Taranaki Daily News (NZ) : Naked spy in bag 'likely slain by mystery killer'

Naked spy in bag 'likely slain by mystery killer'

Paisley Dodds | May 3, 2012

Even after a coroner's verdict, it remains a mystery: A naked spy found dead in a locked bag, lurid details of a kinky sex life and allegations that someone in Britain's spy agencies may have been involved in his death.

A British coroner ruled overnight (NZ time) that another person was likely involved in Gareth Williams' death — a finding that puts more pressure police to uncover the cyberwarfare expert's killer and continue to investigate possibilities that include whether he could have died in a sex game gone awry or in a more sinister scenario that involved his counterterrorism work.

In Britain, coroners are asked to investigate unexplained deaths, and their findings can often carry weight as police investigations proceed.

Although Coroner Fiona Wilcox said it was unlikely that the death of Williams, 31, will ever be "satisfactorily explained," she said the spy was likely killed either by suffocation or poisoning in a "criminally meditated act." She also said it was possible that someone from one of Britain's spy agencies was involved.

Williams, described as an introverted math genius, worked for Britain's secret eavesdropping service GCHQ. But he was attached to the MI6 foreign spy agency when his remains were found in the bathtub at his London apartment on August 16, 2010, just a few days after returning from a trip to the United States.

Forensic experts found some 20,000 pounds (NZ$39,965) worth of luxury women's clothing, shoes and wigs in his apartment. Police also discovered that he had visited bondage and sadomasochism websites, including some related to claustrophilia — a desire for confinement in enclosed spaces.

William's landlord testified during the coroner's hearing that she once found him handcuffed to his bed. She said he had appeared embarrassed after asking for help.

Still, Wilcox said there was no immediate evidence of a sexual encounter gone wrong, of suicidal intent, or that Williams' death was linked to a supposed interest in bondage. She said, however, that tales about his sex life could have been fuelled in an attempt to "manipulate the evidence."

In the past, spy recruits were often cautioned that their sex lives could make them vulnerable to blackmail.

The case has frustrated Scotland Yard detectives who have been investigating the case for 21 months now and say that the secrecy surrounding Williams' job has thwarted their efforts.
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"Obviously a lot of information has come out through the course of this inquest which we have not been party to," lead detective Jackie Sebire said.

But Wilcox also criticised the police detectives.

Time and resources were wasted, she said, when forensic teams investigating a DNA sample taken from Williams's hand later turned out to belong to one of the forensic scientists. She also questioned the handling of William's iPhone, which contained deleted images of him naked in a pair of boots.

Detective Superintendent Michael Broster, who was the police liason with MI6, said he had seized it from the spy's workplace and kept it until the next day when he gave it to another officer.

"I find this is either not what occurred ... or it demonstrates disregard for the rules governing continuity of evidence," Wilcox said.

Wilcox also criticised officers who interviewed Williams' colleagues without taking any formal statements.

"I find that this did affect the quality of evidence that was heard before this court," she said.

Still, the coroner said she had seen no evidence to indicate his death was linked to his work.

When the case emerged, some had speculated that he could have been the target of Russian criminal gangs or an al Qaeda extremist. Other media reports had said there had been a break-in at the property where he lived — a building sometimes used by MI6 to house its agents.

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

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

MI6 waited a week to investigate why Williams hadn't shown up for work — a delay that made it difficult for Williams' family to identify his badly decomposed body.

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

During the coroner's hearing, MI6 accepted that Williams disliked the agency's boozy culture of post-work drinking and tedious bureaucracy, and had requested to return to his job at GCHQ.

One MI6 officer claimed that Williams hadn't been reported as missing because colleagues assumed he was preparing for his return to the southern England headquarters of the eavesdropping service.

Wilcox said it appeared unlikely that Williams could have climbed inside the duffel bag and locked it himself. Two different specialists attempted to recreate the feat without success. Williams was discovered in the foetal position inside the bag with two keys to the bag's padlock underneath his buttocks.

Pathologists told the inquest that poisoning or asphyxiation may have killed Williams, but said his cadaver was too badly decomposed to be certain.

Williams' family, who have been left distraught by parts of the inquest, did not speak outside court but offered a statement.

The family, from Wales, described Williams as a "special and adored son and brother" and said they "cannot describe the depth of the sorrow his absence leaves in our lives."

The police investigating is ongoing.

- AP

Mirror : Was body-in-the-bag spy betrayed by a double agent? Mole theory over MI6 codebreaker's death

Was body-in-the-bag spy betrayed by a double agent? Mole theory over MI6 codebreaker's death

In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams

March 10, 2012

In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams

The expert codebreaker’s decomposing body was found locked in a large sportsbag in the bath of his London flat in 2010.

There were no obvious signs of how he died or who was responsible – with many claiming a “wall of silence” surrounding his death points to a cover-up at the very heart of the British establishment.

And now it has been revealed Gareth may have been betrayed by a British double agent.

Security bosses are trying to establish if a mole somewhere within intelligence revealed his identity to foreign assassins.

The brilliant mathematician, 31, was working for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and would have been a high value target – vital in producing hi-tech defences to prevent cyber attacks on our most secret government departments.

He was one of only a handful of spies launching effective counter attacks to stop enemy hackers infiltrating British networks.

