Sky (Au) : Lawyer claims MI6 involvement in death

Lawyer claims MI6 involvement in death

May 2, 2012

A lawyer representing the family of MI6 spy Gareth Williams whose body was found in a holdall has suggested the secret services may have been involved in his death.

Anthony O'Toole, the Williams' family lawyer, made the accusation in open court during the 31-year-old GCHQ code breaker's inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court.

The allegation came after it emerged MI6 failed to hand over nine computer memory sticks to Scotland Yard.

A black North Face holdall - similar to the one which Mr Williams was found dead in at his flat - was eventually passed to police.

The Metropolitan Police team investigating Mr William's death did not have direct access to his office.

Instead, the force's counter-terror SO15 branch, which has specialist security clearance, acted as a conduit between MI6 and the investigation team.

Two officers from the SO15 unit - Superintendent Michael Broster and Detective Constable Colin Hall - searched Mr Williams' MI6 office.

They only took three items - his phone, some notes and a copy of his birth certificate.

Asked why he did not take the memory sticks, Supt Broster said he did not think they were relevant - and admitted MI6 were left to examine them.

Mr O'Toole said: 'So if the person who killed Gareth Williams was a member of SIS (MI6) you would do nothing to investigate because you believed that organisation to be trustworthy?'

Supt Broster insisted MI6 had been fully co-operative.

The officer was also criticised by Coroner Fiona Wilcox, who told him he was offering 'total non-sequitur' reasons for failing to pass on evidence.

'I suggest that this means you have not been completely impartial in this case,' she said.

Mr O'Toole also accused DC Hall of failing to take the probe seriously.

'If this had not involved SIS and it was the Kray twins you were investigating, you would have gone into this in far more detail,' he told the officer.

Members of Mr Williams' family shook their heads as DC Hall revealed his search of Mr Williams' office was called off shortly after the spy was found dead.

Mr Hall said 'there was stuff in there of a sensitive nature' in the bag but, when asked what, he said he could not remember.

Mr O'Toole added: 'That's about as helpful as a London pea souper.'

Earlier, Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, the police officer in charge of the investigation, returned to give evidence to the inquest and told the coroner she had no knowledge of the memory sticks, or the bag, until this morning.

'Had I known about their existence, I would have expected them to be disclosed and any relevant information to be sent to my team,' she said.

It is not clear what relevance if any the sticks and the bag have to the investigation into Mr Williams' death, but DCI Sebire said that MI6 should have told her about their existence.

It was also disclosed that MI6 searched some of Mr Williams' 'electronic media' without telling the police.

'What I knew was that Gareth's email accounts had been checked but I did not know that other media had been checked,' DCI Sebire said.

Meanwhile, a forensic scientist has been asked to appear again at the inquest, and a new MI6 witness has been asked to give evidence anonymously.

The inquest is due to conclude on Wednesday, but there is a chance now it could continue for longer.

The painstaking investigation has drawn a 20-month blank for detectives.

On Monday, Ros Hammond, a police forensic scientist, expressed hope that tests on a green towel found in the kitchen of Mr Williams' Pimlico apartment could yield a breakthrough within a matter of weeks.

The inquest also heard from a forensic Scientist and from the pathologists who carried out three separate post-mortems on Mr Williams' body.

They told the court all their examinations had proved to be inconclusive, and spoke of the difficulties they encountered because Mr Williams' body was badly decomposed.

A period of up to 10 days passed between when they believe he died and when his body was first examined.

However Benjamin Swift, a Home Office pathologist, said that although the cause of death was 'unascertained', he believed that poisoning or asphyxiation such as suffocation were 'probably rather than possibly' to blame.

Tests on the Mr Williams body did not reveal signs of any poisons, but the experts said that they could not rule out the possibility that a poison could have disappeared as the body decomposed.

BBC : MI6 death: Gareth Williams 'probably' killed unlawfully

MI6 death: Gareth Williams 'probably' killed unlawfully

May 2, 2012

MI6 officer Gareth Williams was "on the balance of probabilities" unlawfully killed, coroner Fiona Wilcox has said.

In a narrative verdict, she said it was unlikely he got into the bag his body was found in by himself, but doubted his death would ever be explained.

The 31-year-old code-breaker from Anglesey was found at his central London flat in August 2010.

Police say the investigation remains open and officers would be re-examining evidence gathered.

The naked body of Mr Williams was found padlocked in a red sports holdall in the bath of his home.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: "We are already undertaking actions in order to develop existing DNA profiles, to trace unidentified individuals who may have information about Gareth's death and to further develop analysis of telephone communications."

Speaking outside Westminster Coroner's Court after the inquest, Det Ch Insp Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, said Scotland Yard "will now refocus and actively pursue all the evidence heard and all the new lines of inquiry.

"His naked body was found in the most suspicious of circumstances. It's highly likely that a third party was involved in Gareth's death and I urge anyone who knows Gareth and who had contact with him to search their conscience and come forward with any information."

Family solicitor Robyn Williams said their "grief is exacerbated by the failure of his employers... to take even the most basic inquiries about his whereabouts and welfare".

By the time police were alerted to the code-breaker's disappearance on 23 August 2010, he had not been at work for a week and there was extensive decomposition of his body.

MI6 chief Sir John Sawers apologised "unreservedly" to Mr Williams' family for its "failure to act more swiftly".

"The lessons have been learned, in particular the responsibility of all staff to report unaccounted staff absences," he said in a statement.

Responding to the family's criticism an MI6 spokesman said: "We fully co-operated with the police and will continue to do so during the on-going investigation. We gave all the evidence to the police when they wanted it. At no time did we withhold any evidence."

In her summing up, the coroner said: "Most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered."

But, she said, she was "satisfied so that I'm sure that a third party moved the bag containing Gareth into the bath" where his body was found.

"The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated," she added.

"I am therefore satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully."

The coroner also criticised the Met's SO15 counter-terror branch for the way it handled Mr Williams' work phone and other exhibits. She said the evidence of his line manager on why the absence was not reported sooner "begins to stretch bounds of credibility".

Mr Williams' sister revealed to the inquest that Mr Williams was unhappy living in London and had complained to family of "friction" at the intelligence agency.

And his family have said they believe he may have been killed by an agent "specialising in the dark arts of the secret services".

Dr Wilcox said that while there was no evidence to suggest he died at the hands of MI6 "it is still a legitimate line of inquiry".

She said "it would appear that many agencies fell short".

During the investigation Scotland Yard were not able to speak to Mr Williams' MI6 colleagues directly.

The coroner also identified breakdowns in communication by her own office in ordering a second post-mortem examination, a DNA mix-up by forensics and the late submission of evidence by MI6 to police.

But she added that "taking all these shortfalls together, I am satisfied that the evidence is reliable".

'Risk assessor'

Dr Wilcox said the "highly unusual circumstances" of Mr Williams' death had immediately raised the possibility of foul play however, which had prompted "endless speculation".

On Mr Williams' accessing of bondage websites, she said: "Clearly experimenting with bondage would involve danger."

But the coroner ruled his interest in bondage and drag queens did not have any bearing on his death, and she questioned whether leaks about his private life to the press "was an attempt by some third party to manipulate the evidence".

Dr Wilcox said no indication of a suicidal intent had been presented.

Bag experts have said even Harry Houdini would have struggled to lock himself in the bag.

Dr Wilcox said it was extremely unlikely Mr Williams found a technique to lock and get out of the bag himself, but she could not rule it out. She suggested if Mr Williams had locked himself into the bag he would have taken a knife with him, as he was a "risk assessor".

The lack of hand and footprints in the bathroom of his Pimlico flat was "significant", Dr Wilcox added.

"If Gareth had been carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn't care if he left any foot or fingerprints."

The inquest heard from three pathologists who had conducted post-mortem examinations on Mr Williams and who had been unable to reach a firm conclusion on cause of death. But they say poisoning and asphyxiation are the most likely reasons.

Dr Wilcox said she decided to deliver a narrative verdict as an open verdict would not do justice to the case.

