Sydney Morning Herald : UK police probe private life of dead spy

UK police probe private life of dead spy

August 27, 2010

The private life of a British code breaker found dead in his flat is being investigated amid speculation that he could have died during a sex game gone wrong.

Detectives investigating the murder of Gareth Williams are looking into the possibility that he lived a double life and may have known his killer.

A report in The Times on Friday claims that bondage gear and equipment associated with sado-masochism were removed from the 30-year-old's London apartment by police looking for clues.

Williams' decomposing body was found stuffed into a bag in the bath of his central London government flat on Monday.

But the mystery over his final hours deepened after a post-mortem examination failed to identify a cause of death.

Further tests will determine if Williams was asphyxiated or poisoned, as well as if drugs or alcohol were present in his system.

A pathologist found Williams was not stabbed or shot and there were no obvious signs of strangulation.

Police refused to categorise the death as a murder, despite the bizarre circumstances, as they insist he may have died innocently.

One line of inquiry is that he is the victim of a sex game that went wrong and questions remain over why he was not discovered sooner.

Williams was days from completing a one-year secondment to the headquarters of MI6 from his job at national "listening post", the GCHQ intelligence agency in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Police believe Williams' body could have lain undiscovered for up to a fortnight and it is thought he was on holiday at the time of his death.

They suspect the key to the case could lie in his private life and are examining his mobile phone and financial records as well as CCTV cameras around his home.

Sources played down speculation that the murder was linked to his secretive line of work.

Investigators suspect Williams might have known his killer as there was no sign of forced entry at his top-floor flat.

On Thursday, Williams' parents travelled to London with his sister from their home in Anglesey, Wales, to speak to police and formally identify his body.

Further details of Williams continued to emerge on Thursday, as friends described him as an extremely bright, quiet and determined man.

Childhood friend Dylan Parry, 34, said Williams was academically gifted but socially naive and could be easily led.

He told the London Evening Standard: "He was the kind of person who found it difficult to engage with people on a normal level."

© 2010 AAP