WCF Courier : Death ruled an accident, in spite of contrary evidence

Death ruled an accident, in spite of contrary evidence

CHUCK SHEPHERD | Courier Wire Services | December 6, 2013

A formal investigation into the strange death of British intelligence code-breaker Gareth Williams concluded in November with a police judgment that the death was an accident, despite the body's having been discovered inside a zippered and padlocked garment bag in an otherwise unused bathtub in his London apartment. An earlier inquest into the 2010 death had unsatisfactorily failed to rule out foul play, setting up the police examination, but two facts stood out, according to the officer in charge: The key to the padlock was found within easy reach of the bag, and, according to experts, even though no usable fingerprints or DNA was found in the apartment, it had not been "deep-cleaned," as might be expected in a death with intel-op implications.

12 News (Beaumont, Texas) : MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams' death 'perfect crime,' expert says

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams' death 'perfect crime,' expert says

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams' body was found locked in a bag in 2010
A coroner's inquest into his death concluded it was likely that someone had killed him
But Scotland Yard said it was most likely no one else was involved in Williams' death
Confined spaces expert Peter Faulding believes Williams was murdered in a "'perfect crime"

Erin McLaughlin and Susannah Cullinane | CNN Newswire | November 21, 2013

The death of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams -- whose naked body was found inside an externally locked bag in his bathtub in 2006 -- was a "perfect crime," a confined spaces expert says.

Peter Faulding said he disagreed with Scotland Yard's conclusion that Williams most likely locked himself in the bag, saying it was his belief that the MI6 worker was murdered.

Last week, London's Metropolitan Police said its three-year investigation had found a lack of evidence to show that someone else had been involved in Williams' death. The police position differs from a 2012 coroner's report, which said it was likely he had been killed.

Faulding testified at the Coroner's inquest and did not definitively rule out that Williams could have somehow locked himself into the bag alone. But he said he could not have done so without leaving evidence.

This week Faulding told CNN he was still of that view, using the same model of bag and a similar type of bathtub to show how Williams could have gotten into the bag and why he held the view that someone else was involved.

"There was no DNA found on the padlock, the zipper closures -- anywhere around this bath," he said. "To do this without leaving a trace is absolutely impossible. Even Houdini couldn't do this."

Faulding said the lack of DNA was "the key to this crime."

"We can zip ourselves in the bag ... but you can't do it without leaving a trace."

Faulding said a scuff mark was found on the bath, and it was his belief that Williams was murdered.

"The bag was lifted. It scuffed the top and he was dropped into the bath," he said.

With the heating in Williams' apartment turned up, Faulding said "the decomposition fluids would actually run down the plughole, and it would stop the smell of decomposition escaping the flat."

He concluded: "This was the perfect crime."

The Met last week acknowledged that some of the evidence -- including the lack of DNA on the padlock or hand prints on the bath -- was "odd."

It said there was insufficient evidence to be definitive on how Williams died but that police believed that theirs was the "more probable" conclusion.

The case gripped the British public when Williams was found dead at age 31 in August 2010.

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.

While the circumstances of Williams' death remain somewhat murky, there is still forensic evidence left to examine. More than 10 samples of DNA found in Williams' apartment were too small to test.

Police say that maybe, one day, technology may help solve the mystery.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

CNN : MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams' death 'perfect crime,' expert says

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams' death 'perfect crime,' expert says

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams' body was found locked in a bag in 2010
A coroner's inquest into his death concluded it was likely that someone had killed him
But Scotland Yard said it was most likely no one else was involved in Williams' death
Confined spaces expert Peter Faulding believes Williams was murdered in a "perfect crime"

By Erin McLaughlin and Susannah Cullinane, CNN | November 21, 2013

(CNN) -- The death of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams -- whose naked body was found inside an externally locked bag in his bathtub in 2006 -- was a "perfect crime," a confined spaces expert says.

Peter Faulding said he disagreed with Scotland Yard's conclusion that Williams most likely locked himself in the bag, saying it was his belief that the MI6 worker was murdered.

Last week, London's Metropolitan Police said its three-year investigation had found a lack of evidence to show that someone else had been involved in Williams' death. The police position differs from a 2012 coroner's report, which said it was likely he had been killed.

Faulding testified at the Coroner's inquest and did not definitively rule out that Williams could have somehow locked himself into the bag alone. But he said he could not have done so without leaving evidence.

This week Faulding told CNN he was still of that view, using the same model of bag and a similar type of bathtub to show how Williams could have gotten into the bag and why he held the view that someone else was involved.

"There was no DNA found on the padlock, the zipper closures -- anywhere around this bath," he said. "To do this without leaving a trace is absolutely impossible. Even Houdini couldn't do this."

Faulding said the lack of DNA was "the key to this crime."

"We can zip ourselves in the bag ... but you can't do it without leaving a trace."

Faulding said a scuff mark was found on the bath, and it was his belief that Williams was murdered.

"The bag was lifted. It scuffed the top and he was dropped into the bath," he said.

With the heating in Williams' apartment turned up, Faulding said "the decomposition fluids would actually run down the plughole, and it would stop the smell of decomposition escaping the flat."

He concluded: "This was the perfect crime."

The Met last week acknowledged that some of the evidence -- including the lack of DNA on the padlock or hand prints on the bath -- was "odd."

It said there was insufficient evidence to be definitive on how Williams died but that police believed that theirs was the "more probable" conclusion.

The case gripped the British public when Williams was found dead at age 31 in August 2010.

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.

While the circumstances of Williams' death remain somewhat murky, there is still forensic evidence left to examine. More than 10 samples of DNA found in Williams' apartment were too small to test.

Police say that maybe, one day, technology may help solve the mystery.

Coventry Telegraph : Review: Ciphers, at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

Review: Ciphers, at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

Ciphers explores the murky nature of identity as well as professional and personal deceit and betrayal

By Steve Adams | November 20, 2013

Writer Dawn King’s new play was apparently inspired by the death of Gareth Williams, the MI6 agent whose body was found locked inside a sports bag three years ago, and is especially timely given the police’s recent re-investigation of the case.

Just last week they announced Williams’ death was “probably accidental” even though the original coroner said it was almost certainly down to foul play. It’s unlikely the truth will ever be known, and that premise is at the heart of Out of Joint’s latest production Ciphers, which also features the death of a spy, as well as the attempts of her family – in this case her sister – to find out what really happened.

There’s much more to this engrossing thriller than that, not least the way it explores the murky nature of identity as well as professional and personal deceit and betrayal, conveyed through parallel storylines that mirror, and often blur, the worlds of espionage and real life.

The mixed identity cause is aided by an excellent four-strong cast who each play double roles – Grainne Keenan giving a standout performance as fledgling spy Justine and her grieving sister Kerry – and a simple yet effective stage set of grainy moving screens that provide the blank canvas for a drama that is fittingly full of grey areas.

NPR : Death Of British Spy Found Shoved Into Bag Ruled Accidental

Death Of British Spy Found Shoved Into Bag Ruled Accidental

November 19, 2013

In 2010, British spy Gareth Williams was found dead, naked, and stuffed inside a duffel bag in his bathtub. Although a coroner initially suspected foul play, London police have determined that his death was probably an accident. Robert Siegel talks to spy historian Nigel West about the case.

Copyright © 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The peculiar circumstances surrounding the death of British spy, Gareth Williams, in London three years ago is bound to provide endless material for the writers of spy stories, detective novels and crime lab thrillers. Williams was a mathematician on assignment to MI6, the British equivalent of the CIA. His dead body was discovered in his apartment, in the bathtub, inside a duffle bag. The Brits call it a holdall. And the bag was padlocked shut and the key was inside with Williams.

Police ruled that Williams' death was accidental, overruling an earlier coroner's judgment that indicated foul play. And joining us to talk about this case is Nigel West. That's actually a penname for Rupert Alason. He's been writing about spies for over 30 years and he attended the coroner's inquest and wrote about it for the British paper The Telegraph. Welcome to the program.

NIGEL WEST: Thank you.

SIEGEL: First, what do we know about Mr. Williams, the deceased here?

WEST: He was a geek. He was a technician with GCHQ, which was his employer.

SIEGEL: That's the British equivalent of the NSA, we should say.

WEST: Correct. He was extremely fit. He was very much a loner and had very few friends.

SIEGEL: So this loner is discovered under these bizarre circumstances, and you would say that the police got it right, that the coroner had been wrong, no foul play. You suspect it was an accidental death.

WEST: Anybody sensible listening to the evidence would have to come to that conclusion. The evidence was very distressing. What you didn't mention was that he was naked in the holdall and that the key to the padlock, which had been closed outside the bag, was underneath his body. And it is also the case, as we heard in the inquest evidence, that about 85 percent of his Internet browsing was to self-bondage sites, to claustrophilia sites.

SIEGEL: Claustrophilia. You...

WEST: A proclivity I had not heard about.

SIEGEL: Yes. You've said that as though you're familiar with it. I haven't met anyone who was familiar with claustrophilia until reading this story.

WEST: It is the pleasure gained from being confined in a very small space. It is not the same as autoerotic asphyxiation, which I'm sure many of your listeners will be very familiar with.

