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

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

by WILLIAM McLENNAN | November 15, 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scotland Yard: Dead Spy in a Bag Probably an Accident

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

By Nico Hines | November 14, 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Ewan Palmer | November 14, 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: e.palmer@ibtimes.co.uk
To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.co.uk

Wales Online : Lawyer of dead Welsh spy Gareth Williams' family claims he was gagged at inquest

Lawyer of dead Welsh spy Gareth Williams' family claims he was gagged at inquest

Anthony O'Toole believes there has been a security cover-up over Mr Williams' death after police yesterday insisted his death was probably accidental

By WalesOnline | November 14, 2013

The parents of spy Gareth Williams whose body was found in a bag rejected police claims yesterday that his death was accidental.

And their lawyer has said he was gagged at the 2012 inquest. Anthony O’Toole told the Daily Mirror there had been a security services cover-up, adding: “My suggestion is that the dark arts were involved.”

The body of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old maths genius, was found inside a padlocked sports holdall in a bath at a central London safehouse in August 2010.

It is believed he had been dead for more than a week.

Yesterday it was claimed that his grieving parents, Ian and Ellen, have been prevented from finding out the truth about how he died.

Mr O’ Toole, the family’s lawyer, revealed yesterday that he was banned from grilling an MI6 agent during the original inquest last year.

He said he was prevented from asking a key question of Mr Williams’ line manager – known only as Agent G – on how secret service officers could have entered his apartment.

Mr O’Toole said: “I was not allowed by the coroner to say to the spook, ‘You know how to get into the flats without keys, don’t you?’ I was told it was contrary to national security.”

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

Mr O’Toole spoke out as Mr Williams’ family rejected a statement from Scotland Yard yesterday stating that his death was “probably an accident”.

The claim, following an 18-month review of the investigation, contradicts the findings of last year’s inquest, which pointed to the likely involvement of a “third party”.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox said in a narrative verdict that she was “satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully”.

His family fear that spies gained access to his apartment and removed crucial evidence before police found the body.

In a statement they said: “We are naturally disappointed that it is still not possible to state with certainty how Gareth died.

“And the fact that the circumstances of his death are still unknown adds to our grief.

“We note that the investigation has been conducted with further interviews upon some of the witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest, and that the investigation team were at last able to interview directly members of GCHQ and SIS.

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

They said they were “disappointed” over the failure of MI6 to make inquiries “concerning Gareth’s welfare” when he failed to show up for work.

The family added: “We believe that if proper steps had been taken in the same manner as any reasonable employer further information relating to the cause of his death might have become apparent and not have been lost due to the length of time before Gareth’s body was found.

“This lack of concern for Gareth’s well-being remains an overriding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother.”

The initial police inquiry concluded, like the inquest, that someone else was probably present. But in a dramatic U-turn yesterday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: “The Metropolitan Police’s position is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

But he admitted: “The reality is that for both hypotheses, there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding.”

Mr Hewitt said detectives still could not explain why none of Mr Williams’ DNA was found on the padlock of the holdall or why his palm prints were not on the rim of the bath. They also don’t know why the heating had been left on in the flat despite it being summer.

Up to 15 unidentified DNA samples were recovered from the flat, but there was no positive evidence of a third party being present at the time of death.

Mr Hewitt insisted it was “beyond credibility” that Scotland Yard had been duped by MI6 and GCHQ as part of a cover-up.

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

He admitted mistakes had been made during the original inquiry including the failure to access Mr Williams’ MI6 vetting and personnel files for two years.

Mirror : Spy-in-the-bag Gareth Williams' lawyer was banned from asking MI6 agent how secret service could have entered his flat

Spy-in-the-bag Gareth Williams' lawyer was banned from asking MI6 agent how secret service could have entered his flat

He revealed that he was banned from grilling the agent during the original inquest last year

November 14, 2013

The bizarre death of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams has baffled investigators for more than three years.

The 31-year-old maths genius was found inside a padlocked sports holdall in a bath at a Central London safehouse in August 2010.

It is believed he had been dead for more than a week.

And yesterday it was claimed that his grieving parents, Ian and Ellen, have been prevented from finding out the truth about how he died.

The family’s lawyer, Anthony O’Toole, revealed that he was banned from grilling an MI6 agent during the original inquest last year.

He said he was prevented from asking a key question of Mr Williams’ line manager – known only as Agent G – on how secret service officers could have entered his apartment.

Mr O’Toole said: “I was not allowed by the coroner to say to the spook, ‘You know how to get into the flats without keys, don’t you?’ I was told it was contrary to national security.”

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

Mr O’Toole spoke out as Mr Williams’ family rejected a statement from Scotland Yard yesterday stating that his death was “probably an accident”.

The claim, following an 18-month review of the investigation , contradicts the findings of last year’s inquest, which pointed to the likely involvement of a “third party”.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox said in a narrative verdict that the death was “unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated”.

She was “satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully”.

