Daily Mail : The woman with THREE identities who could hold key to death of the body-in-the-bag spy

The woman with THREE identities who could hold key to death of the body-in-the-bag spy [or here]

American Missa Elizabeth Guthrie claims to be an international businesswoman linked to a wealthy American family

By Robert Verkaik, George Arbuthnott and Sharon Churcher | March 31, 2012

The Mail on Sunday can today identify a mysterious new witness who could hold the key to the death of the body-in-a-bag MI6 spy Gareth Williams.

The woman used three different names in statements provided to police for a pre-inquest hearing into the death of code-breaker Mr Williams.

This provoked Dr Fiona Wilcox, the coroner investigating the case, to declare: ‘There has been some confusion as to who this witness is and I need to know her identity.

‘I expect witnesses to identify who they are, not who they think they are.’

Our investigation has revealed the woman to be 27-year-old American Missa Elizabeth Guthrie, who claims to be an international businesswoman linked to a wealthy American family worth £35 billion.

The full inquest into Mr Williams’s death is due to be held later this month and Westminster coroner Dr Wilcox is now expected to quiz Ms Guthrie about the time she spent with Mr Williams in 2010.

Dr Wilcox said on Friday: ‘She [Ms Guthrie] will be asked to explain who she is and called to give evidence.’

The coroner said that there were a number of questions she wanted to ask Ms Guthrie about her identities, which were previously given as Missa Gunther, Misa Guseiri and Elizabeth Guthrie.

The confusion surrounding Ms Guthrie deepened further on Friday when a senior Scotland Yard press officer contacted The Mail on Sunday on her behalf to say that she had not told her family that she was a close friend of Gareth Williams.

Mr Williams was discovered naked inside a red North Face holdall, which was padlocked on the outside and placed inside his bath

The official said that the family was well known in America, and that it could embarrass them if Ms Guthrie’s previously unknown connection was made public.

However, it is no secret among Ms Guthrie’s friends that she was close to Mr Williams before he died.

A source involved in the case said: ‘She first met Gareth when she shared a flat in Knightsbridge where Gareth frequently came to meet friends from Wales. They struck up a close friendship because they were both interested in politics and history.

‘But in 2009 she moved out and found a top floor-flat in Pimlico which was close to Gareth’s address.’

In the months before he died, Ms Guthrie’s friendship with Mr Williams blossomed. The source said: ‘On election night in May 2010 the two of them stayed up late with another person to see in the new Coalition Government.’

Mr Williams, a maths genius from Anglesey, North Wales, had worked for the Government listening post GCHQ in Cheltenham since leaving university and was on secondment to MI6 when his body was found by police at his top-floor flat in Pimlico, Central London, on August 23, 2010.

He was discovered naked inside a red North Face holdall, which was padlocked on the outside and placed inside his bath.

The Government has refused to disclose what secret operations Mr Williams was working on during the weeks before his death.

Fresh evidence about his state of mind before his death is expected to be aired at the full inquest – adding to speculation that the spy may have been murdered by a foreign agency or a criminal gang.

The source said: ‘Ms Guthrie said Gareth told her he was being followed in the days before his death.

‘She didn’t know who it was, only that she and Gareth were so concerned that they sometimes varied the route they took home.’

Ms Guthrie also told friends after Mr Williams’s body was found that he was planning to leave the Secret Service so that he could set up his own business with her and another MI6 officer.

‘She was very vague about what this would be, only that it would be with another MI6 officer,’ said the source.

Our investigations in the United States have revealed that Missa Elizabeth Guthrie is the daughter of George Gordon Guthrie, a wealthy New York stockbroker.

The 69-year-old, who is known as Jerry, worked for various Wall Street investment firms, including a securities unit of the French bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations, where he was managing director of options trading.

His brother, Randolph Hobson Guthrie, a retired plastic surgeon, is married to a great-granddaughter of the steel magnate Henry Phipps. Phipps was the son of an English shoemaker who went to America in the early part of the 19th Century.

Phipps became the business partner of Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie who founded the Carnegie Steel Company and built Carnegie Hall in 1891.

Phipps also founded the Bessemer Trust to manage the family fortune. It now manages funds for more than 2,000 families and has £35 billion in assets. There are about 300 of Phipps’ descendants who benefit from the Trust.

Ms Guthrie’s father was previously married to Laura McCord, who is now the wife of Peter Grauer, the chairman of Bloomberg, the multi-billion business news and analysis corporation.

According to US securities records, Ms Guthrie and her mother Donnell, 57, are shareholders in a business and technology consulting firm called Answerthink.

Ms Guthrie grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, a town is known its for great estates and links to famous families such as the Kennedys.

Her childhood homes included a six-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion. The property is currently valued at £5 million.

Ms Guthrie, who it is claimed has given different names to friends and uses pseudonyms on her Facebook site, is described by friends as a flamboyant character who lived a secretive life working for a Middle Eastern oil and minerals trading company.

'She was very secretive about her work'

In New York she is understood to have also worked as an actress, appearing in a low-budget production called In Search Of Myster Ey, taking the part of a ‘mystery-seeking lady’.

The film is an eccentric investigation into the meaning of the ego.

Ms Guthrie is believed to have left New York for London in 2008.

A source told The Mail on Sunday that she studied at the Regent’s Business School in Central London.

The source added: ‘She had two names, calling herself both Phipps and Guthrie, and claimed to come from a famous American family – but she never really explained who they were.’ Ms Guthrie told her friends that she had travelled widely, visiting the Middle East, China and South America on what she described as business trips.

The source said: ‘The funny thing was that she never explained exactly what she did and was very secretive about her work.

‘She even used the code-name Shark when talking about her business partner.’

In 2008 Ms Guthrie’s parents retired to a four-bedroom, five-bathroom villa for which they paid £2 million on Sea Island, an exclusive resort on a barrier reef on the coast of Georgia. Reached by a dramatic causeway that swoops for miles over marshland and shaded by moss-draped oak trees, Sea Island was once one of the favourite winter resorts for socially ambitious Americans who were drawn to its five miles of private beaches.

The £2 million the Guthries paid was about the average for a home on the island at the time. The island is privately owned by a development company.

But shortly after Ms Guthrie’s parents bought their villa, it was revealed that the company was in financial trouble.

Property values have since plunged and the Guthries’ sprawling home is now valued by one online site at about £1 million.

There was no sign of Ms Guthrie’s parents at the family home yesterday.

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that the investigation into Mr Williams’s death is ongoing and officers have not ruled out murder.

The coroner’s court heard on Friday that a series of blunders, including a mix-up over DNA found at the scene, had hampered the inquiry. The inquest was also told that a man and a woman of ‘Mediterranean appearance’ who had visited the flat in the weeks before the death, and who were the subject of a police witness appeal, had now been identified and ruled out as a ‘red herring’.

Mr Williams’s family have said they believe that he was murdered by those ‘specialising in the dark arts of the secret services’.

They also suspect a cover-up, suggesting evidence has been removed or tampered with.

Daily Mail : Did MI6 agents 'specialising in dark arts' kill spy in bag? New evidence emerges sparking fresh questions from the victim's family

Did MI6 agents 'specialising in dark arts' kill spy in bag? New evidence emerges sparking fresh questions from the victim's family

* Gareth Williams's family believe a third party was either present when he died or broke into his home afterwards to destroy evidence
* Crime scene forensic scientist’s OWN DNA was found on Mr Williams’s hand
* Relatives wanted to know why the alarm was not raised when Mr Williams failed to turn up at work - by then his body was badly decomposed for analysis
* It also emerged that a Mediterranean couple police wanted to speak to were irrelevant to Mr Williams’s death

By Chris Greenwood | March 31, 2012

The MI6 spy whose body was found locked in a sports bag may have been killed by a secret agent, his family said yesterday.

Their barrister suggested a sinister cover-up had left them with no way of knowing how and why Gareth Williams died.

One theory is that he died at the hands of a colleague. Another is that a foreign agent killed him because of his espionage work.

The discovery of the body in his flat near the Secret Service headquarters in London sparked a 20-month police inquiry that has drawn a blank.

At a public hearing yesterday, it emerged that the flat may have been swept clean of evidence, with no fingerprints or DNA anywhere.

It was also revealed that – far from being a back-office worker – Mr Williams had just completed training for deployment on operations.

Other revelations included:

* An expert seeking signs of forced entry said he was hampered because the front door had been taken from its hinges and locks removed;
* Pathologists still cannot agree on how Mr Williams died. The 31-year-old suffered no visible injuries and could not have locked himself in the bag according to police;
* DNA found on his hand that police rated as highly significant was in fact left by a bungling forensic scientist.

The unclothed body of the super-fit maths prodigy was found in a large padlocked North Face bag in the bath of his Government-owned Pimlico flat in August 2010.

The codebreaker from Anglesey, North Wales, had links to London's bondage and gay scene and it had already been suggested a sex game, possibly with a colleague, may have had a tragic end.

But Westminster Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox was told yesterday his grieving family fear whoever is responsible expertly covered up the evidence.