SIEGEL: Well, familiar, anyway. I don't know about very familiar. But, you know, a spy dies, even a loner, somebody who is not fitting in quite well, and there's a tendency to suspect, you know, something very, very unusual must be happening here. You say something was unusual but it was psychologically unusual, inside this man's life, is what you're saying.

WEST: Well, when the police searched his apartment, they discovered a very large and expensive collection of women's frocks that fitted him and his last purchase was of a red wig, a long-haired woman's wig, fitted to him.

SIEGEL: But there seem to be two questions here, though. First, was Gareth Williams inclined to, for whatever reason, lock himself into a bag in the bathtub? And second, is it possible to do that? Could he have done that alone?

WEST: Yes. I think you have to understand that the circumstances where somebody has been practicing this for a long period, then it is perfectly possible, as was demonstrated, for somebody to climb into the duffel bag, to close the zips. That's not the difficult part. The tricky part is to have the hasp of the padlock over the handles and then to use the fabric of the bag like a glove, if you like, to close the padlock.

SIEGEL: Well, you've spent a lifetime ferreting out fact from fiction about espionage in Britain and elsewhere. Wouldn't you say that fiction will have a lot of fun with this one over the years?

WEST: I think that any self-respecting novelist will completely reject this particular plot as being so bizarre that you really put at risk a suspended disbelief of the reader.

SIEGEL: Nigel West, thank you very much for talking with us about the case of Gareth Williams.

WEST: A pleasure.

SIEGEL: Author Nigel West, actually a penname for Rupert Alason. He is the author most recently of the "Historical Dictionary of Chinese Intelligence."

Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Coventry Telegraph : Play looks at truth about lies

Play looks at truth about lies

Ciphers, which runs at Warwick Arts Centre, is based on the true story of MI6 agent Gareth Williams found dead in a sports bag.

By Catherine Vonledebur | November 19, 2013

Inspired by the true story of the MI6 agent Gareth Williams found dead, padlocked in a sports bag, new spy thriller Ciphers asks how well you can really know someone who lies for a living.

When Justine is found dead her sister Kerry sets out to find out what happened, and stumbles into a world of secrets and subterfuge that makes her question who Justine really was.

Ciphers is a smart, provocative thriller about spies, double agents and the opaqueness of the human soul.

It was written by Dawn King, and directed by theatre’s rising star Blanche McIntyre – recently named Best Director at the TMA UK Theatre Awards 2013 for Headlong’s The Seagull – reunited following their work together on Dawn’s first play, Foxfinder.

Max Stafford-Clark, artistic director of Out of Joint theatre company, said: “Since Blanche worked at Out of Joint as my associate in 2008, I have watched the extraordinary success of her glowing career with enormous interest and pride.

“I am delighted she is returning to Out of Joint to continue her excellent work with Dawn King.”

As one of 10 writers chosen for the BBC Writersroom 10 scheme in 2012, Dawn wrote Ciphers as West Yorkshire Playhouse’s writer-in-residence. She is currently taking part in Channel 4’s TV writing scheme, 4 Screenwriting 2013.

Out of Joint returns to Warwick Arts Centre, following its hit production of Top Girls. Ciphers is a joint production with Bush Theatre and Exeter Northcott Theatre.

The production is suitable for ages 14+ and runs until to Saturday. There is a post show talk tonight. For details visit www.warwickartscentre.co.uk

Southwest Business : Experts dispute claims on GCHQ codebreaker Gareth William’s death

Experts dispute claims on GCHQ codebreaker Gareth William’s death

by Phil Norris | The Gloucestershire Echo | November 19, 2013

Experts who tried to recreate GCHQ officer Gareth Williams’ death have rebuffed police suggestions that he died by accident.

The MI6 codebreaker was found dead in his London flat three years ago.

His decomposing body was found in a large holdall in the bath of his flat in Alderney Street in Pimlico.

The bag was locked from the outside.

A Metropolitan Police report issued last week concluded he was probably alone when he died.

But witnesses who worked closely with the investigation said Dr Williams could not have got into the bag and locked it from the inside alone.

When Mr Williams’ naked body was found, the handles of the holdall had been fastened with Velcro, there was no sign of him struggling to escape, and the eyelets on the locks had been perfectly aligned.

Despite attempting to recreate the scene more than 400 times, nobody has been able to replicate it solo.

No one has ever come forward who has been able to recreate the scene.

There was also no prints or DNA from the mathematician on the rim of the bath, padlock or zipper and he was not wearing any gloves.

Despite the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death and an inquest finding that he was unlawfully killed, police have decided that Mr Williams most likely got into the bag by himself and died after failing to get out again.

Confined spaces expert, William MacKay, who gave evidence at and inquest into Mr Williams’ death, said he still believes that someone else was involved.

"The likelihood that one person could do it is slim," he said.

Dr Williams was coming to the end of a three-year secondment to MI6 in London in August 2010, when he was reported missing by GCHQ, just days before he was due to return to Cheltenham.

Dr Williams, who rented a flat in Bouncers Lane for many years and was a keen cyclist and member of Cheltenham and County Cycle Club, was originally from North Wales.

His family said they believed the coroner’s view "accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death.

"We remain very disappointed over the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic of enquiries concerning Gareth’s welfare when he failed to attend for work on 16th August 2010.

"This lack of concern for Gareth’s wellbeing remains an overriding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother."

International Business Times : James Bond? Gareth Williams Did Not Get Into Bag Alone Say Experts

James Bond? Gareth Williams Did Not Get Into Bag Alone Say Experts

By Sigrid Salucop | November 18, 2013

Experts say the MI6 spy found dead inside a holdall did not get inside the bag alone. The experts reportedly tried but failed to recreate what police claim happened to British spy Gareth Williams according to the Telegraph.

Williams, who worked as a codebreaker for GCHQ before his stint with MI6, could not have placed himself inside the bag without the assistance of another person, and zipped up the same bag while inside it. Witnesses who worked with the experts reportedly claim that the task was attempted around 400 times but no one was able to recreate it.

Mr Williams was found in the bath in August 2010, naked and already decomposing. The handles of the bag when found was closed with Velcro, reports say. There was reportedly no sign of struggle.

According to the Telegraph, Mr William's DNA was not found on the holdall and there was also no sign of his DNA on the bath. Mr Williams was reportedly not wearing gloves.

The Police Conclusion

Despite how mysterious it is for the MI6 spy to have gotten inside the bag alone without leaving DNA evidence, the police concluded that Gareth Williams got into the holdall himself.

A confined spaces experts William MacKay says that someone else was in the room the day Mr Williams placed himself or was placed inside the holdall. MacKay said, "When you put the forensic evidence together with the other evidence the likelihood that one person could do it is slim."

For the inquest, Mr MacKay and a yoga expert attempted to recreate the scene. Reports say that although the expert was able to get inside the holdall, it was not possible for the bag to be closed from the inside.

Peter Faulding, like Mr MacKay, believes that Williams was not alone in the bath. Faulding believes, according to reports, that what happened to the British spy points toward murder. He added that the London flat's heating was turned up even though the event happened midsummer of 2010.

The doorknob to the bath was removed according to evidence and Gareth Williams's iPhone was wiped.

To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com

Voice of Russia : Second Thoughts: British intelligence and damage containment

Second Thoughts: British intelligence and damage containment

The discovery of a British MI6 agent naked inside a padlocked bag in his bath; the death in London of a former Russian security services officer by polonium 210 poisoning; ex-CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden; and the death – apparently by suicide – of a UK-based Russian oligarch, have something in common, says VoR’s Jim Ensom.

November 18, 2013

The body in the bag

Gareth Williams was a bright, good-looking, fit and healthy code breaker working for the British surveillance centre GCHQ on secondment to the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.

Three years ago, he was found dead inside a padlocked holdall in his bath. At his inquest, the coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, delivered a narrative verdict saying: “The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated. I am therefore satisfied that on the balance of probabilities Gareth was killed unlawfully.”

She had heard from experts who had repeatedly failed to padlock themselves into bags identical to his holdall. One expert said escapologist Harry Houdini "would have struggled" to pull off the feat.

The coroner said that Williams’ iPhone had been mysteriously wiped of all data just hours before he died in August 2010.

She also said that the forgetfulness of some employees at MI6 “stretched probability”.

Police disagree with coroner

This week, however, the Metropolitan Police – having re-opened its own investigation – had concluded that Williams had died by accident by climbing naked into the holdall and padlocking it from the outside during some strange ritual.

"My personal view at the end of the investigation is that what happened was an accident," Martin Hewitt, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, told reporters.

"I am convinced that Gareth's death was in no way related to his work."

He admitted that several "odd" factors remained - notably the fact that no DNA was found on the padlock, and there were no handprints on the bathtub.

But Hewitt said police were satisfied that it was "theoretically possible" for a man to lock himself in the bag.

"The point is that we're satisfied that theoretically you could achieve that," he told reporters.

"Gareth's physical stature, Gareth's strength - my belief is that it would have been possible for him to do that."

"Most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered," he said.

"It is unlikely that his death will ever be satisfactorily explained."

