UPI : Spy found dead in London apartment

Spy found dead in London apartment [scroll down]

August 25, 2010

LONDON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A British spy found dead in a London apartment was stabbed to death before being put in a duffel bag where his body rotted for up to two weeks, officials said.

The man, known as Gareth Williams, reportedly was working as a communications worker at the British government's listening post in Cheltenham, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

Williams was thought to be on temporary assignment at the headquarters for MI6, the British secret intelligence service, across the Thames River from where his body was discovered, sources told the newspaper.

Police were called to the central London apartment to follow up on reports that the occupant hadn't been seen for some time, officials said. Williams' cell phone and other items also were found in the apartment.

A London metropolitan police spokesman said officers were responding to "reports of a suspicious death."

"They attended a top floor flat ... and gained entry and found the body of a man in his 30s," the spokesman said.

Counter-terrorist and security service officers are helping detectives in the investigation, the newspaper said.

New York Daily News : MI6 man found murdered in London apartment; possible 'spy' stabbed several times: reports

MI6 man found murdered in London apartment; possible 'spy' stabbed several times: reports

By Michael Sheridan | DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER | August 25, 2010

The mysterious murder of a man near the headquarters of England's famed spy agency has sparked reports befitting a James Bond novel.

According to the BBC, an MI6 employee was found dead, stuffed in a bag in the bathtub of an apartment on Alderney St. in Pimlico, in central London.

Police have not confirmed his identity, but sources told Sky News his name was Gareth Williams. The 30-year-old's body was found on Monday night, but investigators said he was possibly killed nearly two weeks ago.

Williams was stabbed several times, according to reports. Scotland Yard is investigating.

The victim is believed to have been an MI6 employee, although it is unclear what exactly he did for the spy outfit.

A police source told London's Guardian that while he had documents suggesting he worked for the secret service, "he might have been an air conditioning technician rather than a spy".

"If he really was a spy," the source said, "you imagine someone would have reported him missing rather sooner."

Sky News reports Williams was on "secondment," a British term which means he was temporarily transferred to another duty, in this case, to GCHQ, one of the United Kingdom's three national intelligence agencies.

Although it has been suggested he could have been the target of terrorists, police believe his death was likely related to his personal life.

A spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office told BBC: "This is a police matter... It is long-standing Her Majesty's Government policy not to confirm or deny any individual working for the intelligence agencies."

New York Times : Body Found in London May Be Intelligence Officer

Body Found in London May Be Intelligence Officer

By RAVI SOMAIYA | August 25, 2010

LONDON — A body found stuffed into a large sports bag in a bathtub at an apartment here was identified Wednesday in British news reports as that of a missing intelligence officer, prompting much speculation about his identity and the details behind his death.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said that officers found the body on Monday afternoon after investigating reports that the man, identified in news reports as Gareth Williams, 31, had not been seen for some time.

The bag was in a bathroom in the top floor of the man’s apartment, in London’s well-appointed Pimlico neighborhood, less than a mile from the imposing headquarters of Britain’s foreign intelligence service, MI6.

The police spokesman said an autopsy was being conducted and detectives were “following up several lines of inquiries,” but he declined to provide additional details.

A spokesman for Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which oversees the intelligence agency, would not discuss the reports that the man had worked for British intelligence.

British news reports said that the man had been stabbed repeatedly and may have been dead for two weeks before he was found.

The police continued to search the apartment and cordoned off the street, home to two former leaders of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard and Leon Brittan. Neighbors told reporters that the windows to the top floor flat were always shut, and the curtains drawn.

“We haven’t ever seen him,” said one local resident, Rob Mills. “It’s not like you’d tell your neighbors if you were a spy.”

Telegraph : Murdered British spy found stuffed into sports bag in bath of London flat

Murdered British spy found stuffed into sports bag in bath of London flat

By Heidi Blake and Duncan Gardham | August 25, 2010

A British spy who was found dead in the bath of a flat in London was killed before his body was stuffed into a sports bag where it lay decomposing for up to two weeks.

The man, named locally as Gareth Williams, is understood to have been employed as a communications worker at GCHQ, the Government’s “listening post” in Cheltenham, Glos.

Mr Williams, who was in his thirties, was on secondment at the headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, in Vauxhall, just across the Thames from where his body was found.

He had been due to return to Cheltenham to resume his position at GCHQ before he was murdered.

Scotland Yard said today that a post mortem was inconclusive in establishing a cause of death and further examination, including toxicology tests, would be required.

There was no evidence he was stabbed, sources said, dismissing earlier reports. Detectives are studying whether he was strangled, asphyxiated or drugged.

A source said: “Inquiries are focusing on his lifestyle and we are still trying to piece together his final movements.

“The length of time it took for him to be reported missing is a matter for MI6.”

The grim discovery was made after police were called to the top floor flat in Pimlico, Central London, following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time.

Mr Williams' mobile telephone and sim cards had been carefully laid out elsewhere in the flat.

A keen cyclist and maths expert, Mr Williams would not even talk to his family about his true line of work. Before joining GCHQ he had studied for an MA in maths at Cambridge but had dropped out after failing an exam.

The street of multimillion-pound Georgian terraced homes remained cordoned off this morning and police officers stood outside No 36, which is divided into three flats.

Michael Howard, the former Conservative Party leader, is among a host of politicians and bankers who live on the street.

Mr Williams rented a flat in Cheltenham from retired office worker Jenny Elliott, 71, for ten years until just over a year ago when he moved to London.

He phoned Mrs Elliott in April to ask for his old room back after getting a transfer back to the town.

"Gareth was a very likeable person who didn't really have any friends as such," Mrs Elliott said.

"He was an extremely intelligent person but would not talk about his job as it was a secret, on account of working for GCHQ. All he told me was it was something to do with codes," she added.

Neighbours in Pimlico also spoke of their shock.

Jason Hollands, 41, a City worker, who also lives nearby, said: "It's truly gruesome - this is a very mixed area of bankers and politicians. I've spoken to the next-door neighbour, who knew nothing."

Rob Mills, 35, who lives two doors away, said: "It's shocking. I'm told the man lived at the top-floor flat but we haven't ever seen him. It's not like you'd tell your neighbours if you were a spy."

