Daily Post : Gareth Williams: MI6 spy from Anglesey may have been poisoned says detective

Gareth Williams: MI6 spy from Anglesey may have been poisoned says detective

Former Metropolitan Police murder squad detective Colin Sutton has shared his theory on the death of the Anglesey spy found dead in a holdall

By Rhodri Barker | June 23, 2014

A former senior murder squad detective claims an Anglesey spy whose body was found in a holdall may have been poisoned in a “perfect killing”.

The riddle of Gareth Williams’s death appeared resolved last year after a top-level police probe concluded that he probably died alone in an accident.

But former Metropolitan Police murder squad detective Colin Sutton has now challenged that view with a sensational new theory of his own.

Sutton, who was the most senior detective at the scene on the day of the gruesome discovery almost four years ago, revealed he has lingering doubts about the code-breaker’s death.

His view chimes with that of Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox, who recorded two years ago that Mr Williams was unlawfully killed. Her verdict was later overturned.

Police broke into Mr Williams’s flat in Pimlico in London in August 2010, and found his decomposing remains in a red bag padlocked from the outside.

Mr Sutton has now voiced fears that the flat may well have been "cleaned" of all incriminating traces while any poison in Mr Williams’s system may have been impossible to detect by then.

“The first thing that struck me was how hot it was. It was August yet the heating was on full blast,” he said, recalling arriving on the scene on the day of the discovery.

“It made me think immediately that the heating could have been left on to accelerate the decomposition of Gareth's body.

“If he had been poisoned then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology tests were conducted.”

He added: "There is also the possibility that something very unusual and hard to detect was used to poison Gareth. It may seem far fetched but we know that Alexander Litvinenko was killed four years earlier in London with a rare radioactive isotope.

“I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. That may have been to protect national security - or it might have been something more sinister. If that is the case, then it could have been the perfect murder."

Mr Williams, from Valley in Anglesey, was a maths PhD graduate who began working at GCHQ in Cheltenham in 2001.

Western Daily Press : Detective Colin Sutton thinks GCHQ worker Gareth Williams was drugged

Detective Colin Sutton thinks GCHQ worker Gareth Williams was drugged

By JEFF WELLS | June 23, 2014

GCHQ worker Gareth Williams could have been poisoned, a retired murder squad detective has said.

The MI6 codebreaker's body was found in a large hold-all in the bath of his flat in Alderney Street in Pimlico, London, in August, 2010.

The bag was locked, from the outside.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton was the most senior officer on the scene and he told The Sun newspaper that the flat was unusually warm when he arrived.

He claimed the heating was turned up to the maximum, possible to help with decomposition.

He said: "If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted."

According to Mr Sutton if some unusual form of poison had been used it would have been difficult to detect. He added: "I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. That may have been to protect national security or it might have been something more sinister. If that's the case, then it could have been the perfect murder."

Last year, the Metropolitan Police issued a report following further inquiries into Dr Williams' death which concluded that he was probably alone when he died.

Previously an inquest had decided that another person or persons were probably involved, as the mathematician was found locked, from the outside, in the bag.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled that the spy would not have been able to lock himself in the bag and was therefore likely to have died at somebody else's hands.

She concluded: "The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated.

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

Dr Williams was coming to the end of a three-year secondment to MI6 in London in August 2010, when he was reported missing by GCHQ, just days before he was due to return to Cheltenham.

Dr Williams, who rented a flat in Bouncers Lane, Cheltenham, for many years and was a keen cyclist and member of Cheltenham and County Cycle Club, was originally from North Wales.

His family have said they believed the coroner's view "accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death.

"We remain very disappointed over the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic of enquiries concerning Gareth's welfare when he failed to attend for work on August 16, 2010," they said.

"This lack of concern for Gareth's wellbeing remains an overriding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother."

Daily Mail : MI6 spy whose body was found stuffed in a bag 'was poisoned', says first murder squad detective on the scene

MI6 spy whose body was found stuffed in a bag 'was poisoned', says first murder squad detective on the scene

* Gareth Williams was found locked in a sports bag in his flat in August 2010
* Retired DCI Colin Sutton said the spy's death could be the 'perfect murder'
* Police claim Mr Williams' most likely died after locking himself in the bag

By Darren Boyle | June 21, 2014

A retired murder squad detective who attended the scene of 'body in the bag spy' Gareth Williams said he believed the MI6 man could have been poisoned.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton was the most senior officer on the scene when he arrived at Mr Williams' flat in Pimlico on August 23, 2010.

