofa leafing through the contents of a black box file. Inside there were documents and notes and two passports.

‘He said he was learning his new identity,’ says Sian now. ‘It was all so relaxed. I was taping up shoes and co-ordinating outfits and he was going through his papers.

‘He often came round with his work. That night he came over with his box file and started going through it. He had two passports. He probably fell asleep on the sofa that night and stayed overnight with all the documents.’

At the time, Sian thought nothing of it. Nor did she think it significant when Gareth said he’d be ‘unavailable’ for nine days the following month as he would be away on a training exercise.

Sian knew her friend was a spy and that his job would often take him away for weeks at a time. She also knew there was a necessary element of secrecy to his life. What she couldn’t know was that eight months later, Gareth would be found dead, and in the most horrific circumstances.

It was on August 23 that police were called to Gareth’s flat in Pimlico, Central London, an MI6-owned safe house. He had been missing for more than a week. They found his decomposed body locked in a large red North Face sports bag.

In the months since, his friends and family have not only had to try to come to terms with their loss, they have had to endure a stream of unsavoury leaks from mysterious sources.

It was rumoured that Gareth, 31, was gay after bondage equipment was allegedly found in his apartment along with phone numbers for gay escorts. This was denied by the police, but by then the damage had already been done. Then there were reported irregularities in his finances, also denied.

And last week there were further lurid allegations after police said they wanted to question a Mediterranean couple who were seen calling at Gareth’s flat before he died. But as well as releasing e-fits of the unknown man and woman, they revealed that Gareth had bought £15,000 of designer clothes and shoes, including labels such as Stella McCartney and Christian Louboutin. They were all stored unopened in their bags and boxes alongside a number of women’s wigs.

Police disclosed that Gareth had visited five bondage websites, which were not pornographic but would give readers advice on how to get in and out of confined spaces. They also said they had found tickets for a number of drag shows.

Gareth devoted his life to serving his country. He was already acknowledged as a talented codebreaker and had worked for the Government listening post GCHQ for ten years before being seconded for a year to MI6. Now, it appears he was rather more than that and was involved in the type of tradecraft more commonly found in a John le Carre novel. There is even a plaque to him at GCHQ in Cheltenham in honour of his work.

'The person everyone talks about .  .  . I don’t recognise him at all. He was the complete opposite of everything that has been said about him.'

Yet the constant drip-feed of sordid allegations has not only destroyed his reputation, it suggests that he is somehow to blame for his own demise. For Sian, and for Gareth’s parents, Ian and Ellen, and sister Ceri, this has caused untold pain at an already heart-wrenching time.

Until now, those close to Gareth have kept their counsel. Yet now Sian, 33, has agreed to speak about the man she has known since she was eight; a man who is very different from the one she keeps hearing about in the media.

A bubbly, garrulous young woman, who also comes from Gareth’s home town of Holyhead, she’s not the sort of girl who would be friends with a ‘strange loner’, as Gareth has so often been painted.

She says: ‘The person everyone talks about .  .  . I don’t recognise him at all. He was the complete opposite of everything that has been said about him. It’s been awful for everyone but particularly his family. They’re at breaking point, to be honest. They’re not celebrating Christmas. They weren’t going to anyway but the latest revelations have just made it even worse for them.

‘They’re completely broken by this because it’s not the true Gareth at all. He was a lovely guy, a true, old-school gentleman. He had an excellent sense of humour and, from the bottom of my heart, he was the most charming, sensitive, gorgeous man. Truly, he was one in a million. He was somebody who really had a sound judgment for life.

‘He was very effortless as a person. Nothing was a bother to him; whether you asked him to call you a cab or do a big deed, he was always the same. He wasn’t a loner and he wasn’t lonely. He had close chums in Cheltenham whom he was very friendly with and whom he spoke highly of, but because of the line of work they do they naturally keep in the background. He loved what he did and he thrived on it. He was a workaholic. That kept him very happy and content.

‘When Gareth was not at work, I was the person he spent more time with than anyone else. I have thought about this every day since he died. I find it difficult to see anything in his personal life which could lie behind this. But I know this is a murder investigation so we must remain open to every possibility.

‘His family respect, 100 per cent, that he worked for MI6. I and the family respect the role he was
in. But personally, I don’t think we’ll ever get an answer as to what happened.’

As for the latest allegations, Sian rejects them absolutely. While most men might not keep thousands of pounds of designer clothes, she says it was merely a sign of his generosity. She told police in the summer that Gareth would often buy her and his sister, Ceri, expensive gifts and she believes the clothes were meant for them.

As if to prove it, she points to her £760 Stella McCartney PVC trousers which were a present from Gareth.

She says: ‘I’ve seen every item of clothing that was there in the flat. There was Diana von Furstenberg, Stella McCartney, all in a size 6 or 8 which he wouldn’t even fit an arm or a leg into. He was small but not that small. And the shoes they found in his apartment were not in his size, but his sister’s. He was so generous you wouldn’t believe.

'I truly believe if he had any interest in homosexuality, he would have spoken to his sister and to me as well.'

‘The list is endless. He bought me a high-end Balenciaga top, a Gucci bag, a Mulberry bag, an Armani fur. He did the same for his sister. I truly believe that Ceri and I were going to receive the clothing. We received so many things from him, that wouldn’t have been strange.’

As for the women’s wigs, Sian says there is an entirely innocent explanation. ‘He and an American friend were going to a fancy-dress party in October,’ she says. One of his hobbies was Japanese superhero cartoons and they were going to go as two of the characters. They were pink and yellow and those are the only wigs that were found.

‘I didn’t know he went to the drag clubs but I think that was quite a new thing. He spoke in depth to his sister about everything. He mentioned he’d been to the transvestite comedy club so it’s not something he was trying to hide.’

The constant implication throughout all the rumour and counter-rumour is that Gareth was gay. This is something Sian also denies. She says: ‘They said last week that he had been training in fashion, doing night school at Central St Martin’s. I didn’t know about that but I knew he liked fashion. He saw it as art.

