Times of Malta : Tributes paid to murdered spy

Tributes paid to murdered spy

Espionage

PA | August 27, 2010

The picture emerging of Gareth Williams could be that of a textbook spy: athletic, intelligent and private.

Detectives investigating the murder of a British spy were picking over his private life yesterday for clues that could identify his killer.

The decomposing body of codes expert Gareth Williams, 30, was found stuffed into a bag in the bath of his London government flat.

He was days from completing a one-year secondment to the headquarters of MI6 from his job at national “listening post” GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Originally from Wales, he studied at Cambridge University – one of the traditional recruiting grounds for the British secret services.

He excelled at maths, embarking on a postgraduate certificate at St Catharine’s college in 2000.

But he dropped out after a year and began a career working for the secret services.

Relative William Hughes said he worked for GCHQ, the government’s so-called listening post, for “many years”.

But he kept quiet regarding the actual nature of his work.

“He would never talk about it and it felt rude to ask,” Mr Hughes told the BBC.

Jenny Elliott, his former landlady in Cheltenham, described Mr Williams as “a lovely guy”. She added that during his time living in Cheltenham he was often sent overseas, spending much of this time in America.

Residents close to his London address said Mr Williams was “extremely friendly”. A keen cyclist, Mr Williams competed in races in Cheltenham, and was described by those who knew him as extremely fit.

A fellow member of the Cheltenham & Country Cycle Club told The Times: “He turned up at events, rode very well and then went on his way. He never took part in any of our more social rides.”

One London neighbour also attested to his private nature. Secretary Laura Houghton, 30, said Mr William’s windows were always shut with the curtains drawn. “I could never tell if anyone was in,” she added.

Believed to be single, his former landlady said Mr Williams rarely entertained and did not have a wide circle of friends.

This Is Gloucestershire : Bosses pay tribute to paid to murdered GCHQ spy Gareth Williams

Bosses pay tribute to paid to murdered GCHQ spy Gareth Williams

August 27, 2010

GCHQ bosses have paid tribute to murdered spy Gareth Williams.

Dr Williams, who worked at the Cheltenham base for 10 years, was found dead inside a bag in his London flat.

Bosses at the Government base last night issued a statement acknowledging for the first time Dr Williams worked at the centre in Benhall.

It said: "We can confirm Dr Gareth Williams was a GCHQ employee who was working in London.

"Gareth's sad death is the subject of a police investigation so further comment would not be appropriate.

"Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time."

Detectives investigating the death of cycling enthusiast Dr Williams, who rented a house in Prestbury, are trying to establish a motive for his murder.

The 30-year-old's decomposing body was found stuffed into a sports holdall at his rented flat in Pimlico on Monday afternoon.

He was on secondment with MI6, but suggestions have emerged his death may have been linked to his private life.

Potential employees of GCHQ face an intrusive vetting process that reaches into every corner of their private life to reduce any possibility of blackmail.

Meanwhile, senior figures at the Cheltenham and County Cycling Club where Dr Williams was a member are considering holding a memorial to him.

Club member Don Muir said members were slowly coming to terms with the loss and were due to meet last night to discuss ways of remembering Dr Williams.

"The whole thing has been a shock," said Mr Muir.

"We haven't had a chance to get together to discuss memorials, but we are meeting for an event so will have a chance to think about it then."

Dr Willams was said to be a man who excelled academically as a teenager.

He was a maths graduate who reportedly began a masters at St Catherine's College, Cambridge.

His uncle William Hughes, from his home town of Anglesey, said: "He was a clever lad. When he was at secondary school he would go to university one day a week.

"It's a long way from Anglesey to Cheltenham and London."

Dr Williams' parents Ian and Ellen, from Valley in Anglesey, reportedly flew back from a foreign holiday yesterday to identify their son's body.

The news has shocked their small Welsh community, where villagers added to the image of a very quiet, private man.

Chris Hall, manager of the family run Valley Hotel in Valley, said: "We are a really tight-knit community here.

"But I didn't know Gareth or his family. I have been speaking to people in the village and no one seems to be able to be able to put a face to the name.

"He was obviously a very private person. It seems the whole family was very private."

Dr Williams' father was an employee at the Wylfa Nuclear Power Station in Anglesey.

A spokeswoman said the company offered "appropriate support" to all its employees.

Jenny Elliott, his former landlady in Prestbury, described Dr Williams as a "lovely guy".

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

Yesterday, the Metropolitan Police Service said formal identification had yet to take place.

A post-mortem examination carried out at Westminster Mortuary was unable to provide a cause of death and further tests are being carried out.

The flat where Dr Williams was found is in a freehold block whose ownership is hidden behind the private company New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Officers from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command (HSCC) are investigating and are treating Dr Williams' death as suspicious and unexplained.

Channel 4 : Police probe murdered MI6 spy's private life

Police probe murdered MI6 spy's private life

By Channel 4 News | August 26, 2010

Detectives investigating the killing of an MI6 codes expert are looking into his private life for information which may lead them to his killer.
Murdered MI6 codes expert Gareth Williams (Credit: London Media)

Detectives are questioning associates and friends of murdered codes expert Gareth Williams for clues which could identify his killer.

The remains of the 30 year old, who was employed by the top-secret GCHQ listening station, were found in a holdall in the bath of his flat in south-west London.

His body is thought to have lain there for up to a fortnight.

Police also discovered his mobile phone and several sim cards laid out nearby when they broke into the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico at around 4.40pm on Monday.

Mr Williams's family are travelling to London from their home in Wales to speaks to police and formally identify the body.

A man who answered the door at the family home said: "As you can imagine, it is hard enough at the moment and we have nothing to say."

Last night, a post-mortem examination on Mr Williams proved inconclusive so further tests, including toxicological analysis of his blood for evidence of drugs and alcohol, will now take place.

