Montreal Gazette : Dead male, British spy owned wardrobe of women's clothes

Dead male, British spy owned wardrobe of women's clothes

By Duncan Gardham, Daily Telegraph | December 23, 2010

A British spy whose naked body was found padlocked in a sports bag had been visiting bondage websites and drag clubs and had $25,000 collection of women's clothing, police have disclosed.

Officers investigating the death of Gareth Williams, a code-breaker who was on secondment to MI6, have released details of his unusual private life and explained the extraordinary riddle that surrounds his death.

While the death is officially described as "suspicious" rather than murder, officers also released photos of a Mediterranean couple who visited the apartment a few weeks later and let themselves in with a key.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, the head of Scotland Yard's murder squad, said he was aware that the details would be "embarrassing, hurtful and distressing" for Williams's family but said they supported the appeal for anyone who had encountered him in the nightclubs, online or at women's clothing shops to come forward.

"We are very sure that someone else was in that flat.

"We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design," he said.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, described Williams, 31, from Anglesey in Wales, as an "intensely private person" who kept his way of life hidden from friends and family.

His body was found in a red North Face bag on Aug. 23 after he failed to turn up to work at MI6's headquarters in London.

Inside his flat in central London, police found half a dozen boxes with neatly folded, apparently unused women's designer clothing and shoes, along with a number of wigs.

The clothing had been bought online and in London's West End, starting in 2008 and up until a few weeks before Williams died.

They were in small sizes that would have fit Williams, who was five-foot-eight and weighed around 126 pounds.

The labels included Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin shoes, and the collection came to around $25,000.

Williams was not in debt, police said, and there were no signs that unaccounted for sums of money had been paid in to or left his bank account.

Unknown to his family and colleagues, Williams had attended two short courses in fashion design, one in 2010 and one in 2009.

Examination of his personal laptop and personal mobile phone showed that he had visited five separate bondage websites, beginning with a search on the online encyclopedia site Wikipedia and followed up with specialist bondage websites.

Keys to the padlock on the sports bag in which Williams was discovered were lying underneath the spy's naked body, police say.

An expert on rescuing people from confined spaces told investigators it would be impossible to lock the North Face bag from the inside.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Sky Valley Chronicle : BRITISH POLICE SEARCH FOR MYSTERIOUS COUPLE

BRITISH POLICE SEARCH FOR MYSTERIOUS COUPLE

As bondage websites may hold key to spy’s death

December 23, 2010

(INTERNATIONAL) -- In a strange set of circumstances that read like a pulp fiction spy novel, London police detectives believe the mysterious death of spy Gareth Williams may be solved by gaining more information about his private life after they earlier revealed he had visited bondage websites and a drag club and had £15,000 worth of unworn designer women’s wear in his wardrobe.

Williams's decomposed body was discovered in a padlocked satchel in his apartment, which is less than a mile from MI6 headquarters in London where he was a senior analyst.

Police think he had died a week earlier in the early hours of August 16th.

They also believe someone else was present at his death although they say tests show no signs of a struggle or forced entry into the apartment and no sign that he was drugged.

So far police have released the following information about the spy’s death.

• Williams used his smartphone to visit websites on bondage (and escape from bondage) in the months before his death.

• He had been padlocked into the satchel by someone else as police say it was impossible for him to have locked himself inside.

• Once padlocked in the bag, with the keys inside, he could only have survived for about 30 minutes before suffocating.

• Police are trying to locate a mysterious couple, a man and woman of Mediterranean appearance, who visited his block and claimed to have a key to his apartment weeks before Williams's death.

• Just four days before he died, Williams went to a drag club in east London to see an act called Jimmy Woo, and had tickets for two similar performances at a pub close to MI6 headquarters.

• A witness told police that Williams had been seen at a gay bar in Vauxhall months before his death.

When Williams's decomposing body was found August 23rd police also discovered £15,000 of unworn women's designer clothing, wigs and shoes in his closet.

It is now believed Williams had been leading a secret life of a gay man in his off hours unknown to family, friends or coworkers.

The high fashion women’s clothing found in the apartment was in original boxes or wrapping paper and appeared unworn.

Williams had enrolled in two fashion design courses in London in 2009 and 2010.

Scottish Daily Record : Revealed: MI6 spy found dead in a holdall loved bondage and had £15k hoard of women's designer clothes

Revealed: MI6 spy found dead in a holdall loved bondage and had £15k hoard of women's designer clothes

By Jon Clements | December 23, 2010

THE MI6 spy found dead in a padlocked bag lived a double life - spending £15,000 on women's clothes and visiting bondage websites.

Codebreaker Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old maths genius, owned Stella McCartney dresses, tops by Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin shoes.

There is no evidence that Williams wore the clothes or some wigs he had bought - but he hid his interest in women's clothing from spy chiefs at the Government listening post GCHQ.

Detectives have found out that while tracking al-Qaeda suspects and countering Chinese hackers, Williams took two evening courses in ladies' fashion.

