Sun : Sex film alias of spy in bag

Sex film alias of spy in bag

By MIKE SULLIVAN, Crime Editor | January 4, 2011

THE spy found dead in a bag at his flat is believed to have used the alias of a notorious movie maker for kinky sex liaisons.

An unknown man and woman who visited the home of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams weeks previously told a neighbour they were there to visit someone called Pier Paolo.

Police suspect it was a bogus identity assumed by 31-year-old Mr Williams using the first two names of Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, who made films featuring explicit sexual violence.

The pair also appeared to have a key to Mr Williams' flat in Pimlico, South West London - where Mr Williams was believed to have died inside the 32in-long sports bag after a kinky sex game went wrong.

A police source said: "The use of the name Pier Paolo suggests the couple were there for unorthodox sexual reasons. Did they leave him in the bag a few weeks later with tragic consequences?"

Police were keen to speak to the pair, of Mediterranean appearance. Mr Williams was found dead on August 23 last year. An inquest will be held on February 15.

Sun : Spy in a bag set for 'MI6 mission'

Spy in a bag set for 'MI6 mission'

By MIKE SULLIVAN, Crime Editor | December 27, 2010

THE codebreaker found dead in a sports bag was being prepared for an undercover assignment by MI6, it was claimed yesterday.

Gareth Williams - on attachment to the secret service from GCHQ - had two passports and had been given a new identity, a close pal said.

Fashion stylist Sian Lloyd-Jones insisted Mr Williams was not gay.

She refuted police suggestions the 31-year-old died after a bizarre sex game - which involved him being locked in the bag by another person - went wrong.

And she insisted 15,000-worth of unopened designer dresses and shoes found at his flat in Pimlico, central London, were intended as gifts for her and his sister Ceri.

Ms Lloyd-Jones, 33 - a friend of the maths genius since they were at school together in North Wales - said: "He was so generous you wouldn't believe."

Referring to the gay hints, she added: "I'm not in denial and nor is his mum, dad or sister.

"I truly believe if he had any interest in homosexuality he would have spoken to his sister and to me as well."

Mr Williams accessed five bondage websites before he died, several featuring claustrophilia, in which people are aroused by confined spaces. And cops remain convinced his death was connected to his sex life.

A source said: "Ms Lloyd-Jones' comments appear designed to salvage the reputation of her friend Mr Williams.

"They also tend to suggest the motive for his death could have something to do with his professional life. We do not believe that is the case."

Sun : Dresspionage: MI6 spy found dead in bag had 15,000 of dresses and shoes at his flat

Dresspionage: MI6 spy found dead in bag had 15,000 of dresses and shoes at his flat

By MIKE SULLIVAN | December 23, 2010

THE spy found dead in a bag at his flat had 15,000 worth of women's designer dresses and shoes, cops said yesterday.

MI6 code breaker Gareth Williams, 31, had also been using a string of bondage websites.

Some featured claustrophilia, in which confined spaces are used to get sexual kicks.

Mr Williams is thought to have died after a kinky game went wrong with a mystery partner.

Police yesterday appealed for the unknown person to come forward.

They also released an e-fit of a couple of Mediterranean appearance who visited the spook late at night a few weeks before he died.

The posh clothing - produced by fashion stars including Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane and Christian Louboutin - was inside six boxes.

The garments - all unused - were in small sizes but could have been worn by fitness enthusiast and cyclist Mr Williams, who was 5ft 8in and weighed just over 9st.

Det Chief Insp Jackie Sebire revealed that several wigs were also at the flat.

She said: "The items of clothing by select designers were purchased online and also in West End stores and boutiques.

"We would like to hear from anyone who may have served him to assist in helping us establish what the clothing was for.

"The clothing was all unopened and packed in boxes but we have evidence he bought them."

Ms Sebire added: "We know more than one person was in the flat at the time Gareth died and want them to come forward.

"There is no evidence that he was gay and we have not traced any past or present sexual partners."

Mr Williams's family, from Anglesey, North Wales, gave cops permission to reveal the information in an attempt to establish how he died.