An inquest at Westminster Coroner Court found Mr Williams was most likely 'unlawfully killed', but police officially believe the spy died after padlocking himself inside the bag.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled that the spy would not have been able to lock himself in the bag and was therefore likely to have died at somebody else's hands.

She concluded: 'The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated. I am therefore satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully.'

However, speaking about the case, former DCI Sutton told The Sun he thought the flat was unusually warm when he arrived, claiming the heating was turned up to its maximum setting, possibly to assist with decomposition.

He said: 'If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted.'

The inquest had heard that there had been significant delays between the report of Mr Williams' disappearance and the eventual discovery of his body in his flat, leading to fears of a possible cover up.

According to Mr Sutton if some unusual form of poison had been used it would have been difficult to detect.

He added: 'I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. that may have been to protect national security or it might have been something more sinister. If that's the case, then it could have been the perfect murder.'

Scotland Yard chiefs said they thought Gareth Williams died alone – but were forced to admit that gaps in the evidence made it impossible to be sure.

His furious parents rejected that verdict and said they stood by a coroner’s ruling that the brilliant codebreaker was probably killed unlawfully. They also accused MI6 of allowing the circumstances of his death to be covered up.

The body of the 31-year-old lay undiscovered in a red holdall in the bath of his Pimlico flat for a week before security service bosses raised the alarm. Significantly, ten to 15 DNA traces found in the apartment are still unidentified, despite the efforts of leading forensic experts.

Police have also been unable to explain why his DNA was not on the lock on the bag and his prints were not found on the rim of the bath.

In a statement, Mr Williams’ parents Ian and Ellen said: ‘We are naturally disappointed it is still not possible to state with certainty how Gareth died, and the fact that the circumstances of his death are still unknown adds to our grief. We consider that on the basis of the facts at present known, the coroner’s verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death.

‘We still, however, remain very disappointed over the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic inquiries concerning Gareth’s welfare when he failed to attend for work on August 16, 2010.’

‘If proper steps had been taken in the same manner as any reasonable employer would have undertaken, further information relating to the cause of his death might have become apparent and not have been lost due to the length of time before Gareth’s body was found.’

Mr Williams’ naked body was found on August 23, 2010.

Dr Wilcox said it ‘remained a legitimate line of inquiry’ that the secret services may have been involved – and Mr Williams was probably killed unlawfully by a third party.

But Martin Hewitt, a deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, insisted his investigation showed Mr Williams probably locked himself inside the bag without help.

He admitted however that ‘evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding’ meant no theory – police or coroner’s – could be proved ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’.

Scotland Yard accepted that its investigation had been flawed from the outset.

Detectives were unable to access the spy’s personnel and vetting files and formally interview GCHQ and MI6 staff until after the inquest because all liaison with MI6 was carried out through the counter-terrorism squad.

But Mr Hewitt said it was ‘beyond credibility’ that the secret services had covered up the death.

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

‘I am absolutely satisfied that every question we have had to ask has been asked, and every person we felt it necessary to talk to we have spoken to.

‘No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth’s death beyond all reasonable doubt.

‘With the conclusion of the investigation, the Metropolitan Police’s position is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died. I’m convinced that Gareth’s death was in no way related to his work.’

Mr Hewitt added: ‘We didn’t get it right at the beginning and the way that we did it was cumbersome and didn’t allow us to do the investigation in the way that we wanted to.

'We recognised that fact and we changed it fundamentally for the subsequent two years of the investigation. I don’t think that process stopped us getting any evidence that we needed to get.’

'Three years of extensive investigative activity have developed a very clear profile of Gareth. He was, without doubt, a private person who was very close to his family and had few other close friends.

'That said, the universal view of colleagues was of a conscientious and decent man with a few well-known hobbies such as his cycling and climbing. There is no evidence of any animosity towards Gareth, and it has not been possible to identify anyone with a motive for causing him harm.'

The investigation included interviews with 27 officials from both MI6 and GCHQ, from where Mr Williams, who was originally from Anglesey, had been seconded.