A Met police spokesman said: “Officers were called to reports of a suspicious death at around 4.40pm today.

“They attended a top floor flat in Alderney Street and gained entry and found the body of a man in his 30s. He has yet to be identified.”

Counter-terrorist and security service officers are helping detectives in the inquiry.

The last spy to have been killed on British soil was Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian Federal Security Service officer, who died of polonium poisoning in November 2006.

Guardian : MI6 worker found murdered in London flat

MI6 worker found murdered in London flat

• Man found dead in sports bag in bath of London townhouse
• Body was decomposing and had been stabbed, reports say

by Helen Pidd and Sam Jones | August 25, 2010

An MI6 worker whose body was found stuffed into a sports bag in the bath of his London flat has been identified locally today as Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old Foreign Office employee.

A post-mortem examination is being conducted amid reports that the man had been stabbed several times and was in a state of decomposition when found by police.

Reports suggest he had worked at GCHQ, the government's secret listening service in Cheltenham, and had been on secondment to MI6, the secret intelligence service. It is thought he could have been dead for as long as two weeks.

This morning, the man's former landlady, Jenny Elliott, said that he had lived in a flat in her house near Cheltenham for 10 years while working nearby.

On Monday night, she said, a woman identifying herself as the Foreign Office's head of employee assistance had knocked at her door to ask if she had heard from him lately or knew where he was.

Police found his body on Monday afternoon when they were called to his flat in Pimlico after reports that he had not been seen for some time. Inside the property, officers found the man's mobile phone and a collection of sim cards laid out, the Daily Mail reported.

The location of the five-storey townhouse, just a mile from MI6 headquarters, fuelled speculation that the man was working there before his death.

Elliott, 71, said the man had been due to move back in to her house next week after spending a year living and working in London.

"He was due to come back to me on 3 September," said Elliott. "He rang me and said he would be back then. He said, 'Can I come back?' and I said sure. I hadn't heard anything else until a lady from the Foreign Office called at six o'clock to say that they hadn't had a sighting or a whereabouts and had we heard anything."

Elliott said he was a quiet man who enjoyed cycling and running and kept himself to himself.

She added: "This awful thing is happening and he was a lovely man, very well-mannered and very likeable. He was very clever and had been to Cambridge and had a very important job at the Foreign Office. Although he didn't belong to me, I was quite proud of him. It's like losing one of my own children."

Sources close to the investigation said it was "early days" and the cause of death remained unclear.

The source added: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation and it would not be appropriate for us to comment at all as this is ongoing.

"We have nothing to add. Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

A police source stressed that the man had not been formally identified, saying that while his employment documentation suggested he had indeed worked for the secret service, "he might have been an air conditioning technician rather than a spy".

He added: "If he really was a spy, you imagine someone would have reported him missing rather sooner."

Scotland Yard has launched a murder inquiry, in conjunction with counterterrorist and security service officials.

The street was cordoned off last night as forensic teams searched the property and surrounding areas for clues as to how and why the man was killed.

A black private ambulance parked outside the house just before 9.30pm. A few minutes later, forensics officers, accompanied by police officers, removed the corpse in a red body bag.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: "Detectives are investigating a suspicious death following the discovery of the body of a man in a central London flat. At around 1640 hours on Monday 23 August, officers attended the flat, on the top floor of a property in Alderney Street, Westminster, following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time.

"Officers gained entry and found the body of the man, believed to be aged in his 30s. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Scotland Yard refused to comment on the dead man's identity until next of kind had been informed. A spokesman said the post-mortem examination was still under way and could go on "for some time".

No arrests have been made.

The street of Georgian terraced homes remained cordoned off this morning and police officers stood outside No 36, which is divided into three flats.

Curtains were drawn in the top-floor flat, where it was believed the murder took place.

Many politicians and bankers live on the street, neighbours said.

One local resident said police had told her that the man could have been murdered a fortnight ago.

Land Registry documents reveal that the block is owned by a private company, New Rodina.

Its details are hidden because it is registered in the British Virgin Islands and is not listed with Companies House.

The word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

If reports of the deceased man being a spy are true, the murder will be the highest-profile one in the UK of someone linked to the secret services since that of Alexander Litvinenko.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after being poisoned by radioactive polonium-210 in 2006.

AFP : Police conduct tests in MI6 death probe

Police conduct tests in MI6 death probe

August 25, 2010

LONDON — Police investigating the suspicious death of an MI6 officer in London are to carry out further tests after a post-mortem proved inconclusive.

Detectives said the body of the Gareth Williams, 30, was found on Monday in the top-floor flat of an upmarket building within walking distance of the MI6 headquarters on the River Thames.

His decomposing remains were found stuffed in a bag in the bath of the property in Pimlico, where they were thought to have lain for up to a fortnight, reports said.

A post-mortem examination late Wednesday failed to establish a cause of death and further tests, including for drugs and alcohol, will now take place, police said. News media reported there was no evidence he had been stabbed, contradicting earlier reports.

Williams, who was from Anglesey, had worked for GCHQ, the government's communication monitoring centre, but was on secondment with MI6, according to media reports.

His mobile phone and a number of SIM cards were carefully laid out in the flat in Alderney Street when his body was found.

"Officers from the homicide and serious crime command are investigating, and are treating this as a suspicious and unexplained death," said a statement from London's Metropolitan Police.

Police said they visited the flat after reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time.

The road remained cordoned off Wednesday and curtains were drawn in the flat where the body was believed to have been found.

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite the building where the body was found, said detectives had been visiting neighbours as part of their investigation, adding: "They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

Reuters : MI6 worker found murdered in London

MI6 worker found murdered in London

August 25, 2010

LONDON (Reuters) - A man who worked for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service MI6 has been found murdered at a flat near the agency's headquarters, media said Wednesday.

Police said they had found the body of the man aged in his 30s in the top floor flat in the upmarket Pimlico area of London Monday afternoon.

The victim, named by broadcasters as Gareth Williams, had not been seen for some time and officers had gone to the flat after he was reported missing. A post mortem to determine the cause of death is being carried out Wednesday.

Media reports said he was working for MI6, which deals with foreign espionage matters, on secondment from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the government's eavesdropping service.