The GCHQ worker, on a year-long attachment to MI6, was found dead in his flat in Pimlico, South West London, on August 23.

Investigators have discovered he attended a cabaret by drag queen Jimmy Woo at the Bistroteque, in Bethnal Green, East London, two nights before he died.

Tickets for two forthcoming drag queen concerts were found in his flat.

A witness claims they saw the maths genius in a gay haunt called Barcode in Vauxhall, South London, three months before he died.

Cops also found that at the end of last year Mr Williams began an eight-week fashion designing course at Central Saint Martins College, Clerkenwell, central London.

Sun: Bag spook died in 'Houdini' sex game

Bag spook died in 'Houdini' sex game

By MIKE SULLIVAN | Crime Editor | October 29, 2010

BODY-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams suffocated after a kinky Houdini-style sex game went wrong, detectives said yesterday.

The naked MI6 codebreaker was a fan of claustrophilia - in which people get sexual pleasure from confined spaces.

Cops believe the 31-year-old maths genius died accidentally from lack of oxygen after he agreed to be locked in the 32-inch-long sports holdall by another person.

They reckon the person who zipped up the bag discovered him dead and fled the flat.

They have ruled out foul play but are still trying to trace the other person.

There were no signs of injury to Mr Williams' body and toxicology tests found nothing suspicious.

An examination of his two laptops showed he visited websites on claustrophilia.

He also had links to a bondage and sado-masochism website.

Two wigs and women's make-up were also in the flat in Pimlico, West London.

Mr Williams was zipped into the North Face bag and a padlock was snapped shut through two eyeholes in the handles - but the key was found inside.

Normally claustrophiliacs use a password in case of trouble.

It is thought Mr Williams, who did not have a girlfriend, died quickly in the hot bag, possibly while the other person was out of the room.

The key was then put in the bag which was moved to the bath.

Cops are hunting a couple who visited Mr Williams, originally from North Wales, before he died in August.

And CCTV showed him in a red T-shirt shopping at Harrods.

Sun : Tributes at dead spy's funeral

Tributes at dead spy's funeral

By NEIL MILLARD | September 24, 2010

MI6 spy Gareth Williams was laid to rest today weeks after the bizarre circumstances of his death rocked the intelligence community.

The head of MI6 Sir John Sawers attended the service at the small Bethel Methodist Chapel in Anglesey, North Wales, to support his devastated family.

Mr Williams, 31, was on secondment at the Secret Intelligence Service, from GCHQ in Cheltenham, when he was found dead last month.

His body was padlocked in a holdall and placed in the bath at his flat in London's exclusive Pimlico.

Mystery still surrounds the death -- no trace of drugs or alcohol was found in the cycling fan's body -- and the police investigation is ongoing.

Outside church, Sir John, the public face of MI6, said it was not for him to say if cops would ever get to the bottom of his death.

He said: "It has been a desperately sad period for the family since Gareth died.

"It has been very difficult for them and I wanted to be here today as the only public face of the Secret Intelligence Service.

"My deepest sympathies go to the family.

"Gareth was a hugely talented person and he was very modest and generous as well.

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

Islwyn Williams, headteacher at the code breaker's former primary school, led tributes inside the church.

He said he had made the strongest lasting impression on him and was academically brilliant.

Williams had moved up to secondary school aged just ten and passed his maths GCSE aged 13.

He added: "He accomplished more in three short decades than the rest of us do in a lifetime."

The pine-coloured coffin was accompanied into church by his parents Ian and Ellen and sister Ceri.

Mr Williams was last seen alive eight days before his body was found.

He was seen shopping at Harrods on CCTV and at Holland Park tube station.

Cops have refused to label the death as a murder.

Mr Williams died just days before he was due to complete the one-year secondment to Britain's foreign intelligence service in London's Vauxhall.

Sun : Dead holdall spy 'zipped himself in'

Dead holdall spy 'zipped himself in'

By CHRIS POLLARD | September 13, 2010

A SPY found dead inside a padlocked holdall may have zipped HIMSELF in for sexual kicks, it emerged yesterday.