MI6 “always has been, and always will be, very, very secretive” - Dorril

Dr Stephen Dorril is the author of MI6: 50 Years of Special Operations. He says: “Even if MI6 had no involvement in the mysterious death of Gareth Williams, it would still have an interest in covering up the circumstances”.

Writing in the Mirror this week, he said MI6 has always tried to keep its work away from public scrutiny.

“It has a history of not releasing documents, not co-operating with inquiries fully. So people are entitled to be suspicious of any information that does come out. And it doesn’t want people digging too deeply into the actual work Gareth Williams was engaged in.

“He operated in an area involving GCHQ and its liaison with MI6, and probing questions would lead on to the sensitive nature of these operations, particularly in the light of the Edward Snowden revelations”.

"We know from the former CIA man’s leaks how important GCHQ is to British intelligence gathering and that there is extensive monitoring of emails, phones and every kind of digital traffic".

Snowden, an employee of defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton at the National Security Agency (NSA), disclosed that the US National Security Agency was tapping internet data globally under a programme called PRISM and that the UK’s surveillance agency, GCHQ, had access to it under a programme called Project Tempora.

Litvinenko, British intelligence and his death

Alexander Litvinenko was an officer of the Russian FSB security service, who, in 1998 accused the Russian authorities of conspiring to assassinate the tycoon Boris Berezovsky. Litvinenko was arrested on charges of exceeding his authority and acquitted in 1999. He was re-arrested in 2000, but again the charges were dropped. He was dismissed from the FSB.

He left Russia and was granted asylum in the United Kingdom where he worked as a journalist and for the British intelligence services.

On November 1, 2006 at 3.30pm he met Mario Scaramella, a security consultant and academic nuclear expert, in the Itsu suchi bar in Piccadilly.

An hour later, he met two Russian men – Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoy, both ex-FSB officers – in the Millennium Hotel.

Litvinenko complained of illness that evening and was admitted to hospital. He suffered a slow and agonising death from radioactive polonium-210 poisoning.

He died in University College Hospital on November 23, 2006. Seven years on, his inquest proper has yet to begin.

No inquest, no public inquiy

Sir Robert Owen, Her Majesty’s Assistant Coroner for Inner North London, has said he is having some difficulty starting an inquest into Litvinenko’s death because the Foreign Office is invoking every legal action it can to prevent MI5 and MI6 evidence being heard.

Sir Robert had previously told the inquest that his request for a public inquiry – which would have been able to hear some evidence in camera (closed court) – had been turned down.

The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, had invoked Public Interest Immunity to prevent the testament of the security services – MI5 and MI6 –being heard at the inquest. Under the rules, a coroner has no right to hear that evidence.

However, Sir Robert had appealed for the inquest to be turned into a public inquiry which would have been able to 'hear' the evidence, but not necessarily in public.

That was denied by the Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling MP, a conservative politician who sits in David Cameron's cabinet alongside William Hague.

The Litvinenko family called for a judicial review of the refusal, saying it showed "utter contempt".

That judicial review request has yet to be heard.

Berezovsky’s death and the silence that followed

Boris Berezovsky, the self-made billionaire – said to be worth $3 billion – was a former academic who built his fortune with investments in oil, cars, aluminium, and the media.

He played an integral part in Vladimir Putin’s rise to power in 2000. However, he fell from favour following a crackdown on many oligarchs for tax evasion. Berezovsky fled to England in 2000, where he lived until his death.

He was found dead in his bathroom at his mansion in Mill Lane, Ascot, west of London on Saturday March 23, 2013.

Friends of Boris Berezovsky have claimed that the Russian oligarch was strangled to death despite a post-mortem examination which showed no sign of a struggle and that he died with a ligature around his neck, consistent with hanging.

The inquest was opened and adjourned on March 28, after a brief police statement in which a spokesman confirmed: “The results of the post-mortem examination, carried out by a Home Office pathologist, have found the cause of death is consistent with hanging. The pathologist has found nothing to indicate a violent struggle”.

The inquest proper into Berezovsky’s death has – like Litvinenko’s – yet to get underway.

Officially, the police are still awaiting the results of toxicology tests.

Police sources have told me that the length of time between his death and the start of his inquest – supposedly in the new year – is unusual and cannot be put down to toxicology results, which would normally be available within 48 hours, or in the case of very specialised testing, four to six weeks.

What a state of affairs

We will probably never know how MI6 operative Gareth Williams died, naked in the padlocked bag.

Nor who killed Alexander Litvinenko, as the British government is doing the best it can to stymie the coroner’s inquest and made a political decision to turn down a public inquiry.

The death of Boris Berezovsky remains a mystery, especially as the police seem to think it was a straightforward suicide by hanging. Still no inquest.

But this is Britain for you. If you can keep a secret, you keep it in the bag.

(Voice of Russia)

National Post : Spy couldn’t have locked himself naked in bag before he died, experts say after trying to recreate it

Spy couldn’t have locked himself naked in bag before he died, experts say after trying to recreate it

Hayley Dixon, The Telegraph | November 17, 2013

Experts who tried and failed to recreate the method of death of spy Gareth Williams, who was found locked in a bag in the bath of his London apartment, say they do not agree with the police finding that the MI6 man died by accident.

The codebreaker could not have got into the bag and locked it from the inside alone, witnesses who worked closely with the investigation have claimed after attempting the task more than 400 times. No one has ever come forward who has been able to recreate the scene.

When Mr. Williams’ naked, decomposing body was found in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010, the handles of the bag had been fastened with Velcro, there was no sign of him struggling to escape and the eyelets on the locks had been perfectly aligned.

No finger, foot, palm prints or DNA belonging to Mr. Williams was found on the rim of the bath, padlock or zipper and he was not wearing any gloves.

Despite the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death and an inquest finding that he had been unlawfully killed, the police have now concluded that Mr. Williams most likely got into the bag by himself and died after failing to get out again.

However, William MacKay, a confined spaces expert who gave evidence at the inquest, said that he still believes that someone else was involved.

“Everything leads to that being the case,” he said. “When you put the forensic evidence together with the other evidence the likelihood that one person could do it is slim.

“Where is all the DNA that would have been around the bath? I would stay short of saying it was murder, because obviously it could have been an accident that someone else could have been involved in, the scenarios are many.”

For the inquest he and a yoga expert, who was of very similar stature to Mr. Williams, made hundreds of attempts to recreate the scenario in which Mr. Williams’ body was found. Although the expert could get into the bag, he was unable to lock it.

Peter Faulding, who also worked closely with the police and gave evidence at the inquest, agrees that Mr. Williams was not alone when he was locked in the bag.

He believes that the evidence points toward murder as the heating in the flat had been turned up despite it being midsummer, which would have speeded up decomposition, a doorknob which could have given forensic clues had been removed, and Mr. Williams’ iPhone had been wiped.

Mr. Faulding told the Sunday Express: “I believe the bag was placed in the bath to let bodily fluids run down the plughole.”

Mr. MacKay, a former Army officer, said: “As I told the coroner I have seen some amazing things being done in my career, and so I could not say beyond all reasonable doubt that nobody could do it.

“We got close, but close is still far away. With all the other demonstrations generally it showed damage to the bag when it was done.”

Express : EXCLUSIVE: MI6 spy Gareth Williams found dead in a bag WAS murdered

EXCLUSIVE: MI6 spy Gareth Williams found dead in a bag WAS murdered

THE handles of the locked bag in which MI6 spy Gareth Williams was found dead were fastened together with Velcro, which an expert said last night was proof he was murdered.

By: James Murray | November 17, 2013

Last week Scotland Yard angered the family of the 31-year-old by saying it was possible he had got into the North Face bag on his own and locked it, despite Coroner Fiona Wilcox saying in 2012 she thought he was killed “on the balance of probabilities”.

Peter Faulding worked closely with the Yard on the baffling case and is convinced code breaker Mr Williams could not have managed to get inside the bag, bring the handles up and Velcro them together and then lock it with the padlock on the outside.

“I tried it scores of times and it was impossible,” said Mr Faulding, chief executive of Specialist Group International of Redhill, Surrey.

“I strongly believe another person must have been involved. If he’d done the lock there would have been prints or DNA on it and the same goes for the Velcro. It is simply impossible to do.”

Mr Faulding, whose expertise is finding bodies or people stuck in confined places, made several other disturbing points which raise serious questions about the Yard’s new perception on the mystery.

When Mr Williams’s body was found on August 23, 2010, in his central London flat the door to the bathroom was shut and the light was off, making the room pitch black.

The shower screen was in place, making the space he had to move around very tight if he were to put the bag in the bath and then step into it. There were no palm prints on the bath, which meant Mr Williams, who was single and a maths genius, would have had to stand up in the bag first and then get into it. Mr Faulding said: “Entry into the bag needs to be shoulder first and then pulling the bag under the bottom, this would leave footprints at the end of the bath above the taps but there were none.

“The shower screen was closed. If he was practising getting into the bag this would have been wide open as it creates a barrier. No finger, foot, palm prints or DNA belonging to Gareth Williams were present on the rim of the bath, padlock or zipper. He was not wearing any gloves.” Mr Faulding added: “If he was practising or dabbling in escapology he would have carried a knife in the bag to release himself, he was an intelligent individual and not a chancer.