Williams had been seconded from the top-secret Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham to MI6 in the capital.

He was making clandestine visits to Washington to team up with US espionage agents and share intelligence in operations to fend off hostile hacking infiltrations by Russia and China.

Eighteen months after his bizarre death, investigators are still piecing together his every move to try to get information which could lead them back to a British double agent.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, refuses to rule out the possibility that British national security has been breached by the death.

He said: “Reassurance can only be given if it’s based on some new information, and only those who have the skills and the responsibility to carry out such an investigation can take that forward. There have been exhaustive inquiries but they have been unable to reach a conclusion.”

North Wales-born Williams’s parents, Ian and Ellen, hope more will be revealed when a full inquest is opened next month.

They have been told by MI6 chiefs not to talk about his death, while police and security officers have also remained tight-lipped – fuelling speculation the British establishment does not want to reveal what happened to one of its most valued agents.

It was 4.40pm on August 23, 2010, when his naked, contorted body was found by police, zipped and padlocked in a red, 140-litre-capacity North Face hold-all in the bath of his top-floor apartment owned by MI6.

There were no signs of a struggle within flat 4, Alderney Street, Pimlico, less than a mile away from MI6’s HQ, across Vauxhall Bridge.

The key to the bag’s Yale lock was in the hold-all and police said forensic tests showed at least one other person was involved but have not been able to prove it was murder and do not think he killed himself.

Williams, a 9st cycling enthusiast, had not showed up at work for days when an officer went to the flat. Police said he probably died eight days earlier – just weeks after a man and woman of Mediterranean appearance had called at his flat.

Mystery also surrounds a break-in at the flat in the months before – while more twists and turns in the story led to lurid tales about his private life.

One claimed he was a transvestite who police thought may have been murdered by a gay lover.

And the most extreme claim was that he may have died in an auto-erotic asphyxiation sex game gone wrong.

Police also revealed he had £15,000 worth of unworn women’s designer clothing, shoes and wigs in his flat, but his friends believe many of these stories were planted to cloud the investigation.

Crispin Black, an intelligence analyst and former adviser to the Government, says the most likely explanation is that Williams was murdered.

“The thing has a professional air – it’s neat, it’s tidy, it’s organised,” he said.

“A bath is where you put things if you don’t want any forensic residue to be left behind – because you know where the body’s been and you can clear up after it.”

The fact the body was found locked in a holdall, with the key inside, provides the strongest indication he was executed by a foreign death squad.

Investigators believe the team were so expert at their deadly trade, they left no obvious signs of the cause of death.

A security source said: “This has all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored assassination. If you’ve got a problem with your codes being broken, the only solution is to remove the codebreaker.

"They’re incredibly hard to replace because they are recruited for having the sharpest mathematical brains.

"There’s always suspicion about the Russians because in many ways the Cold War never completely ended.”

The possibility of a British intelligence mole has to be a huge worry for national security.

Professor Anthony Glees, director of security and intelligence studies at the independent University of Buckingham, said: “Sir Malcolm himself says he could not give the public reassurance that national security had not been breached by Gareth Williams’s death.

"I think we need an answer, especially in light of the fact that this year, with the Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, we are clearly a target.

“It’s a possibility that there is a spy and that someone betrayed Gareth Williams.

"It’s by no means unthinkable he was targeted by intelligence officials from other countries who believed he was targeting them.”

The police have not spoken publicly about the death for a year.

And Williams family friend Trefor Lloyd Hughes, 64, said: “I have no doubt some higher influences will be involved here which may stop certain information from getting through, but the family need peace.”

Even before his secondment to MI6, his work in signals intelligence at GCHQ would have put him on the front line in the international cyber war, helping to combat insurgent bombers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Codebreakers, phone and radio interceptors and internet experts fight the triple threat of terrorism, espionage and organised crime.

At Williams’s funeral at the windswept Bethel Chapel in Holyhead, Anglesey, his family were consoled by MI6 chief Sir John Sawyers, who said: “Gareth did really valuable work with us in the cause of national security.”

Back in Anglesey, those who knew Gareth Williams would no doubt like to know if it was that cause which he ended up giving his life for.

Daily Post : Claims building in which Anglesey MI6 spy lived in was broken into

Claims building in which Anglesey MI6 spy lived in was broken into

by Dan Beavan, DPW West | February 20, 2012

SECURITY concerns had been raised in the months before the body of a spy was found in a holdall it has been claimed.

The body of 31-year-old GCHQ code-breaker Gareth Williams, from Valley, Anglesey, was discovered in his London flat in August 2010.

He had been padlocked inside a holdall that was left in an empty bath.

His death appeared a baffling mystery to Met Police.

But according to a leading Sunday newspaper, a source close to Mr Williams has come forward claiming the Pimlico building, where the spy lived in London, was broken into several months before his death, which has apparently not been revealed by the authorities.

According to the source Mr Williams had told him a female occupant on the ground floor flat had asked the spy to swap apartments after hers was broken into.

The property was used by MI6 to house its agents.

A major investigation by the Met Police was launched but has so far failed to establish what led to his death.

Westminster Coroner’s Court has said a pre-inquest review will take place on March 29, with a full inquest to follow three weeks later.

The inquest is expected to last four days.