Investigators from the Metropolitan Police's homicide and serious crime command called the death "suspicious and unexplained", but sources said there is no evidence that Mr Williams was stabbed, contradicting earlier reports.

Those close to the inquiry have played down speculation that the murder is linked to his secretive line of work and security sources say there is no evidence linking Mr Williams's death to any rival secret service.

He had been employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, but was on secondment at the headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, which is only about half a mile from the flat.

Public documents have revealed that several current and former residents of the freehold block also have links to London and Cheltenham.

Police are continuing to scour Mr William's flat for evidence and cordons remain in place on the prestigious street which is also home to two former home secretaries.

One source said: "The suggestion there are terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"It is long-standing government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies."

Land Registry documents reveal the block at number 36 Alderney Street, where the body was found, is owned by a private company, New Rodina.

The details of this company are hidden because it is registered in the British Virgin Islands and not listed with Companies House.

The word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000 with a mortgage from the Royal Bank of Scotland and has been remortgaged twice, in September 2005 and February 2006.

The documents reveal the owner operated through a law firm known as Park Nelson.

This firm once occupied a rented block in Bell Yard, off Fleet Street, but it no longer appears to exist.

Neighbours shocked

Mr Williams joined Cambridge University's St Catharine's College to undertake a postgraduate certificate in mathematics in 2000 but dropped out a year later.

His former landlady Jenny Elliott said he lived in a flat attached to her Cheltenham property for 10 years and was preparing to return on 3 September.

"He phoned me a few weeks ago to say he was coming back," she said.

She described him as "a lovely guy, very friendly, very well-mannered and polite and no trouble at all".

She added: "He was often away. He went to America to work a lot and often combined it with holiday because he hated flying."

Former Tory leader Michael Howard and Sir Leon Brittan are among a host of politicians and bankers who live in the street, according to residents.

Mr Williams's neighbours described him as athletic, a keen cyclist and as having a strong Welsh accent.

Neighbour Laura Houghton said a man identifying himself as Gareth lived at the address that is being searched.

She said: "I have spoken to him only once. I met him in the entrance hall of the set of flats because of a boring plant issue about a year ago.

"He was extremely friendly and had a Welsh accent."

She said the man had an athletic build, and added: "He was not especially tall. He had medium to short brown hair.

"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.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn't hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I'm amazed it's taken this long to all come out."

GCHQ has a rigorous recruitment system which includes enquiring about character, family history and personal circumstances.
On the GCHQ website it says:

"GCHQ conducts enquiries into the character, family history and personal circumstances of candidates before they can be employed. It is for the protection of both the individual and GCHQ assets that we consider the risk of an individual being placed in a potentially compromising position".

"To ensure your suitability for appointment you will have to undergo a rigorous security clearance. As part of this a criminal records check will be conducted and you will be drugs tested.

"If you do not meet the Developed Vetting requirements for the job, or fail to disclose any security related issues or concerns, you will not be considered for employment."

It is unlikely GCHQ will consider a person for a position in GCHQ if they:
• Have used Class A drugs (e.g. ecstasy, cocaine, etc) in the last 12 months.
• Have used Class B/C drugs (e.g. amphetamines, cannabis, etc) in the last 6 months.
• Are currently being treated for an addiction (e.g. alcohol, gambling, etc) or have received such treatment in the last 12 months.
• Have ever suffered from manic depression or schizophrenia.
• Are currently bankrupt or the subject of an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA).

Pensioner Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder may have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

Another neighbour Rob Mills, 35, who lives two doors away, said: "We've got two children, it's shocking.

"I'm told the man lived at the top-floor flat but we haven't ever seen him. It's not like you'd tell your neighbours if you were a spy."

Jason Hollands, 41, a city worker, who also lives nearby, said: "It's truly gruesome. This is a very mixed area of bankers and politicians. I've spoken to the next-door neighbour, who knew nothing."

Murder investigation

Scotland Yard has launched a murder investigation, led by detectives from its homicide and serious crime command wing.

It is thought that counter-terrorist and security service officers are also helping detectives in the inquiry.

Investigators say they are following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to the secret services since the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

In September 1978, Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a deadly ricin pellet into his leg as he walked across Waterloo Bridge.

Scotsman : Race to solve secret of grisly murder in an MI6 'safehouse'

Race to solve secret of grisly murder in an MI6 'safehouse'

By TOM PETERKIN | August 26, 2010

POLICE were last night investigating the murder of a British spy whose decomposing body lay for two weeks stuffed inside a large sports holdall in the bath of a smart London flat.

The discovery of the body of the former University of Cambridge student, named as Gareth Williams, led to feverish speculation about the nature of his death, with detectives trying to establish whether or not it was connected to his work with the intelligence agencies.

Mr Williams, in his 30s, was employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

But at the time of his murder, it is understood he was on secondment to Vauxhall Cross, the riverside headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, about half a mile from the flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico.

Officers discovered Mr Williams after breaking into the flat on Monday afternoon when the alarm was raised by colleagues who had not seen him for "some time".

They found his body, as well as his mobile phone and several sim cards, laid out nearby at the top-floor flat.

A Home Office pathologist yesterday began a post mortem examination to learn exactly how Mr Williams, died.

The officer was described by one Pimlico neighbour as "extremely friendly".

Sources close to the inquiry played down speculation that the murder was linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

Whatever the cause of his death, Mr Williams' murder is a severe blow to MI6 and follows last month's court case that saw former MI6 worker Daniel Houghton admit charges of unlawfully disclosing top-secret material.

The Houghton case resulted in questions being raised about the suitability of the people being recruited by MI6.