“When I did it I had a knife around my neck because it is pretty scary. There was no sign of Gareth struggling to get out. He was found in a peaceful foetal position. I believe the bag was placed in the bath to let bodily fluids run down the plug hole.”

Although it was midsummer, the heating in the flat was turned up full, which meant decomposition would be fast and potential forensic clues lost. A doorknob, which could have revealed forensic clues, was removed and Mr Williams’s iPhone was wiped.

Mr Faulding carried out tests for the police on how difficult it would be to get a person into a sports holdall and then put it in the bath.

He said: “I practised putting a person pretending to be unconscious in the bag and then lifting them into the bath and it was easy to do.”

While doing that work he noticed he scuffed the bag on the top of the bath. On the rim of Gareth’s bath some scuff marks were found. Recalling how he felt while trying to lock himself in the bag, he said: “After five minutes zipped into the bag the temperature goes up by 10 degrees and the oxygen level rapidly dropped to 17 per cent.

“Carbon dioxide builds up making it very difficult to work or concentrate. It’d be impossible to close the zip and fit the padlock from the inside without light or leaving prints. Suffocation would be within 30 minutes, probably less, depending on the individual.”

Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: “The Metropolitan Police’s position is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

Telegraph : 'Spy in bag' Gareth Williams did not get into holdall alone, say experts

'Spy in bag' Gareth Williams did not get into holdall alone, say experts

Gareth Williams, the MI6 spy, was not alone when he was locked in a holdall in the bath of his Pimlico flat, claim experts who contradict police conclusions

By Hayley Dixon | November 17, 2013

Experts who tried and failed to recreate the method of death of spy Gareth Williams say they do not agree with the police finding that the MI6 man died by accident.

The codebreaker could not have got into the bag and locked it from the inside alone, witnesses who worked closely with the investigation have claimed after attempting the task more than 400 times. No one has ever come forward who has been able to recreate the scene.

When Mr Williams' naked, decomposing body was found in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010, the handles of the holdall had been fastened with Velcro, there was no sign of him struggling to escape, and the eyelets on the locks had been perfectly aligned.

No finger, foot, palm prints or DNA belonging to Mr Williams was found on the rim of the bath, padlock or zipper and he was not wearing any gloves.

Despite the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death and an inquest finding that he had been unlawfully killed, the police have now concluded that Mr Williams most likely got into the bag by himself and died after failing to get out again.

However, William MacKay, a confined spaces expert who gave evidence at the inquest, said that he still believes that someone else was involved.

“Everything leads to that being the case,” he said. “When you put the forensic evidence together with the other evidence the likelihood that one person could do it is slim.

“Where is all the DNA that would have been around the bath? I would stay short of saying it was murder, because obviously it could have been an accident that someone else could have been involved in, the scenarios are many.”

For the inquest he and a yoga expert, who was of very similar stature to Mr Williams at 170cm tall and weighing 68 kilos, made hundreds of attempts to recreate the scenario in which Mr Williams' body was found. Although the expert could get into the bag, he was unable to lock it.

Peter Faulding, who also worked closely with the police and gave evidence at the inquest, agrees that Mr Williams was not alone when he was locked in the holdall.

He believes that the evidence points toward murder as the heating in the flat had been turned up despite it being midsummer, which would have speeded up decomposition, a doorknob which could have given forensic clues had been removed, and Mr William’s iPhone had been wiped.

Mr Faulding told the Sunday Express: “I believe the bag was placed in the bath to let bodily fluids run down the plughole."

He has always said that Mr Williams was dead or unconscious when he was placed in the bag, and believes it was then lifted into the bath.

Mr MacKay, a former Army officer, said: “As I told the coroner I have seen some amazing things being done in my career, and so I could not say beyond all reasonable doubt that nobody could do it.

“We got close, but close is still far away. With all the other demonstrations generally it showed damage to the bag when it was done. That was based upon hundreds and hundreds of attempts, maybe if we had tried it 2,000 times we would have done it, I don’t know, but there were two of us.

“One of the key things for me is that after we released all the evidence we waited for people who would come and show us how to do it.”

Days after the inquest, a retired Army sergeant did claim to demonstrate how it was possible to climb into a similar North Face bag and lock it from the inside.

However, Mr MacKay said: “One person did come forward, but the eyelets weren’t put together in the same way, we dispelled that method as it wasn’t the way that the bag was closed.

"Nobody else has come forward and for me that is very telling, people always want to show off and show us as experts how badly they think we have done.”

Despite their findings, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, who led the police investigation, last week concluded "it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

Mr Williams’ family have rejected the results of the three and a half year police investigation and maintain that he was murdered.

Las Vegas Sun : UK police: Spy in bag probably died by accident

UK police: Spy in bag probably died by accident
[or here]

The Associated Press | November 17, 2013

More than three years after the naked, decomposing body of British spy Gareth Williams was discovered stuffed inside a locked gym bag at the bottom of his bathtub, the mystery over his bizarre death lingers, and a police investigation has done little to clear it up.

London's Metropolitan Police said Wednesday that their investigation had found that Williams likely died in an accident with no one else involved. But the tentative conclusion, which the police hedged by acknowledging many gaps haven't been filled in, is unlikely to calm conspiracy theories surrounding the case.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said Williams, whose remains were discovered in August 2010, was "most probably" killed in an accident, a verdict which conflicts with a coroner's inquest that concluded last year that Williams was probably been killed by another person in a "criminally meditated act."

Hewitt said the police position "is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died."

"But the reality is that for both hypotheses, there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding," he said.

Hewitt told reporters at Scotland Yard headquarters that his conclusion was based on the fact that investigators found little evidence of foul play in a death that has spawned a host of theories, from assassination to sexual adventure gone awry.

Williams, a cyberwarfare expert, worked for Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping service and was attached to the overseas espionage agency MI6 when he died.

Some have raised the possibility that Williams locked himself in the bag as part of a sex act gone wrong or an experiment in escapology _ the Houdini-like art of wriggling out of restraints or traps. Investigators found that he had visited bondage and sadomasochism websites, including some related to claustrophilia _ a desire for confinement in enclosed spaces.

Police concluded _ after several reenactments _ that it was possible for Williams to climb inside the sports bag and lock it.

However, police couldn't find Williams' DNA was found on the lock, palm prints on the rim of the bath, or footprints in the bathroom itself. The coroner, Fiona Wilcox, said that pointed to another person having taken the bag into the bathroom, noting that if Williams had been "carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn't care if he left any foot or fingerprints."

She was also critical in her inquest verdict of MI6, which failed to pass evidence to investigating police, and said that while it seemed unlikely that British intelligence agencies were involved in Williams' death, it was a "legitimate line of inquiry."

Hewitt said there was no evidence that the apartment had been cleaned to remove forensic traces and nothing to suggest a struggle or a break-in.

And he dismissed the idea that Britain's secretive intelligence services had carried out a cover-up, noting that a total of 27 members of staff from both MI6 and GCHQ had been interviewed and that police were given full access to Williams' vetting and personnel file.

"I do not believe that I have had the wool pulled over my eyes," Hewitt said. "I believe that what we are dealing with is a tragic unexplained death."

He added that there was "no evidence to support the theory that Gareth's death was in any way related to his work."

Williams' relatives said in a statement that they were disappointed that the facts remain unclear, but still believed it was likely he had been the victim of foul play.

"We consider that on the basis of the facts known at present the coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death," the statement said.

Mirror : Spy in the bag Gareth Williams was killed to protect Russian 'mole' in MI6, ex-KGB agent claims

Spy in the bag Gareth Williams was killed to protect Russian 'mole' in MI6, ex-KGB agent claims

Boris Karpichkov says police claims that the MI6 operative's death was 'a tragic accident' are 'nonsense' and believes he was killed by the Russians

By Justin Penrose | November 17, 2013

Spy in the bag Gareth Williams was assassinated because he was about to reveal the identity of an MI6 employee working for the Russians, a former KGB agent has claimed.

Boris Karpichkov dismissed as “nonsense” Scotland Yard’s conclusion last week that Mr Williams’ death was an accident.

He says the spy had been working for a unit focusing on Russian intelligence and that Mr Williams, 31, a former codebreaker, had also been on training courses on field operations and had been given a new false passport with a secret identity.

Mr Karpichkov, a Latvian who fled to Britain in the late 1990s when his double life was exposed, said intelligence sources had passed on the bombshell new information.

Mr Karpichkov, who successfully turned foreign spies into double agents in Eastern Europe, told the Sunday Mirror: “I believe Gareth Williams was targeted by the Russian security services and was unlawfully killed.

“I am 100 per cent sure he was working for a unit against Russian intelligence, had a passport in a false name and had been on field operative training courses.

“One of two things happened. First Russian security services could have tried to recruit him as a mole, probably through blackmail.

“But if people refuse this, then it is all part of counter espionage games and he would not have been killed. It does not fit.

“During the course of his work he came across a mole inside MI6 working for the Russians. They probably tried to recruit him to keep this information hidden.

“When he refused, he became a threat to Russian security services and at the point when he was going to reveal the mole agent inside MI6, he was killed.

