Express : DID SPY DIE AFTER ZIPPING HIMSELF INTO SPORTS BAG?

DID SPY DIE AFTER ZIPPING HIMSELF INTO SPORTS BAG?

Detectives are investigating whether spy Gareth Williams died after zipping himself in a sports bag

By Paul Teed | September 13, 2010

DETECTIVES are investigating whether MI6 spy Gareth Williams died after zipping himself in a sports bag in a sex game that went wrong.

A woman police officer climbed into the holdall in which his body was found in a re-enactment exercise – and was able to pull the zip and padlock it once inside.

Detectives believe the code breaker may have done this before panicking and passed out when he realised he could not escape.

Mr Williams’ family will be furious with the revelations, after saying they were distressed by speculation over whether the super-fit 31-year-old was into unusual sexual practices. Police sources close to the investigation said that an officer with a similar build to the spy reenacted the sex game that it is believed could have led to his death.

Mr Williams, whose naked body was discovered inside the bag in the bathroom of his flat in Pimlico, London, on August 23, may have suffocated. The key to the padlock was reportedly found next to him inside the holdall. The petite officer, a similar size to slim and short Mr Williams, crouched in the extra-large North Face bag and was able to put her hand through a tight gap between the padlock and the zip fastener and lock it.

It has apparently led investigators to conclude that Mr Williams may have been taking part in an erotic asphyxiation game – restricting oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal. A Scotland Yard spokesman would only say yesterday: “It is an ongoing investigation and various lines of inquiry remain open. We are aware of many speculative stories in the media and we are not commenting on them individually.”

Police insist they remain mystified by the bizarre circumstances surrounding the gifted mathematician’s death. They found no signs of a break-in or disturbance at his converted Georgian town house and nothing appeared to have been stolen.

A leading US pathologist may fly in this week to try and solve the riddle. Mr Williams’ grieving relatives have demanded his body back so they can commission their own post mortem examination. The coroner dealing with the case has repeatedly refused to hand it over while detectives continue their inquiries. The family in North Wales have been unable to hold a funeral and remain frustrated by the lack of progress.

Detectives have said they want to speak to a mystery couple of Mediterranean appearance who called at the code breaker’s home shortly before he died. They entered via the communal front door, but police do not know if they visited the spy’s top-floor flat.

Keen cyclist Mr Williams was days from completing a one-year secondment to MI6 in London. He worked as a codes expert for the Government’s listening centre GCHQ in Cheltenham.

Sydney Morning Herald : Spy sex game may have caused death

Spy sex game may have caused death

September 13, 2010

A British spy may have locked himself inside a sports bag and suffocated during a sex game gone wrong, newspaper reports say.

A female police officer climbed into the large bag and locked herself in from the inside during a re-enactment of the events that are believed to have led to the MI6 intelligence officer's death, Britain's Mail on Sunday reported.

Gareth Williams, 31, was found naked inside the $250 North Face bag in the bath in his top-floor Pimlico apartment on August 24.

Police have worked for several weeks to determine the cause of death.

Initial toxicology tests showed no traces of alcohol or drugs in Mr Williams's system.

The results of further tests will not be known for at least a fortnight.

The latest theory is that the fitness fanatic managed to zip up the bag and padlock it from the inside for sexual kicks, the paper reported.

It is believed he might have panicked and suffocated after being unable to re-open the bag.

A key for the padlock was found next to his body, lending weight to speculation his death was an accident, the newspaper reported.

Erotic asphyxiation is defined as the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal.

A police spokesperson told the Mail: "It would be inappropriate to comment at this stage of the investigation. We are keeping an open mind about the case."

Mr Williams's family has accused the government of orchestrating a "dirty tricks" campaign to discredit him after reports that he was gay and a cross-dresser.

Police have denied claims that gay magazines, bondage gear and the phone numbers of gay escort men were found in the apartment near his body.

Investigators have also dismissed allegations of financial irregularities and that a top-secret laptop computer had gone missing from his flat.

Crucially, there was no evidence of violence and no cuts or bruises on his body, nor any sign of a break-in at his flat.

Mr Williams had worked out of the Government Communications Headquarters at Cheltenham, known as Britain's biggest listening post, but was on year-long secondment to MI6.

The 5000-strong GCHQ eavesdrops on global communications and monitors terrorist threats.

Yet during the past year, Mr Williams had moved to London and it was colleagues at MI6, across the Thames from his elegant London flat, who reported him missing.

Nobody knows what he was working on but the city apartment has been described as a far cry from the granny flat he had lived in at Cheltenham and to which he was to return on September 3.

The Cheltenham flat was "floral carpets, silk flowers and potpourri", London's Independent reported.

Mr Williams was from Anglesey in North Wales. He lived on his own and did not have a partner.

He has been described as a child prodigy who had a degree in maths at 17 and went on to obtain a PhD.

He had the highest security clearance available to an intelligence officer and was part of a secretive cell that created devices that could steal data from mobiles and laptops.

Mr Williams returned from a "planned holiday" in the United States on August 11, less than two weeks before his body was found.

Investigators found he had made several shopping trips to London's West End and Knightsbridge on August 14 and 15, the Mail on Sunday reported.

Mr Williams stopped by department store Harrods, then walked towards a nearby Dolce & Gabbana store, although he did not go in.

It was the last time he was seen alive.

New Zealand Herald : Foreign hit on UK spy feared

Foreign hit on UK spy feared

September 13, 2010

Concern is growing within the intelligence community that the MI6 spy found dead in his London flat may have been the victim of a professional hit by a foreign power.

Sources told the Daily Telegraph that intelligence services MI6, MI5 and GCHQ are liaising closely to establish whether Gareth Williams, 31, was targeted by foreign spies.

He was working on systems to defend British banks and transport infrastructure from cyber attack and to eavesdrop on terrorist communications.

He also played an important role creating equipment to listen to Taleban communications in Afghanistan and had helped to fit out three aircraft with the equipment, making them airborne-listening stations.

Herald Sun : 'Sex game went wrong' for dead MI6 man Gareth Williams, police say

'Sex game went wrong' for dead MI6 man Gareth Williams, police say

From: The Daily Telegraph | September 13, 2010

POLICE believe the MI6 spy found dead in a sports bag in a bath inside his flat may have died after a bizarre sex game went wrong.

A woman police officer climbed into the bag in which code breaker Gareth Williams' naked body was found, re-enacting the events that are thought could have led to his death.

She managed to zip up the bag and padlock it from the inside, leading investigators to conclude Mr Williams may have done the same for sexual kicks and suffocated when he could not reopen it during an episode of erotic asphyxiation.

Despite being crouched in the holdall, the officer put her hand through a small gap between the padlock and zip fastener to lock it from the inside.

Police believe Mr Williams may have done the same then passed out, possibly as a result of panic when he was unable to reopen the padlock.

Telegraph : Murdered spy 'could have climbed into sports bag' before death

Murdered spy 'could have climbed into sports bag' before death

The spy whose naked body was found in a sports bag in an empty bath in Pimlico could have been alive when he was put into the bag, police believe.

By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | September 12, 2010

Detectives believe that someone else padlocked Gareth Williams into the red North Face holdall where his body was found on August 23.