Their barrister Anthony O'Toole rejected the conclusion of an internal MI6 inquiry that Mr Williams's death 'had nothing to do with his work'.

He said: '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.

'Our impression is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts or secret services.

'Or perhaps evidence has been removed from the scene post-mortem by experts in those arts.'

Mr Williams was nearing the end of a one-year secondment from the GCHQ listening station to the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, in Vauxhall, London.

Dr Wilcox was told a wide-ranging and highly sensitive police inquiry has left many questions unanswered over the circumstances of his death.

Experts believe it would have been 'difficult, if not impossible' for Mr Williams to lock himself in the bag but can find no evidence of anyone else being present.

His body was found curled in the foetal position in the 140-litre black and red holdall with the keys to the Yale travel padlock beneath him. Pathologists found no evidence of injuries or that he attempted to fight his way out. It remains possible that his dead body was put inside the bag.

Dr Wilcox said that whether Mr Williams was alive inside the bag and locked it himself 'was at the very heart of this inquiry'. She may order officials to recreate how he could have got inside it at the full inquest which is due to take place next month.

Experts have been unable to agree on exactly how Mr Williams died, favouring asphyxiation or hypercapnia, a catastrophic build-up of carbon dioxide in the blood.

Their work was hampered by the heavily decayed state of his body and his MI6 colleagues face questions over why they did not raise the alarm earlier.

It also emerged yesterday that Scotland Yard detectives spent almost 20 months pursuing a DNA trace on his body that was left by a clumsy forensic scientist.

The chief executive of LGC Forensics will be hauled before the inquest to explain the astonishing blunder which was discovered only two weeks ago.

The inquest also heard that a Mediterranean couple who called at Mr Williams's block had nothing to do with the case. Detectives released e-fits of the couple and have now traced them. They were looking for a friend's house.

The inquest heard that Mr Williams's family were unhappy about several aspects of the inquiry, including the role of counter-terrorism officers who dealt with MI6 and GCHQ staff. They have raised questions about who ordered a second post-mortem examination and what happened to Mr Williams's possessions held in a work locker.

The family also want to hear more details about the nature of his work but MI6 representatives said disclosing the information could endanger national security.

Dr Wilcox attacked police for delaying the handover of evidence and questioned why the names of some witnesses had been withheld. She said some sensitive letters had gone missing. MI6 has applied for several of Mr Williams's colleagues to give evidence anonymously and from behind screens.

Irish Independent : 'Dark arts' link in MI6 spy's death

'Dark arts' link in MI6 spy's death

By Gordon Rayner in London | March 31, 2012

Gareth Williams, an MI6 spy found dead inside a locked holdall could have been killed by someone who specialised in "the dark arts of the secret services", a coroner has been told.

Mr Williams could not have locked the bag from the inside, meaning a "third party" must have done it, according to a lawyer representing his family.

Relatives believe his death in 2010 may have been linked to his work at MI6, where he had recently qualified for "operational deployment", and that fingerprints, DNA and other evidence was wiped from the scene in a deliberate cover up.

Police have always said they were keeping an open mind on whether the 31-year-old codebreaker was murdered or died as a result of an accident, possibly during a bizarre sex game.

But at an interim hearing ahead of the full inquest, Westminster Coroner's Court in London was told that a delay by MI6 in notifying police of his disappearance meant a post-mortem examination had been "ineffective".

A series of blunders, including a mix-up over DNA found at the scene, had also hampered the inquiry, Dr Fiona Wilcox, the coroner, was told.

Padlocked

Mr Williams, a maths genius who had worked for the government listening post GCHQ in Cheltenham since leaving university, was on secondment to MI6 when his body was found by police in a flat in Pimlico, west London, on August 23, 2010. He was discovered naked inside a red North Face holdall, which was padlocked on the outside and was in his bath.

Dr Wilcox said there were no injuries on the body to suggest he had been in a struggle.

She said it was possible he had got into the bag himself, and was considering ordering a demonstration at the full inquest involving a police expert getting into an identical bag.

Police have released two e-fits of a couple who said they were visiting Mr Williams's home.

Anthony O'Toole, representing the Williams family, said there was "a high probability that there was a third party present in the flat" at the time.

"The unknown third party was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services, and perhaps evidence was removed from the scene post-mortem by an expert in those dark arts," he said.

The coroner said she would "follow the evidence" wherever it led.

(© Daily Telegraph, London)

Independent : Calls for inquiry into 'astonishing' DNA error

Calls for inquiry into 'astonishing' DNA error

Paul Peachey | March 31, 2012

The major blunder that sent detectives on the Gareth Williams inquiry down a blind alley for more than a year is the second embarrassment admitted this month by Britain's biggest private forensic science laboratory.

The latest error – described as "astonishing" and which led to a public apology from the company to the Williams family – has raised questions over systems and practices at LGC, which handles half a million samples a year.

Critics called for a public inquiry to try to discover if private providers were fit for purpose following the final closure today of the state-run Forensic Science Service. "This simply should not happen," said Professor Peter Gill, a founding father of DNA profiling in the 1980s. "Surely there is sufficient evidence to open a public inquiry because we are now getting regular reports of widespread system failure."

The mistake followed the discovery of a partial trace of a second person's DNA on the hand of Mr Williams. To rule out possible contamination from any of the investigators at the scene, those details were loaded manually onto a database.

But that entry was never checked and a simple typographic error meant no match showed up. It was only last week, when the files were checked, that scientists realised the correct trace matched the DNA of a Metropolitan Police scientist.

"We are sorry for any pain this error may have caused Mr Williams' family," said LGC in a statement.

The man who recorded the sample faces an internal inquiry but the ramifications for the company could be more serious. It said yesterday that it had checked back on four years of samples to rule out other errors.

Westminster Coroner Fiona Wilcox said: "There are wider concerns about whether LGC can be trusted to provide a proper level of forensic back-up to all investigations, remembering they are providing forensic DNA and analytical background to a lot of criminal cases."

The failure comes amid a continuing investigation by the forensic science regulator, Andrew Rennison, into another problem at an LGC laboratory in Teddington, southwest London. A contaminated sample led to a man being charged with rape in a city that he claimed he had never visited.

Adam Scott, from Exeter, Devon, was not considered a suspect but was charged after tests on a sample retrieved from the crime scene in Manchester revealed a match. The charge was dropped after LGC accepted that the samples were mixed.

The initial inquiry by Mr Rennison blamed human error and said 26,000 other samples had been checked and no further cases had been identified. Mr Scott's solicitor, Philippa Jefferies, said the latest case reinforced her calls for a public inquiry. "I'm concerned that two basic errors have happened now," she said.

The Home Office said it was "inappropriate" to comment because of the inquest and Met police inquiry.

Daily Mail : Did MI6 agents 'specialising in dark arts' kill spy in bag? New evidence emerges sparking fresh questions from the victim's family

Did MI6 agents 'specialising in dark arts' kill spy in bag? New evidence emerges sparking fresh questions from the victim's family

Gareth Williams's family believe a third party was either present when he died or broke into his home afterwards to destroy evidence
Crime scene forensic scientist’s OWN DNA was found on Mr Williams’s hand
Relatives wanted to know why the alarm was not raised when Mr Williams failed to turn up at work - by then his body was badly decomposed for analysis
It also emerged that a Mediterranean couple police wanted to speak to were irrelevant to Mr Williams’s death

By Chris Greenwood | March 30, 2012

The MI6 spy whose body was found locked in a sports bag may have been killed by a secret agent, his family said yesterday.

Their barrister suggested a sinister cover-up had left them with no way of knowing how and why Gareth Williams died.

One theory is that he died at the hands of a colleague. Another is that a foreign agent killed him because of his espionage work.

The discovery of the body in his flat near the Secret Service headquarters in London sparked a 20-month police inquiry that has drawn a blank.

At a public hearing yesterday, it emerged that the flat may have been swept clean of evidence, with no fingerprints or DNA anywhere.

It was also revealed that – far from being a back-office worker – Mr Williams had just completed training for deployment on operations.

Other revelations included:

An expert seeking signs of forced entry said he was hampered because the front door had been taken from its hinges and locks removed;
Pathologists still cannot agree on how Mr Williams died. The 31-year-old suffered no visible injuries and could not have locked himself in the bag according to police;
DNA found on his hand that police rated as highly significant was in fact left by a bungling forensic scientist.

The unclothed body of the super-fit maths prodigy was found in a large padlocked North Face bag in the bath of his Government-owned Pimlico flat in August 2010.

The codebreaker from Anglesey, North Wales, had links to London's bondage and gay scene and it had already been suggested a sex game, possibly with a colleague, may have had a tragic end.

But Westminster Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox was told yesterday his grieving family fear whoever is responsible expertly covered up the evidence.

Their barrister Anthony O'Toole rejected the conclusion of an internal MI6 inquiry that Mr Williams's death 'had nothing to do with his work'.

He said: '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.

'Our impression is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts or secret services.