Mr O’Toole fears spies gained access to his apartment and removed crucial evidence before police found the body.

In a statement the family said:“We are naturally disappointed that it is still not possible to state with certainty how Gareth died.

“And the fact that the circumstances of his death are still unknown adds to our grief.

“We note that the investigation has been conducted with further interviews upon some of the witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest, and that the investigation team were at last able to interview directly members of GCHQ and SIS. We consider that on the basis of the facts at present known, the coroner’s verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death.”

They went on to say they were “disappointed” over the failure of MI6 to make inquiries “concerning Gareth’s welfare” when he failed to show up for work.

The family added: “We believe that if proper steps had been taken in the same manner as any reasonable employer further information relating to the cause of his death might have become apparent and not have been lost due to the length of time before Gareth’s body was found.

“This lack of concern for Gareth’s well-being remains an overriding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother.”

The initial police inquiry concluded, like the inquest, that someone else was probably present.

But in a dramatic U-turn yesterday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: “The Metropolitan Police’s position is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

But he admitted: “The reality is that for both hypotheses, there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding.”

Mr Hewitt said detectives still could not explain why none of Mr Williams’ DNA was found on the padlock of the holdall or why his palm prints were not on the rim of the bath.

They also don’t know why the heating had been left on in the flat despite it being summer.

Up to 15 unidentified DNA samples were recovered from the flat, but there was no positive evidence of a third party being present at the time of death.

Mr Hewitt insisted it was “beyond credibility” that Scotland Yard had been duped by MI6 and GCHQ as part of a cover-up.

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

He admitted mistakes had been made during the original inquiry including the failure to access Mr Williams’ MI6 vetting and personnel files for two years.

But during the latest probe officers were given full access to details of Mr Williams’ work, interviewing a total of 27 members of staff from the two agencies as part of their investigation.

Mr Williams, described as mild-mannered and a keen cyclist, had been on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ.

His line manager, Agent G, was severely criticised at the inquest for failing to issue an alert despite the agent not being at work for more than a week. Some believe this would have given the intelligence agencies more than enough time to remove any evidence that could be potentially embarrassing to the state.

Mr Williams’ job was said to involve tracking the flow of money from Russia to Europe. One theory is that he was killed by Russian agents.

Family lawyer Mr O’Toole remains convinced a “third party” was involved in Mr Williams’ death.

He said: “The coroner said there was a third party, there is no doubt about it. The coroner also suggested there was an unlawful killing by a third party.

“There is no doubt there was somebody else there.”

Asked if he believed an intelligence agency went into the flat before police found the body, he said: “The curious thing in cross-examination of spooks was that his line manager went to his flat twice, before it all hit the fan, and merely knocked on the door.

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

There was also no physical evidence of any forced entry or any sign that Mr Williams was involved in a struggle.

Another theory is that agents may have returned to the apartment through a skylight to clean up evidence – even while police officers were on guard outside the flat.

Scotland Yard said Mr Williams’ interest in women’s clothing had fuelled speculation over his death. Around £20,000 worth of clothing was found in his flat, including many dresses still in their wrapping.

But the coroner had found these were a “fashion collection” and did not believe they were relevant.

The inquest heard the most likely cause of death was either oxygen depletion or hypercapnia – a build-up of carbon dioxide inside the holdall.

[video here]

Daily Mail : Did spy-in-bag killer slip back into flat through skylight to cover his tracks? New theory emerges over MI6 codebreaker death

Did spy-in-bag killer slip back into flat through skylight to cover his tracks? New theory emerges over MI6 codebreaker death

* Theory rival spy 'trained in the dark arts of the secret services' murdered British agent
* Mystery of second mobile phone containing video of victim dancing naked in nothing but cowboy boots

By Daniel Miller | May 6, 2012

Detectives investigating the mysterious death of the body-in-the-bag spy believe a killer could have slipped back into his flat through a skylight to cover his tracks, it has been claimed.

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams was found dead in his London flat in 2010. A coroner ruled that he was 'probably killed illegally and his family remain convinced he was the victim of a rival agent.

Many close to the case believe he was assassinated by a spy working for foreign powers because of his work for MI6 and the US National Security Agency.

Speculation over the exact nature of his work has been growing since Foreign Secretary William Hague signed a public interest in order to stop details being released on security grounds.

It has been claimed that MI6 and the government eavesdropping centre GCHQ, to which Williams was attached, have been working on a computer virus designed to disrupt Iran's nuclear programme.

Questions are also being asked as to how MI6 came into possession of a second iPhone belonging to Mr Williams when Police found only one at his flat.

The agency handed over the mobile containing a video of Mr Williams dancing naked except for a pair of cowboy boots after his death was discovered.

However MI6 workers are forbidden from taking their personal phones into work and experts believe it is unlikely Williams would have risked bringing in a phone containing such a video.

Curiously the iPhone discovered by police searching the flat had been completely wiped of all memory.