Last night, the murder led to intelligence experts suggesting that if it was found Mr Williams had put himself in a dangerous situation, then more questions about MI6 vetting procedures would be posed. Writing in The Scotsman, Professor Anthony Glees, an academic specialising in intelligence matters, suggested that "these processes are not working as well as they should".

Professor Glees added: "It is always possible that Mr Williams was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

But Prof Glees, the director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham (BUCSIS), added: "It is peculiar if this flat was, as I suspect, a Secret Intelligence Service safehouse, that someone got into the house to commit the crime without being invited in. That would be very worrying."

According to Prof Glees, if a dangerous individual had entered the Pimlico flat because Mr Williams was speaking to him in a professional capacity, then there would have been someone else from the secret services present.

"Cases like this tend to have something to do with a person's private life - whether that it is something to do with unusual sexual activity or drug dealing," Professor Glees said.

The Pimlico flat's proximity to MI6's HQ and the fact that it is owned by a company called New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands, led Professor Glees to surmise it was a secret services safehouse. The word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000 and remortgaged twice.

Before Mr Williams' secondment to London, he had lived in a flat in Cheltenham for the last ten years. He was preparing to return there next month.

In London, neighbours described Mr Williams as an "extremely friendly" and athletic man who enjoyed cycling and had a strong Welsh accent.

Laura Houghton, 30, a secretary, 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."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder might have taken place two weeks ago.

"A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days," she said.

The scene of the murder is a two-storey flat on a prestigious street among a row of expensive five-storey Victorian townhouses.

Residents of the prestigious street include former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan. Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

Last night, Mr Williams' parents were on their way to London. His uncle William Hughes said he had no idea of the type of work the spy did.

"He worked for GCHQ for many years. I knew he was working in London doing something," Mr Hughes said.

"He would never talk about his work and it felt rude to ask, really."

Mirror : DEATH OF A PERFECT SPY

DEATH OF A PERFECT SPY

BODY IN BATH
CODE MAN KILLED

By Jon Clements and Richard Smith | August 26, 2010

The MI6 spy found murdered in his home was a quiet and modest man who never broke espionage protocol by talking about his job, his friends revealed yesterday.

Gareth Williams, 31, gave nothing away about himself and no one saw him come and go from his top floor flat.

But the avid cyclist's stealthy lifestyle gives detectives few clues as to why he was brutally targeted by his attacker.

His decomposed remains lay undiscovered in a large bag in his bathtub for up to two weeks after he was killed. He is thought to have been strangled.

Officers are investigating whether his gruesome death could be linked to his top secret codebreaker's job. They are also looking at his personal life as he is thought to have let his attacker into the five-storey house.

MYSTERY

Dismissing suggestions of an assassination by foreign agents as fantasy yesterday, security sources said it was possible he may have been attacked by a friend or casual acquaintance.

They have also not ruled out the possibility another intelligence officer could be involved and plan to interview MI6 staff and Mr Williams' colleagues.

Yesterday officers were quizzing sister Ceri in Chester, where neighbours recalled Mr Williams as "the perfect spy". Ex-police officer Cathy Stanley said: "He was quiet, kept to himself and gave nothing away about himself. Classic spy profile, I suppose." His uncle William Hughes added: "He worked for GCHQ for years. He'd never talk about his work and it felt rude to ask."

Devastated former landlady Jenny Elliott, who rented him a flat above her garage in Cheltenham when he worked at GCHQ, said he was "like a mouse".

The 71-year-old added: "I came to regard him almost like a son. I used to say 'Oh go on, tell me what you do' but I didn't badger him because they weren't allowed to say. He would just give me a cheeky chuckle and one of his beautiful smiles which lit up the room." Police broke into the flat in Pimlico, Central London, after colleagues grew concerned when he did not show up for work.

Mr Williams had been living there for a year during a secondment to MI6 from the Government's listening post in Cheltenham. He was due to return to GCHQ next week.

A postmortem failed to establish how Mr Williams was killed but it is thought he was strangled or suffocated.

Detectives found his mobile phone and several SIM cards strewn around the floor. The £1 million house is owned by a company registered in British Virgin Islands.

But insiders said it was routine practice for the UK intelligence services to use foreign firms to purchase accommodation for its staff. It is understood at least three previous residents have links to GCHQ and other agencies.

Neighbours had no idea Mr Williams was a spy and were shocked when police sealed off the street on Monday.

Secretary Laura Houghton, 30, said: "His curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in. We never saw him come and go."

GENIUS

Other neighbours include former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan.

Mr Williams excelled at maths and was talent-spotted at Cambridge University. He cycled up to 200 miles a week competing in races for a club in Cheltenham.

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

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to secret services since Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. He drank radioactive polonium-210 in tea.

A gchq spokesman said: "We do not comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

Did you know Gareth Williams or do you have any photos of him. Ring the newsdesk free on 0800 282 591.

Sun : Murdered spook was a cross dresser

Murdered spook was a cross dresser

By ANTHONY FRANCE, JOHN KAY, GUY PATRICK and EMILY NASH | August 26, 2010

MURDERED MI6 worker Gareth Williams was a secret transvestite who may have been killed by a gay lover, detectives said yesterday.

His body lay undiscovered for TWO WEEKS after he was killed and his remains stuffed into a suitcase in his bath.

Cops found women's clothing that would fit him at his Pimlico flat in central London, a short distance from MI6's HQ beside the Thames.

Keen cyclist and brilliant former student Mr Williams was days away from completing a one-year secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, the intelligence eavesdropping base.

Police are also working on the theory that intelligence expert Mr Williams may have been killed by a foreign spy.

Spook agencies in some countries target British operatives by using good-looking agents to seduce them into giving up secrets.

And Mr Williams, 31 - found murdered at his central London home - was known to meet men in the capital's gay mecca of Vauxhall Cross and Soho in the West End.