Drag Yesterday, police issued e-fits of a Mediterranean couple suspected of having a key to Williams's flat.

They revealed Williams visited bondage websites and researched tying himself up and escapology.

He also watched drag queen Jimmy Woo at east London bar Bistrotheque three days before he died and bought tickets for other acts at the gay pub.

But he is not known to have had any sexual partners and there is no evidence that he was gay.

Scotland Yard detectives believe Williams died in a sex game which went wrong when both keys to the padlock were left inside the bag. Officers released the details with the consent of the spy's grief-stricken family as part of a new appeal for information.

Detective Chief Super-intendent Hamish Campbell said: "We are trying to say if his death is a direct result of what we have seen on the internet, bondage sites, escape - that is not a wide community.

"This is trying to set out the plain facts, unpalatable as they are, embarrassing as they are, to someone in that world. It may be they meet on the net or at Bistrotheque and maybe someone came back to the flat with him."

Williams is believed to have died early on August 16 - a week before his body was found naked inside a waterproof North Face duffel bag. He was lying on his back with his legs bent under him and hands on his chest.

Dcs Campbell said: "We are very assured someone else was in the flat so we need to know the circumstances where you leave someone in that position.

"It is unexplained and suspicious."

Reuters : Dead MI6 worker visited bondage sites, drag cabaret

Dead MI6 worker visited bondage sites, drag cabaret

By Michael Holden | December 23, 2010

LONDON (Reuters) - Police probing the death of a man who worked for MI6 said on Wednesday he had visited bondage websites and had a wardrobe full of thousands of pounds worth of unworn women's clothing.

Gareth Williams, 30, was found by police on August 23 at his top floor flat in Pimlico, central London, not far from MI6 headquarters. Officers discovered his naked, decomposing body in a zipped and padlocked holdall bag in an empty bath.

Detectives said an examination of his phones had revealed that on a few occasions he had accessed websites relating to bondage and escape from bondage.

Williams had also visited a drag cabaret 10 days before his body was found and had tickets for two other shows. There was also an unconfirmed sighting of him at the "Barcode" gay bar in south London in May.

"Gareth's death remains suspicious and unexplained, and enquiries into the circumstances continue," said Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry.

Media reported that Sebire was now convinced someone else had helped put him into the bag.

Nothing was believed to have been stolen from the flat and there was no sign of any forced entry or disturbance inside. Toxicology tests on his body have found no traces of alcohol, drugs or poisons.

Police also disclosed that Williams had a collection of dresses and shoes worth about 15,000 pounds in his wardrobe which were new and appeared to be unused.

Williams had been attending a fashion course for beginners at Clerkenwell in central London, detectives said.

They also issued e-fits of a couple, both of Mediterranean appearance, aged between 20 and 30, who had paid a visit to Williams' flat about a month before he was found dead.

The couple had suggested to a witness in the communal area of the block at that time that they had a key to his flat which they had been given by someone called "Pier Paulo."

"Gareth was a very private individual, and we know he would not have given his keys to anyone other than close family," Sebire said. "I am asking this man or woman, or anyone who recognizes them, to encourage them to come forward."

The mysterious nature of the death has led some to question whether he was targeted because of his work. However, the police inquiry is being carried out by its homicide unit, indicating they believe it is not related to terrorism or spy matters.

Williams was working for MI6, which deals with foreign espionage matters, on secondment from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the state eavesdropping service.

An inquest into his death is due to be heard at Westminster Coroner's Court on February 15 next year.

(Editing by Steve Addison)

Herald Scotland : Plea to gay community for help in explaining spy’s death

Plea to gay community for help in explaining spy’s death

Chris Greenwood | December 23, 2010

Mystery death spy Gareth Williams visited a series of bondage websites in the months before his bizarre death, police have revealed.

The MI6 codebreaker, whose naked, decomposing body was found in a padlocked holdall with the keys inside in the bath of his central London flat four months ago, had viewed sites showing people bound and tied. They included do-it-yourself guides to the fetish.

Police also found a £15,000 collection of unworn women’s designer clothing including tops, dresses and shoes in his wardrobe and revealed Mr Williams, 31, had visited a drag cabaret in east London four days before his death and held tickets to two more such events.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry that has been delving into the life of the intensely private man, yesterday said she remained convinced someone else helped put him in the bag.

She told a news conference that a witness had seen him at a gay bar several months before his death, but police did not know for certain if he was gay.

She added that police believe they will get to the bottom of the spy’s death.

She said: “We remain completely open-minded about how he died. We are appealing today to someone who is out there to come forward and tell us more.”

The Government Communications Headquarters intelligence officer had been on a year-long secondment to the spy agency from the Government’s eavesdropping headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, which was due to end days after he was found dead on August 23.

He was discovered by police after he was reported missing. The discovery immediately sparked lurid speculation that included unfounded media reports he may have targeted by people with links to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Theories were put forward that he was killed by those who wanted to steal state secrets.