"This is a police matter. It's a long-standing policy of the government not to confirm or deny any individual working for the intelligence agencies," said a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office.

The investigation into the man's death is being carried out by the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, indicating that detectives do not believe the death to be related to terrorism or espionage matters.

"It was a terrible shock. I couldn't believe that such a thing had happened," William Hughes, a relative of Williams, told BBC TV.

"He had worked for GCHQ for many years. I knew he was working in London doing something but he would never talk about his work, and the family knew not to ask."

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)

Guardian : 'British spy' found dead identified as Foreign Office worker

'British spy' found dead identified as Foreign Office worker

Body of Gareth Williams, 31, was found stuffed in sports bag in the bath of his central London flat

Sam Jones and Helen Pidd | August 25, 2010

An MI6 worker whose body was found stuffed into a sports bag in the bath of his London flat was identified locally today as Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old Foreign Office employee.

It was reported tonight that a postmortem carried out on the intelligence officer was inconclusive, but showed he was not stabbed to death.

Reports suggested he had worked at GCHQ, the government's secret listening service in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and had been on secondment to MI6, the secret intelligence service. It is thought he could have been dead for up to two weeks.

This morning, the man's former landlady, Jenny Elliott, said he had lived in a flat in her house near Cheltenham for 10 years while working nearby.

On Monday night, she said, a woman identifying herself as the Foreign Office's head of employee assistance visited her to ask if she had heard from him lately or knew where he was.

Police found his body on Monday afternoon when they were called to his flat in Pimlico after reports he had not been seen for some time. Inside the property officers found the man's mobile phone and a collection of sim cards laid out, the Daily Mail reported.

The location of the five-storey townhouse, a mile from MI6 headquarters, fuelled speculation that the man was working there before his death.

Elliott, 71, said the man had been due to move back into her house next week after spending a year living and working in London.

"He was due to come back to me on 3 September," she said. "He rang me and said he would be back then. He said, 'Can I come back?' and I said sure. I hadn't heard anything else until a lady from the Foreign Office called at six o'clock to say that they hadn't had a sighting or a whereabouts and had we heard anything."

Elliott said he was a quiet man who enjoyed cycling and running and kept himself to himself.

"This awful thing is happening and he was a lovely man, very well-mannered and very likeable," she said.

"He was very clever and had been to Cambridge and had a very important job at the Foreign Office. Although he didn't belong to me, I was quite proud of him. It's like losing one of my own children."

"The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities," a source said.

A GCHQ spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation and it would not be appropriate for us to comment at all as this is ongoing.

"We have nothing to add. Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

Scotland Yard has launched a murder inquiry, in conjunction with counterterrorist and security service officials.

The street was cordoned off last night as forensic teams searched the property and surrounding areas for clues as to how and why the man was killed.

A black private ambulance parked outside the house before 9.30pm. A few minutes later forensics officers, accompanied by police officers, removed the corpse in a red body bag.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: "Detectives are investigating a suspicious death following the discovery of the body of a man in a central London flat. At around 1640 hours on Monday 23 August officers attended the flat, on the top floor of a property in Alderney Street, Westminster, following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time.

"Officers gained entry and found the body of the man, believed to be aged in his 30s. He was pronounced dead at the scene."

Scotland Yard refused to comment on the dead man's identity until next of kin had been informed.

No arrests have been made.

The street of Georgian terraced homes remained cordoned off this morning and police officers stood outside No 36, which is divided into three flats.

Curtains were drawn in the top-floor flat, where it was believed the murder took place.

Many politicians and bankers live on the street, neighbours said.

One local resident said police had told her that the man could have been murdered a fortnight ago.

If reports of the deceased man being a spy are true, the murder will be the highest-profile killing in the UK of someone linked to the secret services since that of Alexander Litvinenko.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after being poisoned by radioactive polonium-210 in 2006.

Landlord's name is a Russian joke

Gareth Williams was found dead in a flat rented from a company called New Rodina. Details of the company ownership are hidden because it is registered in the British Virgin Islands and not listed with Companies House.

Land registry documents show property was bought for £675,250 in 2000 with a mortgage from the Royal Bank of Scotland and remortgaged twice, in September 2005 and February 2006.

The documents show the owner operated through a law firm called Park Nelson which occupied a rented office in Bell Yard, off Fleet Street, but no longer appears to exist.

New Rodina, which means "new home" or "new homeland" in Russian, is a familiar one for Russian speakers, and may have been part of an in-joke among GCHQ employees relocated to London. Typically, Russians who live abroad refer to their adopted country as a "new rodina". "There is an element of joke in it. Russians like this kind of wordplay," one Russian said.

The name raises the possibility that either Williams, or his superiors, may have been working on clandestine material relating to the Kremlin or Russia's ubiquitous intelligence services.

Relations between Britain and Russia have been slowly improving, but have not recovered from the diplomatic fallout following the polonium murder of the former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, in November 2006. That led then foreign secretary David Miliband to expel three Russian diplomats in 2007. The government still refuses to cooperate with Russia's post-KGB spy agency, the Federal Security Services.

Another possibility is that Williams's Pimlico flat is Russian-owned. Affluent Russians make frequent use of offshore companies. London is popular with rich Russians, many of whom have homes in the capital or educate their children at top private schools.

"New Rodina is the kind of name you could give to a company offering flats and services to newly-arrived Russians seeking a foothold in London," one Russian said.

Guardian : MI6 worker murdered, stuffed in a bag and dumped in a bath

MI6 worker murdered, stuffed in a bag and dumped in a bath

• Phone and sim cards found laid out in 'ritual' manner
• Police examine private life of likeable fitness fanatic

Vikram Dodd, Karen McVeigh and Richard Norton-Taylor | August 25, 2010

The private life of an MI6 officer who was murdered at his home close to the UK's foreign intelligence service headquarters is being investigated by Scotland Yard detectives. The body of Gareth Williams was stuffed in a holdall and dumped in his bath.

Williams is believed to have been killed two weeks ago. His body was badly decomposed when his two-bedroom, top floor flat in Pimlico, central London, was searched by police after colleagues raised the alarm. A postmortem examination found that he had not been stabbed, as had been reported earlier, but the cause of death has yet to be established. Further tests, including analysis of his blood for evidence of drugs and alcohol, will now take place.