Investigators are now believed to be working on a theory that the second phone was taken from the flat after Williams died but before police conducted a thorough search of the property.

MI6 regulations mean efforts are made to contact any employees who do not arrive at work by 10pm, yet Mr Williams' disappearance was not reported for eight days.

Another irregularity was the fact that heating in the flat had been turned up full blast - possibly because it would have accelerated the rate at which the body decomposed - helping to destroy any evidence.

The Sunday Mirror newspaper reports an intelligence source as saying: 'It's never been mentioned that there is a skylight but it was pretty clear to a lot of people in the case that there was no better way for the killer to get back into the flat.

'They could have come back to clean up the crime scene and got in through the skylight while police were outside.

'Of course, if MI6 were involved in his death that is one explanation for how they managed to get his phone.'

Anthony O'Toole, a barrister representing the family, has suggested that Gareth could have been killed by someone who specialises in 'the dark arts of the secret services.'

Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said the theory that Mr Williams was killed by a spy was 'legitimate line of inquiry'.

She has questioned the motives of those who leaked details about Mr Williams's private life, including his visits to bondage websites. His family say the visits could have been work-related.

Police wasted time on false leads generated by the leaks. Reports that Mr Williams went to gay bars in the Vauxhall area of London, and visited websites on sadomasochism and claustrophilia – the sexual pleasure of confined spaces – proved to be false.

Dr Wilcox said Mr Williams was not a transvestite and that his collection of £20,000 of unworn women's clothes were probably gifts for friends.

She said the cause of death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated' and dismissed claims that Mr Williams had entered the sports bag seeking sexual gratification.

The coroner said: 'I wonder what the motive was for the release of this material to the media. I wonder whether this was an attempt by a third party to intimate a sexual motive.'

Telegraph : Could mystery fingerprints provide clue in dead spy case?

Could mystery fingerprints provide clue in dead spy case?

Police are still to identify up to 20 sets of fingerprints found in the flat of dead MI6 spy Gareth Williams, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

By Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | May 5, 2012

Some of the potential prints are little more than marks or “smudges” but officers hope they could still hold the key to the maths prodigy’s death.

Forensic officers are still examining them along with traces of DNA found on a towel in the kitchen.

It came as the head of the Met’s homicide squad said he believed the bizarre death could still be solved despite few clues after a two-year investigation.

Officers are preparing to return to MI6 to interview colleagues of Mr Williams and take DNA as part of a review of the case.

It followed criticism by a coroner this week over aspects of the investigation and the way some evidence was handled.

Mr Williams’ naked decomposing body was discovered in a padlocked sports bag in the bath of his Pimlico home in London in August 2010.

It had been there for a week without anyone raising concerns that the 31-year-old, who was on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, had gone missing.

At the end of an eight day inquest on Wednesday, coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said that “on the balance of probabilities” Mr Williams was “unlawfully killed” and likely to have been “criminally mediated” by a mystery third party.

A lawyer for the family has previously suggested someone expert in the “dark arts” of the secret service was linked to the death.

Anthony O’Toole also hinted that foreign forces may have been aware the flat was being used to house MI6 officers and targeted it rather than a specific agenda against Mr Williams.

During the inquest, DCI Jackie Sebire, who is leading the investigation, said more than 300 fingerprints were found around the flat.

The majority of those have been accounted for but police sources revealed around 20 are still unresolved.

Some may prove to be too weak to be of use while others may still turn out to be entirely innocent, such as from a workman.

However, experts are working hard to resolve them in the hope they may throw up a mystery visitor to the flat.

Faint traces of the DNA of at least two other people were found on the bag containing Mr Williams but forensic officers fear they are too weak to ever be of use.

There is more hope surrounding DNA tests on a towel found in the kitchen which are due to be concluded within the next few weeks.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, head of the Met's homicide squad, said of the riddle: “I think it can be resolved and DCI Sebire has my full support.

“We will make every effort to do that, will review the investigation and follow up lines.”

The Daily Telegraph disclosed yesterday that MI6 fear Scotland Yard is trying to make it a scapegoat for failings in the investigation.

Tensions are growing between the intelligence services and police over a possible blame game following criticism by the coroner.

Dr Wilcox criticised the delays in spotting Mr Williams was missing and apparent failures in the handling of potential evidence.

The inquest heard how nine memory sticks that may have belonged to the codebreaker and a bag similar to the one he was found dead in were discovered his office but never handed over to the Met team that investigated his death for almost two years.

A senior Whitehall source said there was concern within the intelligence service that the police were using it as a “scapegoat” to mask their own failings in solving the mystery.

West End Extra : Coroner records 'unnatural death' verdict, but will we ever know what really happened to the spy found in a holdall?

Coroner records 'unnatural death' verdict, but will we ever know what really happened to the spy found in a holdall?

by JOSH LOEB | May 4, 2012

THE building that hosted the inquest into the death of Gareth Williams is located just steps from Sherlock Holmes’s fictional home in Baker Street.