A narrative verdict has been an option for coroners in England and Wales since 2004 and is where the circumstances of a death are recorded without attributing the cause to a named individual.

~~~~~

What the evidence tells us:

INJURIES: Nine days passed between the death of Gareth Williams and his post-mortem examination. His body had become badly decomposed, making the work of pathologists and toxicologists difficult. Dr Benjamin Swift only found small injuries on Mr Williams, which could have been the result of accidents. He noted that poison or asphyxiation were the most likely causes of death. Toxicologists said some substances, such as cyanide, chloroform and anaesthetic agents, would not have been detectable.

THE LOCKED BAG RIDDLE: One key question before the inquest was whether Mr Williams had locked himself in the bag. Expert witness Peter Faulding [...] said that he had tried and failed to lock the bag from inside 300 times. "I couldn't say it's impossible, but I think even Houdini would have struggled with this one," he said. William MacKay, another expert witness, said that he and an assistant had failed in more than 100 attempts to lock the bag from inside - but couldn’t rule out that Mr Williams had been able to.

INSIDE THE BAG: Did Mr Williams die inside the bag? Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said: "The balance of probability is that Gareth was alive when he got in the bag.” He added: "I think there could have been a period of awareness that he needed to get out. The length of time might have been short." But Mr Faulding said he believed that Mr Williams was dead or unconscious before being placed in the bag. He suggested it would have been possible to shut Mr Williams in the holdall as long as rigor mortis had not set in.

WEBSITES AND SMARTPHONES: As part of the inquest, Mr Williams' computers and phones were examined. Detectives said the computers had been used to visit bondage websites. But, the inquest heard, this did not necessarily suggest an ongoing interest in such sites. Mr Williams' phones also had bondage websites in their browser history, while a smartphone found on a table contained no data because its factory settings had been restored.

WOMEN'S CLOTHES: Shoes and women’s designer clothing valued at £20,000 were found in the flat. Detectives also said that about half of the internet use on Mr Williams' computers had been in the area of women's high fashion, including handbags, cosmetics, belts and gloves. Friends and family members said they did not believe the clothes were for Mr Williams, but were probably intended as gifts. Friend Elizabeth Guthrie told the inquest Mr Williams had no interest in cross-dressing and she believed he was "straight".

This Is London : Spy in bag Gareth Williams was killed 'by a third party', coroner rules

Spy in bag Gareth Williams was killed 'by a third party', coroner rules

Paul Cheston | May 2, 2012

The MI6 spy found dead inside a padlocked holdall was killed “by a third party” but the mystery of what happened may never be solved, a coroner ruled this afternoon.

The naked body of codebreaker Gareth Williams, 31, was discovered in a red North Face bag in the bath of his Pimlico flat in August 2010. His family claim he was a victim of the “dark arts” of the secret services. Dr Fiona Wilcox said she believed he was alive when he was put inside the bag and suffocated as a result of a quick-acting poison. “A third party placed the bag in the bath and on the balance of probabilities locked the bag”, she said: adding: “The cause of death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated. Therefore I am satisfied ... that Gareth was killed unlawfully.”

Mr Williams’s parents and sister looked on as Dr Wilcox told Westminster coroner’s court there was not enough proof to record an official verdict of unlawful killing. She suggested that he had unwittingly arranged to meet his killer by phone.

In a narrative verdict, the coroner said it was “unlikely” the circumstances “will ever be satisfactorily explained” despite a 21-month police inquiry and a seven-day inquest. Dr Wilcox added: “Most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered.

She appeared to rule out that Mr Williams died as a result of some kind of “auto-erotic activity”, also denying there was any evidence to suggest claustrophilia — the love of enclosed spaces — was of any interest to him. I find on the balance of probabilities that, if he had got into the bag and locked himself in, he would have taken a knife in with him,” she said. “He was a risk assessor.”

There was no evidence to suggest the spy was a transvestite “or interested in any such thing”, she said. The make-up found in his flat was more likely to reflect his interest in fashion, she argued.

There was some suggestion that his interest in female footwear could have been of a sexual nature, but this was not unusual, Dr Wilcox observed.

“Gareth was naked in a bag when he was found, not cross-dressed, not in high-heeled shoes,” she said.

A cause of death has not been established. Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 32ins by 19ins e bag.

Poisoning and asphyxiation were the “foremost contenders” in solving the death riddle, they said.

Efforts appear to have been made to clean up the death scene. The lack of hand and footprints in the bathroom was “significant”, Dr Wilcox said, telling the court: “In relation to the prints found within the bathroom, in my view what was more significant was what was not found rather than what was found.”

The coroner ruled out Mr Williams’s interest in bondage and drag queens in having any bearing on his death as she questioned leaks about his private life to the press. She said: “I wonder if this was an attempt by some third party to manipulate the evidence.” Lead detective Jackie Sebire told the inquest she remained convinced that Mr Williams’s death was suspicious. Ms Sebire said: “My strongest belief is that a third party was involved and I would ask people to search their consciences and come to us to find some resolutions to this case and some peace for his family.”

Dr Wilcox said it remained a “legitimate line of inquiry” that the secret services were involved in Mr Williams’s death and criticised “shortfalls” by MI6 in passing on evidence to Scotland Yard. But she said “there was no evidence to support that he died at the hands of” spies.

ABC (Australia) : MI6 kept evidence related to dead spy

MI6 kept evidence related to dead spy

May 2, 2012

Britain's MI6 intelligence agency failed to hand over to police the belongings of a spy found dead inside a bag in his home, including computer memory sticks, an inquest has heard.

Gareth Williams, 31, whose naked corpse was discovered padlocked inside a sports bag, was on secondment to MI6 at the time of his death in 2010.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire told an inquest in London that MI6 agents searched Mr Williams's electronic media without informing police, the BBC reported.

Police only learned of the memory sticks on Monday, it said.

"Had I known of their existence, I would have expected them to be at least reviewed or audited by (the counter-terrorism unit) and if information was available, then sent to my team," Chief Inspector Sebire was quoted by the Guardian newspaper as saying.

She testified last week that she believed someone else was involved in Mr Williams getting inside the bag. A small amount of unknown DNA not belonging to Mr Williams was found on the bag.

Mr Williams, a mathematics prodigy, was trying to develop technologies that could be used in gathering information for MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service.

One police officer, Detective Superintendent Michael Broster of the counter-terrorism branch SO-15, was quoted by the BBC as saying his team should have examined the memory sticks before giving them to MI6 but that he had taken what evidence he believed was relevant to the case.

Police also did not take an inventory of the contents of Mr Williams's office cabinet because of the "sensitive nature of the documents", fellow counter-terrorism officer Colin Hall was reported by the Guardian as saying.

Pathologists believe the likeliest cause of death was either poisoning or suffocation but say they cannot be sure which.

The strange death has puzzled investigators who have found little forensic evidence that would point to a culprit.

Last week the inquest was told that if proper procedures had been followed by Mr Williams's supervisors at MI6, his absence would have been reported and acted upon within hours.

Instead, they waited days to report him missing and Mr Williams's body was found a week after he had first failed to show up to work.

Reuters

Gulf Times (Qatar) : Secret service ‘withheld’ evidence on spy’s death

Secret service ‘withheld’ evidence on spy’s death

London Evening Standard/London | May 2, 2012

The MI6 examined memory sticks owned by “body in the bag” spy Gareth Williams without telling the police, the inquest heard yesterday.

The intelligence service did not even inform the officer in charge of the case that the memory sticks existed until yesterday — 20 months after the death. In a dramatic move as the inquest was about to conclude, the coroner ordered MI6 to send another senior officer to court to be questioned.

A witness, known as SIS D, was summoned to give evidence anonymously. He will be the fourth witness from the intelligence service granted such protection on the grounds of national security.

Westminster coroner Fiona Wilcox also revealed she had only just been informed that a second North Face sports holdall had also been found in Williams’s office at MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross. Even though the bag was similar to the one his body was found inside, it was not seized by police and no inventory taken of its contents.

MI6 made its own inventory of all Williams’s belongings in his office but did not pass it to the police until Monday. Mobile phones and laptops found in the code breaker’s Pimlico flat were taken by the police.

But police were unaware of the existence of “nine assorted memory sticks” in his locker at his MI6 office.

Detective chief inspector Jackie Sebire, the senior investigating officer, told the court that she had been unaware that any of Williams’s electronic media had been examined before it was passed to the police.

“I was not surprised that memory sticks were found but I would have expected the relevant information to be sent to our team,” she said.

She agreed that she should have been informed about the memory sticks back in August 2010, when Williams died. The second holdall has now been requested by the police and will be produced in court.

Detective Colin Hall told the court he had been taken to Williams’s office by his superintendent Michael Broster, and two MI6 officers. He said that it was Broster who told him not to take the bag found under Williams’s desk but to search it and then leave it. Asked by the coroner if he did not think such a bag was relevant, he replied: “He was a superintendent and I’m a detective and I do what I’m told.” The inquest continues.

This Is London : Coroner criticises MI6 death probe

Coroner criticises MI6 death probe

May 2, 2012

MI6 and a senior detective have been accused of failing to disclose vital evidence in the death riddle of spy Gareth Williams.

A coroner suggested the counter-terror officer was not being "completely impartial" towards secret services during the Scotland Yard inquiry.

Detective Superintendent Michael Broster was criticised after his assistant was told he had offered evidence as "helpful as a London pea souper" at the inquest into Mr Williams's death.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox and the family's lawyer both delivered angry outbursts after it emerged that nine computer memory sticks and a black bag were overlooked for 21 months after the death.

The lead detective on the case was told about the evidence only on Monday.