Officers broke into his £400,000 top-floor flat in Pimlico when he failed to contact colleagues. Investigators suspect Mr Williams might have known his killer as there was no sign of forced entry.

Mr Williams' mobile phone and several SIM cards were on a table. His decomposing body was in a suitcase in the bathroom.

Further tests were taking place today to determine how the cycling and fitness fanatic met his death after a post-mortem examination was inconclusive.

Mr Williams was a middle-ranking officer at GCHQ, Britain's eavesdropping base in Cheltenham, Gloucs. But he was on secondment to MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service which gathers information about the UK's enemies.

Downing Street was monitoring developments yesterday as Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command probed the murder of keen cyclist Mr Williams.

The Yard's Counter Terrorism Command and the domestic intelligence agency MI5 were also being kept up to date.

As the inquiry progressed it was revealed that women's clothes that fitted Mr Williams were found at the flat.

He was thought to have been dead for two weeks. A post mortem proved "inconclusive" on the cause of death. Neighbour Laura Houghton, 30, said: "His windows were always shut and curtains were often closed."

Senior Government figures were concerned that anyone with a private life as sensitive as his could hold a post in which he could be vulnerable to blackmail.

The flat was thought to belong to the intelligence services. Ownership of the building was hidden behind a private company, New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands. Rodina means "motherland" in Russian.

Public documents showed that several current and former residents of the freehold block had links to London and Cheltenham.

Mr Williams' parents Ellen and Ian and his sister Kerry, 28, who recently married, were too distressed to talk last night.

A London police officer was outside the family home in Holyhead, Anglesey, North Wales.

Mr Williams' uncle William Hughes said: "It was a terrible shock. He worked for GCHQ for many years and we knew he was in London. but he would never talk about his work."

Keith Thompson, from Holyhead Cycling Club, said he had known Mr Williams since he joined the club at the age of 17.

He said: "I heard the news in a text message yesterday morning and it was a shock.

"We are a small club, only 20 members, and all of us knew Gareth. We are totally devastated. He was a really lovely young man."

Daily Mail : First picture of British spy found dead in his bath yards from MI6 HQ who was killed 'two weeks ago'

First picture of British spy found dead in his bath yards from MI6 HQ who was killed 'two weeks ago'

By Stephen Wright | August 25, 2010

* Decomposing body parts stuffed in a bag
* Flat owned by private company called New Rodina, which means 'motherland' in Russian
* Acting PM Clegg to be briefed on spy's death today
* Dead man was employed at government 'listening post'

This is the first picture of the murdered British spy who detectives have said could have been killed up to two weeks ago.

The body of Gareth Williams, 31, was discovered stuffed in a large sports bag in his bath in a flat just a few hundred yards from the headquarters of MI6.

A Home Office pathologist has failed to find a cause of death following a post-mortem examination of Mr Williams' body, which was decomposing when it was found.

Further tests, including toxicological analysis of his blood for evidence of drugs and alcohol, will now take place.

Investigators from the Met's homicide and serious crime command have labelled the death as "suspicious and unexplained".

Sources said there was no evidence Mr Williams had been stabbed, contradicting earlier reports.

Elsewhere in the top-floor flat - in a bizarre ritualistic scene - his mobile telephone and a collection of SIM cards were carefully laid out.

Scotland Yard has launched a murder inquiry into the grim find in Pimlico, Central London. Detectives have told local residents that the murder may have taken place two weeks ago.

Mr Williams was employed as a communications officer at the Government's 'listening post' - better known as GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

But it is thought he was on secondment to the headquarters at MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, near the flat.

MI6 gathers secret information about Britain's overseas enemies, making the spy a possible target of terrorists.

Mr Williams was described by neighbours as mild-mannered and a keen cyclist. He joined the University of Cambridge in 2000 to undertake a postgraduate certificate in advanced studies in mathematics but dropped out.

'I'm told the man lived at the top-floor flat but we haven't ever seen him. It's not like you'd tell your neighbours if you were a spy'

A spokeswoman said he was a member of St Catharine's College but left without completing the qualification the next year.

The course is described as 'demanding' and normally only accepts students with first-class degrees in physics, mathematics or engineering.

He lived in a street where houses sell for more than £1million, and it has been cordoned off at both ends since Monday night. Access is being granted only to residents.

The street remained cordoned off this morning and police officers stood outside No 36, which is divided into three flats.

Land Registry documents revealed the block at number 36 is owned by a private company, New Rodina.

Its details are hidden because it is registered in the British Virgin Islands and is not listed with Companies House.

The word rodina means 'motherland' in Russian and Bulgarian.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000 with a mortgage from the Royal Bank of Scotland and has been remortgaged twice, in September 2005 and February 2006.

The documents revealed the owner operated through a law firm known as Park Nelson. The firm once occupied a rented office block in Bell Yard, off Fleet Street, but no longer appears to exist.

Curtains were drawn in the top-floor flat, where it was believed the attack took place.

Public documents revealed that several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

Police continued to scour the two-floor flat for evidence today and cordons remained in place on the prestigious street where two former home secretaries live.

Ex-Tory leader Michael Howard and Sir Leon Brittan are among a host of politicians and bankers who have homes there, residents said.

Mr Williams, who was in his 30s, was discovered stuffed in a large sports bag in his bath in a flat just a few hundred yards from the headquarters of MI6.

Mr Howard, who lives several doors down the road, was at home when the body was taken away by forensic officers, one resident, Andy Perkins, said.

Neighbour Laura Houghton said Mr Williams was an 'extremely friendly' man.

The 30-year-old secretary said: 'I have spoken to him only once. I met him in the entrance hall of the set of flats because of a boring plant issue about a year ago.