'Or perhaps evidence has been removed from the scene post-mortem by experts in those arts.'

Mr Williams was nearing the end of a one-year secondment from the GCHQ listening station to the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, in Vauxhall, London.

Dr Wilcox was told a wide-ranging and highly sensitive police inquiry has left many questions unanswered over the circumstances of his death.

Experts believe it would have been 'difficult, if not impossible' for Mr Williams to lock himself in the bag but can find no evidence of anyone else being present.

His body was found curled in the foetal position in the 140-litre black and red holdall with the keys to the Yale travel padlock beneath him. Pathologists found no evidence of injuries or that he attempted to fight his way out. It remains possible that his dead body was put inside the bag.

Dr Wilcox said that whether Mr Williams was alive inside the bag and locked it himself 'was at the very heart of this inquiry'. She may order officials to recreate how he could have got inside it at the full inquest which is due to take place next month.

Experts have been unable to agree on exactly how Mr Williams died, favouring asphyxiation or hypercapnia, a catastrophic build-up of carbon dioxide in the blood.

Their work was hampered by the heavily decayed state of his body and his MI6 colleagues face questions over why they did not raise the alarm earlier.

It also emerged yesterday that Scotland Yard detectives spent almost 20 months pursuing a DNA trace on his body that was left by a clumsy forensic scientist.

The chief executive of LGC Forensics will be hauled before the inquest to explain the astonishing blunder which was discovered only two weeks ago.

The inquest also heard that a Mediterranean couple who called at Mr Williams's block had nothing to do with the case. Detectives released e-fits of the couple and have now traced them. They were looking for a friend's house.

The inquest heard that Mr Williams's family were unhappy about several aspects of the inquiry, including the role of counter-terrorism officers who dealt with MI6 and GCHQ staff. They have raised questions about who ordered a second post-mortem examination and what happened to Mr Williams's possessions held in a work locker.

The family also want to hear more details about the nature of his work but MI6 representatives said disclosing the information could endanger national security.