They remain open to the possibility that Mr Williams climbed into the bag as part of a sex game and then suffocated. His body was found in the flat eight days after he was last seen alive.

Another option is that he was poisoned before his body was put into the bag. Tests have ruled out alcohol or recreational drugs.

Officers are waiting for further toxicology tests at the end of the week which may end the mystery of how Mr Williams died.

Mr Williams, 31, a keen cyclist and maths prodigy from Anglesey, North Wales, was found dead in the MI6 flat in central London where he lived while he was on secondment from GCHQ, working on interception techniques and code-breaking.

The death has puzzled Scotland Yard detectives and Home Office pathologists who have yet to come up with a definite cause of death.

The body was badly decomposed making it difficult to be certain whether there was a lack of oxygen to the brain or heart failure.

There are no marks on the body, making strangulation unlikely, but asphyxiation remains a possibility.

Strangulation has become increasingly common as a sex game, but officers say they have never come across a case like this linked to sex.

Mr Williams’s family have been upset at suggestions that he was gay and at erroneous reports that bondage equipment was found in the flat.

One source close to the inquiry told The Daily Telegraph: “If you are looking at how he died, asphyxiation could be one of the answers.

“We are looking at whether he could have been in the bag alive. The majority of people wouldn’t have thought that was likely but nothing is impossible.

“It is unlikely that his clothes were removed after he died so we have to assume that he was naked when he died.”

Officers believe that someone else was involved in the death – even if it does not amount to murder – although there was no sign of forced entry at the flat.

“You would never say that he did this to himself. How would you do it?” the source said. “We have looked at whether it is possible to lock the bag from the inside and it just does not seem possible. “

Detectives are keen to talk to a Mediterranean couple aged between 20 and 30, seen at the spy’s flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico, central London, late one evening in June or July.

“They haven’t come forward and we have to ask ourselves why that would be,” the source said.

There were reports yesterday that Mr Williams had met a similar couple at the Patisserie Valerie in Holland Park, west London on a number of occasions.

Officers are still looking at fast-acting poisons such as strychnine and arsenic but have ruled out slower acting substances such as thallium or the radioactive Polonium 210 that killed the former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, because CCTV images a few days before Mr Williams died showed he was in good health.

The state of decomposition of the body suggests that Mr Williams died shortly after he was last seen in Holland Park on August 14 and shopping in Harrods in Knightsbridge on August 15.

ITN : Spy death 'may have been professional hit'

Spy death 'may have been professional hit'

September 12, 2010

It has been reported that the intelligence services are investigating possible foreign involvement in the death of spy Gareth Williams.

The 31-year-old worked for the intelligence services at GCHQ and was on secondment to MI6 when he was found dead.

Police found his decomposing body zipped up in a sports bag.

Now concern is said to be growing within the intelligence community that he may have been the victim of a professional hit by a foreign power.

MI6, MI5 and GCHQ - are reported to be working closely to try and establish whether or not Williams was targeted.

Metro : Dead MI6 worker 'may have climbed into bag by himself'

Dead MI6 worker 'may have climbed into bag by himself'

September 12, 2010

An MI6 worker found dead inside a sports bag may have suffocated after climbing into the holdall by himself, it has been suggested.

The body of Gareth Williams was discovered in his flat in London last month, sparking a major police investigation and a flurry of rumours about how he died.

It is thought police are working on the theory he may have been the victim of a random murder, but the difficulty in collecting evidence means they are also considering other possibilities.

According to the Mail on Sunday, officers are now looking at the idea that the 31-year-old died after a sex game went wrong.

They believe he may have climbed into the sports bag himself as part of an erotic asphyxiation ritual and then been unable to get out.

Although the bag, which was found in Mr Williams' bath, was locked, the key for the padlock was discovered inside the holdall.

A female member of the police team investigating his death has apparently managed to recreate the scenario, by climbing into an identical bag, zipping it up and then padlocking it from the inside.

The claim is the latest in a series of bizarre reports about the codebreaker's death and private life. Some of the lurid rumours even prompted his family to suggest that Mr Williams may be the victim of a smear campaign.

His family are so unhappy with the lack of progress in the investigation and the failure of two post-mortems to identify a cause of death, that they are reported to have requested the release of his body so they can commission their own tests.

ninemsn (Au) : MI6 spy may have died in sex game gone wrong

MI6 spy may have died in sex game gone wrong

By ninemsn staff | September 12, 2010

Police investigating the bizarre death of British spy Gareth Williams believe he may have died during a sex game gone wrong.

In a police re-enactment, a female officer climbed into the bag where Williams' naked body was found, the Mail on Sunday newspaper reports.

The officer managed to zip up the bag and padlock it from inside, leading to speculation Williams had done the same thing and suffocated when he could not unlock himself.

Fuelling the theory is the fact police found a key to the padlock inside the bag alongside Williams’ body.

Williams, 31, worked for the secret intelligence service MI6 and his naked remains were found in the bag in his bathtub in his London flat on August 23.

There was no evidence of violence or cuts on his body, suggesting a struggle had not taken place, and there were no signs of forced entry at his Pimlico flat.

He was working with MI6 on secondment from GCHQ, which monitors communications for intelligence purposes and is based in Cheltenham, west England.

A spokesman from Scotland Yard declined to comment on the report, but said they were keeping an open mind about the case.

Express : NOW US EXPERT IS CALLED IN OVER GARETH WILLIAMS DEATH MYSTERY

NOW US EXPERT IS CALLED IN OVER GARETH WILLIAMS DEATH MYSTERY

By James Murray | September 12,2010

A LEADING US pathologist may fly in this week to try to unravel the mystery behind the bizarre death of spy Gareth Williams.

A post mortem examination in London last month failed to find a cause of death of the super-fit 31-year-old code breaker who was on secondment to MI6 from the GCHQ listening post in Cheltenham.

Now baffled Scotland Yard detectives hope to bring in a medical examiner from the US who has been trained in CIA and FBI techniques to look for sophisticated methods of assassinations using hard-to-detect substances.

The decision to call for help from America is a sign of the Yard’s ­frustration.

The grieving family of bachelor Mr Williams have called for his body to be released so they can get a second post mortem examination conducted by their own pathologist. They may now hold back on that demand until they hear the findings of the US expert.

Extensive forensic tests at the flat in Alderney Street and from the samples taken at the post mortem examination are still going on.

The Yard says initial indications from the toxicology examinations show no trace of any alcohol or ­routine or recreational drugs. Testing for other substance continues.

Other lines of inquiry are proving equally unproductive.

Detectives had hoped to trace a man and woman of Mediterranean appearance seen entering the apartment block in Pimlico, London, where Mr Williams lived one night in June or July but all their inquiries so far have drawn a blank.

A source said: “It is proving to be a very complex inquiry. Some ­people are calling these people the ghost couple because they seem to have slipped into the area by ­managing to avoid being captured on CCTV.

“The longer it goes on without them being traced or coming ­forward, the more suspicion they are arousing.”

Last week the Sunday Express reported claims that Mr Williams had told his bosses he believed he was being followed by two men. On Monday police discounted this idea then admitted they wanted to trace the mystery couple.

Detectives last week released CCTV footage of Mr Williams entering Holland Park Tube station on Saturday, August 14, at 3pm.