However, there were also a suggestion from the outset that he died following a sex game that had gone wrong and police have been concentrating on this line of inquiry.

No evidence of drugs, alcohol or poisons were found during a battery of tests conducted by toxicologists, said Ms Sebire, who also revealed police have forensic evidence that other people whom they have been unable to trace were in the flat.

Mr Williams, of Anglesey, North Wales, was last seen alive on August 15, eight days before he was found dead in the £400,000 property.

Mrs Sebire said the six boxes of unworn designer clothing found in a wardrobe included pieces by Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin that had been bought at London boutiques and online.

She said the clothing was in various sizes, all small, and a number of women’s wigs were also found. The items had not been worn or hung up, the buttons were done up and items were still wrapped in paper.

However, Ms Sebire said Mr Williams attended two fashion design courses at Central St Martins College in the capital. His employers did not know he had taken part in or that he was interested in fashion.

She said it was a possibility the clothing purchases were linked to the diploma courses for beginners, which Mr Williams had passed.

Ms Sebire said analysis of Mr Williams’s phones and laptops revealed he visited no more than five bondage websites and had spent between 30 minutes and an hour on the sites from the end of last year until July, shortly before his death on August 16.

However, he did not appear “obsessed” with the subject and no other pornography was found in Alderney Street, she added.

She continued: “The sites primarily feature women and there are guides on how to do certain things.”

On the dead man’s sexuality, the lead officer said: “We do not have any evidence to suggest that he was gay. We have not spoken to any past or present sexual partner, whether male or female.

“We know he was intensely private, and however difficult this might be for someone who has had any interaction with Gareth, it would really help us if they came forward so we know if that side of his life had any relevance to his death.”

Mr Williams attended Bistroteque in the east end of London on Friday August 13. Police said the restaurant, bar and theatre venue hosted Jimmy Woo, a drag cabaret act, that night and the spy went alone.

Others who were at the event have told police Mr Williams chatted amicably with some of the audience.

Mr Williams, who lived alone, also held tickets for drag shows that took place after his death.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell said police hope that revealing some details of Mr Williams’ private life may encourage people to come forward.

He said: “This is not intended to add salacious detail or tittle-tattle. We feel there is some small sub-group of the community or individuals who may know something about this matter and the nature of Gareth’s death.

Mr Campbell added that investigators were sure someone else involved with the bondage or gay scene had “linked in” with Mr Williams.

He said: “We are very sure that someone else was in that flat. We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design. Maybe, by explaining to the public, someone will think: ‘I get it and I can explain.”

Visiting pair are sought by detectives

MI6 spy Gareth Williams may have died at the hands of a mystery bondage sex partner he met on London’s gay scene, detectives have suggested.

Police have released two e-fits of a couple who they said they were visiting Mr Williams’s home in late June or July. The casually dressed Mediterranean couple, in their twenties, were buzzed through the communal entrance by another resident at the property in Pimlico.

They suggested they had been given a key by “Pierre Palo” and were on their way to flat four.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire said that an expert brought in to examine the red North Face holdall in which Mr Williams was found concluded he could not have locked it himself. The zip was held shut by a common travel-style Yale padlock through holes in two zip fasteners.

Tests found the temperature inside the bag would have risen to 30°C within three minutes. An expert on survivability in confined spaces from the National Policing Improvement Agency said he would have suffocated in 30 minutes.

She said Mr Williams probably died in the early hours of August 16, a week before he was found, and there was no sign of injury apart from bruising to his elbows, which might have occurred some time before his death.

Speaking about how Mr Williams ended up in the bag, Mrs Sebire said an expert found it was “quite easy” to fit someone inside. She said: “If he was alive, he got into it voluntarily or, if not, he was unconscious and placed in the bag.

“There is forensic evidence that indicates the presence of other people that we have not been able to eliminate yet.”

Mrs Sebire said there was no evidence Mr Williams was suicidal and no signs of forced entry at the flat. None of his possessions were laid out in a “ritualistic” manner, she added.

Mr Williams had a laptop and four mobile phones, including at least one pay-as-you go handset. The death remains suspicious and unexplained and no conclusive cause of death has been found. An inquest will be held at Westminster Coroner’s Court on February 15.

Mirror : Body in the bag spy Gareth Williams spent £15,000 on women's clothes and visited bondage websites

Body in the bag spy Gareth Williams spent £15,000 on women's clothes and visited bondage websites

by Jon Clements | December 23, 2010

THE MI6 codebreaker found dead in a padlocked bag had researched bondage websites – and spent £15,000 on women’s clothes, police revealed yesterday.

Maths genius Gareth Williams, 31, had visited four bondage sites and looked into how people escape after tying themselves up.

Det Chief Supt Hamish Campbell, investigating his bizarre death, said: “We’re trying to see if it was as a direct result of what we’ve seen on the net – bondage sites and escape.”

Officers released the details with the consent of the spy’s grief-stricken family as part of a new appeal for information.