‘He had lots of magazines at his flat, Italian Vogue and all sorts, but he was open with his family, and if he was gay and had any temptations he would have spoken about them, especially to his sister. Hand on heart, there were no “innuendoes” about him.

‘His father was his best friend and he adored his mother and his sister. He was really open with his friends and family about his personal life and I truly believe if he had any interest in homosexuality, he would have spoken to his sister and to me as well.

‘I’m not in denial and nor are Gareth’s mum, dad or sister. It would have been fine if he was but he had too much interest in women. He wanted a girlfriend and he wanted a wife and family. The truth is he wished he was better with women. He had a mild stutter, which was a big barrier as it would get worse when he was nervous.

I don’t know if he ever had a girlfriend. There weren’t any I was aware of but to be honest, we never mentioned it. I know it was my next big project to get him a girlfriend. He felt he lacked confidence with women. He cherished the time he had with his sister and with me and he wanted that with other girls. I know because Gareth had a bit of a soft spot for me.’

Sian and Gareth first met at Ysgol Gynradd Morswyn primary school where her mother, Eleri, was a dinner lady. Her father Alwyn was a BT engineer.

Gareth was two years younger than her, the brilliant child prodigy of Ian, an engineer at Wylfa power station, and Ellen, who worked in education. Sian says: ‘He was moved up two years because he was so clever. He used to read encyclo-pedias at six. Even in primary school, he was doing his GCSEs during lunchtime.

'I was quite naughty at school. I used to sell his homework. He used to have a big list. People used to come, all those who couldn’t do their maths, and he would do it for them.'

‘We were childhood sweethearts at school. Then when we went to Bodedern, our secondary school, he moved on leaps and bounds with his intellect. He really was a genius. I would say a date, say May 15, 1974, and he would count back and then say, yes it was a Wednesday. He could work it out. But if he was here today, he’d hang out and enjoy a chat and a catch up. He was so approachable.

‘I was quite naughty at school. I used to sell his homework. He used to have a big list. People used to come, all those who couldn’t do their maths, and he would do it for them. We only sold it for school dinner money, 70p a time or something like that, and I used to buy magazines. He got nothing, to be honest. He didn’t want anything. That’s how he was, how we were as friends.’

After school the two friends went their separate ways.

Mr Williams gained special permission to leave school for Bangor University aged just 15, and at 18 he left home to study for a PhD at Manchester University. Three years later, he was approached by the British security services, who apparently spotted his precocious online gaming abilities.

Sian left school at 16 to become a window-dresser for Next in Bangor before going on to become a celebrity fashion stylist. She moved to Manchester and worked on Hollyoaks and Coronation Street.

It was in Manchester, four years ago, that she bumped into Gareth again. She says: ‘It was surreal at first. I was coming down the escalators at Selfridges and I spotted him coming up. We took off again. We went out for a drink and chatted. To be honest with you, I think we were both slightly in awe of each other. We were both excited by what the other was doing and amused too. He told me he was working for GCHQ.

‘We talked for a couple of hours and made a pact we would always stay in touch, and we did. We called each other every week from then on. And he would come up roughly once a month. He was hugely into music, from classical to rap. Music was his life. He’d always tie up his visits with a gig at the MEN Arena or the Apollo. I never went with him, I’d meet him afterwards or the next day. He’d often help me with the shopping for my shoots.’

Two years ago Sian moved to London, where she lives with her partner of three years Saul Herd, 37, who runs a corporate flooring company. Gareth also moved to the capital after he was seconded to MI6.

She says: ‘Our friendship deepened. We didn’t have many friends around us – he’d moved from Cheltenham, I’d moved from Manchester – and so we stuck closely together. We’d grown up together and enjoyed each other’s company.

‘We used to go to Nobu Berkeley Square in Mayfair. He always treated me. We just used to hang out.

‘Sometimes we’d go to the Fifth Floor bar at Harvey Nichols and drink cocktails. It would be apple sours for me. He would have a non-alcoholic cocktail. He used to join in with whatever was there, white wine or champagne if there was a group, but he wasn’t a drinker. If it was just me and him he wouldn’t have anything at all.

‘He used to just turn up at any time. He was always welcome. I might have spoken to him and told him I was finishing late and he would pop round. Sometimes he would stay over on the sofa. He would always bring me a bottle of rosé and often some cigarettes. He was a true old-school gentleman.

‘He loved candles. He used to love burning my expensive candles and then we’d have a catch-up and a gossip. There was no one like him, I had such an in-depth relationship with him. He was so knowledgeable about everything from restaurants to cars to maths to politics.’

Sian last saw Gareth in April. She had moved back to Wales for a while to take a break from the pressures of London life, while he was preparing to go on a driving holiday to the West Coast of America during July and August.

She says: ‘Before he went to America, we went down to Trearddur Bay and watched the sunset. We’d spent the whole afternoon together. I was at home with my parents and he stopped by. He was excited about his trip. He seemed very together. There was nothing troubling him. It was just a lovely, completely normal afternoon.’

She had no way of knowing she would never see Gareth again. The couple stayed in touch, as ever, on the phone and he called her on August 14, the day of the last known sighting of him at Holland Park Tube station. She says: ‘He just said, “Hi darling, how’s it hanging?”

‘He said he was leaving London and moving back to Cheltenham, and wondering when we would meet up next. He was happy and warm and the same as he always was. He left the message on the Saturday but I didn’t get it until the Wednesday as I was in Spain for work and couldn’t pick up messages abroad.

‘He was fine, which is why I’m sure he didn’t try to take his own life. And anyway, he’d never do that. He loved his family too much to commit suicide. Then on August 23, the day he was found, Ceri called me at 11am and asked if I’d heard from him. I said, “Yes, a week ago.” He and Ceri were due to go to Paris on the Wednesday of that week. She’d tried to get in touch over the weekend and there was no answer on the home phone or the mobile.