Dr Wilcox told Mr Broster, who was unable to rule out secret service involvement in the death, that he was offering "total non-sequitur" reasons for failing to pass on evidence.

"I suggest that this means you have not been completely impartial in this case," she told him at Westminster Coroner's Court.

As Dr Wilcox ordered police to bring the missed evidence into the inquest into Mr Williams's death, family barrister Anthony O'Toole told police they had not taken the incident seriously enough.

The lawyer said: "If this had not involved SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) and it was the Kray twins you were investigating, you would have gone into this in far more detail."

The 31-year-old fitness enthusiast was found naked, curled up in a padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23 2010.

Big Pond News : Lawyer alleges MI6 involvement in death

Lawyer alleges MI6 involvement in death

May 2, 2012

A lawyer representing the family of MI6 spy Gareth Williams whose body was found in a holdall has suggested the secret services may have been involved in his death.

Anthony O'Toole, the Williams' family lawyer, made the accusation in open court during the 31-year-old GCHQ code breaker's inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court.

The allegation came after it emerged MI6 failed to hand over nine computer memory sticks to Scotland Yard.

A black North Face holdall - similar to the one which Mr Williams was found dead in at his flat - was eventually passed to police.

The Metropolitan Police team investigating Mr William's death did not have direct access to his office.

Instead, the force's counter-terror SO15 branch, which has specialist security clearance, acted as a conduit between MI6 and the investigation team.

Two officers from the SO15 unit - Superintendent Michael Broster and Detective Constable Colin Hall - searched Mr Williams' MI6 office.

They only took three items - his phone, some notes and a copy of his birth certificate.

Asked why he did not take the memory sticks, Supt Broster said he did not think they were relevant - and admitted MI6 were left to examine them.

Mr O'Toole said: 'So if the person who killed Gareth Williams was a member of SIS (MI6) you would do nothing to investigate because you believed that organisation to be trustworthy?'

Supt Broster insisted MI6 had been fully co-operative.

The officer was also criticised by Coroner Fiona Wilcox, who told him he was offering 'total non-sequitur' reasons for failing to pass on evidence.

'I suggest that this means you have not been completely impartial in this case,' she said.

Mr O'Toole also accused DC Hall of failing to take the probe seriously.

'If this had not involved SIS and it was the Kray twins you were investigating, you would have gone into this in far more detail,' he told the officer.

Members of Mr Williams' family shook their heads as DC Hall revealed his search of Mr Williams' office was called off shortly after the spy was found dead.

Mr Hall said 'there was stuff in there of a sensitive nature' in the bag but, when asked what, he said he could not remember.

Mr O'Toole added: 'That's about as helpful as a London pea souper.'

Earlier, Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, the police officer in charge of the investigation, returned to give evidence to the inquest and told the coroner she had no knowledge of the memory sticks, or the bag, until this morning.

'Had I known about their existence, I would have expected them to be disclosed and any relevant information to be sent to my team,' she said.

It is not clear what relevance if any the sticks and the bag have to the investigation into Mr Williams' death, but DCI Sebire said that MI6 should have told her about their existence.

It was also disclosed that MI6 searched some of Mr Williams' 'electronic media' without telling the police.

'What I knew was that Gareth's email accounts had been checked but I did not know that other media had been checked,' DCI Sebire said.

Meanwhile, a forensic scientist has been asked to appear again at the inquest, and a new MI6 witness has been asked to give evidence anonymously.

The inquest is due to conclude on Wednesday, but there is a chance now it could continue for longer.

The painstaking investigation has drawn a 20-month blank for detectives.

On Monday, Ros Hammond, a police forensic scientist, expressed hope that tests on a green towel found in the kitchen of Mr Williams' Pimlico apartment could yield a breakthrough within a matter of weeks.

The inquest also heard from a forensic Scientist and from the pathologists who carried out three separate post-mortems on Mr Williams' body.

They told the court all their examinations had proved to be inconclusive, and spoke of the difficulties they encountered because Mr Williams' body was badly decomposed.

A period of up to 10 days passed between when they believe he died and when his body was first examined.

However Benjamin Swift, a Home Office pathologist, said that although the cause of death was 'unascertained', he believed that poisoning or asphyxiation such as suffocation were 'probably rather than possibly' to blame.

Tests on the Mr Williams body did not reveal signs of any poisons, but the experts said that they could not rule out the possibility that a poison could have disappeared as the body decomposed.

National Post : British spy Gareth Williams found dead in his apartment probably unlawfully killed: coroner

British spy Gareth Williams found dead in his apartment probably unlawfully killed: coroner

Agence France-Presse | May 2, 2012

British MI6 spy Gareth WIlliams unlawfully killed says coroner

LONDON — A British spy whose naked body was found padlocked in a bag in his bathtub was probably unlawfully killed, a coroner concluded Wednesday on the final day of the inquest into his death.

But it is “unlikely” that the full circumstances of the death in 2010 of Gareth Williams, a high-flying codebreaker with the MI6 external intelligence agency, will ever be explained, coroner Fiona Wilcox added.

“I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully,” said Wilcox.

She told the inquest she was also “satisfied” that “a third party moved the bag containing Gareth into the bath” of his London flat.

London’s Metropolitan Police said after the hearing that they will review lines of inquiry.

MI6 chief John Sawyers apologized to the family after the inquest, acknowledging that his service should have reported his absence from work to police more quickly.

The inquest heard that experts could not agree how the highly intelligent 31-year-old had died because his body had been decomposing for a week by the time it was discovered.

Pathologists said Williams likely died from poisoning or suffocation.

The hearings focused on whether the mathematician could have locked himself into the holdall as part of a lone sex act, after examination of his computer showed he had visited bondage websites.

But the coroner said it was “highly unlikely” that Williams could have got inside the red North Face holdall alone and observed that the surfaces around the bathtub were strangely clear of any evidence.

“If Gareth had been carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn’t care if he left any foot- or fingerprints,” Wilcox concluded.

The inquest heard last week from experts who had failed to padlock themselves into bags identical to Williams’ red North Face holdall, despite several hundred attempts.

One expert said escapologist Harry Houdini “would have struggled” to pull off the feat.

Wilcox ruled out the possibility that Williams’ apparent interest in bondage had an impact on his death, and observed: “I would have expected much more Internet activity to have been recovered.”

The coroner also questioned leaks of details about Williams’ private life, adding: “I wonder if this was an attempt by some third party to manipulate the evidence.”

Police found women’s clothing worth about $32,400 in Williams’ flat as well as make-up, but Wilcox said there was no evidence to suggest he was a transvestite.

His strong interest in fashion was a much more likely explanation for the presence of the make-up, Wilcox said.

There was some suggestion that his interest in female footwear could have been of a sexual nature, but this was not particularly unusual, she argued.

The coroner said she did not have enough evidence to give a definitive verdict of unlawful killing, and instead delivered a two-hour narrative verdict listing all the possibilities.

After the inquest, Williams’ family hit out at the failures of MI6 to raise the alarm after the spy went missing, saying their “grief is exacerbated” by it.

The family also hit out at the secret services, saying they were “extremely disappointed” at their “reluctance and failure” to make relevant information available to the inquiry.

MI6 failed to report Williams’ disappearance for a week, while police told the inquest they had not been able to examine some of Williams’ possessions including nine memory sticks because his bosses said they were irrelevant.

“The Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ would like to express once again their deepest condolences to Gareth’s family at their tragic loss,” MI6 chief Sawyers said in a statement.

“Lessons have been learned, in particular the responsibility of all staff to report unaccounted staff absences,” he added.

33 KDAF : Coroner Mystified by Death of Spy Found Naked in Bag

Coroner Mystified by Death of Spy Found Naked in Bag

CNN | May 2, 2012

London -- It is unlikely that the death of a British spy found at his home in 2010 -- his naked body padlocked inside a large red carrying bag stowed in the bathtub -- will ever be satisfactorily explained, coroner Fiona Wilcox said Wednesday.

Gareth Williams, an MI6 agent known for his mathematical genius and codebreaking talent, was found dead in August 2010.

Following an official investigation by the coroner's office, the "most fundamental questions as to how Gareth died remain unanswered," Wilcox said, adding that there was "endless speculation but little real evidence."

There was a key to the bag in which he was found inside it with him, and there were others in his apartment, Wilcox said.

There was no sign of a break-in or robbery in his neat, tidy apartment, she said Wednesday. She described his body as "peaceful" and said there was no indication of a struggle.

British media have reported that Williams' Internet history showed an interest in sex games and bondage. But DNA traces suggest other people may have been in his apartment.

The coroner's inquest into his death heard that Williams was not reported missing for more than a week, despite the sensitive nature of his work, meaning many vital clues were lost to decomposition.

UK media have reported about the 31-year-old's apparent interest in bondage and claustrophilia, a fetish for enclosure in very confined spaces.

Reports about the "body-in-a-bag spy" describe how two experts spent days trying to figure out whether Williams, who was athletic and of medium height, could have contorted himself in such as way as to lock himself into the North Face holdall bag, with a key to the padlock inside.

Video provided to the court shows one of them, Peter Faulding, folding himself laboriously into an identical bag, measuring just 32 inches by 19 inches (81 by 48 centimeters), placed in a bathtub.

Faulding, who specializes in rescuing people from confined spaces, told the inquest that he had tried to lock himself into the bag 300 times without success, according to the Press Association news agency. A second expert witness, also of a size and build similar to Williams, tried 100 times to re-enact the feat without succeeding.

But neither ruled out definitively the possibility that Williams could have somehow done it alone. A small trace of someone else's DNA was found on the bag, helping spawn all kinds of theories -- that he was perhaps drugged by a foreign spy who then locked him in the bag, or was the victim of a kinky sexual liaison gone wrong.