“When I was exposed in Latvia, my bosses told me to kill those who had betrayed me, giving me a licence to kill as was about to be exposed. I didn’t and left the country.”

Mr Karpichkov claims the FSB - the successor organisation to Russia's KGB - would have placed him under surveillance by using hidden cameras in unmarked cars’ rear view mirrors.

Video would have picked up from the cars simply by driving past.

The former KGB agent said he saw several cars with Russian diplomatic number plates in the area in the two months before Mr Williams died and a Russian agent in unmarked British car.

Police last week claimed that “on the balance of probabilities” nobody else was present when Mr Williams got into a bag in his bath and padlocked himself inside.

This was despite there being no DNA on the pad lock and no palm prints on the bath - making it impossible for him to get in by himself.

Between 10 and 15 unidentified traces of DNA were found at the flat.

The door of the flat in Pimlico, South West London was also locked from the outside.

Despite being a strict time keeper, none of Mr Williams’ colleagues reported him missing for over a week and none went into his flat.

His boss, known as Agent G, went and only knocked on the door twice.

The heating in the flat had been turned onto full blast despite it being in the height of summer - rapidly increasing the speed that the body decomposed.

Mr Karpichkov added: “To say that he died accidentally is ridiculous and nonsense.

“MI6 failed to report him being missing as they would not have wanted it being revealed that they may have an operative working for the Russian security services.”

Last year, Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled that on the balance of probabilities Mr Williams was unlawfully killed and it was unlikely that he got into the bag himself.

But Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt last week said it was “beyond credibility” that Scotland Yard had been duped by MI6 as part of a cover up.

He said: “I do not believe that I have had the wool pulled over my eyes. "I believe that we are dealing with a tragic, unexplained death.”

Mr Williams’ parents Ian and Ellen have rejected the police claims.A

Mirror : Spy-in-the-bag mystery: Why I think MI6 WERE involved in Gareth Williams cover-up

Spy-in-the-bag mystery: Why I think MI6 WERE involved in Gareth Williams cover-up

Dr Stephen Dorril, an espionage expert who wrote the history of MI6, says we should be 'very sceptical about the official version of events'

Dr Stephen Dorril | opinion | November 16, 2013

Even if MI6 had no involvement in the mysterious death of Gareth Williams, it would still have an interest in covering up the circumstances.

The organisation always has been, and always will be, very, very secretive.

A coroner last year ruled that the 31-year-old codebreaker was “probably unlawfully killed” after his body was found padlocked into a holdall in a bathtub.

The inquest was told that police in the case could not speak to his MI6 colleagues directly and the coroner said that though there was no evidence that the intelligence agency was involved in his death “it is still a legitimate line of inquiry”.

MI6 has always tried to keep its work away from public scrutiny. It has a history of not releasing documents, not co-operating with inquiries fully. So people are entitled to be suspicious of any information that does come out.

It would argue there are areas of its work it doesn’t want to reveal. And it doesn’t want people digging too deeply into the actual work Gareth Williams was engaged in.

He operated in an area involving GCHQ and its liaison with MI6, and probing questions would lead on to the sensitive nature of these operations, particularly in the light of the Edward Snowden revelations.

We know from the former CIA man’s leaks how important GCHQ is to British intelligence gathering and that there is extensive monitoring of emails, phones and every kind of digital traffic.

But we still have no clear picture as to what Gareth was working on.

There are a three theories as to how this extremely intelligent man’s body ended up in the locked bag at an MI6 safe house. One is that he himself set this up. He was a loner with a hidden sexual history and the type of work he was doing with GCHQ and MI6 indicates he was one of their brightest stars.

Working in crypto-analysis, he was interested in solving highly complex, deep puzzles of encryption. It is possible that he set this up as an unsolvable problem, a puzzle that would be there for all time.

How could he get into a bag and close it from the inside. Did he have a trick to achieve it without anyone finding out? It is possible.

The second theory is that this was an error, an accident. The third is that he was murdered.

For it to be an accident the investigation has to show that it is possible to get into the bag and close it from the inside. The police now say this is the case.

But for that theory to hold water, they really need to demonstrate that it is physically possible and the inquest heard that two yoga experts tried 400 times to do it without success.

So the theory that it was murder remains strong.

Was the crime scene cleaned up? Police say there is no evidence of a “deep clean”. But forensic scientists found no fingerprints around the rim of the bath, not even Gareth’s own, which suggests someone cleaned up after his death.

And that means someone else was involved.

The coroner said it was likely that the mystery would never be solved, and for that some blame must attach to the reticence of MI6.

Even questions about why Gareth was staying in this flat in Pimlico, South West London – used by both MI6 and GCHQ and only a mile from MI6 HQ – brings with it awkward queries about other safe houses and the agents who uses them.

MI6 also has a long history of covering up its mistakes. It has been less than candid about its intelligence gathering and reliability in the run-up to the war with Iraq. There are the “rendition” scandals of people packed off to the USA and, for some, their subsequent torture.

What little we know had to be dragged out of MI6 by various inquiries and ongoing court cases, and it’s clear that there is still a good deal that remains hidden.

But the service does make sure it gets out its own version of events. It co-operates with certain news­papers, journalists and MPs to get its message across.

MI6 controls what it reveals – it doesn’t want people digging around too much and it certainly doesn’t want full-scale inquiries into what they do.

And in this case a lot of stories about Gareth came from security and defence correspondents with MI6 contacts rather than crime correspondents covering the case.

If something like this had happened in the United States we would know far more about it.

The powers of US Senate committees on intelligence are stronger and they are willing to look at things in far greater depth. It isn’t a perfect system but it is far better than ours.

We do know a lot more about MI6 than we did 20 years ago but, still, no official documents are ever released.

The service is open in saying it doesn’t reveal information because secrecy is its trade and unless it remains super-secret it will lose credibility in the world and agents will not be able to trust it.

But that also means that with the Gareth Williams case we have to be very sceptical about the official version of events.

Dr Stephen Dorril is the author of MI6: 50 Years of Special Operations. Additional reporting: Alun Palmer

BBC : Gareth Williams: Spy was dead before being put in bag, expert claims

Gareth Williams: Spy was dead before being put in bag, expert claims

November 15, 2013

A confined spaces expert who gave evidence at the inquest of dead M16 agent Gareth Williams, has questioned suggestions that the spy's death was accidental.

Peter Faulding, who was asked to see if he could escape a padlocked sports bag like the one Gareth Williams was found in, said that he could lock [zip] himself in the bag - but was unable to put the padlock on.

He told BBC Radio 5 live's Phil Williams that there was no DNA traces on the padlock or outside of the bag, and that Gareth's "foetal position" and "calm manner" indicated that his body was placed into the bag after his death.

However this week the Metropolitan Police said an evidence review had found "it was more probable" no other person was present when he died in his London flat.

West End Extra : Police challenge coroner’s ruling on MI6 death – but ‘how can you lock yourself in a bag by accident?’

Police challenge coroner’s ruling on MI6 death – but ‘how can you lock yourself in a bag by accident?’

by WILLIAM McLENNAN | November 15, 2013

THE death of an MI6 code-breaker who was found naked inside a locked holdall in the bath of his Pimlico flat was a “tragic accident” that was not “in any way related to his work”, according to Scotland Yard.

Last year an inquest found it was likely Gareth Williams, who was 31, had been “unlawfully killed” at his home in Alderney Street in August 2010.

But Detective Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said this week that they disputed the coroner’s findings and said: “It is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

No major breakthrough has been made by police but, instead, they reached the conflicting conclusion after reanalysing existing evidence and carrying out further interviews with 27 members of the security services who worked with Mr Williams.

The long-running police investigation has been dogged by speculation about the involvement of the security services in his death and several blogs have sprung up dedicated to the so-called “Alderney Street Mystery”.

It was the “talk of Lupus Street” for weeks after the death, and the announcement on Wednesday was said to have left Pimlico residents “baffled”.

DAC Hewitt denied having the “wool pulled over my eyes” by the security services and said MI6 had co-operated with the investigation.

He said it was now proven that it is “theoretically possible” for somebody to lock themselves in “the exact holdall, with the same type of lock, and in the configuration in which Gareth was found”.

Announcing the end of the Metropolitan Police Service’s investigation, DAC Hewitt nevertheless said it was impossible to rule out the involvement of a third party. He said: “The reality is that for both hypotheses there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding.”

Mr Williams’s family disagree with the Met’s conclusion and said the coroner’s ruling “accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death”.

After an inquest, held in Marylebone in April last year, coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said: “The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated.

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

In a statement this week Mr Williams’s family said: “We are naturally disappointed that it is not possible to state with certainty how Gareth died and the fact that the circumstances of his death are still unknown adds to our grief”.

Mr Williams, who was originally from Wales, worked for the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham but was living in Pimlico while on secondment at MI6 in Vauxhall.

During the inquest last year it was suggested that the two-bedroom flat near the junction with Warwick Way was used as a safe house for MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service, SIS.

This was denied by security services, but at the inquest Anthony O’Toole, the lawyer for Mr Williams’s family, suggested there was evidence that “since 2003 the tenant of the flat has been the secretary of state”– in other words that it had been occupied continuously by agents from MI6 since that year.