When police entered his flat they found Williams's body, a mobile phone and several sim cards laid out in a ritual manner.

The 31-year-old was on secondment to MI6 HQ from the government's eavesdropping and communications security centre GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He is believed to have been advising MI6 on secret communication techniques. Many technical staff at Cheltenham spend time advising MI6 and MI5.

Informed Whitehall sources said GCHQ "boffins" – of all ages – were subjected to particular pressure in their private life because of the nature of their specialist knowledge and skills and the secrecy surrounding them. Williams would have been subject to "developed vetting" before being employed at GCHQ.

Officers from Scotland Yard's homicide and serious crime command are leading the inquiry, which sources said pointed to the fact that Williams's intelligence work was not believed to be linked to his death. "National security" seemed to be the least likely of any issues connected with the death, said a Whitehall official.

Police went to the flat "following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time", they said. His body was removed from the flat on Tuesday evening and forensics experts were still searching the premises late this afternoon.

Detectives are examining Williams's lifestyle and recent movements as part of the investigation and will question his colleagues in London and Cheltenham.

His family live in Holyhead, Anglesey, north Wales. Today a police officer from London was seen leaving the home after formally telling Williams's parents, Ian and Ellen, and sister Ceri the news.

Cath Stanley, 65, a neighbour and retired Merseyside police superintendent, said: "Gareth was a smashing lad and really into his cycling. His father was called 'Mr Fitness' round here because he was a keep-fit fanatic. I don't even think either of them drank. I think they were teetotal. Gareth and his dad used to cycle round here together, in Lycra kit and helmets."

Williams's uncle, William Hughes, told BBC News: "It was terrible when I got the phone call yesterday morning. Just didn't know what to believe really."

Asked about Williams's career, his uncle called his nephew "very, very talented in his work. We don't know what he was doing – never spoke about it".

In June 2001, before joining MI6, Williams dropped out of studying a masters in advanced mathematics at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, after failing an exam. He moved to Cheltenham, where he began his career at GCHQ, which employs 5,500 people.

His former landlady, Jenny Elliott, 71, said he had lived in a flat in her house near Cheltenham for 10 years. He told her he worked at the Foreign Office.

She said he had been due to move back into her house in 10 days after spending a year in London. "He came to live with me in a flat on the side of my house when he started to work at the Foreign Office. He was with me for about 10½ years and then he moved out a year ago. He was due to come back to me on 3 September. He rang me and said he would be back then. He said, 'Can I come back?' and I said sure. I hadn't heard anything else until a lady from the Foreign Office called at six o'clock on Monday night to say that they hadn't had a sighting or a whereabouts and had we heard anything. She said she was the Foreign Office's head of employee assistance.

"This awful thing is happening and Gareth was a lovely man, very well-mannered and very likeable. He was very clever and had been to Cambridge and had a very important job at the Foreign Office. Although he didn't belong to me, I was quite proud of him. It's like losing one of my own children. We expected to hear from him any minute. He was coming back here to work.

"When he went to London, I said, 'You won't like it up there, it's not like the countryside. But he said he wanted a change of scene. Those were his words."

Today, police cordons remained around 36 Alderney Street, a mid-terrace property in a street of five-storey Victorian townhouses in Pimlico. A community support officer stood outside. The wealthy area, a few blocks from Victoria station, is home to bankers and politicians, including two former home secretaries, Michael Howard and Leon Brittan.

Neighbours, who described Williams as "extremely friendly", said they had been told by investigators the murder may have happened up to two weeks ago.

Laura Houghton, 30, said she had met Williams once at the entrance hall of the flats about a year ago. She said: "His windows were always shut and curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in. It was strange that we never saw him come and go. I just assumed he worked away."

A body was brought out of the building on a stretcher under a maroon sheet at about 9.20pm on Tuesday. Police were looking at CCTV footage in the area. A nearby hotel, the Windermere, has a CCTV camera that covers the junction of Warwick Way and Alderney Street, and it is understood they have made it available.

The property where Williams lived is divided into four flats and is registered to a private company, New Rodina, with an offshore address in the British Virgin Islands. Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the block have links to London and Cheltenham. One Frenchman who lived there between 2005 and 2006 is an expert in global satellite positioning, radio communications and high-sensitivity antennas.

The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, has been informed of the death and any security implications.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office refused to give any details about Williams: "It is longstanding government policy not to confirm or deny the identity of any individual working for the intelligence agencies. This is a police matter."

The Australian : Man believed to be a British spy found murdered near MI6 HQ

Man believed to be a British spy found murdered near MI6 HQ

From: AP | August 25, 2010

A MAN believed to be a British spy has been found murdered and stuffed in a bag at a flat near the headquarters of MI6.

The body was discovered on Monday afternoon at a property in Pimlico, central London. It is understood that the corpse was stuffed into a bag and left in a bathroom.

Scotland Yard launched a murder investigation into the incident, led by its Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

But it declined to comment on reports that the man, believed to be in his 30s, was an employee of the British secret services.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified.

A post-mortem examination is due to take place today.

Officers were called to a top floor apartment in Alderney Street at around 4.40pm on Monday following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time.

After gaining entry they discovered the body, with the man pronounced dead at the scene.

Newspaper reports suggested that the dead man worked for GCHQ, the Government's intelligence information arm.

But it was suggested that he was on secondment to MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service with a headquarters just a few hundred yards from where the body was found.

Cordons were placed around the property yesterday as officers examined the contents of the flat.

Scotland Yard said it was following up "several lines of inquiry''.

If reports of the deceased man being a spy prove to be true, it will be the highest profile murder in the UK of someone linked to the secret services since that of Alexander Litvinenko.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after being poisoned by radioactive polonium-210 in 2006.

Daily Record : British 'spy' found murdered in his flat near headquarters of MI6 may have been dead for two weeks

British 'spy' found murdered in his flat near headquarters of MI6 may have been dead for two weeks

August 25, 2010

STABBED spy Gareth Williams had been dead for at least two weeks when he was found stuffed into a sports bag in his bath, police have said.

They believe the 31-year-old may have known his killer and had not been targeted by terrorists.

Williams's body was found on Monday in his blood-spattered flat in Pimlico, south London.