The next day CCTV images showed him shopping in Brompton Road, south-west London. He went to a cash machine then into Harrods and was seen alone in Hans Crescent heading for Sloane Street.

He was wearing the same clothing on both days, a red T-shirt, beige trousers and white trainers, suggesting he may have spent the night somewhere other than his home.

When he failed to turn up for work at MI6, just a short walk from his home, uniformed police went to his top-floor flat on August 23.

They found his naked body in a zipped and padlocked red North Face holdall in an empty bath in the en-suite bathroom. There was no sign of a forced entry or any ­disturbance inside the flat.

Detectives are trying to establish whether it was possible for him to have got into the holdall himself then locked himself inside but they consider that unlikely.

It is understood Mr Williams was asexual and had no interest in ­unusual sexual practices. There was no indication he intended to take his own life.

Detective Chief Inspector ­Jacqueline Sebire of Homicide and Serious Crime Command, who is leading the investigation, said: “This remains a complex and unexplained death inquiry.

“I would appeal to anyone who may have seen, or had contact with Gareth in the period between August 11 and 23 to come forward and speak with us at the Incident Room on 0208 358 0200, or to remain anonymous by calling Crime­stoppers on 0800 555 111.”

Daily Mail : Detectives believes dead MI6 spy may have zipped HIMSELF in bag in bizarre sex game that went wrong

Detectives believes dead MI6 spy may have zipped HIMSELF in bag in bizarre sex game that went wrong

By Simon Walters and Glen Owen | September 12, 2010

* WPC climbed into bag to show how he may have died

Police believe the MI6 spy found dead in a sports bag in a bath inside his flat may have died after a bizarre sex game went wrong, according to well-placed sources.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that a woman police officer climbed into the holdall in which codebreaker Gareth Williams’ naked body was found, re-enacting the events which it is thought could have led to his death.

She managed to zip up the bag and padlock it from the inside, leading investigators to conclude that Mr Williams may have done the same for sexual kicks and suffocated when he could not reopen it.

The theory was bolstered by the fact that a key to the padlock was found alongside his body inside the £150 bag.

Despite being crouched in the holdall, the police officer was able to squeeze her hand through a small gap between the padlock and the zip fastener and lock it from the inside.

Police believe Mr Williams may have gone through the same extraordinary routine, and then passed out, possibly as a result of panic when he was unable to reopen the padlock.

The identity of the officer who undertook the unusual police assignment is not known.

She was chosen partly because her petite size is similar to the slim and short frame of 31-year-old keep-fit fanatic Mr Williams.

His body was found in an extra-large North Face bag, a type which is favoured by explorers because of its 140 litres of storage capacity, durable material, double stitching, twin haul handles and locking zips.

Erotic asphyxiation is defined as the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal.

The practice claimed the life of Tory MP Stephen Milligan, whose body was found in 1994 with a bag over his head and an orange in his mouth.

Figures have not been recorded for the number of auto-erotic fatal­ities (AEFs) in America, although it is estimated between 500 and 1,000 occur in the US every year.

Although most AEFs arise from the use of a noose to restrict the supply of oxygen, deaths have occurred after victims put themselves into bags.

In one example, a Yale University student died after zipping himself into an airtight vinyl bag and binding his hands.

Police have been mystified since cycling enthusiast Mr Williams was found dead inside his £400,000 two-bedroom flat in Pimlico, half-a-mile from the MI6 HQ in Westminster, three weeks ago.

The initial reaction of the police constable who discovered his body was: ‘This is a murder scene.’

There were also rumours that Mr Williams was the victim of a professional ‘hit’. Other theories included the suggestion that he had been murdered by Russian agents.

Tests on his body were ordered to establish whether he was poisoned, as happened when Polonium 210 radiation was used to murder exiled Russian secret agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

Initial toxicology tests showed no traces of alcohol or rec­reational drugs in Mr Williams’ system.

Police sources say that the results of more sophisticated tests, carried out to establish the cause of death, might not be known for up to a fortnight.

The MI6 agent’s family have angrily accused the Government of running a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign to blacken his name after reports that he was gay and a cross-dresser.

Police denied claims that gay magazines, bondage gear and the phone numbers of gay escort men were found in the apartment near his body.

Police also dismissed allegations of irregularities in his finances and that a top-secret laptop computer had gone missing from his flat.

Crucially, there was no evidence of violence and no cuts or bruises on Mr Williams’ body, suggesting there had been no struggle.

Nor was there any sign of forced entry to his flat, suggesting he either knew his killer and let them in – or there was no killer.

Mr Williams, from Anglesey, North Wales, worked as a cipher and codes expert for the Government’s eavesdropping centre GCHQ in Cheltenham.

He was on a year-long secondment to MI6 which was due to end days after he was found dead.

A child prodigy who had a degree in maths at 17 and went on to obtain a PhD, Mr Williams had the highest security clearance available to an intelligence officer and was part of a secretive ‘cell’ that created devices that can steal data from mobiles and laptops.

He carried out similar work on frequent visits to the National Security Agency in the US.

Mr Williams, who lived on his own and did not have a partner, returned from a ‘planned holiday’ in the US on Wednesday, August 11.

Using his mobile phone to track his last whereabouts, police trawling through CCTV discovered that Mr Williams had made several shopping trips to London’s West End and Knightsbridge on August 14 and 15.

After visiting Harrods, he walked towards a nearby Dolce & Gabbana store, though he did not go in. It is the last time he was seen alive.

Last night a Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘It would be inappropriate to comment at this stage of the investigation. We are keeping an open mind about the case.’

Daily Mail : Mystery of meetings with couple in a cafe five miles from home

Mystery of meetings with couple in a cafe five miles from home [scroll down]

By ABUL TAHER and IAN GALLAGHER | September 12, 2010

Gareth Williams had a series of mysterious meetings at a cafe in the weeks leading up to his death.

Witnesses said the MI6 codebreaker’s late-morning encounters at Patisserie Valerie in Holland Park, West London, took place twice a week and never lasted longer than a few minutes.

Mr Williams, who lived five miles away in Pimlico, usually met a man and a dark-haired woman in their early 30s, although the man occasionally turned up alone.

Polish waitress Magdalena Kolakowska, 24, recalled that Mr Williams would sit at the back of the dimly lit cafe ‘so he could keep an eye on the door’.

Ordering an Americano coffee, he then ‘waited for the couple to approach his table and speak to him’. Miss Kolakowska added: ‘They would come up to him as if they had suddenly just seen him and say, “Hi.” They would speak to him for two or three minutes and go. They would never sit down or have a coffee with him.’

In all, she recalls about eight such encounters. She could not remember any items passing between them and heard nothing of their conversations because all three spoke in low voices.

But it was the brevity of the meetings – coupled with their regularity – that struck staff as odd. They assumed that Mr Williams, who was dressed casually, was local.

Last week, police announced they were seeking a man and a woman, both of Mediterranean appearance, who called at Mr Williams’ home late one evening in June or July.

Although the man and woman at the cafe are roughly the same age as the couple being sought by police, staff say they did not look Mediterranean.

Patisserie Valerie is next to Holland Park Underground station, where Mr Williams was caught on CCTV on August 14, some 24 hours before he was last seen alive.