At the inquest last year, Mr O’Toole asked if it was “possible that it may have been known to certain parties as being the residence of SIS”.

Pimlico resident Murad Gassanly told West End Extra: “When it first happened it was the talk of Lupus Street, in the shops and so on, and everyone was quite shocked that it was in their neighbourhood and so close.

“I think people are talking about it again today, but they’re just baffled. How can you lock yourself in a bag by accident?”

Mr Williams was not been well known in Pimlico and this week police said: “He was without doubt a private person who was very close to his family and had few other close friends.”

He was said to go for walks around Belgravia and regularly visit Dover Street market in Mayfair.

International Business Times : James Bond - Not: MI6 Spy Accidentally Kills Himself

James Bond - Not: MI6 Spy Accidentally Kills Himself

By Sigrid Salucop | November 15, 2013

James Bond is known for being calm and liking his Martini "shaken not stirred" but while the coolest spy in the history of espionage movies is British, some British spies are not as lucky as James Bond.

According to Inquisitr, Scotland Yard is to announce the cause of death of an MI6 Secret Service agent. Gareth Williams, who was found inside a large sports bag three years ago, inspired a number of theories about his death. Reports Wednesday is a contradiction of previous reports that Williams died in the hands of another person.

British investigators say that Williams locked himself inside the bag by mistake. His remains were found in 2010 after friends reported that they were not able to contact Williams for several days. The bag was found in a safe house of the SIS.

Who is Gareth Williams?

Gareth Williams may be known for his death -naked inside a bag in the bath, but he wasn't just a spy according to sources. Williams also worked as a codebreaker at GCHQ. It's also revealed that he was keen on escapology. The spy was a Mathematician from Wales who worked for GCHQ. After his stint at GCHQ, he was seconded to the MI6.

Gareth Williams Inquest

An inquiry in 2012 resulted to coroner Fiona Wilcox saying that the spy was likely to have been "unlawfully killed". They reportedly assumed that it was impossible for a person to get into such a bag and lock himself in.

According to The Guardian, Wilcox said that there were no sign of injuries on Williams's body. He was also found to not have been involved in any type of struggle. Wilcox added that he was free from drugs or alcohol.

A BBC report after the 2012 inquest notes however that the Metropolitan Police considered the MI6 worker's death to be "suspicious and unexplained". The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), whom Williams worked closely before his death, also took a look into the case. In December of 2010, police released information that the spy had visited bondage Web sites.

Martin Hewitt of the Met Police said that it was "theoretically possible" that Williams padlocked the bag while he was inside it. The Deputy Assistant Commissioner added that "many questions remain unanswered" considering the British spy's death.

To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com

Southwest Business : Family of GCHQ officer Gareth Williams say 'questions over our son’s death left unanswered'

Family of GCHQ officer Gareth Williams say 'questions over our son’s death left unanswered'

by Aled Thomas, reporter, Gloucestershire Echo | November 15, 2013

The family of Gareth Williams, the GCHQ officer found dead in his London flat three years ago, say they have been prevented from properly investigating the circumstances of his death.

The Metropolitan Police issued a report following further inquiries into Dr Williams’ death which concluded that he was probably alone when he died.

Previously an inquest had decided that another person, or persons, were probably involved, as the mathematician was found locked, from the outside, in a large holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico.

Dr Williams was a few days from the end of a three-year secondment to MI6 in London, and was due to return to GCHQ in Cheltenham.

But the lawyer for his parents, Ian and Ellen Williams, has revealed that he was prevented from asking the questions he wanted of an MI6 agent at the original inquest last year.

Anthony O’Toole told the Mirror he wanted to question the MI6 officer, known as Agent G, about how staff from the Secret Intelligence Service could have entered Dr Williams’ flat, adding: "I was not allowed by the coroner to say to the spooks, ‘You know how to get into flats without keys, don’t you?’ I was told it was contrary to national security.

"My suggestion is that the dark arts were involved and there was a curious lack of evidence in there – almost like it had been swept clean."

Although the Met’s deputy assistant commissioner Martin Hewitt said the new investigation led to the conclusion that Dr Williams probably died alone, he admitted there were large gaps in the evidence.

"The reality is that for both hypotheses there exists evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding," he said.

It was not explained why Dr Williams’ DNA was not found on the padlock closing the holdall, or why his palm prints were not on the rim of the bath.

Another 15 DNA samples which remain unidentified were recovered by police from the flat.

It has emerged that during the original police inquiry officers were not able to access the security vetting files on Dr Williams because liaison between detectives and the security services was conducted through the counter-terrorism squad.

But in the latest investigation, 27 people from MI6 and GCHQ were interviewed. DAC Hewitt denies the security services were involved in either Dr Williams’ death, or covering it up.

"I do not believe that I have had the wool pulled over my eyes," he said. "I believe that what we are dealing with is a tragic unexplained death."

BBC Radio 5 live : Expert: "I believe" MI6 agent was dead and then put into bag

Expert: "I believe" MI6 agent was dead and then put into bag

Host: Phil Williams | November 14, 2013

Confined spaces expert Peter Faulding says the case of MI6 spy, Gareth Williams, who was found dead in padlocked sports bag in August 2010 "has never left my mind".

Mr Faulding explains why he believes Mr Williams, 31, from Anglesey, was killed before he was put into the bag that was found in a bath, including a lack of Mr Williams' DNA evidence being found on the bath or the outside of the bag.