The detail that the closets in Williams' central London flat contained thousands of dollars' worth of designer women's clothing and shoes, some of which had been worn, as well as women's wigs and cosmetics, added fuel to the fire of speculation.

Another revelation came from a former landlord and landlady, who told how they had once found Williams tied by his wrists to the headboard of his bed, after he shouted for help.

Williams said he had wanted to see if he could get free, landlady Jennifer Elliot told the court, but she and her husband "thought it was more likely to be sexual than escapology," according to the Press Association.

Williams was recruited into the intelligence services straight from university, working with Government Communications Headquarters before MI6. The nature of his work and questions around why his spy agency bosses took so long to raise an alert about his absence have added to the intrigue surrounding his death.

In a courtroom scene reminiscent of a spy thriller, his boss testified from behind a screen and was identified only as SIS F -- the Secret Intelligence Service being the official name for MI6.

She apologized to Williams' family for the service's failure to act sooner, but said his lifestyle choices were not a concern for the agency, suggesting it has moved on from the rigid mores of past decades, when closet homosexuality or illicit affairs opened up possibilities for blackmail.

"There is no set template for what their lifestyle should be," SIS F said of today's intelligence agents, according to the Press Association. "Individuals have lifestyle and sexual choices and sexual preferences which are perfectly legitimate."

She acknowledged that Williams had made a number of unauthorized computer searches at work but played down the significance of this fact, the agency said.

Williams was finally reported missing by a co-worker on August 23, more than a week after the normally punctilious employee had last shown up at work.

A transcript of the call to police said that Williams was last spoken to on Friday, August 13, and that calls to his home number and cell phone had gone unanswered. His sister had also been unable to reach him.

The caller mentioned that Williams had "recently been pulled off of a job" and said it was unclear if he might have "taken this badly."

The family's lawyer accused MI6 of showing "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety" before he was found dead at his government-provided home, the Press Association reported.

Concerns over national security have been a factor in the 20-month delay in holding Williams' inquest, and an agency more used to working in the shadows has had an uncomfortably bright light shone into its practices.

As well as adding to his family's distress, the initial delay in reporting Williams' death means forensic specialists simply cannot answer many of the most pressing questions.

Testing did not give conclusive results because the body had decomposed significantly after nine days in the summer heat of his top-floor apartment, toxicology reports posted online say.

Traces of alcohol and a chemical matching the party drug GHB were found, but both can occur naturally as part of the decomposition process, one document says. Williams was teetotal, so "even a small amount of alcohol could affect cognitive capacity," it notes.

A series of photographs provided by the Metropolitan Police show the tidy, impersonal interior of the spy's Pimlico home and the small, white-tiled bathroom where his body was found.

A bicycle parked in the hallway is a clue to Williams' more regular passion, cycling. A glimpse through the bedroom door shows a bed half-made, clothes lying on it. But little else can be gleaned from the images.

Media reports have homed in on expert testimony that despite Williams' solitary lifestyle, tiny traces of DNA from "at least two" other people were found in his apartment.

But who those visitors were and whether they hold the clue to the riddle of the agent's mysterious death are yet more questions that remain unanswered.

Williams' family, with whom he was close, denies that he was gay or had a secret, unorthodox sex life.

They believe someone else was there either when Williams died or afterward, their lawyer, Anthony O'Toole, told a hearing held before the inquest began, and they suspect some degree of expert cover-up was involved.

"The impression of the family is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specializing in the dark arts of the secret services -- or evidence has been removed post-mortem by experts in the dark arts," O'Toole said, according to the Press Association.

Guardian : Gareth Williams's death was 'criminally mediated', says coroner

Gareth Williams's death was 'criminally mediated', says coroner

Fiona Wilcox says there was not enough evidence for unlawful killing verdict, as MI6 officer's family urge Met police to review investigation

Caroline Davies, James Meikle and agencies | May 2, 2012

The death of Gareth Williams, the MI6 officer who was found naked in a padlocked holdall in the bath at his London flat, was "criminally mediated", a coroner has said.

On the balance of probability, Williams was "unlawfully killed", Fiona Wilcox concluded, although she had earlier said there was not enough evidence to deliver a formal unlawful killing verdict.

Wilcox's finding was delivered at the end of a narrative verdict that took her two hours to deliver and in which she criticised the behaviour of MI6 and SO15, the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism unit, whose officer operated as a conduit between the intelligence service and detectives investigating Williams's death.

The head of the intelligence service made an unreserved apology to Williams's family over the delay in reporting him missing and the subsequent anguish it caused.

Wilcox, the Westminster coroner, delivered the finding after starting her verdict by saying that it was unlikely Williams's death would ever be satisfactorily explained.

Most of the fundamental questions of how he died remained unanswered, Wilcox said on the eighth day of the inquest.

After the verdict Williams's family, in a statement read out by their solicitor Robyn Williams, said their grief at Gareth's death had "been exacerbated by the failure of his employers to make even the most basic inquiries into his whereabouts and welfare".

The statement continued: "We are extremely disappointed at the reluctance and failure of MI6 to make available relevant information."

The family would be asking the Metropolitan police commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, to review how the investigation into Williams's death should proceed given the "inadequacy" of SO15's investigation as highlighted at the inquest.

DCI Jackie Sebire, from the Met's homicide and serious crime command, said officers were now following the many new lines of inquiry which had emerged during the inquest. Refusing to take questions about the criticism levelled at the role of the counter terrorist officers assigned to liaise with MI6, Sebire said: "We have heard seven days' worth of evidence of the life and death of Gareth this week. I have always been satisfied that a third party may have been involved in his death and the coroner has confirmed that."

The investigation would refocus and actively pursue all the evidence heard and all the new lines of inquiry. William's body was found "in the most suspicious circumstances", Sabire said.

"It is highly likely that a third party was involved and I urge anyone who knows Gareth who had contact with him to search their consciences and come foward with any information about what happened that night, 16 August 2010.

"We would also ask anyone with any information to please come forward … to give Gareth's family some peace and allow them to grieve and move on."

During her verdict, Wilcox rejected "suicidal intent", interest in bondage or cross-dressing, or "auto-erotic activity" being related to Williams's death.

Williams, 31, a codes and ciphers expert, was about to return to GCHQ in Cheltenham after secondment to MI6 in the capital when his body was found in the flat in Pimlico in August 2010.

It emerged on Tuesday, towards the end of seven days of evidence from 39 witnesses, that memory sticks found among his possessions were examined by the Secret Intelligence Service but never handed over to detectives investigating his murder.

Wilcox said it remained a "legitimate line of inquiry" that the secret services were involved in Williams's death as she criticised "shortfalls" in MI6 passing on evidence to Scotland Yard. But there was no evidence that he died at the hands of spies.

"It would appear that many agencies fell short" during the investigation, Wilcox said, identifying breakdowns in communication by her own office in ordering a second postmortem, a DNA mix-up by forensics and the late submission of evidence by MI6 to police.

But the coroner added that "taking all these shortfalls together, I am satisfied that the evidence is reliable and that we do not have to adjourn at this point".

Wilcox said the "highly unusual circumstances" of Williams's death had immediately raised the possibility of foul play, which had prompted "endless speculation".

Williams's colleagues were interviewed but no formal statements were taken, she noted.

"I find that this did affect the quality of the evidence that was heard before this court," she said. Wilcox had almost adjourned the inquest due to late evidence, the fault of the SO15 counter-terrorism officer who was the conduit between MI6 and the police. The officer should have passed on an inventory of items found at Williams's MI6 office, said Wilcox.

Evidence from the office was important because Williams "didn't socialise much" and was a reason DNA had been taken from some work colleagues.

Wilcox said she found it "highly unlikely" that Williams got inside the bag alone, saying a lack of hand and footprints in the bathroom was significant. "In relation to the prints found within the bathroom, in my view what was more significant was what was not found rather than what was found."

A lot of time and resources had been spent during the investigation looking into a swab taken from Williams's left hand that appeared to indicate third-party involvement.

But the sample "unfortunately" was later found to belong to a forensic scientist working on the case, she said. "If Gareth had been carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn't care if he left any foot or fingerprints."

Wilcox appeared to rule out that Williams died as a result of some kind of "auto-erotic activity", also denying there was any evidence to suggest claustrophilia – the love of enclosed spaces – was of any interest to him.

She also dismissed the idea that an interest in bondage had any link to his death. If it had, she would have expected "much more internet activity" on the web. Williams had only visited sites on four days, she said. He was a "scrupulous risk assessor" and would have had a knife to escape.

Rejecting speculation that he was a "transvestite" spy, Wilcox said leaks that William was a "cross-dresser" could have been an attempt "by some third party to manipulate a section of the evidence".

Makeup found in his flat was more likely to reflect his interest in fashion, she argued. Wigs found there were "far more consistent with dress-up such as attendance at a manga conference", she added.

Williams's interest in female footwear could have been of a sexual nature, but this was not unusual. "Gareth was naked in a bag when he was found, not cross-dressed, not in high-heeled shoes," she said.

Williams's body was not discovered until a week after he died. Wilcox said his line manager had done "nothing effective" to establish his whereabouts when he was missing. She said she could only speculate as to what effect not reporting him missing sooner had had on the investigation.

Despite '"lots of speculation", there was no evidence Williams's death was linked to his work, she said.