Inquiries by this newspaper have established that he visited Holland Park up to four times a week in the two months before his death.

Besides Patisserie Valerie, he went to other cafes and was seen at a nearby Hilton Hotel. He invariably arrived on his bicycle and was always seen between 10am and 1pm.

Holland Park is primarily an upmarket residential district, although a number of countries, including Russia and Uzbekistan, maintain embassies there.

Another Polish waitress at Patisserie Valerie, 29-year-old Susana Ribeiro, also recalled seeing Mr Williams there – the last occasion just after he had returned from a holiday in the US on August 11.

‘If he wasn’t sitting inside at the back, he would park his bike at the lamp-post, sit at the middle table outside and have a coffee,’ she said.

Miss Kolakowska added: ‘Some days he would bring a device with him that looked like an Apple iPad, but was much bigger, and he would watch news or some moving picture on it.’

Vanessa Riley, a pensioner in her 60s who lives in a flat behind Holland Park station, said she saw Mr Williams in two other cafes near the station over the summer.

Mrs Riley became so concerned after she heard of his death she reported what she saw to police. ‘All I can say is I saw him meeting people at these cafes,’ she said.

Last night police refused to be drawn on the significance of the sightings.

Detectives have already tracked Mr Williams’ movements to Holland Park, apparently by checking his journeys on his Oyster ticket, the plastic travel card commuters use on the Underground.

They took away CCTV footage from 29 different cameras at Holland Park station and have since released footage of Mr Williams arriving at the station on August 14 and, the following day, shopping in Harrods.

There were reports yesterday that Mr Williams’ family, upset at the slow progress of the police investigation into his death, want to commission their own post-mortem examination.

Meanwhile, security sources said that Mr Williams was recruited by GCHQ after it became aware of his ‘extraordinary prowess at computer games’.

‘He was achieving rare high scores on these espionage and war games that are played on the internet,’ said a source. ‘I know it sounds daft, but this is how he was discovered.’

Two years ago, GCHQ ran an advertising campaign in online games, including Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent, to tempt web-savvy graduates to become spies.

Express : DEAD SPY’S FAMILY DEMAND BODY

DEAD SPY’S FAMILY DEMAND BODY

By Daily Express Reporter | September 11, 2010

THE grieving relatives of murdered MI6 spy Gareth Williams last night demanded to have his body back.

The family wants to commission their own post-mortem examination.

The move comes after the coroner dealing with the case has repeatedly refused to hand over the agent’s body as police are still investigating how the 31-year-old died.

The delay has caused further anguish for Mr Williams’s family in north Wales as relatives have not been able to hold a funeral and are frustrated about the lack of progress into the investigation surrounding his death.

A source close to the family last night said: “It is becoming very frustrating trying to get to the bottom of whatever has happened. There are just so many things we still don’t know. We have made it clear to the police that we want the body back as soon as possible.”

Mr Williams’s naked body was discovered in a sports bag in the bathroom of his top-floor flat in Pimlico, London, near MI6 headquarters on August 23.

There were no signs of a break-in or clues as to how the gifted mathematician died. The sports bag had been padlocked.

Telegraph : Concern grows over foreign involvement in spy's death

Concern grows over foreign involvement in spy's death

Concern is growing within the intelligence community that the MI6 spy found dead in his London flat may have been the victim of a professional hit by a foreign power.

By Patrick Sawer and Gordon Thomas | September 11, 2010

Sources have told this newspaper that Britain's intelligence services – MI6, MI5 and GCHQ – are liaising closely to establish whether Gareth Williams was targeted by a foreign power.

The 31-year-old was seconded from GCHQ to work on top-secret systems to defend British banks and transport infrastructure from cyber attack and to eavesdrop on terrorist communications.

As a result he may have come to the attention of foreign intelligence agencies.

Security service sources suggest that the most likely explanation for Mr Williams's death is still to be found in his private life, but they admit they are not yet certain and are considering a range of explanations.

Some officials are starting to believe the way the killing was carried out – leaving few, if any, immediate clues as to the cause of death – could point to a professionally-carried-out assassination.

Scotland Yard, which is leading the investigation into his death, said: "We're not at the stage where we can pinpoint how Mr Williams died and all avenues in this investigation remain open. We are keeping an open mind."

It is feared that by the time of his death last month Mr Williams's presence in London had become known to foreign spies, despite the fact he was living in a MI6 safe house with an alarm system linking him to nearby MI6 headquarters.

"It would have been part of their brief", said a British intelligence officer.

The 31-year-old maths and computer expert would have been regarded as a valuable asset for his knowledge of the inner-workings of GCHQ, the government's listening post in Cheltenham, and for his work on preventing cyber attacks on the banking and transport infrastructure.

It is understood Mr Williams's job at the time of his death was creating computer defences in the City of London. Williams would have had access to information which other countries would want to obtain.

The intelligence source said: "His job was to defend the banking system on which Britain's banking, commerce and all our public services depend. It was the kind of work that would have made him prime target for recruitment.

"He was also in a position to know about huge money transfers out of the Middle East which were linked to terror groups. It would be priceless data."

One theory being examined is that Mr Williams may have had an approach from a rival agency, and either rebuffed it without informing his superiors or initially agreed to co-operate then got cold feet.

If such an approach had been exposed there would have been severe political and diplomatic repercussions, making it expedient for Mr Williams to be killed.

It can be revealed that Williams had also played an important role in creating signal intelligence equipment, known as sigint, to listen to Taliban communications in Afghanistan.

He had helped in fitting out three Brittan-Norman Islander aircraft with this equipment to be used as airborne-listening stations.

Based at RAF Northolt in West London since 2007 they have flown over selected British cities searching for communications between suspected terrorists.

A key part of the equipment is the wide-band recorders that Mr Williams helped to develop. Each has the capacity to vacuum up continuous mobile phone traffic in a city the size of Bradford.

The "product" is then downloaded to GCHQ where state-of-the-art computers analyse the voices using voice-recognition software.

Mr Williams's knowledge of US intelligence agencies would have also been valuable. He spent several months at Menwith Hill, the secret listening station in Yorkshire used by the United States to intercept coded messages, and Fort Meade in Maryland, the home of the US's National Security Agency.

The death of Mr Williams has puzzled detectives since August 23, when his body was found inside a sports holdall, padlocked from the outside and left in the bath of the safe house where he was staying while on secondment to the service from his employer GCHQ, the government listening post.

There was no evidence of a struggle or a break in at the Pimlico flat and nothing had been stolen.

Although nothing has been discounted the evidence gathered so far suggests it is increasingly unlikely that Mr Williams was the victim of a random attack or a sex game that went wrong.

Pathologists have carried out two post-mortems, but both failed to establish how Mr Williams died, though the examination was complicated by the fact that the body was said to be in an "advanced state of decay".

What is known, however, is that Williams, a cycling enthusiast, had not been shot or stabbed and did not appear to have been strangled.

Scotland Yard say detectives are now awaiting the result of toxicology tests.

These would establish whether Mr Williams was poisoned using a deadly toxin such as strychnine, cyanide or thallium, administered in such a way as to leave no mark visible to the naked eye.