He had been living there for a year during a secondment to secret service MI6 from the GCHQ listening post in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

The grim discovery was made after police were called by colleagues concerned he had not shown up for work.

Williams's mobile phone and SIM cards had been carefully laid out elsewhere in the flat.

The keen cyclist and maths expert would not even talk to his family about his true line of work.

Williams had been due to return to GCHQ next week and police have not ruled out the possibility another intelligence officer could be involved the murder.

The £1million townhouse he lived in is owned by the secret services.

It was unclear if the building had extra security such as CCTV cameras.

Neighbours were shocked when police sealed off the street.

Secretary Laura Houghton, 30, said: "His windows were always shut and curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in.

"It was strange that we never saw him come and go. I just assumed he worked away."

Other neighbours include former Conservative leader Michael Howard and a host of politicians and bankers.

Williams excelled at maths and joined GCHQ after being headhunted at Cambridge University.

Landlady Jenny Elliott, who rented him a one-bedroom flat in Cheltenham, was heartbroken at his death.

The 71-year-old described him as "like a mouse" and "so lovely".

Williams did not enjoy flying but made several trips to the US where he met colleagues from the National Security Agency.

He advised MI6 on codes when he moved to London last year.

Williams then called Mrs Elliott four months ago asking for his old room back.

She said: "He said he was being transferred back to GCHQ and would probably stay for at least two years.

"I can't believe he's not coming back. It's terrible."

His devastated parents Ian and Ellen returned from holiday abroad to help formally identify their son.

Officers were interviewing sister Ceri at her home in Chester.

Former Merseyside police officer Cathy Stanley said: "He was very quiet, kept himself to himself and gave nothing away about himself. Classic spy profile, I suppose."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff, or whether they are staff."

Telegraph : Murdered British spy 'may have been killed by jealous lover'

Murdered British spy 'may have been killed by jealous lover'

By Gordon Rayner, John Bingham and Richard Edwards | August 25, 2010

A murdered British spy whose body was found stuffed into a sports bag at his London flat might have been killed by a jealous lover, police believe.

Gareth Williams, 31, had been working for MI6 on a one-year posting but was due to return to his regular job at the GCHQ listening station in Cheltenham at the start of next month.

Detectives believe Mr Williams, whose body lay undiscovered for up to two weeks in the bathroom of his top floor flat, might have had a violent row with a lover over his decision to return to Gloucestershire.

However, police have not ruled out the possibility that the murder could be linked to his secret intelligence work.

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, was given updates on the investigation as part of a scheduled intelligence briefing yesterday.

Officers were yesterday examining Mr Williams’s mobile phone, which was found with several sim cards neatly laid out beside it, to find out his last contacts and when they were made. They were also studying CCTV images from cameras near the Georgian townhouse where Mr Williams had lived alone for the past year.

There was no sign of forced entry at the flat in Pimlico, central London, suggesting the killer was someone Mr Williams knew. Nothing had been stolen.

Scotland Yard said last night that a post mortem was inconclusive in establishing a cause of death and further examination, including toxicology tests, would be required.

Sources played down reports that Mr Williams was stabbed. Detectives are studying whether he was strangled, asphyxiated or drugged.

A source said: “Inquiries are focusing on his lifestyle and we are still trying to piece together his final movements.”

Mr Williams’s parents, Ellen and Ian, from Valley, Anglesey, flew back to Britain from a foreign holiday to identify their son’s body after being told of his death on Monday.

The spy’s uncle, William Hughes, said: “It was a terrible shock when we had the phone call. I couldn’t believe such a thing could happen.”

Mr Hughes said the family had been given no clues as to the motive for the murder, adding that Mr Williams was “quiet and unassuming” and never talked about his job. “He would never talk about his work and the family knew not to ask,” he said.

Mr Williams was a maths graduate who began a masters in advanced mathematics at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, in 2000, but failed an exam the following year and left the course. He immediately began working at Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, in Cheltenham, where he rented a room for nine years from Jennifer Elliott, 71. Mrs Elliott said: “I spoke to him three weeks ago, he rang me to say he was coming back on Sept 3. I don’t think he was very happy in London, he told me he missed the countryside.”

Mrs Elliott said Mr Williams, a cycling enthusiast, lived quietly in his self-contained flat, “didn’t have any friends as such” and had never had a girlfriend in the time he lived there. “He was an extremely intelligent person but would not talk about his job as it was a secret. All he told me was it was something to do with codes.

“Occasionally you could hear tapes whirring from his flat, which must have been audio cassettes he used for work, but he never told me what they were.”

Security sources refused to be drawn on why it took so long for Mr Williams to be reported missing, but it is thought he was taking annual leave before returning to his old job. Mr Hughes described his nephew as a “brilliant” man, adding: “The family knew this from a very, very young age. He was a very clever lad. When he was at secondary school he would go to university one day a week.”

UK Wired : MI6 worker Gareth Williams' family 'devastated'

MI6 worker Gareth Williams' family 'devastated'

August 25, 2010

The family of an MI6 worker from Anglesey whose body was found in a holdall at his central London flat say they are devastated by the discovery.

Gareth Williams, 30, from Holyhead, may have been murdered up to two weeks ago.

A communication officer at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Mr Williams had been been living in London after a secondment to the secret intelligence service.

His uncle, William Hughes said: "He would never talk about his work and the family knew not to ask, really."

Mr Williams was brought up on Anglesey, attending Bodedern secondary school.

A talented pupil, he had extra tuition at both primary and secondary school before studying at Cambridge University.

He went to St Catharine's College to undertake a postgraduate certificate in mathematics in 2000 but dropped out a year later.

His parents still live on the island. It is understood they have been taken by police to London after returning from holiday.

William Hughes, who is an Anglesey councillor, said he had had a phone call on Tuesday morning to say that Mr Williams' body had been found.

He said: "It was a terrible shock. I could not believe it, that such a thing had happened."

Mr Hughes said his "very talented" nephew did not talk about his employment.

Mr Williams' uncle said the MI6 worker never spoke about his work

He added: "He had worked for GCHQ for many years and I knew he was working in London doing something but he would never talk about his work and the family knew not to ask really.

"He was very talented in his work. He must have been. We don't know what he was doing. He never spoke about it."