Dr Wilcox attacked police for delaying the handover of evidence and questioned why the names of some witnesses had been withheld. She said some sensitive letters had gone missing. MI6 has applied for several of Mr Williams's colleagues to give evidence anonymously and from behind screens.

~~~~~

The Unanswered Questions

THE death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams has left Scotland Yard's most experienced detectives searching for answers. These are some of the key questions they face:

Was somebody else present in Mr Williams's immaculate top floor Alderney Street home when he died?

Could the 31-year-old get inside the North Face holdall and padlock it from the inside without the assistance of a third party?

Why were Britain's best forensic experts unable to find a single trace of anyone else -- whether by DNA, fingerprints or other traces -- in the flat?

Is it significant that an expert brought in to search for evidence of forced entry was hampered because the front door had been taken from its hinges and locks removed?

How did the victim actually die? He suffered no injuries and forensic tests have revealed nothing unusual in his blood.

What exactly did Mr Williams do for the GCHQ listening station and MI6 that made him such a highly-prized employee?

Why did it take the victim's MI6 colleagues eight days to raise the alarm and send police to his home?

Does MI6 hold material that could shed light on Mr Williams's death that officials refuse to reveal because they fear jeopardizintg secret operations?

Is Mr Williams's bizarre and secretive private life, in which he visited gay bars, amassed women's clothing and viewed bondage websites, linked to his death?

Why did the secret agent fail to tell his employer that he was undertaking a series of part-time fashion courses at Central St Martins College?

Who ordered the second post-mortem examination and why have letters between the coroner and police gone missing?

What happened to Mr Williams's possessions that he kept in a shared locker at MI6 headquarters?

Telegraph : MI6 spy Gareth Williams death: agent could 'not have locked himself in bag'

MI6 spy Gareth Williams death: agent could 'not have locked himself in bag'

An MI6 spy, Gareth Williams, whose body was found in a holdall, could not have locked himself in the sports bag, a coroner was told.

By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | March 30, 2012

The naked and decomposing body of the 31-year-old GCHQ codebreaker was found in a bag in the bath of his Pimlico flat on August 23, 2010.

Nearly 18 months on, police have been unable to establish what led to his death despite toxicology tests and an exhaustive investigation into his background that has been hampered by errors.

On Friday, at a pre-inquest review, Westminster Coroner’s Court was told that his family believe Mr Williams was murdered by a member of "some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services".

Concerns were also raised about how Mr Williams' MI6 employers failed to raise the alarm when he failed to arrive for work.

The court heard the delays in finding his body resulted in the post mortem being "ineffective".

But in another key blunder, DNA found on the spy's hand, thought to be crucial to the case, turned out to be from a forensic scientist who took evidence at the scene.

Human error in the way DNA results were then fed into a computer led to false leads being pursued needlessly until this year.

Forensic lab LGC is to blame for the blunder, the hearing heard. The coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, said it throws into doubt the reliability of their work on this case, as well as others.

She expressed frustration over delays, describing them as "an ongoing problem", as she called for inquiries into the DNA "error".

Dr Wilcox told the hearing that whether Mr Williams was alive inside the bag and locked it himself "was at the very heart of this inquiry".

Anthony O'Toole, representing the family, told the inquest that there was a "high probability" that a third party was in the flat.

"The unknown third party was a member of some agency that specialised in the dark arts of the secret services and perhaps evidence was removed from the scene post mortem by an expert in those dark arts," he said.

He said the family had no view on whether it was a foreign agency or a British agency that was behind either the murder or the cover-up. The family still do not know what Mr Williams did for a living.

Mr O’Toole said that the family had hoped that forensic evidence might help to convict the killer if the police found a suspect.

But following the discovery that DNA found on his hand belonged to a police worker, there was now no forensic evidence which could identify the killer.

He said that Mr Williams had attended two “operational development courses” in the months before his death.

“With effect from March 18, 2010, he could be operationally deployed,” he said.

“In our submission, to properly explore the circumstances of the death, we do need to know something of the deceased’s work.

“SIS (MI6) say the risk to the deceased was assessed to be low, but we don’t know why … we got a bland statement from SIS that the death is nothing to do with his work.”

The coroner assured Mr O’Toole: “I absolutely intend to follow the evidence in this case."

The hearing was told that experts who worked on the case agreed that the code breaker could not have locked the bag himself from the inside.

They could be asked to re-enact how he could have got into the bag by giving a live demonstration in court.

Dr Wilcox told the court there was a lack of pathological evidence to prove Mr Williams made a "frantic attempt" to get out of the bag.

Meanwhile, a "Mediterranean couple" who were reportedly seen visiting the flat have been ruled a red herring by police.

Agents from both MI6 and GCHQ, where Mr Williams had been seconded from, are due to be called to give evidence when the inquest opens next month.

Applications were being made by GCHQ lawyers for agents to be allowed to give evidence anonymously and behind a screen.

Further "corporate statements" from both organisations are set to be tendered, which lawyers for MI6 told the court would "paint a picture and set the scene".

Evidence will also be given about the contents of Mr Williams' locker at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Glos, which the hearing was told several people had access to.

The inquest is unlikely to be shown video of material found on Mr Williams' iPhone that was recovered from his work locker.

The inquest is due to start on April 23 and last five days, with 30 witnesses set to be called to give evidence.

Witnesses will include Mr Williams' sister and the police officers who opened the front door and discovered the padlocked bag containing the body.

Organisers of the ladies fashion course Mr Williams is said to have secretly enrolled on will give statements to the inquest.

Three colleagues, known as witnesses K, F and G, will be called to give evidence and will take questions from his family, the court heard.

An officer from Scotland Yard’s counter terrorism command will also attend the inquest to explain its official role following a request from the spy’s family.

Witness K, a colleague at GCHQ, will also give evidence about Mr Williams' "state of mind" on his last trip taken before his death.

Witness F was considering taking over the MI6-owned flat when the spy returned to Gloucestershire.

Meanwhile Witness G, Mr Williams’ line manager, will be asked to explain why the alarm was not raised sooner when Mr Williams failed to arrive for work.

The alarm was raised by a GCHQ HR manager when she rang the Metropolitan Police, who went to his house for a routine "welfare check".

Dr Wilcox told the hearing that he wanted the inquest to go ahead for the sake of Mr Williams’ family.

This Is London : Forensic DNA blunder hindered 'spy in bag' investigation for a year

Forensic DNA blunder hindered 'spy in bag' investigation for a year

Paul Cheston, Kiran Randhawa | March 30, 2012

The family of dead spy Gareth Williams are convinced he was the victim of "the dark arts of the secret services" a court heard today.

They believe an agent was in the Pimlico flat where died inside a padlocked duffle bag in the bath.

Then the secret service destroyed the evidence before the alarm could be raised, eight days after he was last seen alive in August 2010.

In a pre-inquest hearing today Anthony O’Toole, representing the family told the court of their fears about their son’s suspicious death.

“Our impression is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services.

“Perhaps the evidence of that third party has been removed by some person post-mortem who is expert in those arts.”

Mr Williams’ parents Ian and Ellen who live in Anglesey, were not in court for today’s hearing.

Mr Williams, a code breaker for GCHQ, had been on secondment to MI6 when he died.

The 31-year-old was discovered dead in a North Face holdall eight days after he had last been seen.

A pre-inquest hearing at Westminster magistrates' court today heard how a major forensic blunder over DNA allegedly found on the spy's body has caused his family months of unnecessary heartache.

The DNA sample was discovered on the hand of the former GCHQ code breaker who was on secondment to MI6 when he was discovered dead at a Pimlico flat in August 2010.

It was believed to bear a mixed profile clearly suggesting that another person must have been at the flat when Mr Williams died inside a padlocked sports bag in the bath. But the court was told today that the DNA trace was due to contamination by a scientist at the scene. It was then incorrectly entered into the computer at the laboratory LGC.

The error, discovered only two weeks ago, has led the police investigation up a blind alley for more than a year. Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox today demanded statements be taken from Tony Larkin, the scientist who allegedly contaminated the sample, and Paul Stafford Allen, who was said to have recorded the error on the computer.

She also demanded assurances from LGC managing director Steve Allen and chief executive David Richardson that systems were in place to ensure that the impact of this kind of human error could not occur again.

“There are wider concerns about whether LGC can be trusted to provide a proper level of forensic back-up to all investigations, remembering they are providing forensic DNA and analytical background to a lot of criminal cases,” said the Westminster coroner.

“What I’m concerned about is that the system in place to detect the error, and human errors will always occur and it is not unusual for contamination to happen, but I am concerned about the system evaluation and back up and the analysis of the evidence taken. There has been so much public speculation and so much public anxiety that that is the reason the court has to act to address it head on.”

The court heard that his family was concerned that MI6 did not take any steps to check on his welfare for more than a week, even though he had not been turning up to work.

As a result, his body was so contaminated that scientists are unable to be certain about the exact cause of death.

The full inquest hearing is due to start at the end of next month and last at least five days.

The coroner today said that she would ask scientists to carry out a re-enactment in court of how Mr Williams could have got into the sports bag.

The court has heard that scientists are agreed that it would have been virtually impossible for him to have locked the bag on the outside when he was inside.

Dr Wilcox said: “I want it demonstrated in court exactly how somebody could have got into the bag, done it up and locked it from the outside when confined inside.­ I want a practical demonstration of this in court. It is something I have given an awful lot of my time considering.

“I want a very clear demonstration. It’s the fundamental issue in this case whether Gareth Williams was able to lock the bag outside when he was inside it — it’s the very heart of this inquiry.”

The coroner said she wanted to establish an answer to the question of whether Mr Williams could have suffered from a lack of oxygen or from a build up of carbon dioxide.

This was a key line of inquiry considering the lack of injuries to Mr Williams’s body and the lack of pathological evidence that he made any frantic attempt to get out of the bag.

The inquest is expected to hear from 30 witnesses giving evidence in court.

Three of Mr Williams’s former colleagues will be called to give evidence and will be known only by the initials K, F and G.

They include Mr Williams’s line manager, described as the “chap at the coalface” by Anthony O’Toole, counsel representing the family.

The hearing continues.

During a two hour hearing Mr O’Toole told Westminster Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox: “We thought there was DNA evidence that was a dead end. There was also a footprint found, that has turned out to be a dead end.”