His death was of "unnatural cause", she said. It was possible, but unlikely, that Williams had died in the bag when it was outside the bathroom, but she believed he was alive when he entered the bag and accepted the pathologist's evidence that suffocation or poisoning was the probable cause of death.

She was satisfied "so I am sure" that a third party had moved the bag containing Williams into the bath. There were two possible explanations: that Williams entered the bag outside his bathroom, and the bag was carried in there by a third party, or that he was locked in the bag by a third party and that was lifted into the bath.

Wilcox had earlier ruled out a formal "unlawful killing" verdict because the evidence available was not of the criminal standard needed for such a verdict. She also said an open verdict would not do justice to the "positive findings" she could make.

John Sawers, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, expressed the "deepest condolences" of MI6 and GCHQ for the death.

In a statement delivered by MI6 lawyer Andrew O'Connor, Sawers said the service should have acted more swiftly when Mr Williams failed to turn up to work in August 2010.

He said: "On behalf of the whole organisation, Sawers regrets this deeply and apologises unreservedly."

The MI6 chief added: "lessons have been learned, in particular the responsibility of all staff to report unaccounted staff absences".

Isle of Wight Radio : Coroner To Announce Spy Death Verdict

Coroner To Announce Spy Death Verdict

May 2, 2012

Dr Fiona Wilcox has spent seven days listening to evidence from 39 witnesses.

She has questioned all of those who appeared in person and listened as lawyers for Gareth Williams family, as well as lawyers representing both the Metropolitan Police and MI6 cross examined the witnesses.

Tuesday's evidence included some surprising revelations, including the disclosure that MI6 had failed to pass over some of Mr Williams belongings from his office at MI6.

The officer in charge of the investigation into his death only found out about the existence of some of the items on Tuesday.

"Had I known about their existence, I would have expected them to be disclosed and any relevant information to be sent to my team. I would have expected to have been told," DCI Jackie Sebire told the court.

A senior Metropolitan Police officer also admitted that he had relied on MI6 to decide which of Mr Williams belongings were relevent to the investigation into the death.

Detective Superintendent Michael Broster said that he trusted MI6 to give him all the information he needed.

Responding to that admission, the coroner said: "Shouldn't the investigators be examining the items, not the people providing them?

"I would suggest that you are not being an impartial investigator in this case. An impartial investigator would have seized the items themselves."

The lawyer for Mr Williams family, Anthony O'Toole, put it more directly to Supt Broster.

"If the person who killed Gareth was a member of the Secret Intelligence Service, you did nothing to investigate because you believed that the organisation was trustworthy?"

The wide range of witnesses in this inquest began with Mr Williams sister Ceri Subbe who talked fondly of her brother.

She described him as "a country boy" who had expressed frustration with his secondment from GCHQ in Gloucestershire to MI6 in London.

Friends of Mr Williams also gave evidence. Among them was Sian Jones, a fashion consultant.

"We were childhood sweethearts and I would just say we were very very close." she told the court last week.

She, and other witnesses were asked how they could explain the fact that £20,000 of women's clothes and shoes were found in the flat where Mr Williams body was discovered.

Ms Jones and Ms Subbe both told the inquest that Mr Williams was a very generous man and that the clothes were likely to be gifts. Ms Jones said that he had frequently bought her clothes and handbags.

"He was a truly generous person. It wouldn't surprise me if they were gifts." she said.

His family listened as other uncomfortable details about his private life were discussed. He had visited bondage websites, the court was told, but only on 4 occasions in two years.

The inquest was also told that he had once tied himself to a bed and and had to rely on his landlord to free him.

Mr Williams' professional life was examined in minute detail as well. He was described as a brilliant man, highly intelligent and part of a team whose "Herculean efforts" in cryptology had won departmental awards at GCHQ.

Staff at MI6 gave evidence anonymously from behind a screen. They were pressed on why it took them eight days to report Mr Williams missing.

One MI6 officer, identified only as witness G said he first thought Mr Williams was stuck on a train, then thought perhaps there had been a mix up with holiday.

"In hindsight, knowing what I know now, should I have taken action? Absolutely." witness G said.

Another witness, SIS-F, apologised for Witness G's lack of action.

"SIS are profoundly sorry about what happened. It shouldn't have happened. We recognise the delay [of a week] in finding Gareth's body has made it harder to come to terms with his death." SIS-F said.

The delay in reporting him missing made the pathologists work very hard, the court heard. When Mr Williams' body was eventually discovered it was badly decomposed.

The three post mortem examinations could not establish the cause of death. Three pathologists told the inquest that the decomposition hindered their work.

Benjamin Swift, a Home Office pathologist, said that although the cause of death was "unascertained", he believed that poisoning or asphyxiation such as suffocation were "probably rather than possibly" to blame.

The police officer in charge of the investigation said at the start of the inquest that she believed the crux of the case surrounded the bag Mr Williams was found in.

The police still do not know how Mr Williams came to be in that bag. If he was alone, they do not know how he locked it from the outside.

If he was not alone, then who else was there and what motive did they have to kill him?

The police investigation had drawn a succession of blanks.

New evidence heard in this inquest for the first time might help them draw new leads in the coming months.

The police have repeatedly said there is still a chance of the breakthrough they need.

But now it is the turn of coroner Dr Wilcox to deliver her verdict on a case that remains, for now, a mystery.

LBC : Spy Death Mystery 'May Never Be Solved'

Spy Death Mystery 'May Never Be Solved'

May 2, 2012

A coroner has said an MI6 codebreaker whose body was found in a sports bag at his London home in the summer of 2010 was probably "unlawfully killed" - but there is not enough evidence to prove it.

Despite seven days of inquest evidence and a 21-month police inquiry, Dr Fiona Wilcox said it was "unlikely" the circumstances surrounding Gareth Williams' death "will ever be satisfactorily explained".

The maths prodigy's body was found curled up in a padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, in August 2010.

Dr Wilcox said she was sure a third party had locked Mr Williams inside the bag.

"The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated," she said in her two-hour narrative verdict at Westminster Coroner's Court.

"I am therefore satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully."

But Dr Wilcox did not record a verdict of unlawful killing because she said there was insufficient evidence to categorically prove his life was taken by someone.

The coroner also said it remained a "legitimate line of inquiry" that the secret services were involved in the spy's death because he had socialised with so few people.

But she stressed "there was no evidence to support that he died at the hands of" spies.

Mr Williams' family criticised his employers for their response to his death, saying "our grief was exacerbated" by it.

The head of MI6 apologised "unreservedly" to the family for the way the police inquiry was hampered by his colleagues.

Dr Wilcox said it was "highly unlikely" that Mr Williams got inside the red holdall alone, and he would have been unlikely to have invited a third party who was not a family member into his home.

She said if someone else was there without having been invited "that raises the possibility of an illegitimate purpose on the third party's part".

"Gareth may have worked out a technique how to get into the bag and lock it from inside but I find it extremely unlikely that he did so," she added.

Dr Wilcox ruled out Mr Williams' interest in bondage and drag queens in having any bearing on his death as she questioned leaks about his private life to the media, saying: "I wonder if this was an attempt by some third party to manipulate the evidence."

The coroner appeared to rule out that Mr Williams died as a result of some kind of "auto-erotic activity".

"I find on the balance of probabilities that, if he had got into the bag and locked himself in, he would have taken a knife in with him," she said, adding: "He was a risk assessor."

The inquest had heard that £20,000 of women's clothes and shoes were found in Mr Williams' flat, but Dr Wilcox said there was no evidence to suggest he was a transvestite "or interested in any such thing".

Dr Wilcox criticised MI6 for failing to raise the alarm about Mr Williams' disappearance until a week after he was last seen.

Breakdowns in communication by her own coroner's office in ordering a second post-mortem, a DNA mix-up by forensics and the late submission of evidence by MI6 to police were also singled out for blame.

After the verdict, Sir John Sawers, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), apologised to Mr Williams' family for MI6's failings to report the codebreaker's disappearance for a week.

The MI6 chief said "lessons have been learned, in particular the responsibility of all staff to report unaccounted staff absences".

But Mr Williams' family hit out at his employers for their response to his death, saying in a statement read out by their lawyer that they were "extremely disappointed" at the secret services' "reluctance and failure" to make relevant information available to the inquest.

They also attacked the "total inadequacies" of the inquiry by Metropolitan Police counter-terror branch SO15 into MI6, and called Scotland Yard's chief to look into how the ongoing investigation would proceed in light of this.

The family went on to describe the highflying codebreaker as a "special and adored son and brother" who they missed "every single day".

"(We) cannot describe the depth of the sorrow his absence leaves in our lives. We love you, Gareth, and will treasure your memory eternally," they said.

Pathologists said when Mr Williams' body was eventually discovered it was badly decomposed and three post-mortem examinations could not establish the cause of death.

Sky News' reporter Mark Stone, at the inquest, said: "The crux of this inquest has been to establish how Mr Williams got into the bag and locked it from the outside, if indeed it was he who put himself into the bag.

"With this particular case it's very difficult. No one knows exactly how he died, whether he was alive or dead when he got into the bag, where did he die and whether anyone else was involved.

"The police have said all along that they believe a third party was involved although they have no strong evidence for that.

"The coroner has recorded a narrative verdict because of the evidence and she can't come to any other conclusion."

(c) Sky News 2012

Daily Mail Comment : The spy in the bag and perils of secret justice

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: The spy in the bag and perils of secret justice

By Daily Mail Comment | May 2, 2012

The inquest into Gareth Williams – the MI6 code breaker now known as the ‘spy in the bag’ – raised many deeply disturbing questions.