'He was extremely friendly and had a Welsh accent.'

She said he had an athletic build, and added: 'He was not especially tall. He had medium to short brown hair.'

Mrs Houghton added: '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.

'The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn't hear a thing.

'All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I'm amazed it's taken this long to all come out.'

A landlady who rented Mr Williams a flat in Cheltenham, said: 'He was polite and mild-mannered and wouldn't hurt a fly. He was forever off on bike rides but never really had friends around.

'Sometimes you could hear tapes whirring from his flat. It must have been audio cassettes he used for work. He never told me what they were.'

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder may have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: 'A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed.
pimlico graphic

Map shows Alderney Street in Pimlico, central London, where the body was found

'Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago.'

Rob Mills, 35, who lives two doors away, said today: 'We've got two children - it's shocking.

'I'm told the man lived at the top-floor flat but we haven't ever seen him. It's not like you'd tell your neighbours if you were a spy.'

Jason Hollands, 41, a City worker, who also lives nearby, said: 'It's truly gruesome - this is a very mixed area of bankers and politicians. I've spoken to the next-door neighbour, who knew nothing.'

The case is being investigated by officers from the Murder Squad with assistance from their counter-terrorist and security service colleagues. No arrests have been made.

Forensic teams are continuing to search for clues at the five-storey terraced townhouse

A Met Police spokesman said: 'Officers were called to reports of a suspicious death at 4.40pm on Monday. They attended a top floor flat in Alderney Street and gained entry and found the body of a man in his 30s.'

One resident said: 'My neighbours said it was a stabbing.

It sounds like it was really gruesome.' Scotland Yard said no cause of death was known. A post-mortem examination is due today.

A Downing Street spokesman refused to comment, saying: 'Any potential case is a matter for the police.'

Details of the incident will be contained in the Prime Minister's intelligence briefing which will be handed to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today. David Cameron is also expected to be kept abreast of developments.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'There is an ongoing police investigation.

'It is long-standing Government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies.'

Patrick Mercer, former chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism subcommittee, said: 'This underlines the danger that our outstanding security services have to face on a minute-by-minute basis every single day.'

The last spy to have been killed on British soil was former Russian Federal Security Service officer Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006. He was poisoned with polonium-210.

Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a ricin pellet into his leg as he crossed Waterloo Bridge in September 1978.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified.

A post-mortem examination is due to take place today.

Channel 4 : Body of killed MI6 man 'dead for two weeks'

Body of killed MI6 man 'dead for two weeks'

By Channel 4 News | August 25, 2010

As detectives confirm the body of an MI6 employee may have lay undiscovered for two weeks, a former MI6 officer tells Channel 4 News the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) will be very concerned about the killing.

The body of the man, named locally as 31-year-old Gareth Williams from Angelsey, was found stuffed into a large sports holdall in the bath of his central London apartment.

Officers discovered his mobile phone and several sim cards laid out nearby when they broke into the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico at around 4.40pm on Monday.

It is understood Mr Williams had been stabbed, possibly several times, and his body was decomposing when it was found.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the body had yet to be formally identified.

MI6 will never confirm whether Gareth Williams worked for them or not, writes Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Rugman, given the organisation's cloak of secrecy.

Security sources point out that the investigation into his death is being led by homicide and serious crime units from the Metropolitan Police - apparently ruling out any suspicion that this was a terrorist hit or related to Mr Williams' work.

I understand there is no evidence of any link between this killing and al Qaeda or any foreign intelligence service, including the Russians, though MI6 and GCHQ are waiting for the police to give them the results of the post-mortem examination.

Colleagues raised the alarm and contacted authorities on Monday after Mr Williams had not been seen for "some time".

It is understood he had been employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

But it is believed he was on secondment at the headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, which is only about half a mile from the flat.

Public documents revealed that several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

Police are continuing to scour the two-floor flat for evidence and cordons remain in place on the prestigious street where two former home secretaries live.

Sources close to the inquiry said it is not clear how Mr Williams died and played down speculation that the murder is linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"It is long-standing Government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies."

Security sources say there is no evidence linking Mr Williams' death to any rival secret service.

But Harry Ferguson, a former MI6 officer, told Channel 4 News that the agency would still be concerned.

"I think the chances are quite high it was a private matter, although it still leaves the mystery of the sim cards," he said.

"If it was that, it would concern MI6 anyway because it suggests he was carrying on liaisons in his private life that they weren't aware of that led to this sort of incident."

Land Registry documents reveal the block at number 36 Alderney Street, where the body was found, is owned by a private company, New Rodina.

The details of this company are hidden because it is registered in the British Virgin Islands and not listed with Companies House.

The word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000 with a mortgage from the Royal Bank of Scotland and has been remortgaged twice, in September 2005 and February 2006.

The documents reveal the owner operated through a law firm known as Park Nelson.

This firm once occupied a rented block in Bell Yard, off Fleet Street, but it no longer appears to exist.

Neighbours shocked

Former Tory leader Michael Howard and Sir Leon Brittan are among a host of politicians and bankers who live in the street, according to residents.

Neighbour Laura Houghton said an "extremely friendly" man identifying himself as Gareth lived at the address that is being searched.

She said: "I have spoken to him only once. I met him in the entrance hall of the set of flats because of a boring plant issue about a year ago.

"He was extremely friendly and had a Welsh accent."

She said the man had an athletic build, and added: "He was not especially tall. He had medium to short brown hair.

"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.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn't hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I'm amazed it's taken this long to all come out."

GCHQ has a rigorous recruitment system which includes enquiring about character, family history and personal circumstances.

On the GCHQ website it says:

"GCHQ conducts enquiries into the character, family history and personal circumstances of candidates before they can be employed. It is for the protection of both the individual and GCHQ assets that we consider the risk of an individual being placed in a potentially compromising position".