They also said Mr Williams owned Stella McCartney dresses and Christian Louboutin designer shoes. He kept his interest in the clothes and wigs a secret – but there is no evidence he wore any of them.

Scotland Yard believes Mr Williams, who was found naked in his flat, died in a weird sex game which went wrong when both keys to the padlock were accidentally left in the bag.

Detectives say someone else must have been involved because it would have been impossible for Mr Williams to lock himself inside.

Det Chief Supt Campbell said: “We’re sure someone else was in the flat so need to know the circumstances where you leave someone in that position by accident or by design. It’s unexplained and suspicious.”

As police issued e-fits of a Mediterranean couple suspected of having a key to Mr Williams’ flat in Pimlico, Central London, other revelations about his private life were revealed. While he worked tracking al-Qaeda suspects at the government listening post at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucs, Mr Williams took two evening courses in women’s fashion.

He saw drag queen Jimmy Woo at East London bar Bistrotheque three days before he died and bought tickets to two similar acts at a gay pub.

Police also said Mr Williams is not known to have had any sexual partners and there is no evidence he was gay.

The inquiry continues to focus on the man and woman buzzed into the block of flats a few weeks before he died.

An intelligence officer at the GCHQ-owned apartments spoke briefly to the couple and was told a man called Pier Paulo had given them the key. They went upstairs towards Mr Williams’ flat but were not seen going inside.

Det Chief Insp Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, said: “Gareth was an intensely private person and would not give his key to anybody, so the fact they had the key for his flat could be a very important detail in unlocking a part of his private life we’ve yet to uncover.”

Mr Williams, of Holyhead, Anglesey, is believed to have died on August 16, a week before his body was found inside the North Face bag. He was lying on his back with his legs bent under him and with his hands on his chest.

An expert in confined spaces from the National Policing Improvement Agency estimates that anyone inside the waterproof holdall would have run out of oxygen after half an hour.

Mr Williams was uninjured apart from small bruises on his elbows, and tests found there were no drugs, poison or alcohol in his system. His inquest takes place in February.

There were no signs of a disturbance at the apartment and nothing was missing.

Express : BONDAGE GAMES CLUE TO SPY GARETH WILLIAMS DEATH

BONDAGE GAMES CLUE TO SPY GARETH WILLIAMS DEATH

by John Twomey | December 23, 2010

SPY Gareth Williams led a secret double life as a women’s fashion designer and visited bondage websites shortly before he died, police revealed yesterday.

The MI6 codebreaker passed two courses in fashion design at a prestige college and had a collection of women’s designer clothes and shoes worth £15,000.

Much of the clothing was still in boxes and none had been worn, Scotland Yard said. He had also bought women’s wigs.

Mr Williams, 31, was found dead inside a zipped and padlocked sports holdall in his top floor flat in Pimlico, London, on August 23. He is believed to have died on August 16.

Despite the female clothing and the occasional visits to gay bars, police have found no evidence that he was homosexual.

But they have discovered Mr Williams had an interest in bondage.

Checks on his personal laptop computer and his four mobile phones have revealed he occasionally logged on to bondage websites.

Mr Williams was found naked. The padlock keys were inside the red North Face bag, which was in the bath.

Detectives are certain that someone else was with Mr Williams when he got into the bag.

It is impossible to zip up and lock the holdall from the inside, or to escape without help.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire said: “We want that person to come forward and talk to us.”

Police are still trying to trace a young Mediterranean couple who called at Mr Williams’s flat in the weeks before his death and yesterday they released e-fits of the pair.

The pair were let into the communal hallway and said they had a key to the spy’s flat.

It is not known whether Mr Williams was in at the time – or even if they went inside.

The couple, said to be in their 20s, spoke to a neighbour and said they had got the key from someone called “Pier Paulo.”

Neither Mr Williams’s fashion design studies or his fetish for bondage was known to his MI6 spymasters or his family.

The exact cause of death is still unknown, although suffocation is the most likely explanation.

An expert in confined spaces, who was locked inside a similar bag, found the temperature soared to 30C in three minutes.

After half-an-hour, the oxygen level in the bag, which is made of thick, weatherproof material, became dangerously low. DCI Sebire said: “Expert evidence is that it is not possible to lock yourself inside without assistance, or unlock yourself once you’re in the bag.”

Speaking about the website visits, DCI Sebire said: “It was very limited sections of time. It is not like continual browsing.

“It was not every evening or weekend. The sites primarily feature women.”

Mr Williams, who worked for the government listening post GCHQ and was on secondment to MI6, studied fashion design at Central St Martins College in London.

He was awarded diplomas after passing beginners’ courses this year and last year.

Police have spoken to fellow students, but want to hear from anyone who knew him at college or through his interest in fashion. They also want to speak to anyone who met Williams when he visited a drag queen cabaret at the Bistrotheque in Bethnal Green, east London, on August 13.

He had tickets for similar shows at a gay pub in Vauxhall, south London, for dates after his death.