Later the court went into private session to hear PII evidence which Foreign Secretary William Hague wanted to be kept secret on the grounds of national security during the inquest which is due to start on April 23 and last for at least five days.

The Coroner said she would deliver a written judgement on the submissions.

Mirror : Was body-in-the-bag spy betrayed by a double agent? Mole theory over MI6 codebreaker's death

Was body-in-the-bag spy betrayed by a double agent? Mole theory over MI6 codebreaker's death

In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams

March 10, 2012

In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams

The expert codebreaker’s decomposing body was found locked in a large sportsbag in the bath of his London flat in 2010.

There were no obvious signs of how he died or who was responsible – with many claiming a “wall of silence” surrounding his death points to a cover-up at the very heart of the British establishment.

And now it has been revealed Gareth may have been betrayed by a British double agent.

Security bosses are trying to establish if a mole somewhere within intelligence revealed his identity to foreign assassins.

The brilliant mathematician, 31, was working for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and would have been a high value target – vital in producing hi-tech defences to prevent cyber attacks on our most secret government departments.

He was one of only a handful of spies launching effective counter attacks to stop enemy hackers infiltrating British networks.

Williams had been seconded from the top-secret Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham to MI6 in the capital.

He was making clandestine visits to Washington to team up with US espionage agents and share intelligence in operations to fend off hostile hacking infiltrations by Russia and China.

Eighteen months after his bizarre death, investigators are still piecing together his every move to try to get information which could lead them back to a British double agent.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, refuses to rule out the possibility that British national security has been breached by the death.

He said: “Reassurance can only be given if it’s based on some new information, and only those who have the skills and the responsibility to carry out such an investigation can take that forward. There have been exhaustive inquiries but they have been unable to reach a conclusion.”

North Wales-born Williams’s parents, Ian and Ellen, hope more will be revealed when a full inquest is opened next month.

They have been told by MI6 chiefs not to talk about his death, while police and security officers have also remained tight-lipped – fuelling speculation the British establishment does not want to reveal what happened to one of its most valued agents.

It was 4.40pm on August 23, 2010, when his naked, contorted body was found by police, zipped and padlocked in a red, 140-litre-capacity North Face hold-all in the bath of his top-floor apartment owned by MI6.

There were no signs of a struggle within flat 4, Alderney Street, Pimlico, less than a mile away from MI6’s HQ, across Vauxhall Bridge.

The key to the bag’s Yale lock was in the hold-all and police said forensic tests showed at least one other person was involved but have not been able to prove it was murder and do not think he killed himself.

Williams, a 9st cycling enthusiast, had not showed up at work for days when an officer went to the flat. Police said he probably died eight days earlier – just weeks after a man and woman of Mediterranean appearance had called at his flat.

Mystery also surrounds a break-in at the flat in the months before – while more twists and turns in the story led to lurid tales about his private life.

One claimed he was a transvestite who police thought may have been murdered by a gay lover.

And the most extreme claim was that he may have died in an auto-erotic asphyxiation sex game gone wrong.

Police also revealed he had £15,000 worth of unworn women’s designer clothing, shoes and wigs in his flat, but his friends believe many of these stories were planted to cloud the investigation.

Crispin Black, an intelligence analyst and former adviser to the Government, says the most likely explanation is that Williams was murdered.

“The thing has a professional air – it’s neat, it’s tidy, it’s organised,” he said.

“A bath is where you put things if you don’t want any forensic residue to be left behind – because you know where the body’s been and you can clear up after it.”

The fact the body was found locked in a holdall, with the key inside, provides the strongest indication he was executed by a foreign death squad.

Investigators believe the team were so expert at their deadly trade, they left no obvious signs of the cause of death.

A security source said: “This has all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored assassination. If you’ve got a problem with your codes being broken, the only solution is to remove the codebreaker.

"They’re incredibly hard to replace because they are recruited for having the sharpest mathematical brains.

"There’s always suspicion about the Russians because in many ways the Cold War never completely ended.”

The possibility of a British intelligence mole has to be a huge worry for national security.

Professor Anthony Glees, director of security and intelligence studies at the independent University of Buckingham, said: “Sir Malcolm himself says he could not give the public reassurance that national security had not been breached by Gareth Williams’s death.

"I think we need an answer, especially in light of the fact that this year, with the Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, we are clearly a target.

“It’s a possibility that there is a spy and that someone betrayed Gareth Williams.

"It’s by no means unthinkable he was targeted by intelligence officials from other countries who believed he was targeting them.”

The police have not spoken publicly about the death for a year.

And Williams family friend Trefor Lloyd Hughes, 64, said: “I have no doubt some higher influences will be involved here which may stop certain information from getting through, but the family need peace.”

Even before his secondment to MI6, his work in signals intelligence at GCHQ would have put him on the front line in the international cyber war, helping to combat insurgent bombers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Codebreakers, phone and radio interceptors and internet experts fight the triple threat of terrorism, espionage and organised crime.

At Williams’s funeral at the windswept Bethel Chapel in Holyhead, Anglesey, his family were consoled by MI6 chief Sir John Sawyers, who said: “Gareth did really valuable work with us in the cause of national security.”

Back in Anglesey, those who knew Gareth Williams would no doubt like to know if it was that cause which he ended up giving his life for.

Gloucestershire Echo : Death of spy Williams will be discussed

Death of spy Williams will be discussed

March 9, 2012

THE death of Cheltenham spy Gareth Williams is to be discussed at the end of this month.

Yesterday Westminster said the pre-inquest review will be heard on Friday, March 30, at Westminster Coroner's Court.

The former GCHQ codebreaker, who was working for security service M16 while on secondment from the Cheltenham intelligence base, was found naked inside a bag on August 23, 2010, at his flat in London.

It is believed he had been dead for a week.

In February last year an inquiry into the 31-year-old's death was adjourned as Scotland Yard detectives waited for the results of a fresh round of forensic tests.

Counter-terrorism officers had interviewed in the region of 40 of the expert codebreaker's colleagues at GCHQ in Cheltenham as well as at MI6, Westminster Coroner's Court heard at the time.

They were said to have been passing on their findings to a team of investigators from the force's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, who are responsible for the inquiry.

The inquest heard that some or all of them could give evidence about Mr Williams.

He had been just days away from completing a one-year secondment from GCHQ to MI6 in the capital.

The keen cyclist rode with the Cheltenham and County Cycling Club and had worked in the town for 10 years.

Daily Post : Claims building in which Anglesey MI6 spy lived in was broken into

Claims building in which Anglesey MI6 spy lived in was broken into

by Dan Beavan, DPW West | February 20, 2012

SECURITY concerns had been raised in the months before the body of a spy was found in a holdall it has been claimed.

The body of 31-year-old GCHQ code-breaker Gareth Williams, from Valley, Anglesey, was discovered in his London flat in August 2010.

He had been padlocked inside a holdall that was left in an empty bath.

His death appeared a baffling mystery to Met Police.

But according to a leading Sunday newspaper, a source close to Mr Williams has come forward claiming the Pimlico building, where the spy lived in London, was broken into several months before his death, which has apparently not been revealed by the authorities.

According to the source Mr Williams had told him a female occupant on the ground floor flat had asked the spy to swap apartments after hers was broken into.

The property was used by MI6 to house its agents.

A major investigation by the Met Police was launched but has so far failed to establish what led to his death.

Westminster Coroner’s Court has said a pre-inquest review will take place on March 29, with a full inquest to follow three weeks later.

The inquest is expected to last four days.

Evening Standard : Body-in-bag spy's family demand answers from inquest 18 months on

Body-in-bag spy's family demand answers from inquest 18 months on

Kiran Randhawa | February 20, 2012

The family of an MI6 spy found dead in a sports bag are demanding that they are finally told what happened to him.

The badly decomposed body of Gareth Williams, 31, was found 18 months ago in a holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico. Although a series of toxicology tests was performed to determine what caused his death, it still remains unexplained.

A pre-inquest review into the case will be held on March 29 at Westminster coroner's court, and a full inquest is expected to begin three weeks later.

Mr Williams's family hope a blanket of secrecy over the case will finally be lifted.
Trefor Lloyd Hughes, a friend of the family, told the Standard: "They need to know what happened to Gareth. I hope we finally get some real answers.

"Let's hope the family can gain some solace at last. They have been in the dark for so long and have no idea what happened to their son.

"They need answers to end their agony. I have no doubt some higher influences will be involved here which may stop certain information from getting through, but I would say the family need peace."

Mr Hughes, 64, a councillor and retired ambulance worker from Holyhead, Anglesey, lived across the road from Mr Williams's parents Ian and Ellen for several years. Their sons grew up together and he remains a good friend of the family.

He added: "It's taken so long for this inquest to come along. I will be really disappointed if further information comes out years down the line that didn't come out during this inquest.

"It will be hard for his parents to go through it, but we are all hoping this will be the end. You do get annoyed they have had to wait this long though. It's absolutely disgraceful."

As many as 40 of Mr Williams's colleagues from GCHQ and MI6 are expected to give evidence at the inquest, although their testimony is likely to be heard in secret to protect their identities.

Police found the cycling enthusiast's naked body zipped and padlocked in a red North Face holdall on August 23 2010 at his flat less than a mile from MI6's headquarters in Vauxhall. There were no signs of a struggle.

The property was used by MI6 as a safe house. Mr Williams, a GCHQ codebreaker on secondment, had not been at work for several days.

Pimlico People : Inquest held in Pimlico spy murder

Inquest held in Pimlico spy murder

By James Mass | February 2, 2012

Almost two years after the mysterious death of Gareth Williams, the MI6 spy whose body was found in a holdall in his Pimlico flat, an inquest is to be finally held.

Having carried out toxicology tests and a prolonged investigation police were unable to form a conclusion on the bizarre case. Dr Fiona Wilcox, the coroner for Westminster, is due to hold the hearing in April. A pre-inquest review will be held on 29th March at Horseferry Road Coroner's Court.

It's been reported that as many as 40 colleagues of the deceased from GCHQ and MI6 will provide evidence.

Mr Williams' badly decomposed body was found on 23rd August 2010 by an officer who was alerted by Williams' sister who anxiously called because she had not heard from her brother in ten days.

This Is Somerset : Spy death inquest dates