But perhaps even someone of the calibre of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective might lack the ability to unravel what has already become known as “The Alderney Street Mystery”.

An inquest, held inside the annexe of the creaking Marylebone Council House building in Marylebone Road, concluded this week after seven days of evidence and a blizzard of media coverage.

It has almost certainly been the most complex Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox has heard since taking up the post a year ago, and it is hard to imagine a more haunting case.

Mr Williams, 31, a prodigious agent for MI6, was found dead inside a padlocked holdall in a bath in an en suite bathroom at his Pimlico flat on August 23, 2010.

He was naked and was lying on his back curled up in a partial foetal position.

There were no signs of a break-in or struggle at the property.

The flat was eerily tidy and neither Mr Williams’s fingerprints nor his footprints were evident on the bathroom tiles or sides of the bath.

No forensic traces have yet been pinpointed from which any third party can be identified, but experts are still analysing mystery DNA found on the holdall in the hope this could yield a breakthrough.

In her summing up on Wednesday, Dr Wilcox ruled out the possibility that Mr Williams could have zipped himself into the holdall and locked it, still less accomplished this within the even more restricted confines of the bath.

She said: “I am satisfied so that I’m sure that a third party lifted the bag into the bath and, on the balance of probabilities, locked the bag."

"The cause of his [Mr Williams’s] death is unnatural and is likely to be criminally motivated.”

She said it was probable that Mr Williams had died inside the holdall, adding that it was logical to assume this had been placed in the bath to allow the products of decomposition to drain away.

The door of the bathroom had been shut, preventing the smell from spreading.

Mr Williams worked at MI6’s headquarters in Vauxhall, where he was on a secondment from the GCHQ listening station in Cheltenham.

Described as a scrupulous risk assessor, he only ever let vetted people into his flat.

He was last seen alive on Sunday August 15, 2010, and an analysis of one of his iPhones showed it had been reset to factory settings, essentially wiped clean of data, on that date.

Dr Wilcox speculated that “this may have been the phone by which some third party had made some arrangement to meet with Gareth”.

On August 16 Mr Williams failed to appear for work.

Incredibly, he was not reported missing until August 23.

The heating in his flat was on despite the fact that it was a sweltering August, and this caused the corpse to decompose faster than it otherwise would have done.

On the fourth day of evidence, Anthony O’Toole, the lawyer for the Williams family, said MI6’s delay in raising the alarm over the disappear­ance had produced “horrendous results”.

“Because of the decomposition of the body, any forensic evidence that could have been derived from it has disappeared, so the police investigation has in effect been defeated,” he said.

Dr Wilcox, who recorded a narrative verdict of “unnatural death”, criticised MI6 for this, prompting an apology from the organisation’s chief Sir John Sawers, who promised lessons had been learned.

The court heard that SO15 counter-terrorism command had acted as a conduit between MI6 and DCI Jackie Sebire, the detective leading the case.

But they repeatedly failed to pass potentially vital information on to her.

DCI Sebire said the inquest had raised new lines of inquiry, and she appealed to anyone with any information to come forward, but Dr Wilcox said she believed it was unlikely Mr Williams’s death would ever be satisfactorily explained.

The Williams family have always said they believe “some agency specialising in the dark arts” either had a hand in Mr Williams’s death or cleaned up afterwards.

That impression looks set to remain in the minds of many people, particularly those who have borne witness to this gripping and almost unprecedented window into the cloak-and-dagger world of secret service spooks.

Daily Mail : So who did kill the spy? Spooks, sex and the vital questions that the inquest couldn't answer

So who did kill the spy? Spooks, sex and the vital questions that the inquest couldn't answer [scroll down]

May 2, 2012

Who put him in the holdall?

Some 400 attempts were made by expert witnesses to padlock themselves inside a North Face holdall identical to the one in which Mr Williams' body was found. Each attempt resulted in failure, so unless Mr Williams was able to pull off this 'amazing' feat, at least one still unidentified person was involved in his death.

The theory that he was placed in the bag while already dead or unconscious was challenged at the inquest by pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd. He said it would be 'extremely difficult' to place a 'floppy' dead body in a foetal position as neat as that in which the corpse was found.

Dr Shepherd did concede that the codebreaker could have been forced into the holdall at gunpoint or while sedated.

While tests continue on scratches found at the end of the bag where his head lay, there were no signs inside the bag of a violent struggle to get out. If Mr Williams was conscious when the bag was sealed he would have quickly passed out and died because of the build-up of carbon dioxide within. He could also have been poisoned.

Furthermore, if a naked Mr Williams had climbed into the holdall while it was in the bath, he would have left hand and footprints. That there were none found suggests that he was already in the bag before it was placed in the bath.

At least one unidentified person would seem to have been present in the bathroom between the time the bag was put in the bath and its discovery by police eight days later.

Yesterday the coroner said: 'In relation to the prints found within the bathroom, in my view what was more significant was what was not found rather than what was found.' She said she was 'sure that a third party moved the bag containing Gareth into the bath'.