DCI Sebire said: “We do not have any evidence to suggest that he was gay.

“We have not spoken to any past or present sexual partner, whether male or female.

“We know he was intensely private, and however difficult this might be for someone who has had any interaction with Gareth, it would really help us if they came forward so we know if that side of his life had any relevance to his death.”

Anyone with information should call the incident room on 020 8358 0200.

Callers who wish to remain anonymous can ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Sun : Dresspionage: MI6 spy found dead in bag had 15,000 of dresses and shoes at his flat

Dresspionage: MI6 spy found dead in bag had 15,000 of dresses and shoes at his flat

By MIKE SULLIVAN | December 23, 2010

THE spy found dead in a bag at his flat had 15,000 worth of women's designer dresses and shoes, cops said yesterday.

MI6 code breaker Gareth Williams, 31, had also been using a string of bondage websites.

Some featured claustrophilia, in which confined spaces are used to get sexual kicks.

Mr Williams is thought to have died after a kinky game went wrong with a mystery partner.

Police yesterday appealed for the unknown person to come forward.

They also released an e-fit of a couple of Mediterranean appearance who visited the spook late at night a few weeks before he died.

The posh clothing - produced by fashion stars including Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin - was inside six boxes.

The garments - all unused - were in small sizes but could have been worn by fitness enthusiast and cyclist Mr Williams, who was 5ft 8in and weighed just over 9st.

Det Chief Insp Jackie Sebire revealed that several wigs were also at the flat.

She said: "The items of clothing by select designers were purchased online and also in West End stores and boutiques.

"We would like to hear from anyone who may have served him to assist in helping us establish what the clothing was for.

"The clothing was all unopened and packed in boxes but we have evidence he bought them."

Ms Sebire added: "We know more than one person was in the flat at the time Gareth died and want them to come forward.

"There is no evidence that he was gay and we have not traced any past or present sexual partners."

Mr Williams's family, from Anglesey, North Wales, gave cops permission to reveal the information in an attempt to establish how he died.

The GCHQ worker, on a year-long attachment to MI6, was found dead in his flat in Pimlico, South West London, on August 23.

Investigators have discovered he attended a cabaret by drag queen Jimmy Woo at the Bistroteque, in Bethnal Green, East London, two nights before he died.

Tickets for two forthcoming drag queen concerts were found in his flat.

A witness claims they saw the maths genius in a gay haunt called Barcode in Vauxhall, South London, three months before he died.

Cops also found that at the end of last year Mr Williams began an eight-week fashion designing course at Central Saint Martins College, Clerkenwell, central London.

The News [Pakistan] : Dead MI6 spy Gareth Williams ‘visited bondage websites’

Dead MI6 spy Gareth Williams ‘visited bondage websites’

December 23, 2010

LONDON: An MI6 spy found dead in a padlocked holdall in his central London flat had accessed bondage websites several times, police have revealed.

Gareth Williams, 31, from Holyhead on Anglesey, had also visited a drag show and owned £15,000 worth of women’s designer clothing, detectives said.

Mr Williams’ naked body was found at his Pimlico flat in August. Police believe other people helped the MI6 codebreaker to get into the holdall and want to speak to them. Officers have released e-fit images of a couple who they said visited Mr Williams’ Alderney Street home in June or July.

Det Ch Insp Jackie Sebire said: “We remain completely open-minded about how he died. “We are appealing today to someone who is out there to come forward and tell us more.” Police revealed Mr Williams viewed websites showing people bound and tied, which included do-it-yourself guides.

The two e-fit images issued by police show a casually-dressed couple of Mediterranean appearance, thought to be in their 20s, who were buzzed through the communal entrance of his home by another resident in late June or July.

Daily Star : MI6 BAG SPY 'DIED IN EX GAMES WITH MYSTERY COUPLE'

MI6 BAG SPY 'DIED IN EX GAMES WITH MYSTERY COUPLE'

By Emma Wall | 23rd December 2010

POLICE are hunting this mystery couple in connection with the death of spy-in-a-bag Gareth Williams.

The e-fits released yesterday show the pair believed to have visited his flat in the weeks before he died.

M16 codebreaker Gareth was found locked in a holdall with the keys inside at his London flat in August.

Investigators believe someone else fastened the padlock on the bag, pictured right, before leaving him in the bath.

The 31-year-old visited a series of bondage websites in the months before he died. Several showed people bound and tied, and included do-it-yourself guides.

A £15,000 collection of unworn women’s designer clothing was also found stashed in his wardrobe.

Police said Gareth visited a drag cabaret four days before his death and held tickets to two more. A witness also claims he was spotted at a popular gay bar.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire said she is convinced someone helped to put Gareth in the bag and believes the key to the mystery lies in his private life.

She said: “We are appealing today to someone who is out there to come forward and tell us more.”

GCHQ code-breaker Gareth, who had been on secondment to MI6, does not appear to have taken drugs or alcohol, nor does he appear to have been poisoned.