Spy death inquest dates

Western Daily Press | January 31, 2012

An inquest into the death of Cheltenham spy Gareth Williams will take place more than 18 months after his body was found locked in a bag at his flat in London.

The body of the GCHQ codebreaker, on secondment to MI6, was found naked inside the bag on August 23, 2010.

It is believed he had been dead for a week. Confirmation was given yesterday that a pre-inquest review will take place in London on March 29.

The Daily Mail has reported that a full inquest is expected three weeks later and said the hearing is expected to call up to 40 of Mr Williams's colleagues from GCHQ and MI6 to give evidence, likely to be heard in secret.

In February last year, an inquiry into the 31-year-old's death was adjourned as Scotland Yard detectives waited for the results of a fresh round of forensic tests.

Counter-terrorism officers had interviewed around 40 of his colleagues at GCHQ in Cheltenham, as well as at MI6, Westminster Coroner's Court heard at the time.

They were said to have been passing findings to investigators from the force's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, which is responsible for the inquiry.

The inquest heard that some or all of them could give evidence about Mr Williams.

At the time of his death, the keen hill-race and time-trial cyclist had been days from completing the one-year secondment from GCHQ in Cheltenham, where he worked for ten years and rented a flat in Bouncers Lane.

This Is Gloucestershire : GCHQ codebreaker death: Evidence may be heard in secret

GCHQ codebreaker death: Evidence may be heard in secret

January 31, 2012

AN inquest into the death of Cheltenham spy Gareth Williams will take place more than 18 months after his body was found locked in a bag in London.

The former GCHQ codebreaker, pictured, who was working for security service M16 while on secondment from the intelligence base, was found naked inside the bag on August 23, 2010, at his flat.

It is believed he had been dead for a week. Confirmation was given yesterday that a pre-inquest review will take place in London on March 29.

The Daily Mail has reported that a full inquest is expected to take place three weeks later.

The paper said the hearing is expected to call up to 40 of Mr Williams's colleagues from GCHQ and MI6 to give evidence, but it also reported that their testimony was likely to be heard in secret to protect their identities.

In February last year an inquiry into the 31-year-old's death was adjourned as Scotland Yard detectives waited for the results of a fresh round of forensic tests.

Counter-terrorism officers had interviewed in the region of 40 of the expert codebreaker's colleagues at GCHQ in Cheltenham as well as at MI6, Westminster Coroner's Court heard at the time.

They were said to have been passing on their findings to a team of investigators from the force's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, who are responsible for the inquiry.

The inquest heard that some or all of them could give evidence about Mr Williams.

He had been just days away from completing a one-year secondment from GCHQ to MI6 in the capital.

He had worked in Cheltenham for 10 years and rented a flat in Bouncers Lane.

A keen cyclist, he regularly rode with the Cheltenham and County Cycling Club.

Fellow club member Don Muir told the Echo people had an enormous amount of respect for Mr Williams as a cyclist.

Speaking to the paper shortly after the GCHQ worker's death, he said: "He has been involved with the club for around eight years, but only became a member in the past couple of years.

"He would turn up, take part in rides, and then go home.

"He didn't really get involved in the social side of the club.

"He took part in hill racing and time trials on the flat and he was good at both.

"It's really quite bizarre and shocking.

"A lot of people who ride with us work for GCHQ and as soon as we find out, we talk about something else because we know they can't speak about it."

There have been a number of conspiracy theories about Mr Williams's death.

Daily Post : Inquest into death of Anglesey MI6 spy Gareth Williams to take place in April

Inquest into death of Anglesey MI6 spy Gareth Williams to take place in April

by Dan Beavan | DPW West | January 31, 2012

THE inquest into the death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams will take place in April.

Codebreaker Mr Williams, 31, from Valley, Anglesey, was found dead locked in a sports bag at his central London flat in August 2010.

A major investigation by the Metropolitan Police has failed to establish what led to his death.

Now Westminster Coroner’s Court has said that a pre-inquest review will take place on March 29, with a full inquest to follow three weeks later.

The inquest is expected to last four days.

It will be held by Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox at Horseferry Road Coroner’s Court in London.

The review will establish who will give evidence and also in what form, with some evidence given “in camera” to protect the identities of Mr Williams’ former colleagues at MI6.

Former Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern pupil Mr Williams was a gifted mathematician who attained a first class degree in maths aged just 17.

He began work at the Government Communications HQ in Cheltenham before being seconded to MI6 for a year.

His death attracted worldwide attention and huge speculation over how he died and if it was linked to his work as a spy with MI6 or his private life.

Daily Mail : Coroner to investigate the riddle of the spy in a bag nearly two years after his death

Coroner to investigate the riddle of the spy in a bag nearly two years after his death

* A hearing into Gareth William's death to be held in April
* His body was found in a padlocked bag in a bath

By Rebecca Camber | January 30, 2012

An inquest into the death of an MI6 spy is to be held nearly two years after his body was discovered in a locked holdall.

The bizarre death of Gareth Williams, who was found in a padlocked bag in the bath of his central London flat, has baffled detectives.

Despite a series of toxicology tests and an exhaustive investigation into the 31-year-old’s background and his movements, police have been unable to establish what led to his death in August 2010.

Now Dr Fiona Wilcox, the coroner for Westminster, has announced she will hold a full hearing into the death of the spy in April.

She will hold a pre-inquest review on March 29 at Horseferry Road Coroner’s Court, with a full inquest expected to begin three weeks later.

The hearing is expected to call as many as 40 of Mr Williams’s colleagues from GCHQ and MI6 to give evidence, although their testimony is likely to be heard in secret to protect their identities.

The spy’s badly decomposed body was found on August 23 at his flat in Pimlico, barely a mile from the headquarters of MI6 in Vauxhall.

The property was used by MI6 as a safe house. Mr Williams, a cycling enthusiast, had not showed up at work for several days. But it was only when his sister rang police from her home in Chester to say she had not heard from him in over ten days that an officer went to the flat.

There he discovered Mr Williams’s naked body zipped and padlocked in a red North Face holdall. There were no signs of a struggle.

On a table were two iPhones, a number of SIM cards and an Apple notebook computer, suggesting that robbery had not been a motive.

There have been a number of conspiracy theories about Mr Williams’s death, including the possibility of an assassination by a foreign power.

Detectives have, however, discounted many of the more lurid suggestions.

At the time of his death, the mathematician had been seconded from GCHQ in Cheltenham to MI6 to work on top-secret computer systems to detect and prevent cyber-attacks on Britain’s banks and infrastructure and eavesdrop on terrorist communications.

Calgary Herald : Inquest may unravel truth of spy in a bag

Inquest may unravel truth of spy in a bag

Killing could be personal or professional

By Patrick Sawer | The Telegraph | January 29, 2012

It remains one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of the secret services.

When the body of an MI6 spy was found locked in a large gym bag in the bath of his apartment in August 2010 it led to a rash of conspiracy theories, from the disturbing to the bizarre.

Nearly 18 months on, police have been unable to establish what led to the death of Gareth Williams, despite toxicology tests and an exhaustive investigation into his background.

But Dr. Fiona Wilcox, the recently-appointed coroner for Westminster, has decided that the time is right to attempt to record the first official account of what happened to the 31-year-old spy.

She will hold a Pre-Inquest Review (PIR) on March 29 at Horseferry Road Coroner's Court. A full inquest will begin three weeks later, probably at a larger venue, and is expected to last three to four days.

The PIR is required to establish who will give evidence and, crucially, in what form. Attending will be a member of Scotland Yard's investigation team and legal representatives of GCHQ and MI6. A solicitor is understood to have been appointed by Williams's parents, Ian and Ellen, to represent his family.

It is expected that some or all of the evidence from as many as 40 of Williams's colleagues will be held "in camera" to protect their identities and the content of their statements.

The spy's badly decomposed body was found on Aug. 23 at his flat in Pimlico.

The property was used by MI6 as a safe house. In what was apparently a secret services in-joke, the building was owned by a British Virgin Islands-registered company called New Rodina, meaning "new motherland" in Russian.

Williams had missed work for several days, but it was only when his sister, Ceri, called police from her home in Chester to say she had not heard from him in more than 10 days, that a constable went to the top-floor apartment.

He made a gruesome discovery. The flat was "spotless," but in the bath was a red holdall from which red liquid was seeping. It had been padlocked.

Inside, the officer found a body so contorted that he initially assumed the "legs and arms had been cut off." There were no signs of a struggle.

On a table were two iPhones, a number of SIM cards and an Apple notebook computer, suggesting it was not a robbery. News of the find - and its description by detectives as "a tidy job" - prompted speculation that Williams had fallen victim to a hit instigated by a foreign power.

Williams, a brilliant mathematician who took a degree course at Bangor university while in his early teens, had been seconded from GCHQ - the government's listening centre in Cheltenham - to MI6 to work on secret computer systems to detect and prevent cyber-attacks on Britain's banks and infrastructure and eavesdrop on terrorist communications.

At the time of his death it is believed he was researching British vulnerability to Russian, Turkish and Chinese gangs - any one of them capable of targeting him.

There was even talk that a couple, who appeared to be Mediterranean and claimed to have a key to his flat weeks before Williams's death, were Mossad agents. Police have been unable to trace the pair.

But in December 2010, Det. Chief Supt. Hamish Campbell, head of Scotland Yard's homicide command, said the killing was not linked to the spy's work, but his private life.

It was disclosed that Williams had viewed websites on bondage and visited gay clubs and detectives turned to the possibility that he died as a result of a sado-masochistic game, perhaps after his partner panicked and fled.

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

Williams's family angrily denied suggestions that he would have behaved in that way. He was known to have attended drag shows and police disclosed that unworn women's dresses and wigs had been found in the wardrobe.

Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, said Williams did "really valuable work with us in the cause of national security."

Some question what it was that he did for "the cause," and if it got him killed.

His family hopes the inquest will help answer that question.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Light to be shed on mystery of MI6 spy Gareth Williams' death

Light to be shed on mystery of MI6 spy Gareth Williams' death

An inquest into the death of the spy whose body was found in a locked holdall is set to go ahead this spring, casting light on one of the most baffling mysteries in the recent history of the secret services.

By Patrick Sawer | January 28, 2012

It remains one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of the British secret services.

When the body of an MI6 spy was found locked in a holdall in the bath of his flat, in August 2010, it led to a rash of conspiracy theories, from the disturbing to the downright bizarre.

Nearly 18 months on, police have been unable to establish what led to the death of Gareth Williams, despite a battery of toxicology tests and an exhaustive investigation into his background and his movements.