‘It was odd she hadn’t heard from him, particularly as they were going away. She said, “What do you think?” I told her I was sure it was nothing to worry about. But the minute I put the phone down, I knew something was wrong. He was like clockwork, so predictable. It was completely out of character for him.

‘I spoke to Ceri again later and we both admitted we were worried. We thought he must have had an accident or something. She called his work and they said he hadn’t shown up for a meeting on Wednesday.’

That day all their lives changed when Gareth was found dead. A month later, on September 24, they buried Gareth at Bethel Methodist Chapel in Anglesey. The head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, attended.

Sian says: ‘The family were really happy he came. There were around 20 people from his work there. They came in through the back door of the chapel and had a separate area they were guided into. To be honest, I don’t think anyone really noticed as there were so many people there.’

But they can never fully lay Gareth to rest until they have some idea as to how, and why, he died. Sian says: ‘I’m not sure we ever will know but the family need some answers. If anyone has any information about what happened to Gareth, I hope they will come forward. It’s not fair for his family to suffer like this.

Telegraph : New Mossad chief to apologise for use of UK passports in Dubai killing

New Mossad chief to apologise for use of UK passports in Dubai killing

By Gordon Thomas | December 25, 2010

The new head of Israel's secret service, Mossad, is ready to apologise for the use of forged British passports during the assassination of a leading Hamas militant in Dubai.

Tamir Pardo, who took over as Mossad's chief earlier this month, will also promise that Israeli agents will never again be allowed to use fake British documents during operations abroad.

Mossad insiders say he will make the pledges to officials in London and, he hopes, in private meetings with the foreign secretary, William Hague, and the home secretary, Theresa May, as part of an urgent drive to rebuild relations with the UK government, thrown into disarray earlier this year.

In March Britain expelled Mossad's station chief in London, a key foreign posting, after an investigation blamed Israel's secret service for cloning 12 British passports that were found among 26 forged identity documents used by the hit squad that murdered Mahmoud al Mabhouh in January.

David Milliband, then foreign secretary, told MPs that Israel had shown a "profound disregard" for British sovereignty, adding: "The fact that this was done by a country which is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury."

Mr Pardo, 57, who was deputy director of Mossad for the past three years, is said by a source involved in the planning of the operation to have argued against using British, Irish and Australian passports for the team sent to murder al Mabhouh in his hotel room.

But Meir Dagan, the Mossad chief who stepped aside this month, insisted that with so many visitors from those three countries travelling to Dubai, their passports would not be scrutinised. After the Dubai debacle, the source said, Mr Pardo warned Dagan that the "whole business will come home to haunt us".

Mr Pardo, known as "T" to fellow Mossad officers since he joined the service 30 years ago, is said to regard the expulsion of the service's top official in London as a blow to the organisation. Since then official collaboration between Mossad and the British agencies responsible for security at home and abroad, MI5 and MI6, has been badly dented, to the detriment of both.

But Mr Dagan bluntly refused to apologise over the use of the faked passports – let alone offer the guarantee demanded by Britain that the theft would not recur.

Mr Pardo's apology and pledge during a visit to London that is expected early in January would be the first official acknowledgement by Israel that it was behind the assassination of the Hamas leader in Dubai.

He is expected to brief officials on Mossad's plans to provide Britain and Nato with increased intelligence over Iran's nuclear weapons programme. Mossad has a network of undercover agents in the country.

He also intends to increase Mossad's role in Yemen and to spearhead the hunt for al-Qaeda's new chief of military operations, Saif al-Adel, who Mossad believe is based in Somalia.

At the same time he wants to expand Mossad's watch over the SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service, which is an increasing presence in Syria and Turkey – and is using both countries as launch pads from which to enter Europe. In his first briefing to senior staff after he took up his new post, Mr Pardo said Mossad had a key role to play in helping the West win what he called "the new Cold War".

He wants to persuade Britain's intelligence chiefs – Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6 and Jonathan Evans, the MI5 director – that it is now essential for the relationship with Mossad to be rebuilt. Sir John and he are said by insiders to have had an exploratory telephone conversation soon after the new Mossad chief took up his new job.

He has already made his first move to mend fences by deploying Mossad's powerful facial recognition technology to assist in solving the mystery of the death of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams, whose body was discovered in a padlocked bag in the bath of a flat in London.

The sophisticated system, known as Faces, is being used to sift through Mossad's vast database of faces to try to match e-fit images of the couple of Mediterranean appearance who Scotland Yard detectives believe had visited the flat in previous weeks. The Israeli agency believes the man is likely to be of Greek origin and the woman to have a Lebanese background.

Mr Pardo hopes to negotiate the return of a new station chief - the top Mossad post in London - who, because of Israel's normally friendly relations with Britain, would be formally "declared" to the Foreign Office as a Mossad officer working undercover as a diplomat at the Israeli embassy. The United States and some other countries deemed to be "friendly" have similar arrangements with the Foreign Office, which allows a spy to meet on a regular – and more open basis – Britain's own intelligence chiefs and senior government officers.

Ari Ben-Menashe, a former national security adviser to the Israeli government, has described "declared" positions as the plums among Mossad's foreign postings. "Socially, especially around Christmas, the station chief gets invites to every government party," he said. "The same with national holidays like Australia or Bastille days. A station chief has his membership for most of the exclusive clubs around Whitehall, and he gets to meet all sorts of interesting people."

Mr Pardo is himself an expert in telephone tapping and the discreet photographing of a target who has operated for Mossad all over the world.

He will brief British officials on how Mossad has placed deep cover agents in areas where MI6 cannot easily operate in Asia, Yemen and Iran. It has also established the strength of China's cyber war ability to attack the West. Mossad also has agents in Afghanistan tracking the Taliban.