But forensic tests showed other people were in the flat. Police said the e-fit couple visited his home in late June or July.

The casually-dressed Mediterranean pair, in their 20s, were buzzed through the communal entrance by another resident.

Det Ch Supt Hamish Campbell said investigators were sure someone involved with the bondage or gay scene had “linked in” with Williams.

He said: “We are very sure that someone else was in that flat. We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design.

“Maybe, by explaining to the public, someone will think: ‘I get it and I can explain.'”

DCI Sebire said police still did not know for certain that Gareth was gay and appealed for more information about his private life.

An inquest will be held at Westminster Coroner’s Court in February.

emma.wall@dailystar.co.uk

Independent : MI6 spy 'visited bondage sites' before his death

MI6 spy 'visited bondage sites' before his death

By Kim Sengupta, Defence Correspondent | December 23, 2010

Photofits have been released of a man and a woman whom police want to question in connection with the death of an MI6 spy found dead in a padlocked holdall in his central London flat.

Detectives say Gareth Williams, 31, was unlikely to have been alone at the time of his death. The couple were seen visiting the flat where he lived in Pimlico, south-west London, several weeks before the decomposing body in the bag was discovered in a bathtub on 23 August.

Police disclosed yesterday that Mr Williams, who worked as a codebreaker for the intelligence service, owned £15,000 worth of women's designer clothes. He had also viewed a number of bondage websites which showed people bound and tied.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the investigation, revealed that police have forensic evidence that other people were in the flat, whom they have not been able to trace.

She added that an expert who was brought in to examine the red holdall in which Mr Williams was found concluded that he could not have locked it.

Mr Williams, who had been seconded from GCHQ to MI6, had visited a drag night at a club called Bistrotheque in Mile End, east London just 10 days before his death, and a gay bar called Barcode in May. He had taken a keen interest in clothes and had completed fashion design courses at Central Saint Martins art college in London.

Mr Williams, from Holyhead on Anglesey, north Wales, owned four mobile telephones, two of which were "pay as you go". Investigators have failed to trace any calls to the couple who visited Mr Williams' address in late June or July. The man and woman, described as being in their twenties and of Mediterranean appearance, were let in by another tenant in the building; they told her they had keys to the flat where Mr Williams lived.

At the time, Mr Williams was known to have been away. DCI Sebire said: "Gareth was a very private individual. We know he would not have given his keys to anyone other than close family. I am asking this man or woman or anyone who recognises them to encourage them to come forward and assist us. There is forensic evidence [in the flat] that indicates the presence of other people that we have not been able to eliminate yet."

Referring to Mr Williams' visits to bondage sites, DCI Sebire said: "It is not like continual browsing. It was not every evening or weekend. The sites primarily feature women, and there are guides on how to do certain things." He also said, "We do not have any evidence to suggest that he was gay."

Tests on Mr Williams' body showed no evidence that he had been poisoned, drugged or under the influence of alcohol.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell added that detectives hoped that by revealing details of Mr Williams' personal life, it would encourage people to come forward.

News dot com [Australia] : Bondage link to spy found dead in bag

Bondage link to spy found dead in bag

By Kat Higgins, Sky News Online | December 23, 2010

AN MI6 spy found dead in a bag in his bathroom visited a series of bondage websites before his death, police say.

Officers say 31-year-old Gareth Williams viewed sites showing people bound and tied, which included guides on how to do it and escape.

Detectives also found a £15,000 ($23,000) collection of unworn women's designer clothing in his wardrobe, Sky News reports.

Mr Williams' decomposing body was found in a padlocked holdall in his flat on August 23, and police are convinced someone else was involved.

A survivability expert concluded it would have been impossible for the GCHQ codebreaker, who was on secondment to MI6, to have locked himself inside the bag.

The keys were also inside.

The mysterious circumstances of Mr Williams's death sparked an international frenzy of speculation.

The Metropolitan Police have issued e-fit pictures of a man and woman they want to speak to in connection with the death.

They are described as being of Mediterranean appearance, aged between 20 to 30-years-old.

They called at Mr Williams' Pimlico home one evening in June or July of this year and were buzzed through the communal entrance by another resident.

The pair suggested they had been given a key by "Pier Paulo" and were on their way to flat four.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, said police believe they will get to the bottom of the intensely private spy's death by studying his private life.

She said there was no evidence Mr Williams was suicidal and he had recently returned from a fly-drive holiday to America's west coast.

Mrs Sebire said analysis of Mr Williams's phones and laptops revealed he visited no more than five bondage websites.

she added there was no evidence he was "obsessed" with bondage and no other pornography was found.

Mr Williams, of Anglesey, North Wales, was last seen alive on August 15, eight days before he was found dead in the £400,000 property.

Met Police said on Wednesday: "Gareth's family are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of their son and brother, they urge anybody to come forward with any information that can assist the police investigation."

The death remains suspicious and unexplained and no conclusive cause of death has been found.

An inquest will be held at Westminster Coroner's Court on February 15.