"To ensure your suitability for appointment you will have to undergo a rigorous security clearance. As part of this a criminal records check will be conducted and you will be drugs tested.

"If you do not meet the Developed Vetting requirements for the job, or fail to disclose any security related issues or concerns, you will not be considered for employment."

It is unlikely GCHQ will consider a person for a position in GCHQ if they:

• Have used Class A drugs (e.g. ecstasy, cocaine, etc) in the last 12 months.
• Have used Class B/C drugs (e.g. amphetamines, cannabis, etc) in the last 6 months.
• Are currently being treated for an addiction (e.g. alcohol, gambling, etc) or have received such treatment in the last 12 months.
• Have ever suffered from manic depression or schizophrenia.
• Are currently bankrupt or the subject of an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA).

Pensioner Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder may have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

"Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

Another neighbour Rob Mills, 35, who lives two doors away, said: "We've got two children - it's shocking.

"I'm told the man lived at the top-floor flat but we haven't ever seen him. It's not like you'd tell your neighbours if you were a spy."

Jason Hollands, 41, a City worker, who also lives nearby, said: "It's truly gruesome - this is a very mixed area of bankers and politicians. I've spoken to the next-door neighbour, who knew nothing."

Murder investigation

Scotland Yard has launched a murder investigation, led by detectives from its Homicide and Serious Crime Command wing. It is thought that counter-terrorist and security service officers are also helping detectives in the inquiry.

He said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to the secret services since the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a deadly ricin pellet into his leg as he walked across Waterloo Bridge in September 1978.

Guardian : MI6 worker murdered, stuffed in a bag and dumped in a bath

MI6 worker murdered, stuffed in a bag and dumped in a bath

• Phone and sim cards found laid out in 'ritual' manner
• Police examine private life of likeable fitness fanatic

Vikram Dodd, Karen McVeigh and Richard Norton-Taylor | August 25, 2010

The private life of an MI6 officer who was murdered at his home close to the UK's foreign intelligence service headquarters is being investigated by Scotland Yard detectives. The body of Gareth Williams was stuffed in a holdall and dumped in his bath.

Williams is believed to have been killed two weeks ago. His body was badly decomposed when his two-bedroom, top floor flat in Pimlico, central London, was searched by police after colleagues raised the alarm. A postmortem examination found that he had not been stabbed, as had been reported earlier, but the cause of death has yet to be established. Further tests, including analysis of his blood for evidence of drugs and alcohol, will now take place.

When police entered his flat they found Williams's body, a mobile phone and several sim cards laid out in a ritual manner.

The 31-year-old was on secondment to MI6 HQ from the government's eavesdropping and communications security centre GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He is believed to have been advising MI6 on secret communication techniques. Many technical staff at Cheltenham spend time advising MI6 and MI5.

Informed Whitehall sources said GCHQ "boffins" – of all ages – were subjected to particular pressure in their private life because of the nature of their specialist knowledge and skills and the secrecy surrounding them. Williams would have been subject to "developed vetting" before being employed at GCHQ.

Officers from Scotland Yard's homicide and serious crime command are leading the inquiry, which sources said pointed to the fact that Williams's intelligence work was not believed to be linked to his death. "National security" seemed to be the least likely of any issues connected with the death, said a Whitehall official.

Police went to the flat "following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time", they said. His body was removed from the flat on Tuesday evening and forensics experts were still searching the premises late this afternoon.

Detectives are examining Williams's lifestyle and recent movements as part of the investigation and will question his colleagues in London and Cheltenham.

His family live in Holyhead, Anglesey, north Wales. Today a police officer from London was seen leaving the home after formally telling Williams's parents, Ian and Ellen, and sister Ceri the news.

Cath Stanley, 65, a neighbour and retired Merseyside police superintendent, said: "Gareth was a smashing lad and really into his cycling. His father was called 'Mr Fitness' round here because he was a keep-fit fanatic. I don't even think either of them drank. I think they were teetotal. Gareth and his dad used to cycle round here together, in Lycra kit and helmets."

Williams's uncle, William Hughes, told BBC News: "It was terrible when I got the phone call yesterday morning. Just didn't know what to believe really."

Asked about Williams's career, his uncle called his nephew "very, very talented in his work. We don't know what he was doing – never spoke about it".

In June 2001, before joining MI6, Williams dropped out of studying a masters in advanced mathematics at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, after failing an exam. He moved to Cheltenham, where he began his career at GCHQ, which employs 5,500 people.

His former landlady, Jenny Elliott, 71, said he had lived in a flat in her house near Cheltenham for 10 years. He told her he worked at the Foreign Office.

She said he had been due to move back into her house in 10 days after spending a year in London. "He came to live with me in a flat on the side of my house when he started to work at the Foreign Office. He was with me for about 10½ years and then he moved out a year ago. He was due to come back to me on 3 September. He rang me and said he would be back then. He said, 'Can I come back?' and I said sure. I hadn't heard anything else until a lady from the Foreign Office called at six o'clock on Monday night to say that they hadn't had a sighting or a whereabouts and had we heard anything. She said she was the Foreign Office's head of employee assistance.

"This awful thing is happening and Gareth was a lovely man, very well-mannered and very likeable. He was very clever and had been to Cambridge and had a very important job at the Foreign Office. Although he didn't belong to me, I was quite proud of him. It's like losing one of my own children. We expected to hear from him any minute. He was coming back here to work.

"When he went to London, I said, 'You won't like it up there, it's not like the countryside. But he said he wanted a change of scene. Those were his words."

Today, police cordons remained around 36 Alderney Street, a mid-terrace property in a street of five-storey Victorian townhouses in Pimlico. A community support officer stood outside. The wealthy area, a few blocks from Victoria station, is home to bankers and politicians, including two former home secretaries, Michael Howard and Leon Brittan.