Was his death linked to his private life?

That is the official MI6 verdict. While his family portrayed him as a very private man with conventional tastes, the picture that has emerged since his death suggests otherwise.

Police found evidence that Mr Williams looked at bondage websites and visited transvestite clubs and gay bars, though they could not identify any sexual partners. His friends insisted he was heterosexual but could not explain his behaviour.

Mr Williams had a £20,000 collection of women's clothing in his flat, including shoes his own size which had been worn and a long wig. His friends, who knew nothing of the collection, suggest Mr Williams meant to give them away as gifts.

But a video found on one of his phones showed Mr Williams 'gyrating' for the camera naked but for a pair of women's calf-length boots.

His landlady at a former home in Cheltenham had once found him tied to his bedposts wearing only his boxer shorts. She felt that the incident was of a sexual nature. This and his occasional visits to extreme websites coincide with his MI6 training.

There is no firm evidence that Mr Williams derived any kind of sexual pleasure from bondage or confinement, and the coroner raised the possibility that allegations about the spy's private vices were made by a third party to 'manipulate' the evidence. Had a false trail been laid and if so, why?

Did he die as a result of a sex game?

The coroner ruled out any link between Mr Williams' interest in bondage and his death. But suspicions remain. Traces of his semen were found on the floor of the bathroom in which his body was discovered and on his dressing gown.

Someone else's DNA is understood to have been found on a green hand towel in Mr Williams' kitchen, which might yield further clues, even a breakthrough, in coming weeks.

Did he die as a result of a sadomasochistic scenario which went wrong? Was the bag padlocked by a sexual partner who then fled the scene?

Why were the radiators on full blast?

Mr Williams died during August, when central heating would normally be switched off. The fact that it wasn't off in his top floor flat raises a suspicion that it is linked to his death, or at least an attempt to destroy evidence.

The higher temperature would have speeded up the decomposition of the body. Putrefaction would have been further hastened by the fact that the body was curled up inside a holdall.

The holdall also helped contain the tell-tale smell of decomposition. The bath would also have contained and eventually drained any fluids released as the body decayed.

If there was indeed a deliberate effort to speed up decomposition in order to hide the cause of death and delay discovery then it was entirely successful.

By the time pathologists were able to examine Mr Williams' corpse, the decomposition was so advanced they could only guess at cause of death.

Was his death linked to spying?

His family believe so, but we may never know.

MI6 obtained a Public Interest Immunity certificate which kept details of his work for them and GCHQ secret.

They claim Mr Williams was seen as at 'low risk' but he was a highly skilled and trained computer scientist who had recently met two informants and was ready to be deployed on an active mission.

One manager said he made a 'small number' of unauthorised searches on the MI6 database which could have left him open to blackmail.

His flat had been rented by spies since 2003 and he confirmed his sensitive occupation to at least two close friends.

When she reported him missing, GCHQ's human resources chief, told a police switchboard worker that Mr Williams had been 'just taken off an operation' and was unhappy.

The inquest was told this was not true and the coroner ruled her comment may have been 'misinformation' designed to spur police into action. These contradictions did nothing to increase confidence in the security services' account.

Why did MI6 take eight days to call the police?

MI6's behaviour throughout this whole affair has been puzzling and done little to discourage conspiracy theories about its direct involvement in Mr Williams' death.

The codebreaker was a meticulous time-keeper yet he was missing from work for a week before the security services alerted the police.

During that time only cursory attempts were made to contact him. His line manager – known at the inquest as MI6 Officer G – came in for particular criticism at the inquest.

The delay was crucial in the pathologists' subsequent inability to give a definite cause of death. Even after his bosses decided he was missing there was still a four-hour delay before raising the alarm.

Given his work as a spy, this seeming laxity is amazing. It is also puzzling that the security services apparently wanted the police to be the first people through the door of their own 'safe house', to hunt for a missing operative.

Did MI6 undermine the inquiry?

Anthony O'Toole, lawyer for the Williams family, asked an officer from the Met's SO15 counter-terrorism branch: 'If this wasn't the SIS and it was the Kray twins or someone else, you were investigating, you would have gone into far more detail, wouldn't you?'

As the inquest progressed it became clear that there was a disconnect between the anti-terrorist police officers who were security vetted to visit MI6 HQ and their colleagues on the outside investigating the death.

Officers from SO15 went to Vauxhall Cross and examined Mr Williams' locker and desk. There were nine memory sticks in the locker and a North Face holdall, similar to the death bag, under the desk, containing a number of personal items and work material.

Detective Constable Colin Hall, of the counter-terror branch, told the inquest he did not take the computer memory sticks because he was told by MI6 they contained material 'of a sensitive nature'. He said he was also told to leave the bag in situ.

In fact the investigative team learned of the suppressed evidence only during the inquest. They were also kept in the dark about MI6's examination of the dead man's 'electronic media'.

It seems the SO15 officers were serving the interests of the security services rather than those of the murder squad.