Police said that Dr Wilcox has accepted their findings, but decided that there is insufficient new evidence to justify re-opening the inquest.

Gloucestershire Echo : GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams 'could have been poisoned' says former murder squad detective

GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams 'could have been poisoned' says former murder squad detective

By Gloucestershire Echo | June 21, 2014

GCHQ worker Gareth Williams could have been poisoned, a retired murder squad detective has said.

The MI6 codebreaker’s body was found in a large hold-all in the bath of his flat in Alderney Street in Pimlico, London, on August 23, 2010.

The bag was locked, from the outside.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton was the most senior officer on the scene and he told The Sun newspaper that the flat was unusually warm when he arrived.

He claimed the heating was turned up to the maximum, possible to help with decomposition.

He said: “If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted.”

According to Mr Sutton if some unusual form of poison had been used it would have been difficult to detect.

He added: “I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. that may have been to protect national security or it might have been something more sinister. If that’s the case, then it could have been the perfect murder.”

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

Previously an inquest had decided that another person or persons were probably involved, as the mathematician was found locked, from the outside, in the bag.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled that the spy would not have been able to lock himself in the bag and was therefore likely to have died at somebody else’s hands.

She concluded: “The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated. I am therefore satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully.”

Dr Williams was coming to the end of a three-year secondment to MI6 in London in August 2010, when he was reported missing by GCHQ, just days before he was due to return to Cheltenham.

Dr Williams, who rented a flat in Bouncers Lane for many years and was a keen cyclist and member of Cheltenham and County Cycle Club, was originally from North Wales.

His family have said they believed the coroner’s view “accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death.

“We remain very disappointed over the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic of enquiries concerning Gareth’s welfare when he failed to attend for work on 16th August 2010.

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

Mirror : MI6 spy found dead in a bag 'may have been poisoned' says retired detective

MI6 spy found dead in a bag 'may have been poisoned' says retired detective

By Alex Wellman | June 21, 2014

Gareth Williams' decomposed body was found inside a padlocked bag inside his London home in a case which has still not been solved

The MI6 spy who was found dead in a bag may have been poisoned, says the first detective to arrive on the scene.

Mystery has surrounded the death of British spook Gareth Williams ever since his body was found inside a padlocked bag in his central London flat in 2010.

Conspiracy theories have swirled around ever since but the most senior detective who was on the scene on the day Gareth’s body was found fears it could have been poisoning.

Retired murder squad detective Colin Sutton revealed that when he first entered the flat he was struck by how hot it was.

This made him think the heating could have been left on to speed up decomposition of the body.

He said: “If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted.”

Speaking to The Sun, he added that with the deaths of Alexander Litvinenko and Georgi Markov, there are previous examples of spies being poisoned.

He said: “If the motive for Gareth’s death was around his job then poison become much more likely.”

The claims tie in with a coroner’s inquest into the death which said he was “unlawfully killed” but are in stark contrast to a police review which said the spy – who had a wardrobe full of women’s clothes - may have died in a lone sex game.

Independent : Top detective claims British spook found dead in padlocked bag could have been poisoned

Top detective claims British spook found dead in padlocked bag could have been poisoned

Senior officer who was first on the scene claims Gareth Williams was poisoned and left to rot in a bag in an over-heated room

Tom Payne | June 21, 2014

An MI6 spy whose decomposed body was found in a padlocked bag could have been poisoned, a senior detective on the scene has claimed.

The death of British spook Gareth Williams has been steeped in mystery ever since his body was found locked inside a North Face bag in a flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010.

The coroner found that Mr Williams’ death was likely to have been “criminally mediated” on the balance of probabilities, but was unable to provide definitive answers as to the cause.

Speaking to The Sun today, Colin Sutton, a retired murder squad detective, revealed how the spook’s flat was very hot when officers first broke in.

He suggested that the heating could have been left on to speed up the decomposition of the body.

He said: “If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted.

“If the motive for Gareth’s death was around his job then poison become much more likely.”

The fresh claims align with the coroner’s verdict that Mr Williams was “unlawfully killed”.

But they are in stark contrast to a separate police investigation which suggested the spy may have died in a sex game gone wrong.