In 2012 a coroner said it was likely Mr Williams had been unlawfully killed. On November 13th 2013, the Metropolitan Police said an evidence review had found "it was more probable" no other person was present when he died in his London flat.


~~~

TRANSCRIPT

[transcribed by Winter Patriot; edited slightly for clarity]

PETER FAULDING: This is one of the jobs that's never left my mind, and I'm still, still thinking about it all the time, and thinking of possibilities.

PHIL WILLIAMS: And just to be clear to people listening, 'cause obviously this isn't television, you are a very almost identical build to Gareth Williams.

PETER FAULDING: Yes, that's right. I'm slightly shorter than Gareth. I'm 5 foot 6 and I think that Gareth was about 5 foot 8, but I'm slightly, maybe a slightly stockier build around the shoulders, but -- 'cause he was a keen cyclist -- but apart from that, pretty similar.

PHIL WILLIAMS: Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt says he has got to the position where he felt it was theoretically possible to have padlocked that bag from the inside. You tried it. What do you think?

PETER FAULDING: Well, let me just go through a few of the facts on this case, and when we started. First, when he was found, when the police found him, all the lights were out in the flat. The door was closed on the bathroom, the lights were out in the bathroom and the temp, the actual heating was turned up full -- in mid-summer, in August. And I tried to get into the bag. I could zip the bag closed, though I couldn't put the padlock on. And in court there was another method shown, they call it the baggage handlers' technique, where you could actually slide the lock, and then shortly after that, a 15-year-old girl managed to do it -- a very slight build -- to actually lock the thing. But that's not what it's about, There was no trace anywhere of any DNA, fingerprints, anything on the lock, the padlock. Now, everywhere we go, forensically, I'm forensically trained, we leave a trace where we've been, so if I touch something, unless I've got gloves on, there will be a trace, on the padlock, on the bag, on the bath. Now I've tried getting into the -- you have to get into the bag shoulders first, then you put your feet up at the end of the bath, slide in, and slide it underneath. There's all sorts of theories about him doing escapology tricks, and so on. But the room was dark. If he had -- he was a very clever man -- he certainly would have had a knife to cut himself free if he got into trouble.

PHIL WILLIAMS: And he wasn't wearing gloves.

PETER FAULDING: He wasn't wearing gloves and there's theories, he could have swallowed the gloves. Well they would be found at the post-mortem. So there's no way he could have done this. He could have locked himself in the bag. That can be done. But in the dark -- no one's ever done this in the dark, in a locked, in a closed room inside a bath. And when the body was found, there was not a trace anywhere of Gareth Williams in the bath or on the bag, on the outside of the bag, padlock, handles, so it was very peculiar. So that is an impossibility. That cannot be done without leaving a trace.

PHIL WILLIAMS: So what you're saying is that even if, so let's say he has done this himself, in order to just even place the holdall into the bath and then get into it, he would have left either a footprint, a fingerprint, or a hair, or something --

PETER FAULDING: Absolutely. He would have left something somewhere. We all leave a trace, so there was, there would have been a trace somewhere, but not only that. To actually -- I carried out the air tests on the bag, and pathologists said you'd last five minutes. Well, I was in the bag five minutes with it closed, under -- I may say this -- under controlled conditions, with paramedics on standby because it's not some -- please don't do this at home. But and I said that you would last up to thirty minutes depending on the size, but probably more realistically, he would have suffocated within ten to fifteen minutes. And that depends on the fitness levels. He was obviously a very fit gentleman. But there's no volume in the bag. I couldn't move. And the other thing what we gotta say is Gareth Williams was found in a foetal position with his hands across his chest, in a very calm manner. So I said at the coroner's inquest, I believe he was dead before he was put in there, and then lifted into the bath.

[audio here]

Daily Beast : Scotland Yard: Dead Spy in a Bag Probably an Accident

Scotland Yard: Dead Spy in a Bag Probably an Accident

Scotland Yard has concluded that British spy Gareth Williams, found padlocked naked inside a gym bag in his apartment, ‘probably’ died by accident.

By Nico Hines | November 14, 2013

A British intelligence agent was found dead, padlocked naked inside a gym bag, in the bathtub of his London apartment; there was no sign of a struggle, no witness, no fingerprints and no DNA evidence to explain how he died.

After three years of speculation about murder by foreign agents, targeting by the Russian mafia and an MI6 cover-up, Scotland Yard announced on Wednesday that they thought it was “probably” just an accident.

Their extraordinary conclusion directly contradicted the findings of Westminster Coroner’s Court which ruled last year that Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old code-breaker from Wales, was most likely killed unlawfully.

The police explanation that Williams had padlocked himself into the bag before dying alone in his apartment was met with widespread consternation. Martin Hewitt, the Deputy Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, rejected suggestions that the police had been duped by intelligence services who wanted to ensure that the real reason for Williams’ death was never disclosed. “I do not believe that I have had the wool pulled over my eyes. I believe that what we are dealing with is a tragic unexplained death,” he said. “The Metropolitan Police’s position is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

He did admit, however, that they could not be sure what had happened in August 2010, when Williams went missing. “No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth’s death beyond all reasonable doubt,” Hewitt said.

During last year’s coroners’ hearing, a lawyer acting on behalf of the Williams family said his death must have had a connection to his highly sensitive intelligence work. “There is a high probability that some third party was in the flat when Gareth was placed in the bag. Evidentially there seems to be no trace of an unknown party in the flat,” Anthony O‘Toole said in court. “Our impression is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specializing in the dark arts or secret services.”

Williams was found in the curled up in the fetal position inside a red North Face bag in his bath. The bag had been padlocked shut but there was no evidence of anyone else being inside the flat. Police and family members said the trail may have gone cold because of the time that elapsed between the agent’s last sighting and the discovery of his body.

Officials at MI6, where he failed to show up for work, did not raise the alarm until August 23, a week later. A family statement released via the police on Wednesday said they were furious that the intelligence agency had not informed the police any sooner. “We still remain very disappointed over the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic inquiries concerning Gareth’s welfare when he failed to attend for work on August 16, 2010,” they said. “We believe that if proper steps had been taken in the same manner as any reasonable employer would have undertaken, further information relating to the cause of his death might have become apparent and not have been lost due to the length of time before Gareth’s body was found.”

Last year, Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, apologized “unreservedly” for the agency’s “failure to act more swiftly.” The cause of that delay has never been fully explained.

After a secret meeting between the police and MI6 soon after the body was discovered, a team of counter-terrorism officers was asked to act as a buffer between the murder squad investigators and the security services.

Scotland Yard now admits that was wrong. “We didn’t get it right at the beginning and the way that we did it was cumbersome and didn’t allow us to do the investigation in the way that we wanted to,” Hewitt said, although he denied that any delay had allowed somebody to destroy evidence in Williams’ home.

“There is no evidence whatsoever to support the suggestion that Gareth’s flat had been subject to some form of ‘forensic clean’,” he said. “Indeed, finger marks and traces of DNA going back some years have been recovered, which tends to fundamentally disprove such a theory. Such a ‘selective’ clean would not be possible.”

Hewitt also appeared to downplay another of the theories that has surrounded Williams’ death. He said there was no clear evidence that the math prodigy’s interest in escapology or bondage, which he had searched for on the Internet, was linked to his death.

Last year’s inquest also heard evidence from his landlady that Williams was previously rescued from another awkward situation. Jennifer Elliot and her husband had let themselves in to Williams’ apartment when they heard cries for help at around 1:30am one night. They found him tied to his bed wearing nothing but boxer shorts. “He was embarrassed and panicky and apologized and said ‘I wanted to see if I could get myself free,’” she told the court.

Panorama (Armenia) : 'Spy found in bag not killed'

'Spy found in bag not killed'

November 14, 2013

Gareth Williams, the MI6 codebreaker found dead inside an externally locked bag in his apartment in 2010, was probably not killed as previously believed, London's Metropolitan Police said Wednesday, citing a lack of evidence otherwise, according to CNN.

Taking a different position from a coroner's report last year that said it was likely someone killed Gareth Williams, London's Metropolitan Police said its three-year investigation suggested that Williams most likely locked himself inside the large bag.

"We believe that it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said.

But the Met said that despite its investigation, there remained insufficient evidence to be definitive on how Williams died.

"There are holes in what we understand about the circumstances of Gareth Williams' death," Hewitt said, admitting that some of the evidence is "odd."

This includes the lack of Williams' DNA on the padlock used to lock the large red bag his body was found in and the lack of hand prints on the edge of the bath where it was found, he said.

"What we are left with is either individual pieces of evidence, or a lack of such evidence, that can logically support one of a number of hypotheses," Hewitt said.

The case has gripped the British public since Williams, known for his mathematical genius and code-breaking talent, was found dead at age 31 in August 2010.

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. Added to that speculation was the discovery of women's clothes, wigs and cosmetics in Williams' apartment.

At the inquest into his death last year, coroner Fiona Wilcox shot down that speculation, saying she thought Williams bought them out of an interest in fashion, rather than any sexual motivation.

Other reports about the "body-in-a-bag spy" detailed how two experts spent days trying to figure out whether Williams could have contorted himself in such a way as to lock himself into the North Face holdall bag, with a key to the padlock inside.

Video of two experts trying to recreate the scene was showing to the court. One had tried 300 times without success, but neither ruled out definitively the possibility Williams could have somehow done it alone.

"It is now proven that it is theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves in that exact holdall, with the same type of lock, and in the configuration in which Gareth was found. It is important to note that this fact was found to be a possibility by the inquest," Hewitt said.

Meanwhile, family members suggested Williams had been murdered by killers versed in the "dark arts" of espionage.

Referring to speculation that Williams' flat might have been forensically cleaned by unknown people responsible for his death, Hewitt said Wednesday that a deep-clean would have removed all traces of Williams' DNA as well that of visitors to his flat.

He said 10 to 15 traces of DNA had been found that were too insignificant to use to build a full profile and said advances in forensic science could "present opportunities for progress." For the time being, however, there are "no active lines of enquiry that it is proportionate to pursue."

Williams' family expressed their regret that mystery still surrounds his death but said they agree with the coroner's verdict "on the basis of the facts at present known."

"We are naturally disappointed that it is still not possible to state with certainty how Gareth died and the fact that the circumstances of his death are still unknown adds to our grief," they said in a written statement.

The family reiterated their disappointment that Williams' employers at MI6 had not checked on his welfare when he failed to attend work on August 16, 2010.

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.

"We believe that if proper steps had been taken in the same manner as any reasonable employer would have undertaken, further information relating to the cause of his death might have become apparent and not have been lost due to the length of time before Gareth's body was found," they said.

The family also noted that the Met's investigators "were at last able to interview directly members of (UK intelligence agencies) GCHQ and SIS."

Addressing media, Hewitt disputed a suggestion that police had been "blindsided" in their investigation by intelligence agencies but acknowledged that their method of interaction had improved during the investigation. "We didn't get it right at the beginning," he said.