Gordon Thomas is the author of Gideon's Spies, The Inside Story of Israel's Legendary Secret Service (JR Books)

Sydney Morning Herald : MI6 spy's death may have been linked to interest in bondage

MI6 spy's death may have been linked to interest in bondage

Vikram Dodd | December 24, 2010

LONDON: British detectives believe the death of the MI6 spy Gareth Williams will be solved by getting an insight into his private life after they revealed he had visited bondage websites and a drag club and had £15,000 ($23,000) worth of unworn designer womenswear in his wardrobe.

Mr Williams's decomposed body was discovered in a padlocked bag in his apartment, about a kilometre from MI6 headquarters in London where he was a senior analyst.

Police believe he died a week earlier, early on August 16, and that someone else was present. Tests have shown no signs of a struggle or forced entry and no sign that he was drugged.

Scotland Yard's detectives gave their best account of Mr Williams's death. They revealed:

He used his iPhone to visit websites on bondage and escaping from bondage.

He must have been padlocked into the bag by someone else as it was impossible for him to have locked himself inside.

Once in the bag, with the keys inside, he could have survived for only 30 minutes.

Four days before his death, he went to a drag club called Bistrotheque in east London to see an act called Jimmy Woo, and had tickets for two similar performances at a pub in Vauxhall, near MI6 headquarters.

When Mr Williams's remains were found by police on August 23, they also discovered £15,000 of unworn women's clothing, wigs and shoes in his wardrobe.

Speculation has been rife that Mr Williams's highly secretive work might explain his death. He worked as an expert on codes at the government's eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham, in the west of England, before moving to MI6 on a secondment.

But Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, the head of homicide at Scotland Yard, said: ''This is not linked to his work - it's his private life.''

He said police had been reluctant to make public details of Mr Williams's private life, knowing it could prove distressing to his family, but were doing so now because his lifestyle could be important to solving whether his death was a sex game gone wrong, manslaughter or murder.

Superintendent Campbell said: ''Somebody must have been there to secure him in the bag on a voluntary or involuntary basis. If someone was there and it was a voluntary activity gone wrong, why not cut him free or call an ambulance?

''The alternative scenario is there is maybe something more sinister to it. We just don't know.''

Montreal Gazette : Dead male, British spy owned wardrobe of women's clothes

Dead male, British spy owned wardrobe of women's clothes

By Duncan Gardham, Daily Telegraph | December 23, 2010

A British spy whose naked body was found padlocked in a sports bag had been visiting bondage websites and drag clubs and had $25,000 collection of women's clothing, police have disclosed.

Officers investigating the death of Gareth Williams, a code-breaker who was on secondment to MI6, have released details of his unusual private life and explained the extraordinary riddle that surrounds his death.

While the death is officially described as "suspicious" rather than murder, officers also released photos of a Mediterranean couple who visited the apartment a few weeks later and let themselves in with a key.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, the head of Scotland Yard's murder squad, said he was aware that the details would be "embarrassing, hurtful and distressing" for Williams's family but said they supported the appeal for anyone who had encountered him in the nightclubs, online or at women's clothing shops to come forward.

"We are very sure that someone else was in that flat.

"We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design," he said.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, described Williams, 31, from Anglesey in Wales, as an "intensely private person" who kept his way of life hidden from friends and family.

His body was found in a red North Face bag on Aug. 23 after he failed to turn up to work at MI6's headquarters in London.

Inside his flat in central London, police found half a dozen boxes with neatly folded, apparently unused women's designer clothing and shoes, along with a number of wigs.

The clothing had been bought online and in London's West End, starting in 2008 and up until a few weeks before Williams died.

They were in small sizes that would have fit Williams, who was five-foot-eight and weighed around 126 pounds.

The labels included Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin shoes, and the collection came to around $25,000.

Williams was not in debt, police said, and there were no signs that unaccounted for sums of money had been paid in to or left his bank account.

Unknown to his family and colleagues, Williams had attended two short courses in fashion design, one in 2010 and one in 2009.

Examination of his personal laptop and personal mobile phone showed that he had visited five separate bondage websites, beginning with a search on the online encyclopedia site Wikipedia and followed up with specialist bondage websites.

Keys to the padlock on the sports bag in which Williams was discovered were lying underneath the spy's naked body, police say.

An expert on rescuing people from confined spaces told investigators it would be impossible to lock the North Face bag from the inside.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Sky Valley Chronicle : BRITISH POLICE SEARCH FOR MYSTERIOUS COUPLE

BRITISH POLICE SEARCH FOR MYSTERIOUS COUPLE

As bondage websites may hold key to spy’s death

December 23, 2010

(INTERNATIONAL) -- In a strange set of circumstances that read like a pulp fiction spy novel, London police detectives believe the mysterious death of spy Gareth Williams may be solved by gaining more information about his private life after they earlier revealed he had visited bondage websites and a drag club and had £15,000 worth of unworn designer women’s wear in his wardrobe.

Williams's decomposed body was discovered in a padlocked satchel in his apartment, which is less than a mile from MI6 headquarters in London where he was a senior analyst.

Police think he had died a week earlier in the early hours of August 16th.

They also believe someone else was present at his death although they say tests show no signs of a struggle or forced entry into the apartment and no sign that he was drugged.

So far police have released the following information about the spy’s death.

• Williams used his smartphone to visit websites on bondage (and escape from bondage) in the months before his death.

• He had been padlocked into the satchel by someone else as police say it was impossible for him to have locked himself inside.

• Once padlocked in the bag, with the keys inside, he could only have survived for about 30 minutes before suffocating.

• Police are trying to locate a mysterious couple, a man and woman of Mediterranean appearance, who visited his block and claimed to have a key to his apartment weeks before Williams's death.

• Just four days before he died, Williams went to a drag club in east London to see an act called Jimmy Woo, and had tickets for two similar performances at a pub close to MI6 headquarters.

• A witness told police that Williams had been seen at a gay bar in Vauxhall months before his death.

When Williams's decomposing body was found August 23rd police also discovered £15,000 of unworn women's designer clothing, wigs and shoes in his closet.