North Wales Chronicle : Pair sought in Anglesey MI6 worker investigation

Pair sought in Anglesey MI6 worker investigation

December 23, 2010

POLICE investigating the death of an Anglesey MI6 operative have issued e-fits of two people they wish to speak to in connection with the enquiry.

Gareth Williams, 31, of Valley, was discovered in locked in a bag in the bathroom of his flat in Pimlico, London earlier this year.

Police strongly believe Gareth was not alone in his flat at or before the time of his death, and urged officer urged a man and a woman, aged between 20 and 30 of Mediterranean appearance, who were seen leaving the flat late in June or July this year to come forward.

The pair claimed that they had a key to Gareth's flat, number 4, and were last seen walking towards it.

Lead investigating officer DCI Jacqueline Sebire said: "Gareth was a very private individual, and we know he would not have given his keys to anyone other than close family.

“I am asking this man or woman, or anyone who recognizes them, to encourage them to come forward and assist us with this enquiry.”

Police would also like to speak to anyone who knows where Mr Williams could have bought around £15,000 worth of unused women’s clothes, wigs and shoes found in his wardrobe.

They would also like to speak to anyone who might have seen Mr Williams at the Barcode gay bar in Vauxhall in May, or at the Bistroteque drag cabaret on August 13

A first post mortem revealed no cause of death.

Further examinations of the body were held and results from further tests showed no trace of any drugs, alcohol, poisons or any other substances that would indicate cause of death.

Calls from Mr Williams’ mobile phone revealed limited use of bondage websites.

Officers would like to talk to anyone who had contact with Gareth via one or more of those bondage websites.

The Williams family said today (Wednesday): "Gareth's family are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of their son and brother, they urge anybody to come forward with any information that can assist the police investigation."

An inquest will be heard before Westminster Coroner's Court on 15 February 2011.
Anyone with information should call the Incident Room in Hendon on 020 8358 0200 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Sydney Morning Herald : Bondage link to dead spy

Bondage link to dead spy

December 23, 2010

A British spy whose body was found padlocked inside a bag at his London flat in August visited bondage websites before his death and had a huge stash of women's designer clothes, police said on Wednesday.

Police probing the mysterious death of Gareth Williams, 30, a codebreaker for Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, said they remain convinced that someone else had helped to put him inside the holdall.

The revelations come after the inquiry increasingly focused on the reclusive intelligence agent's private life and moved away from speculation that his death was linked to his job.

Scotland Yard detective Hamish Campbell told reporters that investigators believed someone involved with the bondage or gay scene had "linked in" with Williams.

"We are very sure that someone else was in that flat. We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design," he added.

Williams's had visited five bondage sites - including hogtie.com, boundanna.com and artofconstriction.com - between the end of 2009 and last July, said detective Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry.

"The sites primarily feature women and there are guides on how to do certain things," Sebire told reporters.

No bondage equipment was found in the flat, she added.

Williams also visited a drag cabaret in east London four days before his death and held tickets to two more, she said.

In addition, Williams had £15,000 ($23,230) worth of unworn women's designer clothing including tops, dresses and shoes in his wardrobe, plus a number of women's wigs, said Sebire.

Labels included Stella McCartney and Christian Louboutin.

She said the clothes could have been linked to two fashion courses he attended at the famed Central St Martin's College in London in 2009 and 2010 - neither of which British intelligence knew he had attended.

Sebire said that an expert who examined the red North Face bag in which Williams's naked body was found on August 23 had concluded that he could not have locked it himself. The keys were found inside the bag.

Police were trying to trace a couple of Mediterranean appearance known to have visited his flat in late June or July.

Williams was last seen alive on August 15.

He died just days before completing a one-year secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, Britain's electronic "listening post" which monitors communications for intelligence purposes, located in Cheltenham, southwest England.

AFP

Edmonton Journal : Dead male, British spy owned wardrobe of women's clothes

Dead male, British spy owned wardrobe of women's clothes

By Duncan Gardham, Daily Telegraph | December 23, 2010

A British spy whose naked body was found padlocked in a sports bag had been visiting bondage websites and drag clubs and had $25,000 collection of women's clothing, police have disclosed.

Officers investigating the death of Gareth Williams, a code-breaker who was on secondment to MI6, have released details of his unusual private life and explained the extraordinary riddle that surrounds his death.

While the death is officially described as "suspicious" rather than murder, officers also released photos of a Mediterranean couple who visited the apartment a few weeks later and let themselves in with a key.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, the head of Scotland Yard's murder squad, said he was aware that the details would be "embarrassing, hurtful and distressing" for Williams's family but said they supported the appeal for anyone who had encountered him in the nightclubs, online or at women's clothing shops to come forward.

"We are very sure that someone else was in that flat.

"We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design," he said.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, described Williams, 31, from Anglesey in Wales, as an "intensely private person" who kept his way of life hidden from friends and family.

His body was found in a red North Face bag on Aug. 23 after he failed to turn up to work at MI6's headquarters in London.