Why, given the hugely sensitive nature of Mr Williams’ job, did the intelligence service wait eight days to inform the police he was missing from work?

For what reason did MI6 withhold potentially crucial evidence – including nine computer memory sticks – from police investigating his possible murder?

Did the absence of forensic evidence, save for a tiny amount of DNA, suggest his flat had been professionally ‘cleaned’?

In delivering her verdict on this extraordinary case yesterday, Dr Fiona Wilcox said that most of the fundamental questions of how Mr Williams died remained, regrettably, ‘unanswered’.

Nevertheless, the coroner did state that, ‘on the balance of probabilities’, Mr Williams had been unlawfully killed.

She was also able to deliver, in her public judgment, the damning observation that MI6 had not always been helpful in its approach to the investigation.

The coroner added that, while the evidence did not prove suggestions that Mr Williams died at the hands of MI6, ‘it is still a legitimate line of inquiry’.

Of course, the lack of a conclusive verdict is unsatisfactory – not least for the dead man’s family, who fear he was killed by what they describe as a specialist ‘in the dark arts of the secret services’.

They are unlikely ever to forgive MI6 for not bothering to report Mr Williams missing for a week – by which time it was not possible for pathologists to establish if, for example, he had been poisoned.

But it is testament to Britain’s legal system that an inquest has at least endeavoured to hold the authorities to account in public.

As the Mail’s ‘No To Secret Courts’ campaign has highlighted, Ministers want chilling powers to hold such inquests in camera in the future. The hugely troubling case of ‘the spy in the bag’ is yet another reason why their plans must be fiercely resisted.

The mystery may not yet have been solved – but to have avoided publicly asking the questions would have been a terrible betrayal of his family, his service to the public and Britain’s treasured principle of open justice.

Guardian : MI6 and Met condemned over Gareth Williams' death

MI6 and Met condemned over Gareth Williams' death

Coroner criticises intelligence agency for failing to report missing MI6 officer and rules he was probably killed unlawfully

Caroline Davies and Sandra Laville | May 2, 2012

The coroner in the Gareth Williams case delivered a damning verdict that was highly critical of the Metropolitan police's counter-terrorism branch and MI6 as she ruled that the officer had probably been killed unlawfully.

The cause of death of Williams, 31, who was found padlocked in a holdall in the bath at his flat in Pimlico, central London, was "unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated", said Dr Fiona Wilcox.

Passing a narrative verdict, she said she was satisfied that "a third party placed the bag in the bath and on the balance of probabilities locked the bag".

She was, therefore, "satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully".

Wilcox levelled devastating criticism at Williams's employers at MI6 who failed to report him missing for seven days when he did not turn up for work. The explanation from his line manager lacked credibility, she said, and she could "only speculate as to what effect this [delay] had on the investigation".

The lawyer for the Secret Intelligence Service, Andrew O'Connor, delivered deep regrets and an unprecedented apology to the family from Sir John Sawers, chief of the SIS, who recognised that "failure to act more swiftly" when Williams was absent had contributed to their "anguish and suffering".

Officers in the Met's counter-terrorism branch, SO15, whose role was to interview SIS witnesses, were also strongly criticised. SO15 failed to inform DCI Jackie Sebire, senior investigating officer, of the existence of nine memory sticks and a black holdall found at Williams' MI6 office until two days before the inquest ended, the coroner said. On discovering this, Wilcox said she had seriously questioned whether she should adjourn the inquest at that point.

No formal statements were taken by S015 officers who interviewed Williams' colleagues, "and I find this did affect the quality of evidence heard in this court," she said.

She also criticised the handling of an iPhone belonging to Williams and found in his work locker, which contained deleted images of him naked in a pair of boots. The officer involved kept it in his possession before handing it to homicide detectives the following day, "demonstrating disregard for the rules governing continuity of evidence", she said.

Many agencies "fell short of the ideal", she said, including LGC Forensics in relation to DNA contamination, and the coroner's office for failing to inform police officers of a second postmortem.

Williams, a fitness fanatic from Anglesey, north Wales, was probably alive when put in the bag but probably suffocated very soon afterwards either from CO2 poisoning, hypercapnia, or the effects of a short-acting poison, she said.

Scotland Yard has always treated the death as suspicious and unexplained, but held back from describing it as murder or manslaughter. Recording her verdict, Wilcox stated her belief that a criminal hand was involved, although police said afterwards that there was no evidence of this. The Guardian understands police inquiries have focused on the theory that Williams died accidentally in a private sexual liaison that went wrong.

The coroner, however, ruled out bondage or auto-erotic activity as explanations.

The dead man's family said in a statement that their grief had been exacerbated by the failure of his employers at MI6 to make "even the most basic inquiries of his whereabouts and welfare" when he was absent from work for seven days.

They were "extremely disappointed at the failure and reluctance of MI6" to provide relevant information and called on the Metropolitan police commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, to conduct a review of how the investigation would proceed "in the light of the total inadequacy of S015's investigations into MI6".

Wilcox said there was no evidence to suggest that any SIS colleague had been involved, but it remained a legitimate line of inquiry given Williams socialised with so few people, and never let anyone he didn't know into his flat. So any third party would be "someone he knew or someone there without invitation".

An SIS spokesman said: "We fully co-operated with the police and will continue to do so during the ongoing investigation. We gave all the evidence to the police when they wanted it; at no time did we withhold any evidence."

An iPhone found in his living room had recently been wiped and restored to factory settings, and it could not be ruled out that contact with a third party had been made via the internet on that phone, she said.

Wilcox was "sure that a third party moved the bag containing Gareth into the bath". There were two possibilities: either he entered the bag outside the bathroom and it was carried in by a third party, or he was locked in the bag by a third party and lifted into the bath.

She dismissed an interest in bondage, and female clothing, as being irrelevant, condemning leaks to the media about him cross-dressing as a possible attempt "by some third party to manipulate a section of the evidence".

She said: "Gareth was naked in a bag, not cross-dressed, not in high-heeled shoes." If his interest was bondage, she would have expected much more internet activity on such websites, when his visits made up a tiny percentage of his browsing. His interest was in fashion, she said. Dismissing any auto-erotic activity, she said he was a "scrupulous risk assessor" and if he had locked himself into the bag would have taken a knife in with him to escape.

She said that despite a 21-month police inquiry: "Most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remained unanswered."

Detectives believe scientific tests on a crumpled green hand towel found in his flat may yet yield crucial DNA evidence, as the Metropolitan police launched a review into the case.

The towel was originally in the bathroom, and moved to the kitchen, police believe, by the "third party". More tests are being conducted on the bag. The memory sticks, which have now been examined by police, are said not to have produced any significant evidence, but will be examined more closely.

Martin Hewitt, deputy assistant commissioner of the Met, said the circumstances of the death were particularly complex and continued to be the subject of a thorough investigation.

He added: "We have listened to the detailed ruling by the coroner and the concerns raised by Gareth's family. We are giving both very careful consideration."

Detectives were "currently undertaking actions in order to develop existing DNA profiles, to trace unidentified individuals who may have information about Gareth's death, and to further develop analysis of telephone communications".

CNN : British spy in bag was poisoned or suffocated, coroner rules

British spy in bag was poisoned or suffocated, coroner rules

NEW: MI6 chief apologizes "unreservedly" to spy's family for failure to act quickly
Gareth Williams was poisoned or suffocated in the bag in which he was locked, coroner says
The bag containing his naked body was put into a bath by an unknown person, coroner rules
His family calls for an investigation into the secret services' role in the investigation

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN | May 2, 2012

London (CNN) -- A British spy found dead at his home in 2010 -- his naked body padlocked inside a large red carrying bag stowed in the bathtub -- was either suffocated or poisoned, but it is unlikely his death will ever be satisfactorily explained, coroner Fiona Wilcox said Wednesday.

Gareth Williams' death was "unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated," she ruled.

He probably entered the bag alive, Wilcox said, reading her ruling to a court around the corner from the home of the world's most famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes.

But she was sure an unknown person put the bag containing his body into the bath and probably locked it, she said.

The case has gripped the British public for more than a year and a half, since Williams, an MI6 agent known for his mathematical genius and codebreaking talent, was found dead at age 31 in August 2010.

But after a weeklong inquest at which evidence from hundreds of expert witnesses, security camera images and police interviews was presented, the "most fundamental questions as to how Gareth died remain unanswered," Wilcox said Wednesday.

There was "endless speculation but little real evidence," she said.

And in unusual criticism of the Secret Intelligence Service, as MI6 is formally known, she said a delay in reporting his death and in providing relevant evidence added to the uncertainties about the case. Some of that evidence came to her only in the last 48 hours of the inquiry, Wilcox said.

The coroner appeared briefly overcome with emotion as she came to the end of reading her ruling, her voice faltering as she announced her findings.

The cause of death remains unknown, but experts agreed it was either from suffocation or poisoning, she said. "I am therefore satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully," she concluded.

Among the theories aired by UK media were that Williams might have died at the hands of foreign intelligence agents or as a result of a kinky sexual encounter gone wrong, neither of which was supported by the evidence, the coroner said.

She also cast doubt on suggestions that he was into bondage or transvestism, fueled by the discovery of women's clothes, wigs and cosmetics in his apartment, saying she thought Williams bought them out of an interest in fashion, rather than any sexual motivation.

Expressing her sympathies to his family, Wilcox said the inquest could not bring him back, but she hoped it had at least allowed them to see the evidence out in the open.