It is now believed Williams had been leading a secret life of a gay man in his off hours unknown to family, friends or coworkers.

The high fashion women’s clothing found in the apartment was in original boxes or wrapping paper and appeared unworn.

Williams had enrolled in two fashion design courses in London in 2009 and 2010.

Scottish Daily Record : Revealed: MI6 spy found dead in a holdall loved bondage and had £15k hoard of women's designer clothes

Revealed: MI6 spy found dead in a holdall loved bondage and had £15k hoard of women's designer clothes

By Jon Clements | December 23, 2010

THE MI6 spy found dead in a padlocked bag lived a double life - spending £15,000 on women's clothes and visiting bondage websites.

Codebreaker Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old maths genius, owned Stella McCartney dresses, tops by Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin shoes.

There is no evidence that Williams wore the clothes or some wigs he had bought - but he hid his interest in women's clothing from spy chiefs at the Government listening post GCHQ.

Detectives have found out that while tracking al-Qaeda suspects and countering Chinese hackers, Williams took two evening courses in ladies' fashion.

Drag Yesterday, police issued e-fits of a Mediterranean couple suspected of having a key to Williams's flat.

They revealed Williams visited bondage websites and researched tying himself up and escapology.

He also watched drag queen Jimmy Woo at east London bar Bistrotheque three days before he died and bought tickets for other acts at the gay pub.

But he is not known to have had any sexual partners and there is no evidence that he was gay.

Scotland Yard detectives believe Williams died in a sex game which went wrong when both keys to the padlock were left inside the bag. Officers released the details with the consent of the spy's grief-stricken family as part of a new appeal for information.

Detective Chief Super-intendent Hamish Campbell said: "We are trying to say if his death is a direct result of what we have seen on the internet, bondage sites, escape - that is not a wide community.

"This is trying to set out the plain facts, unpalatable as they are, embarrassing as they are, to someone in that world. It may be they meet on the net or at Bistrotheque and maybe someone came back to the flat with him."

Williams is believed to have died early on August 16 - a week before his body was found naked inside a waterproof North Face duffel bag. He was lying on his back with his legs bent under him and hands on his chest.

Dcs Campbell said: "We are very assured someone else was in the flat so we need to know the circumstances where you leave someone in that position.

"It is unexplained and suspicious."

Reuters : Dead MI6 worker visited bondage sites, drag cabaret

Dead MI6 worker visited bondage sites, drag cabaret

By Michael Holden | December 23, 2010

LONDON (Reuters) - Police probing the death of a man who worked for MI6 said on Wednesday he had visited bondage websites and had a wardrobe full of thousands of pounds worth of unworn women's clothing.

Gareth Williams, 30, was found by police on August 23 at his top floor flat in Pimlico, central London, not far from MI6 headquarters. Officers discovered his naked, decomposing body in a zipped and padlocked holdall bag in an empty bath.

Detectives said an examination of his phones had revealed that on a few occasions he had accessed websites relating to bondage and escape from bondage.

Williams had also visited a drag cabaret 10 days before his body was found and had tickets for two other shows. There was also an unconfirmed sighting of him at the "Barcode" gay bar in south London in May.

"Gareth's death remains suspicious and unexplained, and enquiries into the circumstances continue," said Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry.

Media reported that Sebire was now convinced someone else had helped put him into the bag.

Nothing was believed to have been stolen from the flat and there was no sign of any forced entry or disturbance inside. Toxicology tests on his body have found no traces of alcohol, drugs or poisons.

Police also disclosed that Williams had a collection of dresses and shoes worth about 15,000 pounds in his wardrobe which were new and appeared to be unused.

Williams had been attending a fashion course for beginners at Clerkenwell in central London, detectives said.

They also issued e-fits of a couple, both of Mediterranean appearance, aged between 20 and 30, who had paid a visit to Williams' flat about a month before he was found dead.

The couple had suggested to a witness in the communal area of the block at that time that they had a key to his flat which they had been given by someone called "Pier Paulo."

"Gareth was a very private individual, and we know he would not have given his keys to anyone other than close family," Sebire said. "I am asking this man or woman, or anyone who recognizes them, to encourage them to come forward."

The mysterious nature of the death has led some to question whether he was targeted because of his work. However, the police inquiry is being carried out by its homicide unit, indicating they believe it is not related to terrorism or spy matters.

Williams was working for MI6, which deals with foreign espionage matters, on secondment from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the state eavesdropping service.

An inquest into his death is due to be heard at Westminster Coroner's Court on February 15 next year.

(Editing by Steve Addison)

Herald Scotland : Plea to gay community for help in explaining spy’s death

Plea to gay community for help in explaining spy’s death

Chris Greenwood | December 23, 2010

Mystery death spy Gareth Williams visited a series of bondage websites in the months before his bizarre death, police have revealed.

The MI6 codebreaker, whose naked, decomposing body was found in a padlocked holdall with the keys inside in the bath of his central London flat four months ago, had viewed sites showing people bound and tied. They included do-it-yourself guides to the fetish.

Police also found a £15,000 collection of unworn women’s designer clothing including tops, dresses and shoes in his wardrobe and revealed Mr Williams, 31, had visited a drag cabaret in east London four days before his death and held tickets to two more such events.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry that has been delving into the life of the intensely private man, yesterday said she remained convinced someone else helped put him in the bag.

She told a news conference that a witness had seen him at a gay bar several months before his death, but police did not know for certain if he was gay.

She added that police believe they will get to the bottom of the spy’s death.

She said: “We remain completely open-minded about how he died. We are appealing today to someone who is out there to come forward and tell us more.”

The Government Communications Headquarters intelligence officer had been on a year-long secondment to the spy agency from the Government’s eavesdropping headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, which was due to end days after he was found dead on August 23.

He was discovered by police after he was reported missing. The discovery immediately sparked lurid speculation that included unfounded media reports he may have targeted by people with links to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Theories were put forward that he was killed by those who wanted to steal state secrets.