MI6 failed to provide formal statements to the inquest. This may well have been the fault of SO15 officers who did not press for anything more than anonymous summaries of informal interviews rather than sworn statements.

The coroner said this had affected the quality of evidence heard at inquest. The security services were also slow in handing over key other evidence.

The inquest heard that Mr Williams's GCHQ computer was not handed over until six days after his body was discovered and the MI6 one four days later.

Mr Williams also owned four iPhones. Experts are still trying to recover data from one of them. It was wiped on the last day he was seen alive.

Telephone company records suggested that it had never been used.

The MI6 headquarters where Gareth Williams worked at Vauxhall Cross, near Vauxhall Bridge, in south London

Why was there so little forensic evidence?

It wasn't only the bathroom that was suspiciously devoid of clues. Police found no unidentified fingerprints anywhere else in the death flat. All belonged to Mr Williams or his close family.

There was a similar paucity of third party DNA, though forensic scientist Ros Hammond told the inquest there was 'certainly evidence' of at least two unidentified people at the flat.

There was no evidence that the flat had been 'wiped' of prints. Yet circumstances suggest that someone else, who knew their business enough not to leave clues, had been at work there. Probably wearing gloves.

Another spy? His family think so; they believe someone skilled in the 'dark arts' was responsible for Mr Williams' death.

There was no sign of a break-in, but police found that the front door latch could be reached and raised through the letterbox.

The top flat at 36 Alderney Street did not seem to be a very 'safe' safe house at all.

Was he killed by MI6?

The theory that Mr Williams was killed by his employers, Britain's own secret service, is perhaps the most outré and disturbing, better suited to the pages of a sensational spy thriller.

No credible motive has been advanced as to why the spymasters would kill one of their own, in circumstances that would attract the most sensational publicity, in their own safe house, in central London.

However, it was by no means discounted by the coroner. Dr Wilcox said that while there was no evidence to suggest he died at the hands of MI6, 'it is still a legitimate line of inquiry'.

Scotsman : Gareth Williams inquest: The seven unanswered questions

Gareth Williams inquest: The seven unanswered questions

May 3, 2012

Scotland Yard has vowed to pursue all new evidence which has emerged. But a source close to the inquiry said officers were still “some way off a breakthrough”.

Here is how the inquest has tried but failed to solve the riddle.

Q: Were secret agents specialising in the “dark arts” responsible for Mr Williams’s death in his Pimlico home?

A: Detectives have said from the start that third-party involvement was likely.

The fact there were no fingerprints at all in the flat suggested it had been professionally cleaned up. There were also nine computer memory sticks and a bag withheld by MI6.

Det Supt Michael Broster said: “I am not saying that a member of SIS [MI6] is not involved. I don’t know.”

Q: How was Williams able to get inside a holdall in his bathtub before padlocking himself in?

A: Bag expert Peter Faulding said even world-famous escapologist Harry Houdini would have struggled to squeeze himself in.

Mr Faulding tried and failed to carry out the task more than 300 times. But William MacKay, who made more than 100 attempts with a yoga-practising assistant, said: “I would not like to say that it could not be done.”

Q: Could a third party have been present when he died, despite no trace of DNA or fingerprints?

A: Forensic experts said it was entirely possible that someone could break in and kill Mr Williams without leaving any evidence.

Det Insp Sebire says she remains convinced someone was there. Forensic expert Ros Hammond said there were hopes of a breakthrough “within a matter of weeks” from DNA tests on a towel discovered in his kitchen.

Q: Why was there no sign of a struggle on his body? Could he have been drugged?

A: Poisoning and asphyxiation are the “foremost contenders” in causing Mr Williams’ death, pathologists said. But experts believe there would have been signs of damage to his fingers and hands if he had struggled to get out of the bag within the three minutes it would have taken to suffocate.

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

Q: Why did it take colleagues at MI6 more than a week to realise he was missing?

A: MI6 offered a range of excuses including his recent return from a trip to Las Vegas, delays on the trains and his imminent return to GCHQ.

Colleagues apologised to the family for the potential damage the mistakes did to the police inquiry.

Q: Has information been withheld because it could jeopardise secret security operations?

A: Family lawyer Anthony O’Toole was blocked on several occasions from asking detectives and MI6 about the use of an apparently unvetted estate agent to let Mr Williams’s flat. Relatives suspect the decision may have compromised the safety of the property. In addition, more than ten employees linked to GCHQ and MI6 were allowed to give evidence behind a screen to protect their identities.

Q: Could Mr Williams’s private life have had any significance in his death?

A: He had shown an interest in escapology and self-bondage. He once tied himself to his bed and had to be cut free.

But Det Con Simon Warren said Williams’s interest in bondage footage on his computer was “an isolated [incident] among other data”.

Chester Chronicle : Coroner rules spy killed by third party

Coroner rules spy killed by third party

May 3, 2012

A HIGH profile inquest involving a Chester barrister has ruled that MI6 code-breaker Gareth Williams was unlawfully killed by a third party “on the balance of probabilities”.