Police are still trying to explain how MI6 code-breaker Gareth Williams came to his end.

According to Met sources, a female officer climbed into the £150 North Face bag to re-enact possible events leading to his death. She zipped it up and padlocked it from the inside.

Cops now think the fitness fanatic, 31, may have done the same for sexual gratification and suffocated when he could not reopen it.

A padlock key was alongside his naked body inside the bag, which was found lying in his bathtub last month.

Erotic asphyxiation is the deliberate restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal.

Gareth had a small frame and fitted easily in the 32 x 19ins bag. Tests showed last week there was no trace of alcohol or drugs in his system.

His flat, in Pimlico, central London, did not appear to have been disturbed prior to his discovery.

Officers are still trying to trace a couple who visited the spy's flat weeks before he died.

A Met source said: "We remain baffled."

Mr Williams' body is being tested for radioactive poison polonium - used by Russian agents to kill ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

But Whitehall officials insist espionage or terrorism is not yet suspected.

Sun : Cops hunt couple over MI6 murder

Cops hunt couple over MI6 murder

By MIKE SULLIVAN, Crime Editor | September 7, 2010

SCOTLAND Yard was last night hunting a mystery couple over the murder of body-in-the-bath MI6 spook Gareth Williams.

The man and woman called at the codebreaker's flat in the dead of night weeks before the 30-year-old was found killed.

A neighbour who let the pair into their central London block described them as Mediterranean-looking.

Detectives have so far been unable to trace the couple. They appealed to the public for help - as they issued CCTV of the victim's last known movements.

Eight days later a holdall was found in his Pimlico bath with his body stuffed inside.

How he died remains a mystery. A toxicology report revealed by cops yesterday found no alcohol, drugs or easily-detected poisons in his blood.

Experts are carrying out further tests to discover if he was the victim of any rare poisons - like the radiation that killed former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

But the main focus of the police inquiry is on the Cambridge graduate's private life.

Det Chief Insp Jacqueline Sebire said: "This remains a complex unexplained-death inquiry."

Sun : MI6 death cops release CCTV

MI6 death cops release CCTV

By STAFF REPORTER | September 6, 2010

COPS investigating the death of British code-breaker Gareth Williams have today released CCTV footage of him.

Officers hope it will encourage members of the public who may have witnessed his last known movements to contact them.

The 30-year-old MI6 worker's naked decomposing body was found in a holdall in the bath at his flat in Pimlico, Central London, on August 23 after he failed to appear at work for several days.

In the footage, Mr Williams is seen entering Holland Park Underground station at about 3pm on Saturday August 14.

Scotland Yard officers also want to identify a man and a woman, both of Mediterranean appearance, who appear in separate footage shot from the communal entrance of Mr Williams's block of flats.

The pair were let into the block late one evening in June or July.

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

Police said he had returned from a planned holiday in the United States on Wednesday August 11 and went shopping "on a number of occasions" in the West End and Knightsbridge areas.

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

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

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, said: "I would appeal to anyone who may have seen or had contact with Gareth in the period between August 11 and 23 to come forward and speak with us.

"This remains a complex unexplained death inquiry."

A police spokesman said today no drugs, or indications of drug usage, were recovered from Mr Williams's flat.

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

Testing for other substances continues.

Sun : Spook had to be ID'd by photo

Spook had to be ID'd by photo

By ANTHONY FRANCE, Crime Reporter | September 1, 2010

THE body of murdered MI6 spook Gareth Williams was in such an "advanced state of decay" it had to be indentified from a family photo, a court heard yesterday.

The brilliant code breaker, 31, was found padlocked in a holdall in his bath.

Police spared his family the ordeal of seeing his body by asking for a recent snap instead.

An inquest was told that despite two post mortems police still don't know the cause of his death.

Mr Williams was found in the en-suite bathroom of his £400,000 flat in Pimlico, Central London on August 23 — half a mile from MI6's HQ on the Thames.

