Telegraph : MI6 spy Gareth Williams murder: police probe poisoning theory

MI6 spy Gareth Williams murder: police probe poisoning theory

Richard Edwards and Duncan Gardham | September 6, 2010

A mystery "Mediterranean” couple are being hunted by police over the suspected murder of Gareth Williams, the British spy, while inquiries focus on whether he was poisoned at his London home.

As Scotland Yard yesterday made the first detailed appeal about the death of the MI6 worker, speculation grew that he was the victim of a professional hit which left no trace of how he was killed.

Detectives believe that poisoning is now a most likely cause of death and are carrying out further tests for toxic substances, after almost all other possibilities were ruled out.

There was no evidence of a struggle at the Pimlico flat where the naked body of the 31-year-old was found inside a padlocked bag in his bath, no signs of a break in and police said that nothing was taken.

However detectives are trying to trace an unidentified man and woman, described as being of Mediterranean appearance and aged between 20-30, who visited the house late at night in the weeks or months before Mr Williams died.

They are the only people unaccounted for who have been seen recently at the property in Alderney Street. Neighbours told police they were let into the communal front door, late one evening, either in June or July.

It is believed they were visiting Mr Williams, but on one has been able to shed any light on their identity. Detectives want them to come forward to eliminate them from the inquiry.

Separately, police are also investigating whether a second key was cut for the apartment.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan police disclosed the last known images of the spy, captured on CCTV, as he shopped in Harrods and central London.

After drawing a blank from their own inquiries during the past fortnight, detectives yesterday asked the public to help over the death of Mr Williams, who was at the end of a secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, the Government listening post.

But the appeal only furthered the mystery surrounding a case which detectives admit has left them “baffled”.

CCTV images released yesterday, revealing the spy's last known movements, appeared to show him walking around London in a carefree and relaxed manner.

He was captured on successive days the weekend before his death wearing the same clothes – a red T-shirt, beige trousers and white trainers – as he wandered around the West End and Knightsbridge.

He was also seen catching a Tube in Holland Park, west London. Police are unclear as to why he visited that area, but believe he stayed at his own home and not at a friends.

The last CCTV sighting of Mr Williams is on Sunday, August 15, when he went into Harrods and walked towards Sloane Street, near the Dolce and Gabbana store.

Eight days later, when he failed to turn up for his first day back from holiday on August 23, police went round to his home at 36 Alderney Street.

Inside the neat flat, officers discovered the 31-year-old's naked body, zipped and padlocked into a red North Face bag in his ensuite bathroom. There was no water or other liquid in the bath.

Although Mr Williams was unclothed, it is believed the items he was wearing on the day he died had not been removed from the scene.

Contrary to early reports, his mobile phone sim cards were not laid out in any sort of “ritualistic” way.

Lurid suggestions that bondage equipment was found, that the victim had links to male escorts or was a cross-dresser have all been dismissed as “complete garbage” by police sources.

The Met said yesterday: “There was no sign of any forced entry to the property, and no signs of disturbance inside. We do not believe there is any property missing from the flat. There is no suggestion the items within the flat were specifically posed. No drugs, or indications of drug usage were recovered.”

The greatest mystery, however, surrounds the “fit and strong” young man died.

A first post mortem was inconclusive. A further examination found no marks around his neck or elsewhere on his body to suggest he was smothered or asphyxiated.

Toxicology tests have no found no evidence of recreational drugs in his body, such as alcohol, cocaine or heroin, or other basic drugs. Tests are being run into a range of other possible poisons, such as strychnine.

Asphyxiation remains an option but sources said it was difficult to kill someone by such means without leaving bruises.

Detectives drew a blank after probing all friends and associates of the Cambridge-educated mathematician, who was described as a loner with few social contacts even among his work colleagues. This may have contributed to his body lying undiscovered for up to eight days.

The only people now unexplained and unaccounted for in the inquiries are the “Mediterranean” couple.

There are suggestions Mr Williams may have been “hit” by a foreign spy agency.

One source said that although assassination was a possibility, it was only one of several, and they still believe the “reality may be more mundane”.

Reports that Mr Williams was a high-flyer who secretly oversaw top secret Transatlantic projects have been played down and his role at GCHQ was that of a "middleranking civil servant".

It is believed he was due to return Cheltenham to join a unit fighting cyber-crime, especially hackers targeting banks. Police are reluctant even to describe the cipher expert as a spy, or even to confirm he died as a result of a murder, and still consider it an “unexplained death”.

Det Chf Insp Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the investigation, said: "I would appeal to anyone who may have seen, or had contact with Gareth in the period between 11th and 23rd August to come forward and speak with us at the Incident Room on 0208 358 0200, or to remain anonymous Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

"This remains a complex unexplained death enquiry."