Anthony O’Toole, of Linenhall Chambers, has been representing the Anglesey-based family of Mr Williams whose body was found in a holdall at his London flat in August 2010.

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

Mr Williams’ family, including his sister and former Chester woman Ceri Subbe, have always suspected third party involvement possibly linked to a secret services agency.

Mrs Subbe worked as a physiotherapist at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital and lived in Brook Lane, Newton, at the time of her brother’s death. Last week she told Westminster Coroner’s Court her sibling was ‘a scrupulous risk-assessor’ who would not have let a potential killer into his flat.

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

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

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

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

Linenhall Chambers has been inundated with media enquiries about the case but barrister Mr O’Toole is not giving interviews.

Sky (Au) : Lawyer claims MI6 involvement in death

Lawyer claims MI6 involvement in death

May 2, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Supt Broster insisted MI6 had been fully co-operative.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Is London : Coroner criticises MI6 death probe

Coroner criticises MI6 death probe

May 2, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Big Pond News : Lawyer alleges MI6 involvement in death

Lawyer alleges MI6 involvement in death

May 2, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Supt Broster insisted MI6 had been fully co-operative.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coroner Mystified by Death of Spy Found Naked in Bag

CNN | May 2, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isle of Wight Radio : Coroner To Announce Spy Death Verdict

Coroner To Announce Spy Death Verdict

May 2, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The police investigation had drawn a succession of blanks.

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

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

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

IOL News (Zambia) : Spy police ‘gave special treatment to MI6’

Spy police ‘gave special treatment to MI6’

By CHRIS GREENWOOD | Daily Mail | May 2, 2012

Scotland Yard was accused yesterday of undermining the inquiry into the death of spy Gareth Williams by giving MI6 special treatment.

On a day of drama at the inquest into Mr Williams’s death, a senior detective was accused of failing to be “completely impartial” when he dealt with potentially vital evidence.

And coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox raised deep concerns over the failure of police to seize all of 31-year-old Mr Williams’s possessions from his MI6 office.

Another detective was forced to admit he only made a “cursory search” of the office. Detective Constable Colin Hall was accused by barrister Anthony O’Toole, who represents the Williams family, of being “as helpful as a London pea souper”.

Mr O’Toole said: “If this had not been the Secret Intelligence Service [MI6] and it was the Kray twins or someone else you would have gone into this in far more detail wouldn’t you?”

The final hours of evidence at the inquest into Mr Williams’s mysterious death were dominated by claims that police failed to put MI6 under the spotlight. Officers did not interview spies directly and their questions were channelled through counter terrorism detectives, who only replied with general and anonymous summaries.

The codebreaker’s naked and decomposing body was found in a padlocked North Face holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, Central London, in August 2010.

The coroner revealed that fresh evidence, including nine memory sticks and another North Face holdall, had been discovered. Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the investigation, told Westminster Coroner’s Court that she was only made aware yesterday of the memory sticks and an inventory of other items left at Mr Williams’s office.

And MI6 confirmed for the first time that his laptop was checked by spies before being handed to police.

Dr Wilcox said Detective Superintendent Michael Broster, who acted as a “firewall” between MI6 and police because of his high-level security clearance, had failed to pass on relevant information.

She said: “Don’t you think the murder inquiry and those responsible for it should have been investigating that evidence and not the person providing the evidence to you?

“If this had been information provided to you by any other agency it would have been seized by your officers, not left to those responsible to look at them and tell you what they contain, particularly given the public anxiety and concern around this death. You are not being completely impartial because an impartial investigator would have taken those exhibits and examined them himself.”

But Mr Broster insisted SIS has been “very helpful”. He added: “I have seen no information of relevance that somebody is involved. I am not saying a member of SIS is not involved, I don’t know.”

The inquest was adjourned until today when a verdict is expected.

Guardian : Gareth Williams inquest exposes police difficulties when MI6 is involved

Gareth Williams inquest exposes police difficulties when MI6 is involved

Fears for national security mean police are forced to operate at arm's length in investigations linked to secret services

Caroline Davies | May 2, 2012

The difficulties homicide detectives face investigating any suspicious death of a secret intelligence service officer came under intense scrutiny during the Gareth Williams inquest.

Fears of risk to national security or individual witnesses force Scotland Yard to operate at arm's length when dealing with MI6 and GCHQ.

Once the body is identified as an operational Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) officer, different rules come into play.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, senior investigating officer in the Williams case, and her team were allowed no direct access to sensitive witnesses or evidence. Instead, security-cleared officers from SO15 – counter-terrorism – acted as go-betweens.

So, SO15 officers, not those from homicide command, interviewed SIS witnesses, in the presence of their line managers and legal representatives, and put the questions murder detectives would rather have put themselves.

Then instead of producing signed, sworn, verbatim statements, SO15 produced "anonymised" notes, drawn up after interview.

