Seattle Times : British police now say death of ‘spy in a bag’ accidental

British police now say death of ‘spy in a bag’ accidental

More than three years after the naked, decomposing body of British spy Gareth Williams was discovered stuffed inside a locked gym bag at the bottom of his bathtub, the mystery over his bizarre death lingers, and a police investigation has done little to clear it up.

Los Angeles Times and The New York Times | November 13, 2013

LONDON — Scotland Yard on Wednesday reversed a coroner’s finding of foul play in the 2010 death of British spy Gareth Williams, concluding that an accident was likely responsible for the death of the code-breaker whose naked, decomposing body was found stuffed inside a zipped and padlocked gym bag.

London Metropolitan Police investigators had undertaken a review of evidence in the case 16 months ago, after initial restrictions on homicide detectives’ access to details of Williams’ intelligence work were lifted by the British secret service, MI6.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt told journalists in London that investigators only had access to Williams’ work files and colleagues after the coroner’s conclusion in April 2012 that his death was likely “criminally mediated.”

“On balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died,” Hewitt said, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The body of the then-31-year-old intelligence operative, who at the time of his August 2010 death was on temporary duty in London from his listening post in Cheltenham, was found in the empty bathtub of his apartment after he failed to show up for work for a week.

His naked body was curled in a fetal position inside a sports bag in an otherwise empty bathtub. In a twist worthy of a spy movie, the bag was padlocked, but the keys to the lock were inside the bag, beneath the decomposing body.

Williams had evidently led a very private existence, with few close friends. But with its tantalizing glimpse into the secretive world of espionage, the “spy in a bag” case drew intense interest from the news media, which speculated that Williams might have been assassinated, or might have died as an accidental consequence of an interest in escapology or bondage.

Hewitt conceded that uncertainties remain and that a definitive ruling on Williams’ cause of death may never be reached.

The revised assessment immediately prompted speculation that authorities were attempting to obscure some embarrassing or sensitive issue in the death.

The BBC quoted its internal-affairs correspondent as saying the findings that Williams was likely alone when he died as a result of an accident “were likely to fuel theories of a successful cover up by the intelligence agencies.”

The Daily Mirror’s website posted “10 questions which are still unanswered more than three years after Gareth’s death.” The mysteries cited included why Williams’ MI6 colleagues failed to inquire about his absence from work for a week, how the door to his apartment came to be locked from the outside after his death, whether the heat was turned on in the apartment to accelerate the body’s decomposition and preclude certain forensics tests, and why there were no fingerprints found on the bathtub.

Sky News reported that two contortion experts working on the earlier inquest tried 400 times to lock themselves into a similar bag and failed. Shortly after the earlier probe ended, though, an army sergeant was able to demonstrate that it was possible to zip oneself into such a bag from the inside in the cramped position in which Williams’ body was found, Sky reported.

Although the police did not themselves demonstrate that it was possible for a person to lock himself inside a bag, Hewitt said, they saw video footage of this being done.

Why Williams would have done so was not clear. The 2012 coroner’s inquest heard evidence that he had visited websites dedicated to bondage and “claustrophilia,” which involves seeking sexual thrills from being shut in enclosed spaces.

Williams’ family said in a statement Wednesday that they stood by the coroner’s findings — that he was probably the victim of an unlawful killing — rather than those of the police.

“We are naturally disappointed that 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,” the family said. “We consider that, on the basis of the facts at present known, the coroner’s verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death.”

Wales Online : Family of Gareth Williams attack MI6's 'lack of concern' over spy's well-being

Family of Gareth Williams attack MI6's 'lack of concern' over spy's well-being

Family release statement after police report concludes spy's death was 'probably an accident'

By Paul Rowland | November 13, 2013

The family of dead spy Gareth Williams have criticised MI6 over their response to his disappearance in August 2010.

Mr Williams, from Anglesey, was eventually found dead instead a holdall in his London flat after failing to turn up for work.

And speaking after a police report concluded that Mr Williams' death was "probably an accident", his family said they believed MI6's failure to respond with more urgency to his disappearance was responsible for the lack of information relating to the circumstances surrounding his death.

Mr Williams's family said in a statement issued through the police: "We are naturally disappointed that 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 known at present the Coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death."

"We note that the investigation has been conducted with further interviews upon some of the witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest, and that the investigation team were at last able to interview directly members of GCHQ and SIS.

"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.

"We believe that 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.

"This lack of concern for Gareth's well-being remains an over-riding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother.

"We do not propose to make any further comment now concerning Gareth's death, either personally nor through our legal representatives."

Washington Post : UK police: Spy whose body was found in padlocked gym bag probably died by accident

UK police: Spy whose body was found in padlocked gym bag probably died by accident

By Associated Press | November 13, 2013

LONDON — More than three years after the naked, decomposing body of British spy Gareth Williams was discovered stuffed inside a locked gym bag at the bottom of his bathtub, the mystery over his bizarre death lingers, and a police investigation has done little to clear it up.

London’s Metropolitan Police said Wednesday that their investigation had found that Williams likely died in an accident with no one else involved. But the tentative conclusion, which the police hedged by acknowledging many gaps haven’t been filled in, is unlikely to calm conspiracy theories surrounding the case.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said Williams, whose remains were discovered in August 2010, was “most probably” killed in an accident, a verdict which conflicts with a coroner’s inquest that concluded last year that Williams was probably killed by another person in a “criminally meditated act.”

Hewitt said the police position “is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

“But the reality is that for both hypotheses, there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding,” he said.