A lawyer for Williams' family said that losing a much-loved son and brother would have been a tragedy in any circumstances but that the nature of Williams' death had made it all the worse.

"Our grief is exacerbated by the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic inquiries as to his whereabouts and welfare, which any reasonable employer would have taken," he said.

"We are also extremely disappointed at the reluctance and failure of MI6 to make available relevant information."

The family has called for the Metropolitan Police to review the role of the intelligence services in the investigation.

MI6 head John Sawers apologized "unreservedly" to Williams' family for the service's failure to act more swiftly and said measures have been put in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The detective leading the police investigation, Jackie Sebire, said new lines of inquiry had resulted from the inquest and would now be "actively pursued."

"His naked body was found in the most suspicious of circumstances," Sebire said. "It is highly likely that a third party was involved in Gareth's death, and I urge anyone who knew Gareth or who had contact with him to search their conscience and come forward with any information about what happened that night."

Inside the court, a picture emerged of a man who had few friends but was very close to his family, highly intelligent and physically fit thanks to his love of cycling.

A math prodigy who had completed his mathematics degree and master's by the age of 21, he was someone who relished a challenge and had received an award for his "world-class" work for the intelligence services.

Summing up the evidence, Wilcox said it was "extremely unlikely," but not impossible, that Williams had worked out a technique to get into the bag -- measuring just 32 inches by 19 inches (81 by 48 centimeters) -- and lock it from the inside.

But, she said, there was no evidence of footprints or handprints on the walls of the bathroom or the bath itself, as might have been expected if he had done that.

He was not a risk taker, she said, and that made it unlikely in her view that he would have put himself into the bag even as a personal challenge without making sure he could get out.

Of the four keys belonging to the padlock that secured the bag in which Williams was found, one pair was found inside it with him. A second pair was found on a key ring in his apartment, Wilcox said.

There was no sign that evidence had been tampered with, such as traces of bleach. There was also no sign of a break-in or robbery in his neat, tidy apartment, she said.

She described his body as "peaceful" and said there was no indication of a struggle.

Wilcox also said there were no indications that Williams was feeling suicidal.

However, tests that might have revealed unusual or volatile poisons were ruled out by the decomposition of the body. Traces of alcohol and a chemical matching the party drug GHB were found, but both can occur naturally as part of the decomposition process, she said.

British media have reported that Williams' Internet history showed an interest in sex games and bondage, but Wilcox said the codebreaker had made only a handful of visits to bondage sites.

The coroner said there was no evidence of interest in claustrophilia, a fetish for enclosure in very confined spaces.

His apartment contained 20,000 pounds ($32,000) worth of high-fashion women's clothing, unworn and packed as purchased, Wilcox said, but she said she found no connection between his death and his interest in fashion and women's shoes and clothing.

There also was no indication that his death was connected to his work, she said.

He had not taken on any high-risk operations, and he worked only in the UK. There was no evidence of threats arising to him from his work, his employers testified.

Wilcox was highly critical of Williams' line manager, who did not report that he was missing for about a week after he died August 16. She said the inability of the manager to recall certain key bits of evidence concerning the week of Williams' death "is beginning to stretch the bounds of credibility."

When questioned, the manager said he assumed Williams was absent for a legitimate reason that he had forgotten about, even though he missed several meetings. They worked on a small team of four people.

The manager and other SIS employees testified from behind a screen and were identified only as SIS, plus a letter.

Williams was finally reported missing by a co-worker August 23, more than a week after the normally punctilious employee had last shown up at work.

"I can only speculate as to what effect this had on this investigation," Wilcox said.

The decomposition of Williams' body was hastened by the fact it was in a top floor apartment, where the temperature soared in the summer heat. The heating was mysteriously also turned on, despite it being a hot August, she said.

Police did not secure the scene until eight or nine days after Williams died.

Reports about the "body-in-a-bag spy" describe how two experts spent days trying to figure out whether Williams, who was athletic and of medium height, could have contorted himself in such as way as to lock himself into the North Face holdall bag, with a key to the padlock inside.

Video provided to the court shows one of them, Peter Faulding, folding himself laboriously into an identical bag placed in a bathtub.

Faulding, who specializes in rescuing people from confined spaces, told the inquest that he had tried to lock himself into the bag 300 times without success. A second expert witness, also of a size and build similar to Williams, tried 100 times to re-enact the feat without succeeding.

Neither ruled out definitively the possibility that Williams could have somehow done it alone. But a small trace of someone else's DNA was found on the bag, helping spawn all kinds of theories about who else might have been there.

Williams was recruited into the intelligence services straight from university, working with Government Communications Headquarters before MI6. The nature of his work and questions around why his spy agency bosses took so long to raise an alert about his absence have added to the intrigue surrounding his death.

Concerns about national security have been a factor in the 20-month delay in holding Williams' inquest, and an agency more used to working in the shadows has had an uncomfortably bright light shone into its practices.

A series of photographs provided by the Metropolitan Police show the tidy, impersonal interior of the spy's Pimlico home and the small white-tiled bathroom where his body was found.

A bicycle parked in the hallway is a clue to Williams' passion for cycling. A glimpse through a bedroom door shows a bed half-made, clothes lying on it. But little else can be gleaned from the images.

The Metropolitan Police says it is continuing its investigation, particularly in light of the coroner's findings and the concerns raised by his family.

But for now, the identity of the unknown person who apparently put the bag holding Williams into the bath, exactly how he died and the reason why, remain as much a mystery as ever.

CNN's Atika Shubert contributed to this report.

[video] BBC : Week In Week Out: Death of a Welsh Spy

BBC : Week In Week Out: Death of a Welsh Spy

BBC | May 2, 2012 | Wales only

Gareth Williams died in a locked bag in a bath. Week in Week Out speaks to key witnesses, and asks - was his death covered up? Will his family ever find out how, or why, he died?

NYT : Foul Play Ruled Likely in Case of Spy Found Dead in Bag

Foul Play Ruled Likely in Case of Spy Found Dead in Bag

By JOHN F. BURNS | May 2, 2012

LONDON — Deepening the mystery surrounding the death of a reclusive MI6 agent found doubled up inside a padlocked duffel bag in his London flat, a coroner said on Wednesday that it was unlikely that the case would ever be solved, but that the “balance of probabilities” suggested that he had been unlawfully killed. Scotland Yard reacted immediately by saying it would continue its efforts to hunt down the killer.

After an eight-day inquest that has thrown an uncomfortable spotlight on MI6, Britain’s secret intelligence service, the coroner, Dr. Fiona Wilcox, said the death of Gareth Williams, 31, a Welsh-born mathematician involved in top-secret code-breaking work, appeared to have been “unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated,” — a phrase that legal experts said meant that he was either killed, that someone assisted in a suicide plot or that somebody fled after a sex game went wrong.

Dr. Wilcox said she was “satisfied” that some “third party” had been involved in getting Mr. Williams into the bag, probably while he was alive. This person, she said, probably then locked the bag and carried it to the empty bathtub in the government-owned apartment in the upscale district of Pimlico, where the body was discovered a week after Mr. Williams died.

Dr. Wilcox noted that three pathologists working separately had been unable to determine, because of the body’s decomposition, whether Mr. Williams was poisoned or asphyxiated. She described other evidence as being inconclusive to the point that it was unlikely that the mystery “would ever be satisfactorily explained.”

Still, she said, she was “satisfied that on the balance of probabilities Gareth was killed unlawfully.” The conclusion seemed certain to give fresh currency to conspiracy theories, including some that attribute the death to Russian secret service agents or to militants from Al Qaeda.

The coroner said that it remained a “legitimate line of inquiry” whether MI6 or other secret agencies were involved in the death. She criticized MI6 for what she called its shortfalls in handling the case, including a delay of a week by Mr. Williams’s MI6 manager in reporting that he was missing from work. Pathologists said their work was impeded by the delay, which resulted in such advanced decomposition that they were unable to obtain any decisive forensic clues.

Dr. Wilcox played down suggestions that facets of Mr. Williams’s private life had led to his death, including his interest in bondage Web sites, cross-dressing, transvestite performances and what were described at the hearing as “autoerotic experiences,” specifically a condition known as claustrophilia, involving sexual thrills from being confined in enclosed spaces.

Dr. Wilcox also said she was disinclined to believe that Mr. Williams had committed suicide, a theory encouraged by a newspaper clipping found in his flat that canvassed the most common regrets that people have on their deathbeds. She said he had shown no other signs of depression. As for his purported interest in bondage, she said, she would have expected more than the four visits to bondage sites that were traced on his computers.

As for the $30,000 in high-fashion women’s clothing and shoes found in his flat, and a bright orange woman’s wig, Dr. Wilcox said this was more likely to reflect the interest in fashion he showed by attending a six-week fashion course, and his liking of manga parties, a pastime borrowed from Japan that involves wearing extravagant costumes.

The case has been an awkward experience not only for MI6 but also for an associated agency that was Mr. Williams’s primary employer, the Government Communications Headquarters, Britain’s principal electronic surveillance and code-breaking center. After 10 years working at the unit’s base outside London, Mr. Williams was on a three-year transfer to MI6’s London headquarters, working on the application of new code-breaking technologies, when he died. But it was the MI6 chief, John Sawers, who attended Mr. Williams’s funeral and who delivered an unusual apology for the delay in reporting Mr. Williams missing that was read to the inquest by an MI6 lawyer.

A version of this article appeared in print on May 3, 2012, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: Foul Play Ruled Likely In Case of Spy Found Dead.

Telegraph : The death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams was 'criminally mediated'