Inside his flat in central London, police found half a dozen boxes with neatly folded, apparently unused women's designer clothing and shoes, along with a number of wigs.

The clothing had been bought online and in London's West End, starting in 2008 and up until a few weeks before Williams died.

They were in small sizes that would have fit Williams, who was five-foot-eight and weighed around 126 pounds.

The labels included Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin shoes, and the collection came to around $25,000.

Williams was not in debt, police said, and there were no signs that unaccounted for sums of money had been paid in to or left his bank account.

Unknown to his family and colleagues, Williams had attended two short courses in fashion design, one in 2010 and one in 2009.

Examination of his personal laptop and personal mobile phone showed that he had visited five separate bondage websites, beginning with a search on the online encyclopedia site Wikipedia and followed up with specialist bondage websites.

Keys to the padlock on the sports bag in which Williams was discovered were lying underneath the spy's naked body, police say.

An expert on rescuing people from confined spaces told investigators it would be impossible to lock the North Face bag from the inside.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Daily Mail : Did MI6 spy found dead in zipped-up bag die in sex game with this couple? Police reveal agent liked drag clubs and bondage websites

Did MI6 spy found dead in zipped-up bag die in sex game with this couple? Police reveal agent liked drag clubs and bondage websites

By Daily Mail Reporter | December 23, 2010

* Lead detective convinced someone else was involved
* Police reveal e-fits of mystery couple who visited his flat
* £15,000 of designer women's clothes in wardrobe

Murder detectives investigating the death of an MI6 spy found naked in a padlocked bag have released e-fits of a couple they wish to question.

The life-like pictures show a man and woman, possibly of Mediterranean appearance, who were seen calling at the flat of 31-year-old codes expert Gareth Williams before his death on August 23.

Officers also released further intimate details about the dead man’s bizarre and secretive private life in the hope it will prompt someone who knew him to come forward.

Examination of his laptop computers and four mobile phones have revealed that Mr Williams had visited five bondage websites.

The sites – including one called Art of Constriction – were not pornographic but would give readers advice on how to get into confined spaces and escaping from them.

Mr Williams, who grew up in Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey, had worked for government listening post GCHQ in Cheltenham for ten years but was on a year’s secondment to MI6 in London when he died.

He loved film, music and theatre and went to see a comedy drag act show a few nights before his death.

Officers also found tickets for more drag shows, at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a gay venue in Vauxhall close to MI6 headquarters, for the following weekend.

Intriguingly, he had also bought £15,000 worth of women’s designer clothes and shoes, including labels such as Stella McCartney and Christian Louboutin.

All were stored unopened in their bags and boxes in his flat. A number of women’s wigs were also found.

Who are they? Police released e-fits of a couple seen visiting Mr Williams' flat

Unbeknown to his family or work colleagues, Mr Williams – a child maths prodigy who had completed his A-levels by 13 and degree by 17 – had attended several fashion design courses for beginners.

The evening and weekend courses lasted six to eight weeks and the spy had earned diplomas from respected Central St Martin’s College of Art, London.

Officers have found no evidence to suggest Mr Williams was gay and have yet to discover any sexual partners, either male or female.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, deputy head of Scotland Yard’s murder squad, said it had been a ‘difficult decision’ to disclose the private details and he was concerned about upsetting Mr Williams’s parents Ian and Ellen and his sister, Ceri.

He said: ‘This is not intended to add salacious detail or tittle-tattle. We feel there is some small sub-group of the community or individuals who may know something about the nature of Gareth’s death.’

Mr Campbell added that investigators were sure that someone else involved with the bondage or gay scene had ‘linked in’ with Mr ­Williams but police could not ‘find that trace’.

He said: ‘We are very sure that someone else was in that flat. We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design.’

Police continue to describe the death as ‘suspicious and unexplained’.

One theory is that Mr Williams died in a sex game which went wrong, but so far officers have unearthed no other cases of people being locked in bags for sexual gratification.

They believe Mr Williams’s death is likely to be connected to his ­private life but cannot rule out that he might have been assassinated in connection with his work.

Detectives confirmed that the spy must have been padlocked in the large North Face holdall by one or more people and could not have locked himself in.

His naked body was found curled up on his back with his knees bent and hands on his chest. A set of keys for the Yale travel padlock were at the bottom of the bag, which was in his empty bath.

Police believe the bag belonged to Mr Williams, a cycling fanatic and keen mountain climber.

The couple in the e-fit pictures called at his flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico, London, at about 10pm one Friday or Saturday in late June or July.

They were let into the communal entrance by a neighbour. It is not known if Mr Williams was in at the time.

A post-mortem examination has been inconclusive and one possibility is that Mr Williams suffocated.

A police ‘confined spaces’ expert said the temperature inside the waterproof bag would have reached 86f (30c) within three minutes, making Mr Williams very woozy.

There would have been enough oxygen in the bag to sustain him for around half an hour, the expert said.

The inquest is due to be held on February 15.