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.

Daily Record : Murdered spy's body was found inside holdall which had been padlocked shut, inquest hears

Murdered spy's body was found inside holdall which had been padlocked shut, inquest hears

September 1, 2010

THE decomposing body of British code-breaker Gareth Williams was found padlocked shut in a holdall in a bath in his flat, an inquest heard today.

The cause of death is yet to be established after he was discovered in the Government flat on August 23, Westminster Coroner's Court heard.

Police broke into the top floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico, central London, after Mr Williams failed to appear at work for several days.

Coroner Dr Paul Knapman revealed he was found in a bag which was "padlocked shut" and the corpse appeared to be in an "advanced state of decay", a court spokeswoman said.

A postmortem examination carried out on August 25 failed to establish a cause of death and investigations are continuing, the court heard.

The inquest was adjourned to September 8.

Dr Knapman will be kept informed of how the investigation is progressing and consider when to release the body so a funeral can take place, the court spokeswoman said.

There were no members of his family in court.

Mr Williams, 30, was last seen alive eight days before his corpse was discovered.

Police have not said whether the sighting was made on CCTV or came from another source.

The investigation is being led by the Met's Homicide Command with the security-vetted Counter Terror Command (SO15) also playing a lesser role in proceedings.

Officers are still trying to determine if he was asphyxiated, poisoned or if drugs or alcohol were present in his system.

A pathologist found Mr Williams was not stabbed or shot and there were no obvious signs of strangulation.

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

Daily Record : Death of code-breaker Gareth Williams set to remain mystery for days

Death of code-breaker Gareth Williams set to remain mystery for days

By Bruce Walker | August 29, 2010

CODE-BREAKER spy Gareth Williams’ cause of death will remain a mystery for several more days, police said yesterday.

The complex nature of the tests being carried out mean it could be next week before they can piece together how the maths genius died.

A post-mortem failed to turn up any conclusive evidence on the death of 30-year-old Williams, who worked at the Government spy centre GCHQ and was on secondment to MI6.

He was last seen alive on August 15, eight days before his corpse was found stuffed in a sports holdall in the bath at his Government-owned flat in Pimlico, London.

His family have hit out at claims he could have been involved in risky sexual practices and had links to a male escort.

Officers are examining his mobile phone and financial records for any clues about his personal life.

Scotland Yard yesterday played down reports that thousands of pounds had passed through his bank account shortly before his death as “pure speculation”.

Williams was days away from completing a one-year secondment to MI6 and was set to return to Cheltenham, where GCHQ is based.

Daily Record : Revealed: Murdered spy was elite codebreaker and made secret trips to US

Revealed: Murdered spy was elite codebreaker and made secret trips to US

By Jon Clements | August 27, 2010

MURDERED spy Gareth Williams was one of the world's elite codebreakers helping US spooks foil al-Qaeda terrorism, it was revealed yesterday.

The 31-year-old maths genius jetted to America regularly to meet National Security Agency officials at their Fort Meade HQ in Maryland, nicknamed "The Puzzle Palace".

Williams's mysterious death has been greeted with dismay at the NSA.

Fort Meade officials have been kept updated on the investigation into how the keen cyclist, on attachment to MI6, was found dead in a sports bag in his bath.

They are keen to know if there has been any breach of global security as a result of the murder at his Government-owned flat in Pimlico, central London.

Police investigating Williams's death continue to focus on his personal life hoping to establish who have a motive to kill him.

Relatives are baffled by suggestions his body was undiscovered for up to two weeks as sister Ceri, from Chester, spoke to him last Wednesday.

Further tests to establish the cause of death may not be completed until next week and detectives are urgently checking his mobile phone records.

Speaking at his farmhouse on Anglesey, north Wales, Williams's uncle Michael Hughes revealed: "He'd be away in the US for up to three or four weeks at a time and he was making up to four of these trips per year.

"They were very hush-hush, they were so secret that I only recently found out about them and we are a very close family.

"His last trip out there was a few weeks ago, Gareth was regularly back and forth from America."

Williams, so gifted he secured a first class honours degree in maths aged just 17, spent up to 19 days working on each trip before having a fortnight on holiday.

One Western intelligence source said: "Williams will have had high-level meetings with American intelligence officers.

"His job would have been crucial to the security of the UK and UK interests abroad - but also to America and Europe.

"Although not particularly high up the GCHQ ladder, the importance of his role should not be underestimated. The man was a mathematical genuis."

Williams may have had input into the monitoring of communications between Taliban commanders in Afghanistan and even the tracking of serious organised crime suspects.

A spokesman for Bangor University, where he completed his degree in just two years, described the fitness fanatic as "extremely gifted".

He said: "Gareth came here at the age of 15 and he attained the highest degree possible. It is an exceptional achievement for any student, let alone someone so young."

Former classmate Dylan Parry said: "Gareth seemed precocious yet naive about the harsher realities of life. He was someone people could easily take advantage of.

"It would have been very hard to imagine Gareth in a relationship or attracted to the vain things of life."

Britain relies heavily on the NSA to help monitor the telephone calls, emails and texts of UK terror suspects.

When MI5 discovered the plot in 2006 by British Muslims to bomb transatlantic jets, GCHQ called in the NSA to help.

Williams worked closely alongside them.

Spy satellites tracked emails from mastermind Rashid Rauf in Pakistan to the two ringleaders in London.

The messages were vital in convicting Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain in 2008.

Daily Record : British 'spy' found murdered in his flat near headquarters of MI6 may have been dead for two weeks

British 'spy' found murdered in his flat near headquarters of MI6 may have been dead for two weeks

August 25, 2010

STABBED spy Gareth Williams had been dead for at least two weeks when he was found stuffed into a sports bag in his bath, police have said.

They believe the 31-year-old may have known his killer and had not been targeted by terrorists.

Williams's body was found on Monday in his blood-spattered flat in Pimlico, south London.

He had been living there for a year during a secondment to secret service MI6 from the GCHQ listening post in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

The grim discovery was made after police were called by colleagues concerned he had not shown up for work.

Williams's mobile phone and SIM cards had been carefully laid out elsewhere in the flat.

The keen cyclist and maths expert would not even talk to his family about his true line of work.

Williams had been due to return to GCHQ next week and police have not ruled out the possibility another intelligence officer could be involved the murder.

The £1million townhouse he lived in is owned by the secret services.

It was unclear if the building had extra security such as CCTV cameras.

Neighbours were shocked when police sealed off the street.

Secretary Laura Houghton, 30, said: "His windows were always shut and curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in.

"It was strange that we never saw him come and go. I just assumed he worked away."

Other neighbours include former Conservative leader Michael Howard and a host of politicians and bankers.

Williams excelled at maths and joined GCHQ after being headhunted at Cambridge University.

Landlady Jenny Elliott, who rented him a one-bedroom flat in Cheltenham, was heartbroken at his death.

The 71-year-old described him as "like a mouse" and "so lovely".

Williams did not enjoy flying but made several trips to the US where he met colleagues from the National Security Agency.

He advised MI6 on codes when he moved to London last year.

Williams then called Mrs Elliott four months ago asking for his old room back.

She said: "He said he was being transferred back to GCHQ and would probably stay for at least two years.

"I can't believe he's not coming back. It's terrible."

His devastated parents Ian and Ellen returned from holiday abroad to help formally identify their son.

Officers were interviewing sister Ceri at her home in Chester.

Former Merseyside police officer Cathy Stanley said: "He was very quiet, kept himself to himself and gave nothing away about himself. Classic spy profile, I suppose."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff, or whether they are staff."