Neighbours, who described Williams as "extremely friendly", said they had been told by investigators the murder may have happened up to two weeks ago.

Laura Houghton, 30, said she had met Williams once at the entrance hall of the flats about a year ago. She 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."

A body was brought out of the building on a stretcher under a maroon sheet at about 9.20pm on Tuesday. Police were looking at CCTV footage in the area. A nearby hotel, the Windermere, has a CCTV camera that covers the junction of Warwick Way and Alderney Street, and it is understood they have made it available.

The property where Williams lived is divided into four flats and is registered to a private company, New Rodina, with an offshore address in the British Virgin Islands. Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the block have links to London and Cheltenham. One Frenchman who lived there between 2005 and 2006 is an expert in global satellite positioning, radio communications and high-sensitivity antennas.

The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, has been informed of the death and any security implications.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office refused to give any details about Williams: "It is longstanding government policy not to confirm or deny the identity of any individual working for the intelligence agencies. This is a police matter."

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."

Independent : Murdered spy lay undiscovered for weeks

Murdered spy lay undiscovered for weeks

Body stuffed into holdall

PA | August 25, 2010

A British spy found murdered in his flat might have lain undiscovered for up to two weeks.

The man, named locally as Gareth Williams, was found stuffed in a large sports holdall in the bath of his central London home.

Mr Williams, aged in his 30s, was employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

He was on secondment to the riverside headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, about half a mile from the flat.

Officers discovered Mr Williams after breaking into the flat on Monday afternoon when the alarm was raised by colleagues who had not seen him for "some time".

They found his decomposing body, as well as his mobile phone and several Sim cards, laid out nearby at the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico.

A post-mortem examination was being carried out by a Home Office pathologist today to establish what led to his death.

Sources close to the inquiry said it is not clear how he died and played down speculation that the murder is linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

Neighbours described Mr Williams as an "extremely friendly" and athletic man who enjoyed cycling and had a strong Welsh accent.

They said he had lived in London for about a year and was planning to return to Cheltenham, where he rented a flat.

A postwoman who called at the block today said he often collected parcels at the communal front door.

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.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn't hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I'm amazed it's taken this long to all come out."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder might have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

"Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

The scene of the murder is a two-storey flat on a prestigious street among a row of expensive five-storey Victorian townhouses.

Residents are mainly bankers and politicians, including former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan.

The ownership of the building is hidden behind the private company New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000, remortgaged twice and the word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

One Frenchman who lived at the flat between 2005 and 2006 is an expert in global satellite positioning, radio communications and high sensitivity antennae.

Officials at Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command and domestic intelligence agency MI5 have been kept up to date about the police inquiry.

The murder inquiry is being led by officers from Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination would take place later today.

He said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to the secret services since the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a deadly ricin pellet into his leg as he walked across Waterloo Bridge in September 1978.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"It is long-standing Government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation and it would not be appropriate for us to comment at all as this is ongoing.

"We have nothing to add. Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

Mr Williams, 31, joined the University of Cambridge in 2000 to undertake a postgraduate certificate in advanced studies in mathematics but dropped out.

A spokeswoman said he was a member of St Catharine's College but left without completing the qualification the next year.

The course is described as "demanding" and normally only accepts students with first-class degrees in physics, mathematics or engineering.

Forensic officers continued to comb the scene this afternoon.

Three officers in pale blue overalls were seen returning to the townhouse shortly after 3pm.

William Hughes, a relative of Mr Williams, said he had no idea of the type of work the spy was engaged in at GCHQ.

He told the BBC: "He worked for GCHQ for many years. I knew he was working in London doing something.

"He would never talk about his work and it felt rude to ask really."

Mr Hughes said he had not yet spoken to the dead man's parents.

He added: "Unfortunately they were away out of the country, they have arrived back in the country today, I haven't spoken to them yet.

"It was terrible when I had the phone call yesterday morning, I just didn't know what to believe really, I didn't know what to believe."

He said Williams was "very, very talented", adding: "We don't know what he was doing, we never spoke about it."

Mirror : British spy found murdered in flat near MI6 HQ

British spy found murdered in flat near MI6 HQ

By Mirror.co.uk | August 25, 2010

A British spy found murdered in his flat might have lain undiscovered for up to two weeks.

The man, named locally as Gareth Williams, was found stuffed in a large sports holdall in the bath of his central London home.

Mr Williams, aged in his 30s, was employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

He was on secondment to the riverside headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, about half a mile from the flat.

Officers discovered Mr Williams after breaking into the flat on Monday afternoon when the alarm was raised by colleagues who had not seen him for "some time".

They found his decomposing body, as well as his mobile phone and several Sim cards, laid out nearby at the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico.

A post-mortem examination was being carried out by a Home Office pathologist today to establish what led to his death.

Sources close to the inquiry said it is not clear how he died and played down speculation that the murder is linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

Neighbours described Mr Williams as an "extremely friendly" and athletic man who enjoyed cycling and had a strong Welsh accent.

They said he had lived in London for about a year and was planning to return to Cheltenham, where he rented a flat.

A postwoman who called at the block today said he often collected parcels at the communal front door.

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.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn't hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I'm amazed it's taken this long to all come out."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder might have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

"Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

The scene of the murder is a two-storey flat on a prestigious street among a row of expensive five-storey Victorian townhouses.

Residents are mainly bankers and politicians, including former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan.

The ownership of the building is hidden behind the private company New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000, remortgaged twice and the word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

One Frenchman who lived at the flat between 2005 and 2006 is an expert in global satellite positioning, radio communications and high sensitivity antennae.