Telegraph : Spy in a bag: clues to 'perfect murder’

Spy in a bag: clues to 'perfect murder’

Colin Sutton, a Scotland Yard detective who examined the flat where Gareth Williams was found locked in a holdall, suggests a 'sinister' explanation lies behind MI6 spy's death

By Edward Malnick | June 21, 2014

The MI6 spy found dead in a locked holdall could have been poisoned and his home professionally cleaned to hide crucial evidence in a “perfect murder”, according to a detective who examined the scene.

Colin Sutton, the most senior officer to examine Gareth Williams’s flat on the day his body was discovered, said he was convinced that it had been “tidied up” after his death.

Mr Sutton also suggested in an interview with The Sun that a “very unusual and hard to detect” substance could have been used to poison the 31 year-old.

The intervention by the former Metropolitan Police murder detective is at odds with the force’s official investigation. Detectives had suggested Mr Williams had become trapped in a bag while seeking some sort of sexual gratification.

The naked, decomposing body of Mr Williams, who was on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, was found in the padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, in August 2010.

Although the inquest into his death ruled that he was “unlawfully killed”, a later police inquiry, which reported in November, concluded that Mr Williams probably got into the bag by himself and died when he could not get out.

There was no evidence of a forced entry or struggle in the flat and suggestions that all DNA and fingerprints had been wiped in a deep clean were a “fallacy”, police said.

However, on Saturday Mr Sutton, a former detective chief inspector, said: “I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. That may have been to protect national security — or it might have been something more sinister.

“If that is the case, then it could have been the perfect murder.

“His phone and sim cards were neatly laid out. It was like they had been put there deliberately for us. My thoughts were some well-educated spy has sacrificed this stuff, hoping that plod would be satisfied with it and not look any further.”

Mr Sutton led the successful investigation into Levi Bellfield, the serial killer who murdered Milly Dowler. He did not work on the Williams investigation after Aug 23, when he examined the flat, but has continued to follow the case.

He said he was concerned that there was a five-hour delay between Mr Williams’s sister – having been unable to reach her brother – raising the alarm with GCHQ, and police being notified by officials.

The time lag gave MI6 “plenty of opportunity to clean up the scene”.

Mr Sutton said the heating had been on “full-blast” when he arrived at Mr Williams’s flat on Aug 23 2010, which he believed could have been deliberate, to speed up decomposition of the body.

He added that any chemical compounds from poisonous substances could have “vanished” by the time his body was tested.

“There is also the possibility that something very unusual and hard to detect could have been used to poison Gareth,” he added.

“It may seem far-fetched, but we know that Alexander Litvinenko was killed four years earlier in London with a rare radioactive isotope, and before that, Georgi Markov was killed by Bulgarian secret-service agents with the tip of a poisoned umbrella.

“If the motive for Gareth’s death was around his job, then poison becomes much more likely.”

Dept Asst Commissioner Martin Hewitt, who led the police investigation into the death, insisted last year that there was no evidence that it was connected to his work.

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

Police, who originally suspected foul play, effectively ended their inquiries into the case last year but said they would keep the case under review.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said that Mr Sutton’s observations about the crime scene would have been reported to his superiors at the time.

“This does not appear to be further evidence that we can act on,” he added.

Crime Library : Gareth Williams: The Dead Spy in The Sports Bag

Gareth Williams: The Dead Spy in The Sports Bag

By Bruce Gain | January 4, 2013

One of the first things police noticed on entering the London apartment of the missing man, was the smell of death, exacerbated by the sweltering temperature. It was the middle of August in 2010, and someone had turned up the heat and shut the windows.

The smell was coming from the bathroom, where a large sports bag lay in the tub. Inside the bag, which was locked from the outside, was the badly decomposed body of missing British MI6 spy Gareth Williams.

Investigators did not have much to go on. There were few traces of DNA in the apartment that did not belong to Williams and his family. A suspect would have to have had professional training to know how to enter and leave an apartment without leaving any fingerprints or DNA evidence. Since the body had had over a week to decompose in the sweltering apartment, determining whether he had been poisoned or had suffocated inside the bag was impossible. Traces of alcohol and the date rape drug GHB were found in his body, but according to coroner Dr. Fiona Wilcox, the decomposition process could have produced those chemicals naturally.