The alarm was raised by Mr Williams' colleagues on Monday after they had not seen him for some time.

When officers broke into his flat on Monday afternoon, they found Mr Williams' body in a sports bag, as well as his mobile phone and several SIM cards.

The authorities are playing down any speculation that Mr Williams' death was linked to his line of work at MI6.

A post mortem examination was unable to provide a cause of death and further tests are to take place.

A Metropolitan Police statement said: "Officers from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command (HSCC) are investigating, and are treating this as a suspicious and unexplained death."

Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room in Hendon on 020 8358 0200 or, anonymously, the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Independent : Murdered spy lay undiscovered for weeks

Murdered spy lay undiscovered for weeks

Body stuffed into holdall

PA | August 25, 2010

A British spy found murdered in his flat might have lain undiscovered for up to two weeks.

The man, named locally as Gareth Williams, was found stuffed in a large sports holdall in the bath of his central London home.

Mr Williams, aged in his 30s, was employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

He was on secondment to the riverside headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, about half a mile from the flat.

Officers discovered Mr Williams after breaking into the flat on Monday afternoon when the alarm was raised by colleagues who had not seen him for "some time".

They found his decomposing body, as well as his mobile phone and several Sim cards, laid out nearby at the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico.

A post-mortem examination was being carried out by a Home Office pathologist today to establish what led to his death.

Sources close to the inquiry said it is not clear how he died and played down speculation that the murder is linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

Neighbours described Mr Williams as an "extremely friendly" and athletic man who enjoyed cycling and had a strong Welsh accent.

They said he had lived in London for about a year and was planning to return to Cheltenham, where he rented a flat.

A postwoman who called at the block today said he often collected parcels at the communal front door.

Secretary Laura Houghton, 30, said: "His windows were always shut and curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in.

"It was strange that we never saw him come and go. I just assumed he worked away.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn't hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I'm amazed it's taken this long to all come out."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder might have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

"Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

The scene of the murder is a two-storey flat on a prestigious street among a row of expensive five-storey Victorian townhouses.

Residents are mainly bankers and politicians, including former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan.

The ownership of the building is hidden behind the private company New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000, remortgaged twice and the word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

One Frenchman who lived at the flat between 2005 and 2006 is an expert in global satellite positioning, radio communications and high sensitivity antennae.

Officials at Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command and domestic intelligence agency MI5 have been kept up to date about the police inquiry.

The murder inquiry is being led by officers from Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination would take place later today.

He said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to the secret services since the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a deadly ricin pellet into his leg as he walked across Waterloo Bridge in September 1978.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"It is long-standing Government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation and it would not be appropriate for us to comment at all as this is ongoing.

"We have nothing to add. Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

Mr Williams, 31, joined the University of Cambridge in 2000 to undertake a postgraduate certificate in advanced studies in mathematics but dropped out.

A spokeswoman said he was a member of St Catharine's College but left without completing the qualification the next year.

The course is described as "demanding" and normally only accepts students with first-class degrees in physics, mathematics or engineering.

Forensic officers continued to comb the scene this afternoon.

Three officers in pale blue overalls were seen returning to the townhouse shortly after 3pm.

William Hughes, a relative of Mr Williams, said he had no idea of the type of work the spy was engaged in at GCHQ.

He told the BBC: "He worked for GCHQ for many years. I knew he was working in London doing something.

"He would never talk about his work and it felt rude to ask really."

Mr Hughes said he had not yet spoken to the dead man's parents.

He added: "Unfortunately they were away out of the country, they have arrived back in the country today, I haven't spoken to them yet.

"It was terrible when I had the phone call yesterday morning, I just didn't know what to believe really, I didn't know what to believe."

He said Williams was "very, very talented", adding: "We don't know what he was doing, we never spoke about it."

Mirror : British spy found murdered in flat near MI6 HQ

British spy found murdered in flat near MI6 HQ

By Mirror.co.uk | August 25, 2010

A British spy found murdered in his flat might have lain undiscovered for up to two weeks.

The man, named locally as Gareth Williams, was found stuffed in a large sports holdall in the bath of his central London home.

Mr Williams, aged in his 30s, was employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

He was on secondment to the riverside headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, about half a mile from the flat.

Officers discovered Mr Williams after breaking into the flat on Monday afternoon when the alarm was raised by colleagues who had not seen him for "some time".

They found his decomposing body, as well as his mobile phone and several Sim cards, laid out nearby at the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico.

A post-mortem examination was being carried out by a Home Office pathologist today to establish what led to his death.

Sources close to the inquiry said it is not clear how he died and played down speculation that the murder is linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

Neighbours described Mr Williams as an "extremely friendly" and athletic man who enjoyed cycling and had a strong Welsh accent.

They said he had lived in London for about a year and was planning to return to Cheltenham, where he rented a flat.

A postwoman who called at the block today said he often collected parcels at the communal front door.

Secretary Laura Houghton, 30, said: "His windows were always shut and curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in.

"It was strange that we never saw him come and go. I just assumed he worked away.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn't hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I'm amazed it's taken this long to all come out."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder might have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

"Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

The scene of the murder is a two-storey flat on a prestigious street among a row of expensive five-storey Victorian townhouses.

Residents are mainly bankers and politicians, including former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan.

The ownership of the building is hidden behind the private company New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000, remortgaged twice and the word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

One Frenchman who lived at the flat between 2005 and 2006 is an expert in global satellite positioning, radio communications and high sensitivity antennae.

Officials at Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command and domestic intelligence agency MI5 have been kept up to date about the police inquiry.

The murder inquiry is being led by officers from Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination would take place later today.

He said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to the secret services since the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a deadly ricin pellet into his leg as he walked across Waterloo Bridge in September 1978.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"It is long-standing Government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation and it would not be appropriate for us to comment at all as this is ongoing.

"We have nothing to add. Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

[video] Sky News : MI6 Murder: Post-Mortem Cannot Explain Death

MI6 Murder: Post-Mortem Cannot Explain Death

Sky News | August 25, 2010

Express : POLICE ORDER FURTHER TESTS ON 'SPY'

POLICE ORDER FURTHER TESTS ON 'SPY'

August 25, 2010

Further tests will be carried out on the body of a murdered British spy to establish how he died after a post-mortem examination proved inconclusive.