Officials at Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command and domestic intelligence agency MI5 have been kept up to date about the police inquiry.

The murder inquiry is being led by officers from Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination would take place later today.

He said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to the secret services since the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a deadly ricin pellet into his leg as he walked across Waterloo Bridge in September 1978.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"It is long-standing Government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation and it would not be appropriate for us to comment at all as this is ongoing.

"We have nothing to add. Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

Daily Post : MI6 worker from Holyhead found murdered in London flat

MI6 worker from Holyhead found murdered in London flat

By Our Correspondent, Daily Post | August 25, 2010

A British spy found murdered in his flat might have lain undiscovered for up to two weeks.

The man, named locally as Gareth Williams, was found stuffed in a large sports holdall in the bath of his central London home.

Mr Williams, aged in his 30s and believed to be from Holyhead, was employed as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

He was on secondment to the riverside headquarters of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, about half a mile from the flat.

Officers discovered Mr Williams after breaking into the flat on Monday afternoon when the alarm was raised by colleagues who had not seen him for "some time".

They found his decomposing body, as well as his mobile phone and several Sim cards, laid out nearby at the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico.

A post-mortem examination was being carried out by a Home Office pathologist today to establish what led to his death.

Sources close to the inquiry said it is not clear how he died and played down speculation that the murder is linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: "The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities."

Neighbours described Mr Williams as an "extremely friendly" and athletic man who enjoyed cycling and had a strong Welsh accent.

They said he had lived in London for about a year and was planning to return to Cheltenham, where he rented a flat.

A postwoman who called at the block on Wednesday said he often collected parcels at the communal front door.

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.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn’t hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I’m amazed it’s taken this long to all come out."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder might have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

"Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

The scene of the murder is a two-storey flat on a prestigious street among a row of expensive five-storey Victorian townhouses.

Residents are mainly bankers and politicians, including former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan.

The ownership of the building is hidden behind the private company New Rodina, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The property was bought for £675,250 in 2000, remortgaged twice and the word rodina means "motherland" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Public documents revealed several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

One Frenchman who lived at the flat between 2005 and 2006 is an expert in global satellite positioning, radio communications and high sensitivity antennae.

Officials at Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command and domestic intelligence agency MI5 have been kept up to date about the police inquiry.

The murder inquiry is being led by officers from Scotland Yard’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination would take place later on Wednesday.

He said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to the secret services since the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

The former KGB agent died in hospital after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was killed by an assassin who used an umbrella to fire a deadly ricin pellet into his leg as he walked across Waterloo Bridge in September 1978.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"It is long-standing Government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies."

A GCHQ spokesman said: "There is an ongoing police investigation and it would not be appropriate for us to comment at all as this is ongoing.

"We have nothing to add. Our policy is not to comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

Mr Williams, 31, joined the University of Cambridge in 2000 to undertake a postgraduate certificate in advanced studies in mathematics but dropped out.

A spokeswoman said he was a member of St Catharine’s College but left without completing the qualification the next year.

The course is described as "demanding" and normally only accepts students with first-class degrees in physics, mathematics or engineering.

William Hughes, a relative of Mr Williams, said he had no idea of the type of work the spy was engaged in at GCHQ.

He said: "He worked for GCHQ for many years. I knew he was working in London doing something.

"He would never talk about his work and it felt rude to ask really."

Mr Hughes said he had not yet spoken to the dead man’s parents.

He added: "Unfortunately they were away out of the country. They have arrived back in the country today, I haven’t spoken to them yet.

"It was terrible when I had the phone call yesterday morning, I just didn’t know what to believe really, I didn’t know what to believe."

He said Williams was "very, very talented", adding: "We don’t know what he was doing, we never spoke about it."

New York Post : Murdered British spy found in bathtub 'was stabbed to death'

Murdered British spy found in bathtub 'was stabbed to death'

August 25, 2010

A British secret service employee who was found dead in a bag in the bathtub of his London home was named locally Wednesday as Gareth Williams.

The decomposing body of Williams, in his 30s, was found Monday, stuffed into a large sports duffel bag in the bathtub of his apartment in Pimlico, central London. It was understood that he was stabbed -- possibly several times -- and that he might have been dismembered.

Detectives investigating his murder believe he could have been killed up to two weeks ago.

Officers discovered Williams' cell phone and several SIM cards laid out near his body when they broke into the top-floor apartment, after they were told by some of the man's friends that he had not been seen for some time.

He was understood to have been a communications officer at GCHQ, the U.K. government’s listening post in Cheltenham, southwestern England. He was thought to have attended the University of Cambridge and been a keen cyclist.

Williams was believed to have been working on secondment to MI6 -- the Secret Intelligence Service -- which gathers information about Britain’s enemies overseas and is located just over the River Thames from the apartment where the body was discovered. Sky News sources said Williams was renting the apartment on a short-term basis and also had a home in Cheltenham.

Detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command began an investigation into the death and up to a dozen forensic science officers in blue overalls were still scouring the London apartment Wednesday for clues.

Neighbor Laura Houghton, a 30-year-old secretary, said an “extremely friendly” man who called himself Gareth lived at the address.“I have spoken to him only once. I met him in the entrance hall of the set of flats because of a boring plant issue about a year ago. He was extremely friendly and had a Welsh accent," she 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."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite Williams' apartment, added, “Detectives came round and asked for our eye color and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago.”

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “At around 1640 [4:40pm local time] on Monday, officers attended the flat on the top floor of a property in Alderney Street, Westminster SW1, following reports that the occupant had not been seen for some time. Officers gained entry and found the body of the man, believed to be aged in his thirties. He was pronounced dead at the scene."

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed "there is an ongoing police investigation. It is long-standing government policy not to confirm or deny that any individual works for the intelligence agencies.”

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.