Lacking any fingerprints, investigators could not confirm whether someone had stuffed Williams into the bag or not. They speculated that Williams, with his expert spy training, had managed to crawl inside the bag and lock it himself, but the evidence was in conclusive. In fact, the mystery surrounding how Williams got into that bag is at the center of the case.

Police, however, suspected foul play. The mere fact that Williams was a spy aroused their suspicions. Investigators pondered the possibility that, because of his connections to M16 as well as other agencies, including the U.S.’s NSA (National Security Agency), Williams had been the victim of a professionally orchestrated hit.

Investigators also learned that Williams might have led a secret life, possibly involving cross-dressing and the S&M scene in London. Police naturally probed Williams’ private life and sexual interests, the behavior of Williams’ colleagues and superiors at MI6 in the wake of his death drew criticism. Most notably, they did not report him missing for a week. Intentionally or not, these errors committed during the course of the investigation wound up impeding it, leading many to conclude that at the very least MI6 knew more about the circumstances surrounding Williams’ death than the secretive organization was willing to reveal.

The Welsh Math Genius

British intelligence had made good use of Williams’ talents as a cryptologist and computer network expert. His intellectual aptitude became apparent while he was still growing up in Wales, where he excelled in school, and began taking university classes while still in high school. Williams graduated from Bangor University at the age of 17.

He got his Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Manchester, and joined the UK Government Communications Headquarters in 2001. Few details were revealed about his role at the agency other than that he specialized in “applications of emerging technologies.”

Based in Cheltenham, Britain, at first, Williams spent his downtime pursuing his favorite activities: cycling and hiking. He then moved to the London flat where his body was found, and joined MI6’s operations. According to testimony from his family, however, Williams was not happy with his assignment in London: He did not like the hectic pace of city life, nor did he appreciate M16’s macho, cloak-and-dagger culture. He requested and was granted permission to transfer back to Cheltenham to take up his former post at GCHQ, and was scheduled to make the move just a few days after his death.

Court testimony also revealed that Williams was actively involved in gathering intelligence about terrorist activities, which he did by penetrating and monitoring computer and voice networks. Just a few weeks before his death, it was revealed that Williams was responsible for preventing a major jihadist attack on British soil.

According to the Daily Express, Williams intercepted phone calls that matched the voice prints of a terrorist database, composed of Al-Qaeda members and other terrorists. Williams would later travel to Afghanistan with members from the GCHQ and the U.S.’ NSA. It was uncovered that the terrorist group was preparing to launch a major attack against targets in Berlin, London, and Paris and planned to destroy cultural and historical landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate, and Buckingham Palace. The attack was reportedly thwarted by arrests, and by a U.S. drone strike that killed Abdul Jabbar, a Pakistan-born British national. According to the Daily Express, Williams was responsible for saving thousands of lives in Europe.

An S&M Connection?

Williams’ roll in saving lives while serving his country at M16 might have made him a hero, but that is not what the tabloid press chose to focus on. Instead, during the weeks and months after Williams’ body was found, much attention was paid to Williams’ private life, details of which were leaked to the British press.

By all accounts, Williams was very private; he kept mostly to himself, had few close friends and few people outside of his work knew him. However, there were some aspects of his life outside the agency that police theorized could have played a role in his death.

Besides his passion for cycling and hiking, William was a prodigious collector of women’s clothing. Police found over £20,000 worth of women’s apparel at his London flat, a major investment for Williams who earned hardly twice that much in a year. Investigators concluded that the clothing collection, most of which was not his size, reflected his personal interest in fashion itself, an interest he pursued by attending classes at a local fashion design institute in his free time.

Other details police uncovered about Williams’ private life prompted investigators to suspect that he may have been a transvestite, possibly involved with the local S&M bondage community. Witnesses reported seeing him, on occasion, at transvestite clubs and gay bars, according to the Daily Mail. Police found a video on one of his cell phones of him dancing naked, wearing only women’s boots. However, police never found evidence that Williams had gay relationships. In fact, they never found evidence that he had relationships of any kind, with women or men. His friends and relatives continued to insist that he was heterosexual.

One incident that lent credibility to the theory that Williams was interested in sexual bondage, came from his landlady. She told investigators that on one occasion, while renting a floor of her house, Williams had once cried to her out for help. She and her husband responded, discovering Williams tied to his bed, wearing only underwear. He explained that he was trying to see if he was able to free himself after being tied up. The landlady reported that she suspected Williams was seeking sexual thrills by tying himself up.