However, there were also a suggestion from the outset that he died following a sex game that had gone wrong and police have been concentrating on this line of inquiry.

No evidence of drugs, alcohol or poisons were found during a battery of tests conducted by toxicologists, said Ms Sebire, who also revealed police have forensic evidence that other people whom they have been unable to trace were in the flat.

Mr Williams, of Anglesey, North Wales, was last seen alive on August 15, eight days before he was found dead in the £400,000 property.

Mrs Sebire said the six boxes of unworn designer clothing found in a wardrobe included pieces by Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin that had been bought at London boutiques and online.

She said the clothing was in various sizes, all small, and a number of women’s wigs were also found. The items had not been worn or hung up, the buttons were done up and items were still wrapped in paper.

However, Ms Sebire said Mr Williams attended two fashion design courses at Central St Martins College in the capital. His employers did not know he had taken part in or that he was interested in fashion.

She said it was a possibility the clothing purchases were linked to the diploma courses for beginners, which Mr Williams had passed.

Ms Sebire said analysis of Mr Williams’s phones and laptops revealed he visited no more than five bondage websites and had spent between 30 minutes and an hour on the sites from the end of last year until July, shortly before his death on August 16.

However, he did not appear “obsessed” with the subject and no other pornography was found in Alderney Street, she added.

She continued: “The sites primarily feature women and there are guides on how to do certain things.”

On the dead man’s sexuality, the lead officer said: “We do not have any evidence to suggest that he was gay. We have not spoken to any past or present sexual partner, whether male or female.

“We know he was intensely private, and however difficult this might be for someone who has had any interaction with Gareth, it would really help us if they came forward so we know if that side of his life had any relevance to his death.”

Mr Williams attended Bistroteque in the east end of London on Friday August 13. Police said the restaurant, bar and theatre venue hosted Jimmy Woo, a drag cabaret act, that night and the spy went alone.

Others who were at the event have told police Mr Williams chatted amicably with some of the audience.

Mr Williams, who lived alone, also held tickets for drag shows that took place after his death.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell said police hope that revealing some details of Mr Williams’ private life may encourage people to come forward.

He said: “This is not intended to add salacious detail or tittle-tattle. We feel there is some small sub-group of the community or individuals who may know something about this matter and the nature of Gareth’s death.

Mr Campbell added that investigators were sure someone else involved with the bondage or gay scene had “linked in” with Mr Williams.

He said: “We are very sure that someone else was in that flat. We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design. Maybe, by explaining to the public, someone will think: ‘I get it and I can explain.”

Visiting pair are sought by detectives

MI6 spy Gareth Williams may have died at the hands of a mystery bondage sex partner he met on London’s gay scene, detectives have suggested.

Police have released two e-fits of a couple who they said they were visiting Mr Williams’s home in late June or July. The casually dressed Mediterranean couple, in their twenties, were buzzed through the communal entrance by another resident at the property in Pimlico.

They suggested they had been given a key by “Pierre Palo” and were on their way to flat four.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire said that an expert brought in to examine the red North Face holdall in which Mr Williams was found concluded he could not have locked it himself. The zip was held shut by a common travel-style Yale padlock through holes in two zip fasteners.

Tests found the temperature inside the bag would have risen to 30°C within three minutes. An expert on survivability in confined spaces from the National Policing Improvement Agency said he would have suffocated in 30 minutes.

She said Mr Williams probably died in the early hours of August 16, a week before he was found, and there was no sign of injury apart from bruising to his elbows, which might have occurred some time before his death.

Speaking about how Mr Williams ended up in the bag, Mrs Sebire said an expert found it was “quite easy” to fit someone inside. She said: “If he was alive, he got into it voluntarily or, if not, he was unconscious and placed in the bag.

“There is forensic evidence that indicates the presence of other people that we have not been able to eliminate yet.”

Mrs Sebire said there was no evidence Mr Williams was suicidal and no signs of forced entry at the flat. None of his possessions were laid out in a “ritualistic” manner, she added.

Mr Williams had a laptop and four mobile phones, including at least one pay-as-you go handset. The death remains suspicious and unexplained and no conclusive cause of death has been found. An inquest will be held at Westminster Coroner’s Court on February 15.

Mirror : Body in the bag spy Gareth Williams spent £15,000 on women's clothes and visited bondage websites

Body in the bag spy Gareth Williams spent £15,000 on women's clothes and visited bondage websites

by Jon Clements | December 23, 2010

THE MI6 codebreaker found dead in a padlocked bag had researched bondage websites – and spent £15,000 on women’s clothes, police revealed yesterday.

Maths genius Gareth Williams, 31, had visited four bondage sites and looked into how people escape after tying themselves up.

Det Chief Supt Hamish Campbell, investigating his bizarre death, said: “We’re trying to see if it was as a direct result of what we’ve seen on the net – bondage sites and escape.”

Officers released the details with the consent of the spy’s grief-stricken family as part of a new appeal for information.

They also said Mr Williams owned Stella McCartney dresses and Christian Louboutin designer shoes. He kept his interest in the clothes and wigs a secret – but there is no evidence he wore any of them.

Scotland Yard believes Mr Williams, who was found naked in his flat, died in a weird sex game which went wrong when both keys to the padlock were accidentally left in the bag.

Detectives say someone else must have been involved because it would have been impossible for Mr Williams to lock himself inside.

Det Chief Supt Campbell said: “We’re sure someone else was in the flat so need to know the circumstances where you leave someone in that position by accident or by design. It’s unexplained and suspicious.”

As police issued e-fits of a Mediterranean couple suspected of having a key to Mr Williams’ flat in Pimlico, Central London, other revelations about his private life were revealed. While he worked tracking al-Qaeda suspects at the government listening post at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucs, Mr Williams took two evening courses in women’s fashion.

He saw drag queen Jimmy Woo at East London bar Bistrotheque three days before he died and bought tickets to two similar acts at a gay pub.