Police broke into his flat after colleagues said they had not seen him at work, Westminster Coroner's Court heard.

Mr Williams who worked for GCHQ, the Government's eavesdropping base in Cheltenham, was on secondment to the Secret Intelligence Service.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the murder investigation, was asked by coroner Dr Paul Knapman whether the police needed the public's help to solve the case.

DCI Sebire replied: "This remains an unexplained death. We would appeal for any witnesses who saw Mr Williams in any circumstances after August 11 onwards until the 23rd when he was discovered."

Earlier, the coroner had outlined the brief facts of the case.

He said: "I have a résumé here which says to me that on Monday August 23, police were called to check on the welfare of Gareth Williams at his home address as he had not been seen at work.

"At about 6.30pm that evening I understand police entered the premises. They found a large holdall in the bath in the en suite bathroom of the main bedroom.

"The holdall was padlocked shut and inside was a lifeless body, and it appeared that the body was in an advanced state of decay.

"Following this various specialist departments of the Metropolitan Police were called and it was confirmed it was a male and, as we have heard, the description matched Gareth Williams.

"The Homicide and Serious Crime Command were much involved."

He added: "A post-mortem was carried out at that time. We will call that the first post mortem. It was performed by Dr Ben Swift on Wednesday August 25th.

"This failed to establish the cause of death and so further tests are being carried out."

Mr William's parents Ian and Ellen and sister Ceri, 28, were not in court for the opening.

Coroner's officer Kim Bedwell said: "I'm satisfied that the deceased is Gareth Wyn Williams, aged 31. He was a single man, a civil servant.

"Identification was confirmed by comparison of the deceased with a recent photograph that was supplied by the next of kin."

Dr Knapman concluded the hearing by saying to DCI Sebire: "As always the family will be anxious to have the body released following post mortem.

"We have talked about this and I am not inclined to allow this to occur at the present time. What I'm going to do is adjourn this case for one week.

"No doubt we can be in touch about how any tests and enquiries are going."

Mr Williams' parents who live in Anglesey, North Wales, believe he was murdered.

Uncle William Hughes, 61, said: "I saw Gareth a couple of months ago when he came home for a cycling event and he was in good spirits.

"He was just the same as he always was — friendly, happy and well balanced.

"From the family's point of view, we'd be absolutely amazed if he had any suicidal thoughts. He just wasn't that kind of person.

"He was always very steady. He was a quiet person, but he was a happy one. There'd been no shift in his personality."

Sun : MI6 murder: Was it a serial killer?

MI6 murder: Was it a serial killer?

By ANTHONY FRANCE, Crime Reporter | August 28, 2010

POLICE fear a gay serial killer murdered MI6 spook Gareth Williams.

Files on a dozen unsolved killings and rapes are being checked for clues.

Detectives are racing to solve the mystery of secret cross-dresser Mr Williams' death before the killer strikes again. A senior source said: "This is our No1 priority.

"We are checking all the files to see if there is a link. The fear is that this is the beginning or part of a series of attacks."

The murder team will also speak to cops who worked on the unsolved garotting of pre-op transsexual Kellie Telesford, 39, in South London in 2007.

Mr Williams' body was found in a suitcase at his flat in Pimlico, central London, on Monday - eight days after he was last seen alive. There was no sign of a break-in and it is believed he invited his killer in.

Codebreaker Mr Williams, a keen cyclist from Anglesey, North Wales, was on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, Britain's electronic eavesdropping base.

A post mortem failed to identify a cause of death. He was not stabbed, shot or strangled and further tests are planned.

Police denied reports of bondage gear, porn or escort contacts being found in the £400,000 flat.

His parents Ian and Ellen and 28-year-old sister Ceri were still in a state of shock yesterday.

Last night they issued a statement saying: "Gareth was a generous, loving son, brother, and friend, and he was a very private person.

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

"His loss has devastated us and we would ask that anyone with information to come forward and assist the police enquiry."