While there continues to be much speculation by police and the media that Williams was involved in a sexual stunt that resulted in his death, his family and friends think otherwise. Wilcox, who released her verdict in late 2012, cast further doubts that Williams was killed during a sexual misadventure.

If someone had entered the apartment without force, it indicated that Williams had let that person in, and that it was a colleague. Williams would have only trusted a colleague to enter the flat, which had served as housing for MI6 officers before Williams moved there.

Wilcox also questioned MI6’s intentions for mishandling the case. Suspicious were raised from the beginning, when the agency waited for over a week to alert police that Williams had not reported to work, despite the extremely sensitive nature of that work.

Other details smacked of a professional hit. The bag, for example, had been placed in the bathtub, which would have facilitated the draining of bodily fluids as the corpse decomposed. Turning up the heat in the apartment helped to speed decomposition, making it more difficult to determine cause of death.

MI6 found and removed USB memory sticks that Williams had, in violation of protocol, brought home from work. The agency, however, did not share the contents of the USB keys with police, citing security concerns. MI6 officials also did not communicate the possible reasons why Williams breached the agency’s security rules by taking classified data from the agency to his apartment in the first place.

An Elaborate Cover Up?

If the bizarre nature of his death was part of a setup staged by a professional from the intelligence community, it would almost certainly not be the first time such an incident occurred. Many M16 and other spies have turned up dead in the aftermath of what looked like embarrassing sexual encounters. According to the Daily Mail, there have been more than 17 deaths of British agents who have died under suspicious circumstances during the past 50 years. Of those deaths, a third died while engaging in what appeared to have been bizarre sexual acts. The motive in staging these sex scenes was to prevent investigators from discovering the truth, according to the Daily Mail.

In one incident in 1990, Jonathan Moyle, a British journalist and editor of Defence Helicopter World, was found dead in his hotel room in Chile, hanging naked in his closet with a pillowcase over his head. British officials initially claimed that he had asphyxiated himself as a way to heighten his pleasure during sex. He was officially in Chili to investigate an arms deal for his magazine, but years later, British intelligence divulged that the 3-year former RAF officer was actually working undercover for MI6 seeking intelligence about an arms deal between Chile and Iraq. It took an aggressive legal campaign spearheaded by the family against the British Secret Service before officials reluctantly agreed to apologize and acknowledged that Moyle was probably murdered.

British politician and former BBC newscaster Stephen Milligan also died under suspicious circumstances in 1994. Milligan, believed to have ties to the British intelligence community, was found dead in his London flat tied to a chair wearing only women’s leggings and suspenders. There was a cord wrapped around his neck and a bag over his head. Part of an orange was stuffed in his mouth. Despite the sexual implications of the circumstances, the true circumstances of Milligan’s death remain a mystery.

Many Questions, More Answers … And More Questions

In her official verdict, coroner Fiona Wilcox downplayed the possibility that Williams was killed during a sex encounter and said that his death was likely “criminally premeditated.” She also concluded that Williams was probably “killed unlawfully,” and while she did not have conclusive proof, the coroner also said that a member or members of the MI6 or GCHQ could have been involved.

Gareth Williams’ family remains adamant that MI6 at least knows more about his death than the agency’s members are willing to reveal. They have openly questioned how the rumors, that the family continues to deny, of the sordid details of Williams’ his private life could have been mysteriously leaked to the newspapers. The family claims that Williams has been the target of a smear campaign.

John Sawers, head of MI6 and GCHQ, offered a “profound apology” to Williams’ family for the delay in taking action after Williams was reported missing. However, MI6 officials have denied that his death was the result of the espionage-related “black arts.” Family members, however, remain unconvinced and are using legal channels to get the British secret service as well as the police to reveal more about what they may have uncovered about the case.

After the coroner concluded that Williams was killed and did not die by sexual misadventure, police at Scotland Yard stated that they have exhausted all of their leads, and that Williams ‘probably locked himself in holdall’ willingly, because they keys were found inside. Also a retired Army sergeant, William MacKay, demonstrated for police how Williams could have done it.

Police however continue to assure the public that they haven’t given up yet. So the mysterious death of Gareth William’s will most likely remain hot topic for 2013.