But Dr Fiona Wilcox, the recently-appointed coroner for Westminster, has decided the time is now right to attempt to record the first official account of what happened to the 31-year-old spy.

She will hold a Pre Inquest Review (PIR) on March 29 at Horseferry Road Coroners Court. A full inquest will begin three weeks later, probably at a larger venue, and is expected to last three to four days.

The PIR is required to establish who will give evidence and, crucially, in what form. Attending will be a member of Scotland Yard's investigation team and legal representatives of GCHQ and MI6.

A solicitor is understood to have been appointed by Mr Williams's parents Ian and Ellen to represent his family.

It is expected that some, if not all, the evidence from as many as 40 of Mr Williams's colleagues will be held 'in camera', to protect their identities and the content of their statements.

The spy's badly-decomposed body was found at 6.30pm on August 23 at his flat in Pimlico, barely a mile from the headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Services, across the River Thames.

The property was used by MI6 as a safe house. In what was apparently a secret services in-joke, the building was owned by a British Virgin Islands-registered company called New Rodina, meaning 'new motherland' in Russian.

Mr Williams had not showed up at work for several days. But it was only when his sister Ceri, a physiotherapist, rang police from her home in Chester to say she had not heard from him in over 10 days, that a constable went to the top-floor flat in Alderney Street.

Here he made a gruesome discovery.

The flat was "spotless". But in the bath was a red North Face holdall from which red liquid was seeping. It had been padlocked.

Inside the officer found a body so contorted that he initially assumed the "legs and arms had been cut off". There were no signs of a struggle.

On a table were two iPhones, a number of SIM cards and an Apple notebook computer, suggesting it was not a robbery.

News of the find – and its description by detectives as "a tidy job" – prompted speculation that Mr Williams had fallen victim to a hit instigated by a foreign power.

Mr Williams, a brilliant mathematician who took a degree course at Bangor university while in his early teens, had been seconded from GCHQ – the government's listening centre in Cheltenham – to MI6, to work on top-secret computer systems to detect and prevent cyber-attacks on Britain's banks and infrastructure and eavesdrop on terrorist communications.

At the time of his death he was understood to be researching British vulnerability to Russian, Turkish and Chinese gangs - any one of them capable of targeting him.

There was even talk that a couple of Mediterranean appearance who visited his block and claimed to have a key to his flat weeks before Mr Williams's death were Mossad agents. Police have never been able to trace the pair.

But towards the end of December 2010 Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, head of Scotland Yard's homicide command, felt confident enough to discount a spy-on-spy killing, stating: "This is not linked to his work – it's his private life."

Scotland Yard revealed that Mr Williams's iPhone was used to visit websites on bondage. He had been to a drag show and had tickets to further shows at a gay club.

Detectives from Operation Finlayson became convinced he could not have locked himself inside the holdall and turned to the possibility that he died as a result of a sadomasochistic game, perhaps after his partner panicked and fled.

DCS Campbell admitted police had been unable to trace any sexual partners of Mr Williams, but added: "We are very sure that someone else was in that flat."

Mr Williams's family angrily denied suggestions that he would have behaved in that way.

When police revealed that unworn women's dresses and wigs had been found in the wardrobe, Sian Lloyd-Jones, a fashion stylist and close friend of the victim, came forward to state that they must have been presents for her and Ceri.

The first post-mortem by Home Office pathologist Dr Ben Swift, together with toxicology tests, proved inconclusive. His account to the inquest is likely to be frustratingly sketchy.

Mr Williams now lies buried in a cemetery near his parents' home in Valley, on Anglesey, overlooking the hills where he loved to cycle with his father.

His gravestone, inscribed in Welsh, reads: "In loving memory of Gareth Williams, mathematician, a special son and brother. Free to run in the mountains."

Attending his funeral at the Bethel Chapel in Holyhead, Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, said: "Gareth was a hugely talented person, and he was very modest and generous as well.

"He did really valuable work with us in the cause of national security."

That statement left hanging in the air the question of what precisely it was that Mr Williams did for "the cause", and was it enough to get him killed?

His family hope the forthcoming inquest will go some way towards answering that nagging question.

Daily Post : MI6 spy death probe continues

MI6 spy death probe continues

by Dan Beavan, DPW West | August 24, 2011

POLICE are still investigating the death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams – a year after his body was found locked in a sports bag in his flat.

Codebreaker Mr Williams, 31, from Valley, Anglesey, was discovered at his central London flat 12 months ago.

Mystery still surrounds the death with detectives saying his private life remains the main focus of the investigation, which they say is active.

Twelve months on Mr Williams' death remains suspicious and unexplained.

A date for his inquest has still not been set although sources say it will take place before Christmas and last several weeks.

Former Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern pupil Mr Williams was a gifted mathematician who attained a first class degree in maths aged just 17.

He began work at the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham before being seconded to MI6 for a year.

BBC : Gareth Williams MI6 death: Inquiry is active, say Met

Gareth Williams MI6 death: Inquiry is active, say Met
[and here]

August 23, 2011

Metropolitan Police say they are still investigating the death of MI6 officer Gareth Williams, a year after his body was found locked in a bag in his bath.

Mr Williams, 31, originally from Holyhead, Anglesey, was discovered at his central London flat a year ago.

Mystery still surrounds the death, and detectives have said that the key lay in his private life.

A police spokesman said the inquiry into the code-breaker's death was "still an active investigation".

The Westminster coroner's office said: "No date has yet been arranged for the inquest into his death."

A spokesman added: "The coroner is still awaiting the completion of the necessary paperwork".

Gifted mathematician

Mr Williams, a gifted mathematician who was a pupil at Bodedern secondary school, graduated with a first class degree in maths at just 17.

His parents, Ian and Ellen, live in Valley, Anglesey, while his father works at Wylfa nuclear power station. His grandmother and grandfather lived in Holyhead.

Mr Williams began work at the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham before being seconded to MI6.

His disappearance last August was reported by colleagues who said they had not seen him for some time.

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

The authorities played down any speculation that his death was linked to his line of work at MI6.

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

A couple sought in connection with the death of an MI6 officer may never be traced, police have conceded.

Gareth Williams, 31, from Holyhead on Anglesey, north Wales, was found dead in a padlocked holdall in his central London flat in August.

The death remains suspicious and unexplained with no cause found.

Police have released e-fit images of a couple of Mediterranean appearance seen at his flats before he died, but the coroner has been told they would be unlikely to be traced.

Twelve months on Mr Williams' death remains suspicious and unexplained with no cause found.

After his body was found police revealed Mr Williams had £15,000 of designer women's clothes in his flat. Press speculation centred on him dying during what some newspapers called a "bizarre sex game gone wrong".

But last April Mr Williams' close friend Sian Lloyd-Jones urged police to broaden their inquiry, denying speculation he was gay or a cross-dresser.

Wales Online : Government’s response to Welsh spy’s mysterious death a ‘disgrace’

Government’s response to Welsh spy’s mysterious death a ‘disgrace’

by Darren Devine, Wales On Sunday | August 21, 2011

A SECURITY expert has slammed the Government’s “disgraceful” response to the death of a Welsh spy whose body was found in a holdall one year ago.

Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the discovery of the naked body of GCHQ code breaker and MI6 agent Gareth Williams in his Pimlico flat. He had been padlocked inside a red North Face holdall, in an empty bath.

The case continues to baffle the Met Police and has left his Anglesey family facing a torrent of salacious tabloid headlines and an agonising 12-month wait for answers.

But Security services expert Professor Anthony Glees is among those who believe Williams’ reported fondness for gay clubs, bondage websites and women’s clothing is just a smokescreen.

He believes the spy was killed by a foreign security service and says the failure of British officials to answer questions about the agent’s demise is a “disgrace”.

Professor Glees, head of the Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, said: “It’s disgraceful both with Gareth Williams’ family in mind, who must be feeling absolutely terrible, but also with my own concern, which is with our national security.

“And I’m very surprised we’ve not heard from Sir Malcolm Rifkind, for example, the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, because I think there’s a very serious national security issue here. In fact there are several very serious national security issues here.”

Professor Glees said his contacts, who have been advising the Metropolitan Police over the death, maintain there’s no longer any suggestion it is sex-related.

He added: “I would continue to suggest that if Gareth was not killed as a result of a sex crime or sex game gone wrong – and nobody has presented any serious evidence of this – then this must be the work of a hostile intelligence service.

“What I would add, and this comes from my Whitehall sources, is that there’s been an almost 50% increase in hostile intelligence activity, not only by Russia, but also by China in the last 12 months.”

Reports have suggested cars registered to the Russian Embassy were spotted near Williams’ flat just days before his body was discovered on August 23.

Professor Glees said Williams was a mid-ranking operative whose work on developing computer programmes to infiltrate the networks of countries like Iran, China and Russia would have made him a target. Reports last year also claimed Williams’ eavesdropping work had helped thwart co-ordinated al-Qaeda gun rampages on the streets of London, Paris and Berlin just weeks before his death.

He had also made several trips to Afghanistan as one of a 10-strong team of specialists from GCHQ, the Government’s listening post and the NSA, the US equivalent.

But whatever the significance of his security services role, Professor Glees said while many questions continue to go unanswered about his death Williams’ family are denied closure.

“There are so many question marks hanging over this man. Was he loyal, was he disloyal? Was he gay? Had he given the right information about himself to GCHQ and MI6?”

But not all security experts are convinced there’s more to the death than meets the eye.

Some like Paul Moorcraft, director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Analysis, believe the answers lie in Williams’ sex life. One theory he strongly discounts is that Williams was murdered by British intelligence colleagues for leaking information to our enemies.

“Whenever you get a mysterious death you get all sorts of conspiracies,” he said.

“Looking back at it I would have thought it probably was a sexual incident that went wrong – either with somebody else or on his own.

“He’d been on a couple of trips overseas so he wasn’t just a computer geek. But he was pretty junior and there was no reason to knock him off.”

Moorcraft said other operatives have even made revelations about the work of GCHQ without paying with their lives.

Katharine Gun, a former translator for GCHQ, was accused of leaking a memo to a newspaper on an alleged American “dirty tricks” campaign to spy on UN delegates ahead of the Iraq war.

An attempt to prosecute her through the courts collapsed.