Sources state that Home Office pathologists are also looking for evidence that Mr Williams was smothered to death, a method that can leave no trace and is extremely hard to detect.

Concern about the possible involvement of a foreign agency has increased further following a public appeal issued last week [Monday, September 7] by Scotland Yard detectives, who are taking the lead in the investigation.

Detectives said they were trying to trace a couple Mediterranean appearance, aged between 20 and 30, who visited the house in Pimlico late one night in the weeks before Mr Williams died.

The Yard revealed the couple were the only people who had been seen around the time of his death at the property in Alderney Street not to be accounted for.

Neighbours told police the pair were let in through the communal front door late one evening, in either June or July. It is believed they were visiting Mr Williams and detectives want them to come forward so they can be eliminated from their inquiries.

Police have visited Mr Williams's landlady in Cheltenham, where he lived for 10 years before being seconded to MI6. They asked Jennifer Elliot about his working hours and lifestyle and about any friends or acquaintances who may have visited his lodgings.

Scotland Yard repeated its appeal for the 'Mediterranean couple' on Friday. A spokesman said: "We are still very keen to speak to the pair. They may have useful information."

Mr Williams's family are reportedly unhappy at the lack of progress in the investigation and are said to have demanded the return of his body. Reports say they would like to commission an independent own post-mortem examination into his death.

A source close to the family was reported as saying: "It is becoming very frustrating to get to the bottom of whatever has happened.

"There are just so many things we still don't know. We have made it clear to the police that we want the body back as soon as possible."

However, Dr Paul Knapman, the coroner in charge of the inquest, is reluctant to release the body until pathologists have completed their tests and established the cause of death.

Mirror : Family of tragic Gareth Williams want body back

Family of tragic Gareth Williams want body back

September 11, 2010

Murdered MI6 spy Gareth Williams' angry family last night demanded that his body is released so they can organise their own postmortem.

The coroner has refused to release the body because police don't yet know exactly how he died.

But the delay has infuriated his relatives who have been unable to hold a funeral more than three weeks after his death.

A family source was reported as saying: "We've made it clear to the police we want the body back as soon as possible."

Mr Williams, 31, was found dead in a sports bag in the bath of his Central London flat.

Police chiefs say that the first postmortem and subsequent tests have proved inconclusive.

Daily Mail : Spy's family demand the truth: Relatives of dead MI6 man demand body for independent tests

Spy's family demand the truth: Relatives of dead MI6 man demand body for independent tests

By Sam Greenhill and Charlotte Gill | September 10, 2010

The family of murdered MI6 spy Gareth Williams have demanded his body back, it emerged last night.

They would like to commission their own post-mortem examination, it is understood.

It is a clear sign they are rapidly running out of patience with the police investigation into his death.

The coroner in charge of the case has consistently refused to release the codebreaker's body because detectives have still to discover exactly how he died.

But this delay is infuriating the brilliant mathematician's relatives in North Wales.

They have not been able to hold a funeral and are equally unhappy about the apparent lack of progress into explaining what happened to the 31-year-old.

Yesterday a source close to the family said: 'It is becoming very frustrating trying to get to the bottom of whatever has happened. 'There are just so many things we still don't know.

'We have made it clear to the police that we want the body back as soon as possible.'

It is more than three weeks since detectives began investigating the murder.

Mr Williams's naked body was found in a sports bag in the bath of his top-floor London flat near MI6 headquarters on August 23.

There were no obvious signs of an intruder or clues to how he died and it was later revealed the bag had been padlocked.

Police have announced that the first postmortem examination, carried out two days after Mr Williams's body was found, and toxicology tests were inconclusive.

There was no outward sign that he met a violent death and there was no trace of drugs or alcohol in his blood.

Intriguingly, a further 'examination of the body' was undertaken last week but investigators have refused to reveal why the procedure was carried out or what it revealed.

Pathologists have been searching for signs of whether a rare drug or poison was used.

Last Monday, in their first public appeal, police announced they were seeking a man and a woman, both of Mediterranean appearance, who called at No. 36 Alderney Street in June or July, late one evening, and were let into the communal front door.

Yesterday police renewed their appeal, saying: 'They are yet to contact police and officers are still keen for this couple to come forward.'

On Wednesday the coroner, Dr Paul Knapman, and detectives met behind closed doors to discuss the progress of the case.

Mystery surrounds what was discussed and no announcement has been made for when the next hearing will take place.

But it is known a decision was taken not to release the body to the family. A security source revealed: 'The family are not happy with the way it was going. All their questions are basically being met with one of two answers: that the information is unknown or not disclosable.

'Eventually, they said that if they were not going to be given answers, then they wanted to have his body back.

'They wanted to have their own tests carried out.'

The source said the family was considering paying for an independent pathologist to conduct an examination.

Detectives are struggling to piece together what happened to Mr Williams between the last time he was seen, captured on CCTV on August 15 shopping at Harrods, and eight days later when he was found.

Uniformed officers discovered his body that afternoon after being alerted by friends, family and MI6 that he was missing and not responding to calls.

Mr Williams worked for the Government's eavesdropping service GCHQ. He was an expert on ciphers and had been on a secondment to MI6 in London.

He had just returned from the U.S, where police said he had been on holiday, coming back to Britain on August 11.

Mr Williams lived for his job and was a cycling fanatic, regularly riding with his father around Anglesey and in local competitions with his club.

His parents, Ian, an engineer at Wylfa power station, and Ellen, who worked in education, live in a bungalow in Holyhead, Anglesey.

They have been horrified at unsavoury claims about their bachelor son's supposedly wild homosexual lifestyle.

They feared lurid allegations surrounding his private life, since denied, were planted as part of a 'dirty tricks' campaign.

Last night Scotland Yard said: 'We have got a family liaison officer working very closely with the family.'

San Francisco Examiner : Was British code-breaker assassinated?

Was British code-breaker assassinated?

By Barbara Hollingsworth, Local Opinion Editor | September 10, 2010

Jeff Stein, the Washington Post’s SpyTalk blogger, says that unnamed “U.S. intelligence officials” have downplayed the possibility that British code-breaker Gareth Williams – who worked closely with the U.S. National Security Agency at Fort Meade and American intelligence officials in Kabul – was assassinated.

But back in London, where the naked, decomposing body of the 31-year-old “math genius” was found August 23 in a padlocked duffel bag in the bathroom of an apartment kept as a “safe house” by Britain’s M16, police are not so sure. “Murder detectives say they are still looking at whether Gareth Williams may have been killed by a foreign intelligence agency seeking to stop his work on intercepting messages and code-breaking,” according to the Daily Telegraph.

Williams was “on loan” to M16 from Britain’s top-secret Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and reportedly played a “key role” overseeing Echelon, a secret electronic network that links satellites and super computers in Britain, the U.S. and other Western allies that eavesdrop on terrorist networks.

There was no sign of forced entry at the Cambridge-educated mathematician’s Pimlico address. William Hughes said his nephew had recently returned from a summer visit to the U.S. (presumably to NSA). And according to the Daily Mail, investigators were also looking for Williams’ personally configured laptop, which is reportedly still missing.

Misinformation released at the time Williams’ body was discovered, including initial rumors that he had been stabbed, were later refuted. British officials also backed away from earlier reports that “bondage gear, gay contact magazines and male escorts’ phone numbers” were found at the scene.