Police also said Mr Williams is not known to have had any sexual partners and there is no evidence he was gay.

The inquiry continues to focus on the man and woman buzzed into the block of flats a few weeks before he died.

An intelligence officer at the GCHQ-owned apartments spoke briefly to the couple and was told a man called Pier Paulo had given them the key. They went upstairs towards Mr Williams’ flat but were not seen going inside.

Det Chief Insp Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, said: “Gareth was an intensely private person and would not give his key to anybody, so the fact they had the key for his flat could be a very important detail in unlocking a part of his private life we’ve yet to uncover.”

Mr Williams, of Holyhead, Anglesey, is believed to have died on August 16, a week before his body was found inside the North Face bag. He was lying on his back with his legs bent under him and with his hands on his chest.

An expert in confined spaces from the National Policing Improvement Agency estimates that anyone inside the waterproof holdall would have run out of oxygen after half an hour.

Mr Williams was uninjured apart from small bruises on his elbows, and tests found there were no drugs, poison or alcohol in his system. His inquest takes place in February.

There were no signs of a disturbance at the apartment and nothing was missing.

Express : BONDAGE GAMES CLUE TO SPY GARETH WILLIAMS DEATH

BONDAGE GAMES CLUE TO SPY GARETH WILLIAMS DEATH

by John Twomey | December 23, 2010

SPY Gareth Williams led a secret double life as a women’s fashion designer and visited bondage websites shortly before he died, police revealed yesterday.

The MI6 codebreaker passed two courses in fashion design at a prestige college and had a collection of women’s designer clothes and shoes worth £15,000.

Much of the clothing was still in boxes and none had been worn, Scotland Yard said. He had also bought women’s wigs.

Mr Williams, 31, was found dead inside a zipped and padlocked sports holdall in his top floor flat in Pimlico, London, on August 23. He is believed to have died on August 16.

Despite the female clothing and the occasional visits to gay bars, police have found no evidence that he was homosexual.

But they have discovered Mr Williams had an interest in bondage.

Checks on his personal laptop computer and his four mobile phones have revealed he occasionally logged on to bondage websites.

Mr Williams was found naked. The padlock keys were inside the red North Face bag, which was in the bath.

Detectives are certain that someone else was with Mr Williams when he got into the bag.

It is impossible to zip up and lock the holdall from the inside, or to escape without help.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire said: “We want that person to come forward and talk to us.”

Police are still trying to trace a young Mediterranean couple who called at Mr Williams’s flat in the weeks before his death and yesterday they released e-fits of the pair.

The pair were let into the communal hallway and said they had a key to the spy’s flat.

It is not known whether Mr Williams was in at the time – or even if they went inside.

The couple, said to be in their 20s, spoke to a neighbour and said they had got the key from someone called “Pier Paulo.”

Neither Mr Williams’s fashion design studies or his fetish for bondage was known to his MI6 spymasters or his family.

The exact cause of death is still unknown, although suffocation is the most likely explanation.

An expert in confined spaces, who was locked inside a similar bag, found the temperature soared to 30C in three minutes.

After half-an-hour, the oxygen level in the bag, which is made of thick, weatherproof material, became dangerously low. DCI Sebire said: “Expert evidence is that it is not possible to lock yourself inside without assistance, or unlock yourself once you’re in the bag.”

Speaking about the website visits, DCI Sebire said: “It was very limited sections of time. It is not like continual browsing.

“It was not every evening or weekend. The sites primarily feature women.”

Mr Williams, who worked for the government listening post GCHQ and was on secondment to MI6, studied fashion design at Central St Martins College in London.

He was awarded diplomas after passing beginners’ courses this year and last year.

Police have spoken to fellow students, but want to hear from anyone who knew him at college or through his interest in fashion. They also want to speak to anyone who met Williams when he visited a drag queen cabaret at the Bistrotheque in Bethnal Green, east London, on August 13.

He had tickets for similar shows at a gay pub in Vauxhall, south London, for dates after his death.

DCI Sebire said: “We do not have any evidence to suggest that he was gay.

“We have not spoken to any past or present sexual partner, whether male or female.

“We know he was intensely private, and however difficult this might be for someone who has had any interaction with Gareth, it would really help us if they came forward so we know if that side of his life had any relevance to his death.”

Anyone with information should call the incident room on 020 8358 0200.

Callers who wish to remain anonymous can ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Sun : Dresspionage: MI6 spy found dead in bag had 15,000 of dresses and shoes at his flat

Dresspionage: MI6 spy found dead in bag had 15,000 of dresses and shoes at his flat

By MIKE SULLIVAN | December 23, 2010

THE spy found dead in a bag at his flat had 15,000 worth of women's designer dresses and shoes, cops said yesterday.

MI6 code breaker Gareth Williams, 31, had also been using a string of bondage websites.

Some featured claustrophilia, in which confined spaces are used to get sexual kicks.

Mr Williams is thought to have died after a kinky game went wrong with a mystery partner.

Police yesterday appealed for the unknown person to come forward.

They also released an e-fit of a couple of Mediterranean appearance who visited the spook late at night a few weeks before he died.

The posh clothing - produced by fashion stars including Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin - was inside six boxes.

The garments - all unused - were in small sizes but could have been worn by fitness enthusiast and cyclist Mr Williams, who was 5ft 8in and weighed just over 9st.

Det Chief Insp Jackie Sebire revealed that several wigs were also at the flat.

She said: "The items of clothing by select designers were purchased online and also in West End stores and boutiques.

"We would like to hear from anyone who may have served him to assist in helping us establish what the clothing was for.

"The clothing was all unopened and packed in boxes but we have evidence he bought them."

Ms Sebire added: "We know more than one person was in the flat at the time Gareth died and want them to come forward.

"There is no evidence that he was gay and we have not traced any past or present sexual partners."

Mr Williams's family, from Anglesey, North Wales, gave cops permission to reveal the information in an attempt to establish how he died.

