Daily Star : Spy killers 'returned to the scene' according to cops

Spy killers 'returned to the scene' according to cops

By Benjamin Russell | August 16, 2015

Detectives reckon they may have finally cracked the five-year mystery of Gareth Williams, who was found padlocked in a holdall in the bath at his London flat in 2010.

Investigators claim spooks from a secret crime cell killed him – and then broke back into his home through a skylight to get rid of the evidence.

Sources close to the probe even suggested they may have tried to make it look like he died in a sex game gone wrong.

It comes after it was revealed forensic equipment put in place after his body was found was moved – even though the flat was being guarded by armed police.

After the first day of the investigation, footplates which allow investigators to walk without contaminating the crime scene were found to have been disturbed.

A coroner’s inquest said the code-breaker was “unlawfully killed” but it is still unknown how he met his end.

His family believe he was murdered by “agents specialising in the dark arts of the secret services”.

Gareth was employed by Government listening post GCHQ in Cheltenham, Glos.

But he was working temporarily at the HQ of the MI6 Secret Intelligence Service near his Pimlico flat.

Detectives believe his work, gathering secret information on Britain’s enemies abroad, would have made him a target for terrorists and rival spies.

Mirror : Gareth Williams: Was M16 body-in-the-bag spy 'killed by agents who crept into his home through a skylight'?

Gareth Williams: Was M16 body-in-the-bag spy 'killed by agents who crept into his home through a skylight'?

By Richard Wheatstone | August 16, 2015

The MI6 spook who found dead inside a padlocked holdall could have been killed by agents who broke into his flat through a skylight, detectives believe.

Mystery has surrounded the death of Gareth Williams since the discovery of his body in a sports bag in his bath.

Met Police concluded he most likely died alone after locking himself inside it.

But detectives who probed the 2010 case believe spies may have broken back into Mr Williams’ Central London flat through a skylight to destroy evidence after his body had been removed.

A source said to be at the heart of the probe allegedly claimed footplates placed inside the flat appeared to have been moved after the first day of the investigation.

The forensic equipment allows officers to cross a crime scene without contaminating it.

And detectives concluded someone must have scaled the walls of the building – which was under armed guard – then entered through the skylight to clear up their tracks.

It supports a theory from Mr Williams’ family that a third party was involved in the spy’s death.

Their lawyer Anthony O’Toole told a 2012 pre-inquest hearing at Westminster coroner’s court: “The impression of the family is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services, or evidence has been removed postmortem.”

And a coroner’s inquest into the death later said the spy was “unlawfully killed”.

But a Scotland Yard review into the case said Mr Williams, who had a wardrobe full of women’s clothes, was likely to have died alone and may have been taking part in a solo sex game.

Gloucestershire Echo : Did killers of GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams break back into his flat to destroy evidence?

Did killers of GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams break back into his flat to destroy evidence?

August 16, 2015

GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams, who was found dead in a padlocked bag in his London flat, was 'murdered' and then someone broke back into his home to cover their tracks,

The Mail on Sunday reported today that a senior detective claims it was an agent from an' unknown secret service' that broke into Dr Williams' home to destroy or to remove evidence.

The 31-year-old MI6 codebreaker's body was­ found in a large holdall in the bath of his flat in Alderney Street in Pimlico, London, on August 23, 2010.

The bag was locked, from the outside ­­

Now, it is claimed some forensic equipment, footplates to allow officers to move through a crime scene without contaminating it, that were left in the flat by investigators had been moved.

The Mail on Sunday said this was despite the flat being under armed guard.

And it led Scotland Yard to think that someone had climbed up the building's wall and gained entry through the skylight to clear evidence.

An intelligence source told the paper: "The forensics officer was adamant that nobody was allowed in or out of the crime scene, so when he turned up the following day to find the footplates had been moved an investigation was launched.

"The only way anybody could have got into that building was to have scaled the walls and got in through the skylight."

The source added that someone appears to have broken in, potentially cleaned up, and then got out again while the entrance to the flat was under guard.

In 2013, 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 the bag.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled that the spy would not have been able to lock himself in the bag and was therefore likely to have died at somebody else's hands.

She concluded: "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."

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 have said they believed the coroner's view "accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death.

Wales Online : MI6 spy Gareth Williams 'killed by agents who then broke into his flat to destroy evidence'

MI6 spy Gareth Williams 'killed by agents who then broke into his flat to destroy evidence'

Gareth Williams was found dead in a padlockled bag in his flat in 2010 and his death remains a mystery

By Ruth Mansfield | August 16, 2015

Detectives believe an MI6 spy found dead in a padlocked bag was killed by agents who broke back into his flat after the body was found to cover their tracks.

Mystery has surrounded the death of Welshman Gareth Williams ever since his body was found inside a padlocked bag in his central London flat in 2010.

The Met Police concluded Mr Williams, from Valley, near Holyhead on Anglesey, is most likely to have died alone after locking himself in the holdall.

But detectives who probed his mysterious death believe agents may have broken back into his flat through a skylight to destroy evidence to cover their tracks after his body has been moved.

According to the Mail on Sunday, a source ‘at the heart of the investigation’ is said to have claimed forensic equipment placed in the flat was removed, despite the fact the property was under armed guard.

The source said special footplates - which allow officers to walk across the crime scene without contaminating evidence - appeared to have been moved on the first day of the investigation.

Detectives concluded someone must have scaled the walls of the building and climbed in through the skylight to get access to evidence left behind.

It supports Mr Williams’ family’s theory that he was murdered by secret service agents.

The claims also tie in with a coroner’s inquest into the death which said he was “unlawfully killed”

But a Scotland Yard review into the death of Mr Williams – who had a wardrobe full of women’s clothes - said he was likely to have died alone and may have been taking part in a lone sex game.