The cause of death has still not been established. Toxicology tests found no alcohol or recreational drugs in Williams’ system. Scotland Yard called the death “suspicious and unexplained,” and announced it was looking for a “young Mediterranean couple” who visited Williams a month or two ago, but haven’t been seen since.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire of London’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command, who is leading the investigation into Williams’ murder, told reporters: “This remains a complex unexplained death enquiry.”

So ruling out the possibility that Williams was assassinated by a foreign intelligence agency would seem to be slightly premature.

The First Post : MI6 murder mystery: how the spy got into the bath

MI6 murder mystery: how the spy got into the bath

Killers aimed to destroy any forensic residue after moving Gareth Williams’ body, says intelligence analyst

By Crispin Black | September 8, 2010

In the James Bond novels, only one of 007's fellow agents is ever killed: in Moonraker, 0011 disappears on a job in Singapore. In the films, a number of 00 agents are bumped off by the bad guys, notably 002, who is shot through the neck in Beirut by "the man with the golden gun". Roger Moore and Britt Ekland are dispatched to even the score.

But in real life the agents of Britain's intelligence agencies tend, like the rest of us, to die of natural causes in their beds. Kim Philby's bed was unfortunately in Moscow, but it was a bed nevertheless.

The suspicious death of the GCHQ cipher and code expert Gareth Williams is therefore a highly unusual event.

The post-mortems have been inconclusive and the police are currently awaiting the results of sophisticated tests for obscure poisons. It certainly looks like murder - but what kind of murder?

To begin with, it was reasonable for the police to assume that the reason for his death could be found in his private, not professional, life. Statistically this was the most likely option.

In police slang, this was probably 'an ordinary decent crime' rather than an assassination or terrorist-related. At some point an outraged husband or unsuitable sexual partner would emerge.

This is becoming less likely by the day. Go with the facts. If you find a neatly packed suitcase by the door it is because someone is about to leave - ­ someone efficient. If you find a body in a padlocked bag in a bath, then what you see is what you get. The body is in a bag because it's going somewhere and it's in the bath because once it has been removed it is easy to destroy any forensic residue.

For some reason the disposal of the body was interrupted - but the killer or killers knew what they were doing.

Getting rid of a body is difficult for amateurs but easy enough if it's your trade. The IRA were good at it - so good that since the Good Friday Agreement, and as part of the reconciliation process, they have had difficulty in revealing the whereabouts of some of their unfortunate victims. At least some of them disappeared into meat processing factories close to the border. The moors and peat bogs outside Belfast still hold their secrets.

In the case of Gareth Williams, the omens are not good. The police are looking for a couple of "Mediterranean appearance" - what Scotland Yard used to call in less politically correct days 'swarthy'.

Apparently this couple were filmed going into the front door of Williams's flat. Broadcasting CCTV footage on national television is sadly a sign of desperation: the Crimestoppers approach to this baffling crime.

Maybe it was them. Maybe not. Maybe it's related to intelligence. Maybe not. But one thing is for sure: whoever killed Williams has killed before.

Mirror : Was MI6 spy nuked?

Was MI6 spy nuked?

By Jon Clements | September 7, 2010

The body of murdered MI6 agent Gareth Williams is being examined for radiation poisoning as no obvious cause of death has been found.

The move comes as police began hunting a mystery Mediterranean couple who visited his block of flats weeks before his death.

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old's corpse will be tested for traces of chemicals such as Polonium 210 - used to murder exiled Russian secret agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

Other poisons police are searching for include traces of cyanide, stricknine and even ricin, which Bulgarian agents used to murder dissident Georgi Markov in 1978 on Waterloo Bridge.

A postmortem has found no answers and toxicology tests unearthed no signs of alcohol or drugs in his system.

Police sources say there is no indication of radioactive poisons but investigators could not rule out anything.

Scotland Yard yesterday released CCTV footage of his last-known movements as he caught a Tube train on August 14 and shopped in Central London the next day. His naked corpse was found in a zipped and padlocked red North Face bag dumped in his bath on August 23.

Detectives believe the unidentified couple may have visited him at the apartment late at night in June or July. The man and woman, thought be aged 20 to 30, were buzzed in by entryphone at the communal front door but none of the neighbours knew them.

The couple are the only recent visitors to the address in Pimlico, Central London, believed to still be unaccounted for. One theory is they were acquaintances of the murdered agent who were unknown to his family or employers.

Tests have shown there were no marks on Mr Williams' body, no signs of forced entry or disturbance at the property and nothing was stolen. The Cambridge-educated maths genius had returned home on August 11 from a holiday in the US.

He had often flown to the States on top secret work visiting the National Security Agency's eavesdropping HQ. Over the next few days back in London he was captured on CCTV at Holland Park Tube station in West London, dressed in a red T-shirt and clutching a shopping bag. The last camera sighting of him was on August 15, when he went into Harrods in Knightsbridge and walked towards nearby Sloane Street, near a Dolce and Gabbana store.

Police found his body on the afternoon or August 23 after being alerted by MI6 staff when he failed to turn up to work.

Det Chief Insp Jacqueline Sebire, leading the investigation, said: "I would appeal to anyone who may have seen or had contact with Gareth between August 11 and 23 to come forward. This remains a complex, unexplained death enquiry."

Russian exile Mr Litvinenko collapsed on November 1 four years ago after drinking from a cup of tea spiked with Polonium 210 while meeting two former KGB secret service men at a hotel in London.

Doctors were initially mystified about the cause of his illness. They wrongly believed it was rat poison until advanced tests identified the rare radioactive isotope.