Gareth Williams' decomposing remains were found by police stuffed inside a holdall in the bath of his London home on Monday. His body may have lain undiscovered for up to a fortnight.

Officers broke down the door after attempts by the Foreign Office to locate him via his former landlady failed.

On Wednesday night a Home Office pathologist failed to find a cause of death following a post-mortem examination of Mr Williams' body. Further tests, including toxicological analysis of his blood for evidence of drugs and alcohol, will now take place. Detectives were unable to say when these tests would happen.

Investigators from the Met's homicide and serious crime command labelled the death as "suspicious and unexplained". Sources said there was no evidence Mr Williams was stabbed, contradicting earlier reports.

Forensic officers spent two days scouring Mr Williams' top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico, for clues as to what happened in his final hours.

Originally from Holyhead, North Wales, he was on secondment to MI6 from his job as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Sources close to the inquiry said it was not clear how he died and played down speculation that the murder was linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

Daily Post : MI6 worker from Holyhead found murdered in London flat

MI6 worker from Holyhead found murdered in London flat

By Our Correspondent, Daily Post | August 25, 2010

A British spy found murdered in his flat might have lain undiscovered for up to two weeks.

The man, named locally as Gareth Williams, was found stuffed in a large sports holdall in the bath of his central London home.

Mr Williams, aged in his 30s and believed to be from Holyhead, was employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

He was on secondment to the riverside headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, about half a mile from the flat.

Officers discovered Mr Williams after breaking into the flat on Monday afternoon when the alarm was raised by colleagues who had not seen him for "some time".

They found his decomposing body, as well as his mobile phone and several Sim cards, laid out nearby at the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico.

A post-mortem examination was being carried out by a Home Office pathologist today to establish what led to his death.

Sources close to the inquiry said it is not clear how he died and played down speculation that the murder is linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

Neighbours described Mr Williams as an "extremely friendly" and athletic man who enjoyed cycling and had a strong Welsh accent.

They said he had lived in London for about a year and was planning to return to Cheltenham, where he rented a flat.

A postwoman who called at the block on Wednesday said he often collected parcels at the communal front door.

Secretary Laura Houghton, 30, said: "His windows were always shut and curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in.

"It was strange that we never saw him come and go. I just assumed he worked away.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn’t hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I’m amazed it’s taken this long to all come out."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder might have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

"Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

The scene of the murder is a two-storey flat on a prestigious street among a row of expensive five-storey Victorian townhouses.

Residents are mainly bankers and politicians, including former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan.

The ownership of the building is hidden behind the private company New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000, remortgaged twice and the word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

One Frenchman who lived at the flat between 2005 and 2006 is an expert in global satellite positioning, radio communications and high sensitivity antennae.

Officials at Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command and domestic intelligence agency MI5 have been kept up to date about the police inquiry.

The murder inquiry is being led by officers from Scotland Yard’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination would take place later on Wednesday.

He said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to the secret services since the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a deadly ricin pellet into his leg as he walked across Waterloo Bridge in September 1978.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"It is long-standing Government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation and it would not be appropriate for us to comment at all as this is ongoing.

"We have nothing to add. Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

Mr Williams, 31, joined the University of Cambridge in 2000 to undertake a postgraduate certificate in advanced studies in mathematics but dropped out.

A spokeswoman said he was a member of St Catharine’s College but left without completing the qualification the next year.

The course is described as "demanding" and normally only accepts students with first-class degrees in physics, mathematics or engineering.

William Hughes, a relative of Mr Williams, said he had no idea of the type of work the spy was engaged in at GCHQ.

He said: "He worked for GCHQ for many years. I knew he was working in London doing something.

"He would never talk about his work and it felt rude to ask really."

Mr Hughes said he had not yet spoken to the dead man’s parents.

He added: "Unfortunately they were away out of the country. They have arrived back in the country today, I haven’t spoken to them yet.

"It was terrible when I had the phone call yesterday morning, I just didn’t know what to believe really, I didn’t know what to believe."

He said Williams was "very, very talented", adding: "We don’t know what he was doing, we never spoke about it."

New York Post : Murdered British spy found in bathtub 'was stabbed to death'

Murdered British spy found in bathtub 'was stabbed to death'

August 25, 2010

A British secret service employee who was found dead in a bag in the bathtub of his London home was named locally Wednesday as Gareth Williams.

The decomposing body of Williams, in his 30s, was found Monday, stuffed into a large sports duffel bag in the bathtub of his apartment in Pimlico, central London. It was understood that he was stabbed -- possibly several times -- and that he might have been dismembered.

Detectives investigating his murder believe he could have been killed up to two weeks ago.

Officers discovered Williams' cell phone and several SIM cards laid out near his body when they broke into the top-floor apartment, after they were told by some of the man's friends that he had not been seen for some time.

He was understood to have been a communications officer at GCHQ, the U.K. government’s listening post in Cheltenham, southwestern England. He was thought to have attended the University of Cambridge and been a keen cyclist.

Williams was believed to have been working on secondment to MI6 -- the Secret Intelligence Service -- which gathers information about Britain’s enemies overseas and is located just over the River Thames from the apartment where the body was discovered. Sky News sources said Williams was renting the apartment on a short-term basis and also had a home in Cheltenham.

Detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command began an investigation into the death and up to a dozen forensic science officers in blue overalls were still scouring the London apartment Wednesday for clues.

Neighbor Laura Houghton, a 30-year-old secretary, said an “extremely friendly” man who called himself Gareth lived at the address.“I have spoken to him only once. I met him in the entrance hall of the set of flats because of a boring plant issue about a year ago. He was extremely friendly and had a Welsh accent," she said. “His windows were always shut, and curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in. It was strange that we never saw him come and go. I just assumed he worked away."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite Williams' apartment, added, “Detectives came round and asked for our eye color and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago.”

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “At around 1640 [4:40pm local time] on Monday, officers attended the flat on the top floor of a property in Alderney Street, Westminster SW1, following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time. Officers gained entry and found the body of the man, believed to be aged in his thirties. He was pronounced dead at the scene."

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed "there is an ongoing police investigation. It is long-standing government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies.”

