Express : SPY FAMILY’S FURY AT BLACKMAIL ‘LIES’

SPY FAMILY’S FURY AT BLACKMAIL ‘LIES’

By John Twomey | August 30, 2010

THE family of murdered spy Gareth Williams yesterday dismissed claims that he was being blackmailed.

Relatives hit out at “untrue rumours” as detectives probed money transfers totalling £24,000 to and from the code breaker’s accounts.

The biggest single movement of cash is believed to be £18,000 withdrawn from one of his accounts eight weeks ago.

Three sums of £2,000 paid in and then out of the 31-yearold’s accounts on consecutive days are also being examined. Two bundles of £500 – one in an envelope and the other tied with an elastic band – are said to have been found in the flat where he died.

But relatives of the brilliant mathematician are convinced the transfers and the bundles of cash all have totally innocent explanations. They say the allegations of blackmail and rumours about his private life have now become “intolerable”.

Mr Williams’ uncle, Bill Hughes, said: “We know nothing of this. It’s another example of unsupported rumours being allowed to circulate. To the best of our knowledge, Gareth wasn’t gay and wasn’t being blackmailed.” Mr Williams was found dead in the bath of his top-floor flat in Pimlico, central London, last Monday.

His body had been stuffed into a sports holdall and may have lain there for up to eight days. The bag was padlocked. One theory that detectives are working on is that Mr Williams knew his killer and let him into the flat. A post-mortem examination last week proved inconclusive. Further tests are being carried out.

Forensic experts returned to the scene of the murder on Friday in a bid to find clues which will solve the mystery. Mr Willaims worked for the Government’s listening post GCHQ in Cheltenham and was on secondment to MI6. He made frequent trips to America, including visits to the National Security Agency’s Fort Meade base in Maryland.

He is said to have played a key role in the world’s most sensitive electronic intelligence gathering system, linking satellites and super computers in Britain, the US and elsewhere. Murder squad detectives are trying to piece together a detailed picture of the last days of the spy’s life.

He was last seen alive on August 15 in London. Inquiries have include tracing the spy’s neighbours and previous tenants of the flat where he lived. Police are also understood to be asking about another GCHQ worker who used to live in the same house as the murdered man.