It is not "impossible" to get a homicide detective vetted and cleared to question SIS, but it would take time and is not the normal procedure adopted.

Sebire admitted homicide would have liked "primary access". She added: "That simply wasn't possible in those circumstances. "Given the circumstances, this was the best possible scenario". She had faith in the SO15 officers deployed to assist, the inquest heard.

Difficulties, however, were apparent.

Not until the penultimate day of the inquest was Sebire made aware that potential evidence, namely nine assorted memory sticks and a black holdall found at Williams's office at MI6 HQ in Vauxhall, central London, even existed.

She was not given an inventory of items and documents found in Williams's shared locker, or in a locked North Face bag under his desk, because none was drawn up due to the "sensitive nature" of some of the contents.

The MI6 offices had been searched by the SO15 forensic officer Detective Constable Colin Hall, under the leadership of SO15 Detective Superintendent Michael Broster, accompanied by two SIS officers.

Sebire said she would "have expected to have been told" about this potential evidence, "so we can review It and assess its value".

Throughout the inquest, the Williams family lawyer, Anthony O'Toole, was critical of the way the investigation was being handled. S015, he said, simply took assurances from SIS without questioning.

There were "errors" and "discrepancies" in the anonymised statements, which he described almost like "attendance notes", and no SIS officers had been given the notes to review or check for accuracy, he said.

"It was almost under the Old Boys' Act," he said to Broster of assurances given by SIS. "They told you that and you accepted it."

USA Today : Coroner: U.K. spy found in sports bag likely killed

Coroner: U.K. spy found in sports bag likely killed

May 2, 2012

LONDON (AP) – A coroner said Wednesday a British spy whose naked body was found inside a locked sports bag was likely killed in a criminal act, but acknowledged the riddle of how he met his mysterious death may never be solved.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox said it was unlikely that the demise of code breaker Gareth Williams, 31, would "ever be satisfactorily explained," despite a 21-month police inquiry, and seven days of expert evidence to an inquest hearing.

Williams worked for Britain's secret eavesdropping service GCHQ but was attached to the MI6 overseas spy agency when his remains were found in August 2010 at his London apartment, in the bag and inside a bathtub.

Wilcox said the spy was likely killed either by suffocation or poisoning in a "criminally meditated act" and acknowledged it was possible that an intelligence agency colleague may have been involved.

It is "likely that Gareth entered the bag alive and then died very soon afterwards," the coroner said as Williams' family listened to her verdict inside Westminster Coroner's Court.

The coroner moved to dispel wild theories that have swirled around the case — insisting there was no evidence of a sexual encounter gone wrong, of suicidal intent, or that Williams' death was linked to a supposed interest in bondage.

She said there was no evidence that the death was tied to work, amid speculation the spy could have been the target of Russian criminal gangs or an al-Qaeda extremist.

Wilcox said it appeared "extremely unlikely" that Williams could have climbed inside the sports bag and locked it himself. Two different specialists attempted to recreate the feat hundreds of times without success.

Given testimony that described Williams as deeply private — shunning his colleagues outside of work — and wary of strangers as a result of his secret work, she said a potential killer must have been a friend, or entered his home uninvited.

Williams was discovered in the fetal position inside the bag, his arms calmly folded across his chest and with two keys to the bag's padlock underneath his buttocks.

Pathologists told the inquest that poisoning or asphyxiation may have killed Williams, but acknowledged they can't be certain because his cadaver badly decomposed as it lay undiscovered for several days.

Wilcox said that while there wasn't evidence to support a specific verdict of unlawful killing — which would need a high burden of proof — it was her opinion that the spy was probably unlawfully killed.

She said that while it appeared unlikely, it continued to be a "legitimate line of inquiry" that British intelligence agencies may have had a role.

MI6 colleagues failed to report Williams as missing for a week, meaning that police and medical experts lost vital chances to gather evidence. Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire also told the inquest that British spy services had failed to pass on evidence in the case until this week: nine computer memory sticks that had been found at Williams' workplace.

John Sawers, the head of MI6, said in a statement released following the verdict that he apologized "unreservedly" to the Williams family for the spy agency's failure.

Police are uncertain exactly how Williams died and have so far made no arrests, though their investigation into the spy's death remains active.

Family lawyer Anthony O'Toole has previously said Williams' relatives suspect "the dark arts of the secret services" may have been behind a cover up of the true circumstances of his death.

Wilcox dismissed claims that a fetish for sadomasochism or transvestitism may have been behind Williams' death. There was no evidence the spy was interested in any such thing, Wilcox concluded. She added that she believed rumors may have been stoked by a "third party to manipulate the evidence," without elaborating.

Wilcox delivered a so-called "narrative verdict" — a lengthy but inconclusive ruling which is available when there isn't clear evidence of natural causes, suicide or enough proof of unlawful killing.

In Britain, a corner's task is to outline the circumstances of how and when a person died — rather than apportion blame, or recommend criminal charges.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.