Express : DID SPY DIE AFTER ZIPPING HIMSELF INTO SPORTS BAG?

DID SPY DIE AFTER ZIPPING HIMSELF INTO SPORTS BAG?

Detectives are investigating whether spy Gareth Williams died after zipping himself in a sports bag

By Paul Teed | September 13, 2010

DETECTIVES are investigating whether MI6 spy Gareth Williams died after zipping himself in a sports bag in a sex game that went wrong.

A woman police officer climbed into the holdall in which his body was found in a re-enactment exercise – and was able to pull the zip and padlock it once inside.

Detectives believe the code breaker may have done this before panicking and passed out when he realised he could not escape.

Mr Williams’ family will be furious with the revelations, after saying they were distressed by speculation over whether the super-fit 31-year-old was into unusual sexual practices. Police sources close to the investigation said that an officer with a similar build to the spy reenacted the sex game that it is believed could have led to his death.

Mr Williams, whose naked body was discovered inside the bag in the bathroom of his flat in Pimlico, London, on August 23, may have suffocated. The key to the padlock was reportedly found next to him inside the holdall. The petite officer, a similar size to slim and short Mr Williams, crouched in the extra-large North Face bag and was able to put her hand through a tight gap between the padlock and the zip fastener and lock it.

It has apparently led investigators to conclude that Mr Williams may have been taking part in an erotic asphyxiation game – restricting oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal. A Scotland Yard spokesman would only say yesterday: “It is an ongoing investigation and various lines of inquiry remain open. We are aware of many speculative stories in the media and we are not commenting on them individually.”

Police insist they remain mystified by the bizarre circumstances surrounding the gifted mathematician’s death. They found no signs of a break-in or disturbance at his converted Georgian town house and nothing appeared to have been stolen.

A leading US pathologist may fly in this week to try and solve the riddle. Mr Williams’ grieving relatives have demanded his body back so they can commission their own post mortem examination. The coroner dealing with the case has repeatedly refused to hand it over while detectives continue their inquiries. The family in North Wales have been unable to hold a funeral and remain frustrated by the lack of progress.

Detectives have said they want to speak to a mystery couple of Mediterranean appearance who called at the code breaker’s home shortly before he died. They entered via the communal front door, but police do not know if they visited the spy’s top-floor flat.

Keen cyclist Mr Williams was days from completing a one-year secondment to MI6 in London. He worked as a codes expert for the Government’s listening centre GCHQ in Cheltenham.