The GCHQ worker, on a year-long attachment to MI6, was found dead in his flat in Pimlico, South West London, on August 23.

Investigators have discovered he attended a cabaret by drag queen Jimmy Woo at the Bistroteque, in Bethnal Green, East London, two nights before he died.

Tickets for two forthcoming drag queen concerts were found in his flat.

A witness claims they saw the maths genius in a gay haunt called Barcode in Vauxhall, South London, three months before he died.

Cops also found that at the end of last year Mr Williams began an eight-week fashion designing course at Central Saint Martins College, Clerkenwell, central London.

The News [Pakistan] : Dead MI6 spy Gareth Williams ‘visited bondage websites’

Dead MI6 spy Gareth Williams ‘visited bondage websites’

December 23, 2010

LONDON: An MI6 spy found dead in a padlocked holdall in his central London flat had accessed bondage websites several times, police have revealed.

Gareth Williams, 31, from Holyhead on Anglesey, had also visited a drag show and owned £15,000 worth of women’s designer clothing, detectives said.

Mr Williams’ naked body was found at his Pimlico flat in August. Police believe other people helped the MI6 codebreaker to get into the holdall and want to speak to them. Officers have released e-fit images of a couple who they said visited Mr Williams’ Alderney Street home in June or July.

Det Ch Insp Jackie Sebire said: “We remain completely open-minded about how he died. “We are appealing today to someone who is out there to come forward and tell us more.” Police revealed Mr Williams viewed websites showing people bound and tied, which included do-it-yourself guides.

The two e-fit images issued by police show a casually-dressed couple of Mediterranean appearance, thought to be in their 20s, who were buzzed through the communal entrance of his home by another resident in late June or July.

Daily Star : MI6 BAG SPY 'DIED IN EX GAMES WITH MYSTERY COUPLE'

MI6 BAG SPY 'DIED IN EX GAMES WITH MYSTERY COUPLE'

By Emma Wall | 23rd December 2010

POLICE are hunting this mystery couple in connection with the death of spy-in-a-bag Gareth Williams.

The e-fits released yesterday show the pair believed to have visited his flat in the weeks before he died.

M16 codebreaker Gareth was found locked in a holdall with the keys inside at his London flat in August.

Investigators believe someone else fastened the padlock on the bag, pictured right, before leaving him in the bath.

The 31-year-old visited a series of bondage websites in the months before he died. Several showed people bound and tied, and included do-it-yourself guides.

A £15,000 collection of unworn women’s designer clothing was also found stashed in his wardrobe.

Police said Gareth visited a drag cabaret four days before his death and held tickets to two more. A witness also claims he was spotted at a popular gay bar.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire said she is convinced someone helped to put Gareth in the bag and believes the key to the mystery lies in his private life.

She said: “We are appealing today to someone who is out there to come forward and tell us more.”

GCHQ code-breaker Gareth, who had been on secondment to MI6, does not appear to have taken drugs or alcohol, nor does he appear to have been poisoned.

But forensic tests showed other people were in the flat. Police said the e-fit couple visited his home in late June or July.

The casually-dressed Mediterranean pair, in their 20s, were buzzed through the communal entrance by another resident.

Det Ch Supt Hamish Campbell said investigators were sure someone involved with the bondage or gay scene had “linked in” with Williams.

He said: “We are very sure that someone else was in that flat. We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design.

“Maybe, by explaining to the public, someone will think: ‘I get it and I can explain.'”

DCI Sebire said police still did not know for certain that Gareth was gay and appealed for more information about his private life.

An inquest will be held at Westminster Coroner’s Court in February.

emma.wall@dailystar.co.uk

Independent : MI6 spy 'visited bondage sites' before his death

MI6 spy 'visited bondage sites' before his death

By Kim Sengupta, Defence Correspondent | December 23, 2010

Photofits have been released of a man and a woman whom police want to question in connection with the death of an MI6 spy found dead in a padlocked holdall in his central London flat.

Detectives say Gareth Williams, 31, was unlikely to have been alone at the time of his death. The couple were seen visiting the flat where he lived in Pimlico, south-west London, several weeks before the decomposing body in the bag was discovered in a bathtub on 23 August.

Police disclosed yesterday that Mr Williams, who worked as a codebreaker for the intelligence service, owned £15,000 worth of women's designer clothes. He had also viewed a number of bondage websites which showed people bound and tied.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the investigation, revealed that police have forensic evidence that other people were in the flat, whom they have not been able to trace.

She added that an expert who was brought in to examine the red holdall in which Mr Williams was found concluded that he could not have locked it.

Mr Williams, who had been seconded from GCHQ to MI6, had visited a drag night at a club called Bistrotheque in Mile End, east London just 10 days before his death, and a gay bar called Barcode in May. He had taken a keen interest in clothes and had completed fashion design courses at Central Saint Martins art college in London.

Mr Williams, from Holyhead on Anglesey, north Wales, owned four mobile telephones, two of which were "pay as you go". Investigators have failed to trace any calls to the couple who visited Mr Williams' address in late June or July. The man and woman, described as being in their twenties and of Mediterranean appearance, were let in by another tenant in the building; they told her they had keys to the flat where Mr Williams lived.

At the time, Mr Williams was known to have been away. DCI Sebire said: "Gareth was a very private individual. We know he would not have given his keys to anyone other than close family. I am asking this man or woman or anyone who recognises them to encourage them to come forward and assist us. There is forensic evidence [in the flat] that indicates the presence of other people that we have not been able to eliminate yet."

Referring to Mr Williams' visits to bondage sites, DCI Sebire said: "It is not like continual browsing. It was not every evening or weekend. The sites primarily feature women, and there are guides on how to do certain things." He also said, "We do not have any evidence to suggest that he was gay."

Tests on Mr Williams' body showed no evidence that he had been poisoned, drugged or under the influence of alcohol.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell added that detectives hoped that by revealing details of Mr Williams' personal life, it would encourage people to come forward.