The death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams was 'criminally mediated'

MI6 spy Gareth Williams was unlawfully killed by a third party “on the balance of probabilities” a coroner ruled today.

By Tom Whitehead and Martin Evans | May 2, 2012

In a sensational narrative verdict, Dr Fiona Wilcox said a third party was involved in his death and that is was likely to have been “criminally mediated”.

The coroner had earlier ruled that because of the lack of evidence she could not return a formal verdict of unlawful killing.

But in her narrative she concluded that he was most probably killed.

She said: “I am satisfied so that I am sure that a third party placed the bag (which contained Gareth) in to the bath and on the balance of probabilities locked the bag.

“The cause of death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated.

“I am therefore satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully.”

Mr Williams’ naked, decomposing body was discovered in a sports hold all in the bath at his Pimlico flat in London on August 23, 2010.

Dr Wilcox said it was "highly unlikely" that his mysterious death was connected to bondage activities and that he could have died from the effects of "some unknown poison".

"I find it more likely than not that Gareth entered the bag alive and then died very soon afterwards either from the toxic effects of carbon dioxide and heat before he was able to make a concerted effort to escape or from the effects of some unknown poison."

She acknowledged that Mr Williams, who was found naked in a padlocked bag, had demonstrated a passing sexual interest in bondage, but she did not believe it had been a factor in his death.

Fundamental questions surrounding the death remain unanswered and his "highly unusual" death may never be explained. she said.

She said there had been “endless speculation but little evidence”.

The coroner, sitting at Westminster Coroner’s Court, said the circumstances of the death “immediately raised the possibility of foul play”.

Summing up, Dr Wilcox said despite a two year police investigation and seven days of evidence “most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered”.

“It is unlikely this death will ever be satisfactorily explained.”

The body of Mr Williams, 31, was discovered in a sports holdall in the bath at his Pimlico flat in London on August 23, 2010.

Police have never been able to solve the case but are certain a third party was involved.

Pathologists and confined spaces experts have also concluded that the spy was probably alive when he went in to the bag and died shortly after.

Dr Wilcox said IT experts who examined his computer history found he had only visited bondage websites on four separate dates.

She said there was also no evidence that he had researched claustrophilia – where people gain sexual gratification from being in enclosed spaces.

Dr Wilcox said the amount of internet activity regarding bondage formed a "tiny, tiny, tiny" part of his browser history.

Explaining her reasons for ruling out the involvement of bondage in his death she said in order for Mr Williams to have got into the bag in the bath alone and unaided, he would have left foot and fingerprints around the bath.

Dr Wilcox said she believed if Mr Williams had got into the bath alone he would have taken a knife with him as he was a "scrupulous risk assessor".

In addition she said there was no evidence of semen found in the bag during forensic examination.

Dr Wilcox also said she did not believe the large collection of female clothing pointed to the suggestion he was a transvestite.

Dr Wilcox said £20,000 collection of haute couture clothes were too small for Mr Williams to have worn and were also in their original wrapping. She suggested it was more likely that he had bought the clothes, which included 26 pairs of shoes and boots, as presents.

The hearing was told all three lawyers, representing the family, Met Police and MI6, were agreed that there was insufficient evidence to allow a verdict of unlawful killing.

Dr Wilcox agreed and added that an open verdict “would not do justice to the positive findings that I can make”.

At the conclusion of the inquest, the chief of SIS, Sir John Sawers apologised to Mr Williams' family for the mix-up which saw MI6 fail to report his disappearance for a week.

In a statement delivered by MI6 lawyer Andrew O'Connor, Sir John said the service should have acted more swiftly when Mr Williams failed to turn up to work in August 2010.

Mr O'Connor said: "On behalf of the whole organisation, Sir John regrets this deeply and apologises unreservedly."

He said "lessons have been learned, in particular the responsibility of all staff to report unaccounted staff absences".

Sir John paid tribute to the spy, saying in the statement: "Gareth Williams was a man of remarkable talents, talents which he devoted to public service. The work that Gareth undertook during his career both at Cheltenham and London made a real contribution to the security of this country and of its citizens.

"Gareth continues to be mourned by his friends and colleagues."

Mr Williams' family hit out at the failures of MI6 to raise the alarm after the spy went missing, saying their "grief is exacerbated" by it.

In a statement read out by their solicitor after the inquest into his death concluded, they said they were "extremely disappointed" at the secret services' "reluctance and failure" to make relevant information available to the death inquiry.

They also attacked the "total inadequacies" of the inquiry by Metropolitan Police counter-terror branch SO15 into MI6 and called on Scotland Yard's chief to look into how the investigation would proceed in light of this.

The Williams family has waited 21 months to find out how he died and whether someone else was involved. They were moved to tears in court as police, scientists and secret agents all said investigations had drawn a blank.

Jackie Sebire, the lead detective on the case, said Scotland Yard will review lines of inquiry in its investigation in the wake of the inquest.

Added attention could turn on the expert mathematician's colleagues, she indicated.

Police have no suspects in their inquiry but Ms Sebire says she remains convinced Mr Williams' death was suspicious.

Sky : Spy Death: The Evidence Behind The Theories

Spy Death: The Evidence Behind The Theories

May 2, 2012

Three general theories have been put forward to explain the death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams, with evidence to support each one.

:: Suicide

The theory that Mr Williams' chose to take his own life is perhaps the most prosaic explanation for his death and the inquest has heard evidence that suggested he was unhappy with his work.

He had passed an exam to become fully operational with MI6 just months before his death but his sister said he disliked office culture and the rat race - and had spoken of friction among colleagues.

One common theme throughout the inquest has been Mr Williams' prodigious intelligence, which saw him secure a first-class mathematics degree at the age of 17 before his eventual fast-tracking through the ranks at GCHQ.

Correlations have often been drawn between depression and the high levels of perfectionism evident in Mr Williams - an impression his intense fitness regime and pristinely tidy flat did little to dispel.

Irrespective of his state of mind, however, no-one has been able to fully explain how he would have been able to lock the bag his body was found in from the outside.

Stephen Gale, his boss at GCHQ's Cheltenham base, said Mr Williams stunned fellow intelligence specialists with his codebreaking talents when he landed his first job at 21.

"He was considered something of a prodigy and it was quite remarkable that he had achieved those levels of qualifications at such a young age," he said.

It could be argued that such outstanding achievement at such an early age could lead to the kind of listlessness later in life that can eventually develop into suicidal thoughts.

But Mr Williams' reputation as a "world-class" codebreaker may also give rise to the more outlandish theory that he took his own life while deliberately leaving an apparently inextricable riddle.

:: Accident

Mr Williams' interest in women's clothing - on which receipts showed he spent around £20,000 during 2008 and 2009 - has been among the most prominently-reported details of the case.

His curiosity with drag queen culture has also been a focus for the media, as has his apparent interest in bondage footage.

The inquest heard that in 2007, Mr Williams' landlord and landlady had to rescue him in the middle of the night after he apparently tied his wrists to the headboard of his bed to see if he could "get free".

Such revelations could contribute to a theory that Mr Williams' death was an accident, even the result of a sex game gone-wrong.

However, close friends say he never mentioned cross-dressing and he is only known to have been to see a drag act once.

Detective Constable Simon Warren also moved to quell speculation around the 31-year-old's private life, saying his interest in bondage footage on his computer was "an isolated (incident) among a sea of other data".

And it is not entirely inconceivable that a third party may have manufactured an image of someone with flamboyant personal habits in order to distract from a more sinister truth.

Indeed, this possibility was acknowledged by the coroner in her summing up, when she questioned whether leaks to the media about Mr Williams' cross dressing were attempts to manipulate evidence.

She pointed out that most of the women's clothes found would have been too small for him and said the lack of female underwear was "inconsistent".

Mr Williams was described as a cautious risk assessor by his sister, which the coroner said did not "square" with the suggestion of an interest in bondage.

:: Murder

Despite having no suspects, the police have said from the outset that they believe a third party was involved in Mr Williams' death.

Found naked, curled up in a padlocked North Face holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, bag experts have said that even renowned escapologist Harry Houdini would have struggled to lock himself in the bag.

One even tried and failed to carry out the task more than 300 times before saying they were "unbelievable scenarios".

Lawyers for his family have suggested "dark arts" of the secret services were responsible.

The recent emergence of the news that MI6 failed to hand over nine computer memory sticks from Mr Williams' office to Scotland Yard has done little to confound such claims.

Conspiracy theories are fuelled by the fact that the force's counter-terror SO15 branch, which has specialist security clearance and acted as a conduit between MI6 and the investigation team, only took three items from Mr Williams' office - his phone, some notes and a copy of his birth certificate.

Detective Superintendent Michael Broster, who was the main liaison from SO15, said: "I have seen no information or evidence that someone is involved. I am not saying that a member of SIS is not involved. I don't know."

Poisoning and asphyxiation are the "foremost contenders" in causing Mr Williams' death, pathologists said.

But experts believe there would have been signs of damage to his fingers and hands if he had struggled to get out of the bag within the three minutes it would have taken to suffocate.

The fact that Mr Williams was dead for up to 10 days before his post-mortem examination meant many poisons and/or bruise marks could have disappeared from his body.

Another matter to have attracted suspicion is MI6's failure to report his absence for more than a week after his disappearance.

Forensic experts hope ongoing DNA tests on a green towel discovered in his kitchen may still yield a breakthrough.

But given the assumed capabilities of MI6, the fact that no physical evidence has yet been found to establish the involvement of a third party is unlikely to halt speculation that secret service agents were to blame.