Sun : Spy vetting probe over bondage find

Spy vetting probe over bondage find

By ANTHONY FRANCE, JOHN KAY and NEIL SYSON | August 27, 2010

SPY chiefs launched a probe yesterday into their security vetting of murdered spook Gareth Williams as it emerged bondage gear was found in his flat.

Detectives are believed to have discovered porn films and sado-masochistic equipment.

The master codebreaker working for MI6 was also linked to a male escort.

Bosses at MI6's HQ near the flat he was using in Pimlico, central London, are investigating all aspects about his private life that might have slipped past their "positive vetting" system.

Potential employees have to declare anything that could make them blackmail targets.

A security source said: "The logic is that you cannot be blackmailed about something your employers are already aware of."

The decomposed body of keen cyclist Mr Williams, 31, was found in a suitcase in the bathroom at his flat on Monday.

It was also revealed he made several trips to the US - and was thought to have been helping US intelligence in the fight against al-Qaeda.

He returned from his last trip to America a few weeks ago.

Mr Williams is said to have regularly travelled to Baltimore to meet officials at the US National Security Agency at their Fort Meade headquarters, nicknamed Puzzle Palace.

It is thought that he may also have been involved in monitoring conversations between Taliban commanders.

The maths genius was in the US up to four times a year.

His uncle William Hughes said: "The trips were very hush-hush. They were so secret that I only recently found out about them - and we're a very close family."

The CIA was last night also said to be investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

Mr Williams, originally from Holyhead, North Wales, had been on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, Britain's eavesdropping base in Cheltenham, Gloucs.

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."

Sun : Did al-Qaeda bump off suitcase spook?

Did al-Qaeda bump off suitcase spook?

By ANTHONY FRANCE, Crime Reporter, and JOHN KAY, Chief Reporter | August 25, 2010

DETECTIVES were last night investigating whether a spook whose body was found in a suitcase was assassinated by AL-QAEDA.

The body was discovered in the bath of the victim's penthouse flat - and may have been there for up to TWO WEEKS.

The spy, named locally as Gareth Williams, 31, worked as a communications officer for GCHQ, the top-secret eavesdropping base in Cheltenham, Gloucs.

But he was attached to MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service which gathers information about Britain's enemies abroad - triggering fears he could have been a terrorist target.

It was reported last night that Mr Williams's mobile phone and a number of SIM cards were laid out in a ritualistic manner at the murder scene in swanky Alderney Street, Pimlico, Central London - near to MI6 headquarters.

Another murder theory was that the young officer - described as a "mild-mannered" cycling fan - was killed over a sex triangle or some other aspect of his private life.

It is thought he advised MI6 — possibly about James Bond-style gadgets like listening devices. Police entered his £400,000 flat after worried friends reported him missing.

Last night men wearing protective clothing carried the body from the four-storey townhouse at 9.20pm.

'Coup'

It was taken away in a Mercedes private ambulance. Meanwhile, forensic experts combed the flat for clues.

Scotland Yard cordoned off the area and made door-to-door inquiries.

Sources stressed it was too early to say what the motive was behind the killing. One said: "All options are being looked at."

But a security expert said: "To kill any Government security worker would be an extraordinary coup for a terrorist organisation like al-Qaeda.

"It would not matter how junior the worker was — it would send shockwaves through Government and show that no one in Britain was 100 per cent safe."

Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is the overall boss of MI6, was being kept closely informed of the police investigation. It was not known how the victim, who was thought to have a doctorate in maths from Cambridge University, died.

His body was already decomposing when found on Monday. A post mortem is due tomorrow.

One neighbour said: "After he was found the street was full of suits, it wasn't your average police turnout. There must have been 30 officers."

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 round.

"He was an extremely intelligent person but would not talk about his job as it was a secret.

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

A local resident, who asked not to be named, said last night: "A police officer came to my house and asked if we'd noticed anything suspicious in the last ten days, so I think that the body has been there for a while.

"There have been forensic people in and out since yesterday."

Last night a senior Foreign Office spokesman told The Sun: "There is an ongoing police investigation.

"We cannot say any more and we never comment on intelligence matters or confirm or deny them."

Mr Williams 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.