Professor Moorcraft added: “There’s been a whole series of whistleblowers at GCHQ and nothing has happened to them. With previous whistleblowers who have actually done things it’s been formal procedures so why should they knock-off this one fairly low-ranking guy?”

Gareth’s uncle, Anglesey councillor William Hughes, declined to comment and said Gareth’s parents Ian and Ellen wanted to be “left alone”.

Express : Inquest on naked spy to go ahead

Inquest on naked spy to go ahead

By James Murray | August 21, 2011

THE inquest into the bizarre death of spy Gareth Williams will go ahead before Christmas without a jury and is set to last a few weeks, the Sunday Express has learned.

The 31-year-old codebreaker was found naked inside a padlocked bag in the bath of his London flat a year ago.

He was working for foreign security service M16 in London while on secondment from the Government GCHQ listening post in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

It quickly emerged bachelor Mr Williams may have led a double life as he had £15,000 of expensive women’s clothing in his wardrobe and he had visited a drag cabaret show shortly before his death.

Reports that more than 40 intelligence chiefs would be called to give evidence have been played down and it is expected 12 spy chiefs will attend to explain the background to the case. They may ask the coroner to hear some of the evidence in secret.

So far the security services have given very little information about Mr Williams or his role.

Scotland Yard has dismissed as “rubbish” suggestions of any Russian involvement.

Daily Mail : Russian Embassy car spotted near 'body in bag' spy's home days before he was murdered

Russian Embassy car spotted near 'body in bag' spy's home days before he was murdered

By Robert Verkaik | August 13, 2011

Cars registered to the Russian Embassy were spotted near the home of a British spy just days before his body was discovered in a locked holdall at his London flat.

The unexplained presence of Russian diplomats in the area will add to suspicions that the MI6 officer was killed because of his work.

Gareth Williams is believed to have been working on spy technology tracking the movements of Russian money into Europe.

The 31-year-old was last seen alive on August 15 last year – the same day a Kremlin car was identified near the officer’s Pimlico flat.

In the days before Mr Williams’s death, two cars with Russian diplomatic number plates were seen parked or driving close to his flat in Pimlico, Central London.

The vehicles’ details were logged by a former KGB agent who fled to London 12 years ago after defecting to the West and who lives near Mr Williams’s former home.

The 51-year-old, trained in surveillance and counter-surveillance, believes that the sudden appearance of the cars raises immediate suspicions.

He said: ‘I still have to worry about my own security, so when I saw these cars I was very concerned and at the time made a detailed note of each of the sightings. I hadn’t seen any Russian Embassy cars in the area before this and I haven’t seen any since.’

The former agent, who has just realised how important his sightings are after reading about the case, observed the vehicles on his daily walk to local shops which took him past the flat.

On August 15 the agent logged a dark blue BMW 3 Series bearing the diplomatic number plate 251D198 seen being driven slowly along a road 50 yards from the flat. Mr Williams’s naked body was finally discovered eight days later locked inside a large holdall in the bath at his top-floor flat.

CCTV images show him entering Holland Park Underground station at 3pm on August 14, three days after he returned from a holiday in the US, and he was spotted shopping in the West End and Knightsbridge.

Earlier, around midday on August 12, the Russian car had been logged by the former agent, parked close to the junction with the road where Mr Williams lived, with the driver inside and the engine running.

The Russian Embassy, where the car is based, is four miles away at Kensington Gardens.

The following day, the agent noticed another Russian diplomatic car, a blue BMW 3 Series bearing the diplomatic number plate 251D306.

This time the car was spotted in the multi-storey car park directly behind Mr Williams’s flat.

The agent saw the driver clearly and described him as male and aged 35 to 45 with a brown moustache.

He added: ‘I saw him because he had to get out of the car to pay for a ticket. To my mind, these suspicious appearances show that the Russians were working in the area and were keeping someone under close surveillance.’

It has since been claimed that Mr Williams, who was on secondment to MI6 from the Government’s eavesdropping centre GCHQ, was working on equipment that tracked the flow of money from Russia to Europe.

Further suspicions that Mr Williams’s death is linked to Russia were raised when it emerged that his former flat is owned by private company New Rodina.

In Russian, ‘rodina’ means ‘motherland’ and the name The Rodina Society was used as a cover operation for KGB activity in the West during the Cold War.

The inquest into Mr Williams’s death – which sparked several outlandish conspiracy theories – resumes next month.

Up to 40 spies questioned by police could give evidence anonymously. No one has been arrested in connection with Mr Williams’s death.

Post-mortem tests have failed to determine how he died and detectives say it would have been impossible for him to lock himself in the bag. No evidence of drugs, alcohol or poison has been found.

A spokeswoman for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency said: ‘We are unable to help with identifying any cars with diplomatic number plates.’

A Whitehall source said police were investigating the case.

The Russian Embassy declined to respond.

The First Post : Did the Russian mafia kill MI6 agent Gareth Williams?

Did the Russian mafia kill MI6 agent Gareth Williams?
[or here]

Source claims Williams was working on system to foil Russian money-laundering

By Eliot Sefton | June 26, 2011

[and on MSN/UK]

MI6 agent Gareth Williams, who was found dead zipped into a holdall in his London flat last year, was working on technology designed to thwart money-laundering by the Russian mafia.

The claim, made by an unnamed source in the Mail on Sunday, has sparked off yet another theory about how and why the 31-year-old died: that he was assassinated by a Russian gang to stop his work in its tracks.

The source said: "He was involved in a very sensitive project with the highest security clearance. He was not an agent doing surveillance, but was very much part of the team, working on the technology side, devising stuff like software.

"A knock-on effect of this technology would be that a number of criminal groups in Russia would be disrupted. Some of these powerful criminal networks have links with, and employ, former KGB agents who can track down people like Williams."

The Russian mafia theory is just the latest in a series which have failed to explain Williams's death. At first, police were said to be working on the theory that he had died when a bondage sex game went wrong.

This was quickly questioned, with the suggestion that Williams had been murdered – and the bondage gear had been planted by his killer to throw investigators off the scent.

Next, Williams's uncle suggested that stories Williams was secretly gay, visited drag bars and had an extensive collection of designer women's dresses were indeed a smokescreen – but one planted by the government.

In January this year, it was suggest that he had died in a bizarre accident brought about when he zipped himself into the bag as part of an art project.

The Russian mafia story may be flimsy - but it's at least more credible than that outlandish theory.

Daily Mail : Did Russian mafia kill the body-in-a-bag spy? MI6 man found dead in holdall in London, was developing secret technology to track gangsters' laundered cash

Did Russian mafia kill the body-in-a-bag spy? MI6 man found dead in holdall in London, was developing secret technology to track gangsters' laundered cash

By Abul Taher and Robert Verkaik | June 25, 2011

The MI6 agent found dead in a holdall at his London flat was working on secret technology to target Russian criminal gangs who launder stolen money through Britain.

The revelation adds weight to claims that Gareth Williams was killed because of his secret work and raises the possibility that the Russian mafia has targeted British spies.

Mr Williams was found locked inside a large North Face holdall in the bath at his top-floor flat in Pimlico, Central London, on August 23 last year.

It was initially suggested that the 31-year-old died accidentally at the hands of a mystery bondage sex partner he may have met on London’s gay scene.

But now security sources say Williams, who was on secondment to MI6 from the Government’s eavesdropping centre GCHQ, was working on equipment that tracked the flow of money from Russia to Europe.

The technology enabled MI6 agents to follow the money trails from bank accounts in Russia to criminal European gangs via internet and wire transfers, said the source.

‘He was involved in a very sensitive project with the highest security clearance. He was not an agent doing surveillance, but was very much part of the team, working on the technology side, devising stuff like software,’ said the source.

He added: ‘A knock-on effect of this technology would be that a number of criminal groups in Russia would be disrupted.

‘Some of these powerful criminal networks have links with, and employ, former KGB agents who can track down people like Williams.’

Last year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that Mr Williams, a keen cyclist from Anglesey, North Wales, was involved in another ‘secretive’ project, developing devices that can steal data from mobile phones and laptops using wireless technology.

A close friend also revealed that Williams was training to take on a new identity when he died.

Tory MP and security expert Patrick Mercer said last night: ‘The revelation that Gareth Williams was involved in investigating money-laundering throughout Eastern Europe throws new light on to his death.

'I am sure the police would want to investigate these facts as thoroughly as they have done the details of his private life.’

Neither GCHQ nor the Metropolitan police would discuss the new information.

The suggestion that Mr Williams died when a sex game got out of hand was raised when investigators found he enjoyed going to drag cabaret shows, had £15,000 worth of unworn women’s designer clothing in a wardrobe at his Alderney Street home, and had visited bondage websites.

But his family reject claims that their fitness-fanatic son was gay and have been angered at the way the police allowed his private life to dominate their inquiry.

The inquest into Mr Williams’ death – which sparked several outlandish conspiracy theories – will resume in September, when as many as 40 spies who have been questioned by police could give evidence anonymously.

A battery of post-mortem tests have so far failed to determine how he died and detectives say it would have been impossible for him to lock himself inside the bag.

No evidence of drugs, alcohol or poisons has been found but police said anyone zipped inside the bag would have suffocated within 30 minutes.

Coroner Paul Knapman adjourned an inquest in February while Scotland Yard detectives await the results of a fresh round of forensic tests.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire admitted the likelihood of tracing a Mediterranean-looking couple seen at Mr Williams’s home weeks before his death is diminishing.

Since the dismantling of the Soviet Union, Russian mafia gangs have infiltrated all parts of the Russian state and its economy.

They now control vast business and property interests outside Russia which are used to launder their fortunes, often made from state corruption.

The growing threat to the West posed by East European criminal gangs was confirmed last week when a major Ukrainian hacking ring was disrupted.

The 16-strong gang had funnelled £45 million from Western banks into accounts in Cyprus and Latvia, using a computer virus called Conficker.

One British source said: ‘Much of the Russian government at various levels, national and regional, operates like a kleptocracy, with bureaucrats visibly on the take.

‘Obviously we are worried if this money is pouring into London, and then into buying property or other assets such as companies or investments.

‘The fact is that London remains the financial centre of choice for most Russians.’

London and the surrounding area has one of the largest Russian populations of any city outside the former USSR, with up to 400,000 Russians living in the South East.

The capital has been nicknamed Moscow-on-Thames and Londongrad because of its population of wealthy emigrees, including respected tycoons close to strongman premier Vladimir Putin, such as Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, as well as some of the Kremlin’s most outspoken enemies, such as the billionaire Boris Berezovsky.