Initially, he said, the only Met officers to deal with the intelligence agencies were those in SO15 -- or counterterrorism command. The SO15 officers had assessed Williams' vetting and personnel files and found nothing relevant to the case.

After the inquest, the senior investigating officer in the case personally requested and was granted access to the files and came to the same conclusion, Hewitt said.

"The investigation into Gareth's death will remain under review, and any new significant information or evidence will be robustly investigated," he said.

"If it is possible for us to give his family more answers we will do so."

Express : Family blast MI6 as police say spy died in 'bizarre accident after locking himself in bag'

Family blast MI6 as police say spy died in 'bizarre accident after locking himself in bag'

THE family of body-in-a-bag spy Gareth Williams blasted MI6 chiefs yesterday as a Scotland Yard investigation failed to solve the mystery of his death.

By: John Twomey | November 14, 2013

Despite extensive inquiries, detectives can only say the codebreaker “probably” died alone in a bizarre accident. But his grieving relatives still believe the 31-year-old fitness fanatic was murdered by an unknown assassin who left his naked body padlocked inside a sports holdall in his bath. They condemned his superiors at the spy agency for failing to raise the alarm until he had been missing for 10 days. By the time his body was discovered, his corpse was already decomposing and it has not been impossible to establish a cause of death.

His family said in a statement: “We are naturally disappointed that it is still not possible to state with certainty how Gareth died, and the fact that the circumstances of his death are still unknown adds to our grief.

Her verdict prompted a renewed inquiry by Scotland Yard and a senior detective released the findings yesterday after consulting Mr Williams’s family.

For the first time, murder squad detectives have had direct access to Mr Williams’s vetting and personnel files rather than having to go through a liaison officer from the Yard’s counter-terrorism command.

Since the inquest, officers have interviewed 27 members of MI6 or GCHQ.

There is no suggestion his death is linked to his work.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: “Despite extensive inquiries, no evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth’s death beyond reasonable doubt.”

But he added: “Our view is the most probable scenario is that Gareth was alone when this accident happened.”

Police suspect the spy locked himself into the red North Face holdall - possibly during a lone sex game or as an experiment in escapology - and suffocated when he could not get out.

Scotland Yard said yesterday Coroner Dr Wilcox now accepts that findings of the police and the conclusion that Mr Williams probably died alone by accident.

But there will be no new inquest and her original verdict still stands. Mr Williams’s family has previously said they believe some agency specialising in the “dark arts” is linked to his death.

They said yesterday: “We consider that, on the basis of the facts at present known, the coroner’s verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death.”

A series of vital questions remained yesterday which the Yard investigation has failed to answer.

• If the spy locked himself inside the bag, why is there no trace of his DNA on the padlock?

• If he lowered himself into the bag in the bath, why didn’t he leave his palm prints on the bath rim?

• It is theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves inside into such a bag but where is the conclusive evidence that Mr Williams did so?

• Why was the heating switched on in the middle of summer?

• Up to 15 DNA traces found in the modest apartment remain unidentified so who left them?

Mr Hewitt dismissed reports that the flat had been subjected to some kind of “forensic clean” as fingermarks and DNA going back several years have been recovered.

The veteran detective also rejected the idea MI6 had “pulled the wool over his eyes” and said the spy agency had fully co-operated with the Yard.

Mr Williams, who worked for GCHQ and was on secondment to MI6, was deeply interested in women’s fashion and had a collection of women’s designer clothes worth around £15,000 in his flat.

Most of the garments were still in boxes and none of it had been worn. He had taken two college courses in clothing design.

Mr Hewitt said yesterday: “I am satisfied that the existence of the clothing has not direct bearing on the circumstances of Gareth’s death.”

Extensive examination of the spy’s phones and laptops failed to shed any light on the mystery.

Inquiries revealed Mr Williams as an intensely private person with few close friends.

But Mr Hewitt said: “The universal view of colleagues was of a conscientious and decent man with a few well known hobbies such as his cycling and climbing.

“There is no evidence of any animosity towards Gareth and it has not been possible to identify anyone with a motive for causing him harm.” Forensic work to identify the unknown DNA traces is continuing and the Yard says the case will be kept under regular review.

Columbus Dispatch : Police: ‘Spy in a bag’ death accidental

Police: ‘Spy in a bag’ death accidental

Gareth Williams’ naked body was found inside a locked sports bag in a dry bathtub.

By Stephen Castle | The New York Times | November 14, 2013

LONDON — The bizarre death of a British intelligence analyst whose body was discovered inside a sports bag in a bathtub was called a probable accident by the London police yesterday, an inconclusive ending to one of the most puzzling investigations in recent years.

Gareth Williams, 31, a Welsh-born mathematician involved in code-breaking work, was found dead on Aug. 23, 2010, by police who entered his London apartment. His naked body was curled in a fetal position inside a sports bag in an otherwise empty bathtub.

In a twist worthy of a spy movie, the bag was padlocked, but the keys to the lock were inside the bag, beneath the decomposing body.

Williams had led a very private existence, with few close friends. But with its glimpse into the world of espionage, the “spy in a bag” case drew interest from the news media, which speculated that Williams might have been assassinated or might have died as an accidental consequence of an interest in escapology or bondage.

An autopsy failed to identify a cause of death. A coroner’s inquest in 2012 found that someone else probably was involved in the death. However, the police now say they think that Williams was most likely alone and locked himself in the bag, although they cannot rule out the possibility that someone else was present.

“From the inquest, we set up our investigation in a different way, and this has led to greater clarity on some aspects of the case,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, who oversaw the police investigation, said in a statement.

“Now, at the end of our investigation, based on the evidence, or where we have been unable to find positive evidence, we believe that it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

Although the police did not demonstrate that it was possible for a person to lock himself inside a bag, Hewitt said, they saw video footage of this being done.

Why Williams would have done so was unclear. The 2012 coroner’s inquest heard evidence that he had visited websites dedicated to bondage and “claustrophilia,” which involves seeking sexual thrills from being shut in enclosed spaces.

Williams’ family said in a statement yesterday that they stood by the coroner’s findings — that he probably was the victim of an unlawful killing — rather than those of the police.

Las Vegas Guardian Express : Gareth Williams ‘Spy in a Bag’ Death Still a Mystery

Gareth Williams ‘Spy in a Bag’ Death Still a Mystery

By: Nicci Mende | November 14, 2013

Gareth Williams; a British spy found dead. His naked body was badly decomposed and stuffed inside a duffel bag. Whispers of assassination and sexual fetishes gone wrong filled the city of London. Remember this stranger-than-fiction story from August 2010? Well, it seems that police have found this case unsolvable after three years of investigation. He was a code breaker for the Government Communications Headquarters under the branch of the M16, the UK’s center for foreign espionage and tragically became known as the “spy in a bag.” After three years, his death is still a mystery.

In the summer of 2010, the body of 31-year-old Williams was found stuffed inside a zipped and padlocked duffel bag in his bathtub where he had been living in a so-called M16 safe house. His body had been there for a week before it was discovered.

Police never found DNA or fingerprints to link any suspects to the scene of the crime. There were no signs of alcohol or drugs in his body. What the police did find, however, led to a new wave of speculation. More than $32,000 worth of new women’s clothes, a wig, an internet history full of S&M, and a nude photo of Williams were found in his home. While the clues captivated the public, they didn’t shed any light onto the mysterious circumstances of Gareth Williams’ death. The investigation dragged on for years for no clear leads.

On top of not finding any leads through DNA and crime scene analysis, investigators were surprised to see that no fingerprints were left around the bathtub or on the lock. Even Williams’ own fingerprints were never found near his body.

His former landlord claimed that Williams had previously become trapped in an attempt to tie himself to his bed. Investigators continued to look into the possibility of an accidental death. Journalists and experts attempted to recreate the circumstances of his death. They tried hundreds of times to lock themselves into replicas of Williams’ bag. Not a single man of Williams’ size was able to close and lock the bag.

Last year, the coroner’s office concluded that Gareth Williams had “probably” been murdered. They called his death “unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated.” Williams’ family accused the police of a cover-up. With no conclusive evidence, however, the speculation continued.

Scotland Yard has finally released a new statement on the 2010 crime. While they say that there is no evidence to support any one theory “beyond all reasonable doubt,” the Metropolitan Police’s re-investigation has concluded that his death was likely to have been an accident. The have now closed the case. After three years of investigation, they have found no reason to believe that he would have been murdered in connection with his work nor have they found any evidence that he had been planning to take his own life.

It seems the Williams’ family may never have the answers that they have been anxiously awaiting for all of these years. Even Coroner Fiona Wilcox admits that “most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered.” The death of Gareth Williams, the “spy in a bag,” remains a mystery. Now, the investigation has been closed, and his family has no answers.

IBT : Spy in the Bag Gareth Williams Accidental Death Claim Fails to Silence Conspiracy Theories

Spy in the Bag Gareth Williams Accidental Death Claim Fails to Silence Conspiracy Theories

By Ewan Palmer | November 14, 2013

The family lawyer of MI6 spy Gareth Williams has rekindled speculation that his death was not an accident with the claim that he was gagged at the original 2012 inquest into Williams' death.

Williams was found padlocked inside a sports bag in the bathtub of his Pimlico flat in August 2010. The 31-year-old former GCHQ worker is believed to have been there for nearly a week.

Despite the baffling circumstances about his death and a coroner ruling it likely that he had been killed unlawfully, police declared that it was a "more probable conclusion" that there was no other person present when Williams died.

The Metropolitan Police originally agreed with coroner Fiona Wilcox's verdict that someone else may have been involved in the spy's death. But the police U-turn came despite Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt admitting there was "gaps in [their] understanding" of the case and several questions that could not be answered.

Police were unable to explain why none of Williams' DNA was found in the bathtub nor the padlock on the bag.

The deceased's family said they were "disappointed" that the full circumstances surrounding his death were unknown and maintain that he was killed unlawfully.

Anthony O'Toole, their lawyer, has claimed that he was blocked from interviewing an MI6 agent during the original inquest death and was convinced that "dark arts" are at play.

He told the Daily Mirror: "I was not allowed by the coroner to say to the spook, 'You know how to get into the flats without keys, don't you?' I was told it was contrary to national security.

"My suggestion is that the dark arts were involved and there was a curious lack of evidence in there, almost like it had been swept clean."

O'Toole was convinced someone else was involved in the death and that all evidence of foul play had been removed.

O'Toole said: "The coroner said there was a third party, there is no doubt about it. The coroner also suggested there was an unlawful killing by a third party.

"There is no doubt there was somebody else there."

The lawyer also asked why more was not done to search for Williams after he was reported missing.

"The curious thing in the cross-examination of spooks was that his line manager went to his flat twice, before it all hit the fan, and merely knocked on the door," he said.

"Now these people by their profession can make entries anywhere, so you would have thought if someone had been missing five days and he was a spy they might have gone into the flat and had a look."

During the investigations, specialists found that it was theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves inside a bag, with the same type of lock, and in the position the spy was found in.

Police added there was "no evidence of any animosity towards [Williams], and it has not been possible to identify anyone with a motive for causing him harm".

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