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

Sun : Did al-Qaeda bump off suitcase spook?

Did al-Qaeda bump off suitcase spook?

By ANTHONY FRANCE, Crime Reporter, and JOHN KAY, Chief Reporter | August 25, 2010

DETECTIVES were last night investigating whether a spook whose body was found in a suitcase was assassinated by AL-QAEDA.

The body was discovered in the bath of the victim's penthouse flat - and may have been there for up to TWO WEEKS.

The spy, named locally as Gareth Williams, 31, worked as a communications officer for GCHQ, the top-secret eavesdropping base in Cheltenham, Gloucs.

But he was attached to MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service which gathers information about Britain's enemies abroad - triggering fears he could have been a terrorist target.

It was reported last night that Mr Williams's mobile phone and a number of SIM cards were laid out in a ritualistic manner at the murder scene in swanky Alderney Street, Pimlico, Central London - near to MI6 headquarters.

Another murder theory was that the young officer - described as a "mild-mannered" cycling fan - was killed over a sex triangle or some other aspect of his private life.

It is thought he advised MI6 — possibly about James Bond-style gadgets like listening devices. Police entered his £400,000 flat after worried friends reported him missing.

Last night men wearing protective clothing carried the body from the four-storey townhouse at 9.20pm.

'Coup'

It was taken away in a Mercedes private ambulance. Meanwhile, forensic experts combed the flat for clues.

Scotland Yard cordoned off the area and made door-to-door inquiries.

Sources stressed it was too early to say what the motive was behind the killing. One said: "All options are being looked at."

But a security expert said: "To kill any Government security worker would be an extraordinary coup for a terrorist organisation like al-Qaeda.

"It would not matter how junior the worker was — it would send shockwaves through Government and show that no one in Britain was 100 per cent safe."

Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is the overall boss of MI6, was being kept closely informed of the police investigation. It was not known how the victim, who was thought to have a doctorate in maths from Cambridge University, died.

His body was already decomposing when found on Monday. A post mortem is due tomorrow.

One neighbour said: "After he was found the street was full of suits, it wasn't your average police turnout. There must have been 30 officers."

A landlady who rented Mr Williams a flat in Cheltenham said: "He was polite and mild-mannered and wouldn't hurt a fly.

"He was forever off on bike rides but never really had friends round.

"He was an extremely intelligent person but would not talk about his job as it was a secret.

"Sometimes you would hear tapes whirring from his flat. It must have been cassettes he used for work. He never told me what they were."

A local resident, who asked not to be named, said last night: "A police officer came to my house and asked if we'd noticed anything suspicious in the last ten days, so I think that the body has been there for a while.

"There have been forensic people in and out since yesterday."

Last night a senior Foreign Office spokesman told The Sun: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"We cannot say any more and we never comment on intelligence matters or confirm or deny them."

Mr Williams joined the University of Cambridge in 2000 to undertake a postgraduate certificate in advanced studies in mathematics but dropped out.

A spokeswoman said he was a member of St Catharine's College but left without completing the qualification the next year.

The course is described as "demanding" and normally only accepts students with first-class degrees in physics, mathematics or engineering.

BBC : MI6 worker found at London flat 'had been dead weeks'

MI6 worker found at London flat 'had been dead weeks'

August 25, 2010

An MI6 worker whose body was found in a holdall in the bath at his central London flat may have been murdered two weeks ago, police believe.

Gareth Williams, 30, was found dead in the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico, on Monday afternoon.

Officers broke in after work colleagues said Mr Williams, from Anglesey, had not been seen for at least 10 days.

Police said post mortem tests have been inconclusive. His blood will now be tested for traces of drugs and alcohol.

The Metropolitan Police have classified the death as "suspicious and unexplained".

A spokesman said: "A post-mortem examination at Westminster Mortuary was unable to provide a cause of death and further tests will take place."

Officers entering the flat discovered a mobile phone and several mobile phone SIM cards laid out at the flat.

'Very talented'

BBC News correspondent Jon Brain said Mr Williams worked at the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) about half a mile from the flat in Vauxhall Cross.

He said it was not known what job he was doing there and that his death was not necessarily connected to it.

Mr Williams' uncle, William Hughes, told BBC News: "It was terrible when I got the phone call yesterday morning.

"Just didn't know what to believe really."

Asked about Mr Williams's career, his uncle called his nephew "very, very talented in his work".

He added: "We don't know what he was doing - never spoke about it."

The police are understood to be looking into details of Mr Williams's personal life.

'Never seen him'

Mr Williams, originally from Holyhead in Anglesey, had been working as a communication officer at government listening post at GCHQ in Cheltenham.

At the time of his death he was on secondment to MI6's headquarters on the bank of the Thames in London.

The Met said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the victim's occupation.

Rob Mills, 35, who lives two doors away, said the discovery was "shocking".

"I'm told the man lived at the top-floor flat but we haven't ever seen him," Mr Mills said.

"It's not like you'd tell your neighbours if you were a spy."

A spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which is handling press inquiries for MI6, said: "This is a police matter.

"It is long-standing Her Majesty's Government policy not to confirm or deny any individual working for the intelligence agencies."

Pimlico People : Mysterious Murder of British Spy on Alderney Street

Mysterious Murder of British Spy on Alderney Street

By James Mass | August 25, 2010

Police have cordoned off Alderney Street today after a body was found in a flat. Officers are now guarding the building in which the corpse was discovered stuffed inside a bag and left in the bathroom. Scotland Yard have now launched an official investigation into the crime, which is believed to be murder. The victim is thought to be a British spy.

Reporters surrounded the area trying to dig out the latest news as the miserable weather cast an even gloomier scene. The body was discovered on Monday afternoon after worried neighbours contacted police claiming that they had not seen the man for some time. A post-mortem is due to be carried out later today to discover the cause of death, although it is believed that the victim sustained multiple stab wounds.

Various reports have suggested that the man, who is yet to be identified, worked for GCHQ, the Government’s intelligence information arm. Other reports have said that he was on secondment to MI6, which is based just a few hundred yards away from the scene of the crime.

Number 36 Alderney Street is now the location of an intriguing murder mystery. Who was this enigma of a man and why was he murdered? We’ll be sure to keep you posted with any developments in this case.