Mr Litvineko died on November 23 from heart failure after suffering agonising stomach pains. Six months later UK prosecutors announced that former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi should be charged with murder. Russia will not extradite him.

~~~

POLONIUM

Named after Poland. Just 0.1 microgrammes - equal to one-ten millionth of an aspirin pill - would be fatal.

Daily Record : Pathologists test for radioactive poisons in blood of MI6 spy found dead padlocked in bag

Pathologists test for radioactive poisons in blood of MI6 spy found dead padlocked in bag

September 7, 2010

DETECTIVES probing the mystery death of an MI6 codebreaker are looking for radioactive poisons.

Gareth Williams, 31, was found naked in a padlocked sports bag at his London flat.

Scotland Yard confirmed that detailed tests had found no traces of drugs, medicines or even alcohol in his blood.

An earlier postmortem found no marks on Mr Williams and no signs of a disturbance at his flat near MI6 HQ.

Police now want forensic scientists to search for rare poisons - including polonium 210, used to kill former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Sources said there is no suggestion yet that radioactive substances were involved.

Police found Mr Williams on August 23 when he failed to report for his top secret work.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqui Sebire said: "This remains a complex, unexplained death inquiry".

Litvinenko died after drinking a cup of tea spiked with polonium 210 while meeting former Russian agents in London in 2006.

Newsweek (blog) : Mystery Surrounding Death of U.K. Code Breaker Deepens

Mystery Surrounding Death of U.K. Code Breaker Deepens

by Mark Hosenball | September 7, 2010

A statement released by Scotland Yard on Monday and posted on the website of the London Metropolitan Police Service reveals more details about the peculiar death of Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old mathematics wizard who worked for Britain's electronic eavesdropping agency, Government Communication Headquarters, but sheds no light on possible causes. Officials on both sides of the Atlantic acknowledge that at the moment, they have no hard information—and no real leads—to explain the bizarre circumstances in which Williams' body was found late last month in an apartment not far from the headquarters of MI-6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, where he for the last year had been on temporary assignment.

The statement describes how Williams' body was discovered by uniformed London bobbies in his apartment—possibly an MI-6 "safe house," depending upon which British media account you believe—in the posh Pimlico neighborhood about half a mile from MI-6 on Aug. 23. The police account describes the exceptionally strange circumstances in which the body was discovered: He was "found unclothed, in a zipped and padlocked red North Face holdall which was in an empty bath," Scotland Yard said.

The police account notes that there was no sign of forced entry into the apartment, "and no signs of disturbance inside. …We do not believe there is any property missing from the flat. There is no suggestion the items within the flat were specifically posed. No drugs, or indications of drug usage were recovered."

The police statement also notes that an autopsy conducted on Aug. 25 "established no obvious cause of death." The police account says that extensive forensic examinations of the Pimlico apartment and of samples taken from Williams' body during the autopsy continue, but adds that "Initial indications from the toxicology examinations show no trace of any alcohol or routine or recreational drugs."

In the statement, the police say they have confirmed that Williams, who had been on a "planned holiday in the U.S.," had returned to London on Aug. 11; video from London's wide-ranging closed-circuit video surveillance network shows him shopping after his return in well-known London retail districts. Police say they are appealing to the public for information to help identify a man and a woman who turned up late one evening at Williams' building on an unspecified day in June or July. The cops say that the couple, who were admitted to the building through the "communal front door," were between 20 and 30 years old and were both of "Mediterranean appearance." But the statement offers no other clues as to their identity, nor any further indication as to what, if any, evidence the authorities might have to link them to the dead man.

British media have been gorging themselves on ever more baroque theories about what's behind the case. A story in the Daily Mail, one of London's most aggressive tabloids, offers a menu of conflicting speculations for possible perpetrators, ranging from Islamic or Irish terrorists to Russian spies or some sinister connection to Williams' personal life. Following the widespread publication of pictures showing a svelte Williams in a tight-fitting cycling uniform, some stories suggested a possible connection with London's gay scene, noting that at least one of London's best-known gay bars was located not far from MI-6 headquarters on the South Bank of the river Thames. Williams' family has denied that he was gay.

Among the few undisputed issues in the case are certain basic facts about Williams' background. Most accounts describe him as a youthful mathematics expert and keen cyclist who was permanently assigned to GCHQ, Britain's version of the American code breaking and eavesdropping National Security Agency, but who was just about to complete a one-year temporary assignment at MI-6 headquarters in South London.

Some accounts suggest that as part of his work for GCHQ, he made periodic trips to the headquarters of both the CIA and NSA, and that the American agencies were deeply concerned about his death. However, U.S. officials have denied British media reports that the CIA is now investigating the case, and there is little indication that the FBI or the U.S. Justice Department are in any way involved. (As is its customary practice, the N.S.A. declined to offer any comment on the case.)

Apart from the latest police statement confirming that before his death, Williams had been on vacation in the U.S., there is no confirmation that he ever paid visits—official or unofficial—to any U.S. intelligence headquarters. Moreover, several U.S. officials who should have been briefed if there was any concern inside U.S. agencies that Williams' death somehow involved the compromise of U.S. or U.K. spy secrets say that they have been given no information about the case whatsoever. Knowledgeable officials on both sides of the Atlantic do stress, however, that at this point, whatever mysteries the case does appear to present, there is no evidence that Williams was involved with a spy unit other than the British agencies that employed him, and therefore no evidence suggesting he was a double agent.

Wales Online : Police hunt for couple seen near murdered spy’s flat

Police hunt for couple seen near murdered spy’s flat

by Darren Devine, Western Mail | September 7, 2010

DETECTIVES probing the death of Welsh spy Gareth Williams yesterday revealed they are hunting a man and woman of “Mediterranean appearance”.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson described the pair, aged between 20 and 30, as “potential suspects” over the murder of the code breaker.

The two were let into the communal entrance of Mr Williams’ flat in Pimlico, central London, late one evening in June or July.

His decomposing naked body was found padlocked shut in a holdall in a bath in the top floor flat by officers who broke in on August 23 after Mr Williams failed to appear at work for several days.

Yesterday officers released CCTV footage of him as they appealed for the public’s help.

It showed the 30-year-old, from Valley, Anglesey, entering Holland Park Underground station about 3pm on Saturday, August 14.

Police said post-mortem examinations found “no obvious cause of death” and initial indications from toxicology tests showed no trace of any alcohol or routine or recreational drugs.

A force spokesman added there was no sign of any forced entry to his flat in Alderney Street or disturbance inside, and no property was believed to be missing.

Mr Williams, who worked at Government listening post GCHQ, was days from completing a one-year secondment to the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, in Vauxhall, London.

Police said Mr Williams had returned from a planned holiday in the United States on August 11, and went shopping “on a number of occasions” in the West End and Knightsbridge areas.

On August 15, he went to a cash machine and then to Harrods before CCTV images show him in Hans Crescent, heading towards Sloane Street, near a Dolce and Gabbana store, at about 2.30pm.

Police said Mr Williams, who was 5ft 7in and of muscular build with short hair, was wearing a red T-shirt, beige trousers and white trainers.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the inquiry for the force’s homicide and serious crime command, said: “I would appeal to anyone who may have seen, or had contact with Gareth in the period between 11th and 23rd August to come forward and speak with us.

“This remains a complex unexplained death inquiry.”

Though his body was found more than a fortnight ago scientists have, as yet, been unable to establish a cause of death.

And despite police referring to an “unexplained death”, Home Office forensic pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers said the circumstances suggest it was “clearly a homicide”.

Dr Rodgers, who has worked on high-profile murder investigations in North Wales, said aside from cases where someone has died of injuries such as stab or gunshot wounds, establishing a cause of death was more complex in a decomposing corpse.

He suggested Mr Williams may have been poisoned or strangled with a necktie as a pathologist would have problems establishing this on a decomposing body.

Dr Rodgers said: “The difficulty with any body that’s decomposing is that some of the subtle signs of certain modes of death can be very difficult to ascertain – like asphyxia with a ligature.”

