Telegraph : British spy death: police probe links to secret work

British spy death: police probe links to secret work

By Richard Edwards and Duncan Gardham | August 30, 2010

Police have not ruled out the possibility that the death of a British spy could be linked to his work after investigations into his private life failed to provide a motive for his murder.

Murder detectives say they are still looking at whether Gareth Williams may have been killed by a foreign intelligence agency seeking to stop his work on intercepting messages and code-breaking.

Interviews with friends and family of Mr Williams, 30, have so far offered no clear leads as to how or why he died.

Checks on his phone records and bank accounts also appear to have drawn a blank.

As to Mr William's social life, lurid reports that he may have died in a sex game gone wrong have been played down by police who say that although he was seen visiting a gay bar, they have not yet categorically determined his sexuality.

As a result sources say they are continuing to co-operate closely with MI6, where Mr Williams was finishing a year-long secondment from GCHQ, and interviewing colleagues. They are also investigating links with the US where he made a number of trips abroad to liaise with the National Security Agency and the CIA in the US.

He is thought to have returned to Britain from a foreign trip on August 11 and was last seen on alive on August 15, eight days before his body was discovered, although investigators are keeping details of his exact movements under wraps in order to avoid encouraging spurious sightings.

`Those people who know him will come forward and those who do not and have something to hide, we will track down,` one source told the Daily Telegraph.

`Everyone he worked with wants to understand why he died and we are confident the truth will come out.`

Police are struggling to work out why Mr Williams may have been killed and his body put into a holdall and left in his bath at the MI6 flat where he lived in Pimlico, central London.

Sources close to the inquiry said they are looking at the possibility that his body was manhandled into the bag in order to remove it from the premises.

They are continuing a painstaking re-examination of the flat, searching for fingerprints and DNA that could identify whether anyone else was present when he died.

So far a pathologist has been unable to identify why Mr Williams died but the results from toxicology tests are expected in the next few days.

That should identify whether he was smothered or whether he was drugged or poisoned.

The keen cyclist seems to have had few close friends and been willing to confide little about his work or private life even with his family. They are there expanding the circle of acquaintances they speak to in the hope of unearthing any connection that might shed light on his death.

Police are aware of reports that Mr Williams visited a gay bar near the MI6 headquarters in Vauxhall Cross called Bar code.

One man who met him, Lemuel Miller, a medical student from Selhurst, South London, said: `He was a very sweet guy. He came here when he was

in London. He was very intelligent, he never really talked about his work.’

Officers are keen not to jump to any conclusions about why Mr Williams was killed, or even whether he could have died in a bizarre accident and his body then moved.

One senior detective said: `It is possible he was the victim of a political assassination but the reality may be more mundane.`

Sources have denied reports that bondage equipment was found in the flat or that the body had been stabbed or dismembered.

But Mr Williams’s personal life was such a mystery that they are unsure whether he was in a relationship and do not want to suggest that he was the victim of a homosexual killing.

His family in Wales have said the continued speculation about his private life is `very distressing’ but called for anyone with information to come forward.

'Gareth was a generous, loving son, brother, and friend, and he was a very private person,` they said in a statement. 'He was a great athlete, and loved cycling and music. His loss has devastated us and we would ask that anyone with information to come forward and assist the police inquiry.'