Dr Rodgers, 57, who works part-time at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, added: “What you have to remember is that from the process of decomposition chemicals are produced in the body which can affect the analysis of various poisons, so you’d get false positive and negative results.

“I don’t know anything about the case other than what I’ve read in the papers and has been on the news, but I suspect he’s either been poisoned or strangled in some way.”

In a statement shortly after his body was found, Mr Williams’ parents Ian and Ellen hit out at rumours that suggested the codes expert was involved in risky sexual practices, saying they had been “very distressing”.

In tribute to him they said: “Gareth was a generous, loving son, brother, and friend, and he was a very private person.

“He was a great athlete, and loved cycling and music.

“His loss has devastated us and we would ask anyone with information to come forward and assist the police inquiry.”

WorldNetDaily : Rattled: Intel community reacts to sudden death

Rattled: Intel community reacts to sudden death

Body of computer expert found inside locked case in apartment

September 7, 2010

Whether Gareth Williams was at the wrong place at the wrong time or he was targeted by a network of foreign interests who wanted him out of their way, the government employee's death is raising alarms in the United Kingdom, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

That's primarily because of his job on the cutting edge of computer technology at the Government Communications Headquarters, a sprawling organization with its fingers in dozens, perhaps hundreds, of stealth projects.

The investigation after Williams' body was found in a large locked sports bag in the bathroom of his apartment has been unprecedented, with MI6, MI5 and Scotland Yard's murder squad on the case.

The cause of his death hasn't been confirmed, but sources report poison, shooting and knifing largely have been eliminated. The Russian SVR and the Chinese Secret Intelligence Service remain in the circle of suspicion. Some reports allege he was a double agent, and there is speculation he was killed because he refused to cooperate with foreign interests.

Staff members at GCHQ, where doors simply are marked "No Admission," have been left stunned.

Williams worked in computer technology, using his mathematical abilities in the fight against terrorism and cyber warfare. He had come into the service of his country after finishing at Cambridge.

© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Washington Post (blog) : Gareth Williams probe focuses on mystery couple

Gareth Williams probe focuses on mystery couple

By Jeff Stein | September 7, 2010

London police, still stumped by the bizarre death of British code-breaker Gareth Williams last month, are looking for a young couple "of Mediterranean appearance" who were recorded by security cameras while visiting his building late at night in the weeks or months before he died, according to local reports.

Police have also been studying tapes from London’s closed-circuit security cameras that reportedly recorded Williams shopping in London’s fashionable Sloane district in the days before his decomposing body was discovered in an athletic bag in his apartment.

An autopsy discovered no drugs or alcohol in his system, said police, who were also investigating whether anyone made a duplicate of Williams’s keys.

An expert on the National Security Agency, meanwhile, speculated that Williams was working for the Special Projects Activity, a little-known clandestine unit buried deep in the U.K.’s General Communications Headquarters, Britain’s equivalent of the NSA.

The SPA and its American equivalent, a joint CIA-NSA operation known as the Special Collection Service, conduct ultra-sensitive operations against foreign targets from U.S. and allied embassies abroad.

Williams, a “gifted mathematician,” according to news reports, frequently visited NSA headquarters at Ft. Meade.

“All the people I talk to say Williams was probably involved in what is referred to in the intelligence trade as ‘technical operations,’ which is a broad cover-all term which generically refers to clandestine signal intelligence or telephone tapping, things like that," Matthew M. Aid, author of "The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency," said in a telephone interview.

“The targets of the clandestine special collection units include the cell phone communications of (foreign) government ministers, police officials, military commanders (and) … security teams that are following (our) intelligence agents around the city,” added Aid, a onetime Russian linguist with the NSA’s Air Force branch.

The synergy of American and British eavesdroppers, Aid and other NSA historians say, is particularly valuable to U.S. intelligence, if only because the U.K. (and other English-speaking allies, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand) have embassies -- and thus listening platforms -- where Washington doesn’t, such as in Iran and North Korea.

The NSA supplies the allies with advanced interception and code-breaking equipment, they say, and gets to share the take in return.

Daily Post : CCTV images of murdered spy Gareth Williams released

CCTV images of murdered spy Gareth Williams released

by Eryl Crump, Daily Post | September 7, 2010

Images of the last known sightings of murdered MI6 spy Gareth Williams before his body was discovered padlocked in a holdall have been released.

The CCTV images have been released by police as part of an appeal for information into the death of the 30-year-old from Valley, Anglesey.

They show Mr Williams out and about in London on the weekend of August 14/15. His body was found in a bag in the bath of his central London flat nine days later.

The first footage shows him entering Holland Park tube station in west London at about 3pm on August 14. A second bit of film shows him on the following day shopping in west London around the Brompton Road area and going into Harrods.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, said Mr Williams had returned from a planned holiday in the United States on Wednesday August 11 and went shopping “on a number of occasions” in the West End and Knightsbridge.

On Sunday August 15, he went to a cash machine and then to Harrods before CCTV images show him in Hans Crescent, heading towards Sloane Street, at about 2.30pm

Ms Sebire said: “I would appeal to anyone who may have seen or had contact with Gareth between August 11 and 23 to come forward and speak with us. This remains a complex unexplained death inquiry.”

Detectives said they were also trying to trace two people seen near the code-breaker's flat.

Ms Sebire said officers want to identify a man and a woman, both of Mediterranean appearance and aged between 20 and 30, who were let into the communal entrance of Mr Williams’ flat in Pimlico late one evening in June or July.

His body was found by officers who broke in after Mr Williams failed to appear at work for several days.

Post mortem examinations found “no obvious cause of death” and initial indications from toxicology tests showed no trace of any alcohol or routine or recreational drugs. Testing for any other substance is ongoing.

Ms Sebire said there was no sign of any forced entry to his flat in Alderney Street, no signs of disturbance inside, and no property was believed to be missing.

“There is no suggestion the items within the flat were specifically posed,” she said.

Mr Williams was days from completing a one-year secondment to the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, in London.

His horrified family have paid tribute to him describing him as a “generous, loving son, brother and friend”.

A keen cyclist, Mr Williams often visited his family, who live at Valley near Holyhead, and often took part in events organised by Holyhead Cycling Club and Clwb Rasio Mona.

His family have hit out at rumours suggesting he was involved in risky sexual practices, saying they had been “very distressing”.

In a statement they said: “His loss has devastated us and we would ask anyone with information to come forward and assist the police inquiry.”

Police urged anyone with information to contact the incident room on 0208 358 0200 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Express : SPY DEATH POLICE INQUIRY LEADS TO MYSTERY COUPLE

SPY DEATH POLICE INQUIRY LEADS TO MYSTERY COUPLE

September 7, 2010

A MYSTERY couple were being sought last night by detectives investigating the bizarre death of an MI6 spy.

The man and woman, of Mediterranean appearance and aged 20 to 30, called at codebreaker Gareth Williams’ home shortly before he died.

They “were buzzed” through the communal front door and into the converted Georgian town house in Pimlico, central London. It is not known if they visited the spy’s top-floor flat.

Details of the couple emerged as police released the last known images taken of Mr Williams, 31, before his body was found on August 23 inside a padlocked sports bag dumped in his bath.

The CCTV footage shows him in London on ­Saturday, August 14, and Sunday, August 15, shortly after he returned from a holiday in the US and eight days before his body was discovered.

As police appealed for help to piece together his last movements, there was renewed speculation that the brilliant mathematician had been poisoned or suffocated. ­Scotland Yard has not ruled out the possibility he was assassinated by a rival intelligence outfit.

Initial toxicology tests showed no trace of ­alcohol or drugs. There were no signs of forced entry or a disturbance and nothing appeared to have been stolen from inside the flat.

It is believed further scientific analysis is being carried out on the body to detect tiny traces of radioactive or other toxic materials.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire said: “I would appeal to anyone who may have seen, or had contact with Gareth between August 11 and 23 to speak to us on 0208 358 0200, or to remain anonymous, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.” She added: “This remains a complex unexplained death inquiry.”