Hewitt told reporters at Scotland Yard headquarters that his conclusion was based on the fact that investigators found little evidence of foul play in a death that has spawned a host of theories, from assassination to sexual adventure gone awry.

Williams, a cyberwarfare expert, worked for Britain’s GCHQ eavesdropping service and was attached to the overseas espionage agency MI6 when he died.

Some have raised the possibility that Williams locked himself in the bag as part of a sex act gone wrong or an experiment in escapology — the Houdini-like art of wriggling out of restraints or traps. Investigators found that he had visited bondage and sadomasochism websites, including some related to claustrophilia — a desire for confinement in enclosed spaces.

Police concluded — after several reenactments — that it was possible for Williams to climb inside the sports bag and lock it.

However, police couldn’t find Williams’ DNA on the lock, palm prints on the rim of the bath, or footprints in the bathroom itself. The coroner, Fiona Wilcox, said that pointed to another person having taken the bag into the bathroom, noting that if Williams had been “carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn’t care if he left any foot or fingerprints.”

She was also critical in her inquest verdict of MI6, which failed to pass evidence to investigating police, and said that while it seemed unlikely that British intelligence agencies were involved in Williams’ death, it was a “legitimate line of inquiry.”

Hewitt said there was no evidence that the apartment had been cleaned to remove forensic traces and nothing to suggest a struggle or a break-in.

And he dismissed the idea that Britain’s secretive intelligence services had carried out a cover-up, noting that a total of 27 members of staff from both MI6 and GCHQ had been interviewed and that police were given full access to Williams’ vetting and personnel file.

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

He added that there was “no evidence to support the theory that Gareth’s death was in any way related to his work.”

Williams’ relatives said in a statement that they were disappointed that the facts remain unclear, but still believed it was likely he had been the victim of foul play.

“We consider that on the basis of the facts known at present the coroner’s verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death,” the statement said.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Wales Online : Death of Welsh spy found in holdall 'probably an accident'

Death of Welsh spy found in holdall 'probably an accident'

By WalesOnline | November 13, 2013

Police investigation into death of Anglesey-born spy Gareth Williams finds 'no evidence to establish cause of death beyond reasonable doubt'

Spy Gareth Williams, whose body was found in a holdall, probably died alone in an accident, police have concluded.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt revealed that his team disagree with the conclusion of a coroner last year that the codebreaker was probably killed unlawfully.

He said: "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.

"But the reality is that for both hypotheses there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding."

Reacting to the development, Mr Williams's family said they were "naturally disappointed" and said they still believe he was killed.

But Mr Hewitt said the 31-year-old's death was "most probably" an accident, although he admitted: "No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth's death beyond all reasonable doubt."

Mr Williams, a fitness enthusiast originally from Anglesey, was found in the bag in the bath at his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23, 2010.

Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 32-inch by 19-inch holdall.

None of his DNA was found on the lock on the bag and his palm prints were not found on the rim of the bath.

However, Mr Hewitt said there was no evidence that the flat had been "deep-cleaned" to remove forensic traces and nothing to suggest a struggle or a break-in.

He said it was "beyond credibility" that the secret services had "pulled the wool" over his eyes.

"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."

Mr Williams's family said in a statement issued through the police: "We are naturally disappointed that 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 known at present the Coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death. "

"We note that the investigation has been conducted with further interviews upon some of the witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest, and that the investigation team were at last able to interview directly members of GCHQ and SIS.

"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.

"We believe that 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.

"This lack of concern for Gareth's well-being remains an over-riding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother.

"We do not propose to make any further comment now concerning Gareth's death, either personally nor through our legal representatives."

Mr Williams worked for GCHQ but was on secondment to MI6 when he died. Police interviewed a total of 27 members of staff from the two agencies as part of their investigation.

Following the inquest, which finished in May last year, they were also given access for the first time to the codebreaker's personnel and vetting files, but found that there was "no evidence to support the theory that Gareth's death was in any way related to his work".

Mr Hewitt went on: "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."

Last year coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox found that he was probably killed and it "remained a legitimate line of inquiry" that the secret services may have been involved in the death.

She said she was sure a third party locked the code-breaker inside the red holdall in which his naked body was found in his bathtub.

Mr Williams would have been unlikely to invite a third party who was not a family member into his home, Dr Wilcox observed, adding: "If a third party was present at the time of his death, in my view that third party would have to have been someone he knew or someone who was there without an invitation."

She warned it was unlikely the mystery would "ever be satisfactorily explained", but added: "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."

She highlighted the lack of hand and footprints found in the bathroom, and said if he had been "carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn't care if he left any foot or fingerprints".

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

Telegraph : 'Gaps in understanding' over death of MI6 worker Gareth Williams

'Gaps in understanding' over death of MI6 worker Gareth Williams

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, of the Metropolitan Police, says MI6 worker Gareth Williams was probably alone at the time of his death

November 13, 2013

A British codebreaker for the MI6 foreign intelligence agency, whose naked body was found padlocked in a holdall inside a bathtub three years ago, most likely killed himself by accident, police said on Wednesday.

A fresh review of the mysterious "spy in the bag" case has concluded that 31-year-old intelligence analyst Gareth Williams was not murdered but had climbed into the bag without assistance.

The police findings contradict those of a coroner who concluded at an inquest last year that another person was probably involved in Williams's death.

"My personal view at the end of the investigation is that what happened was an accident," Martin Hewitt, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, told reporters.

"I am convinced that Gareth's death was in no way related to his work."

He admitted that several "odd" factors remained - notably the fact that no DNA was found on the padlock, and there were no handprints on the bathtub.

The decomposed body of the talented mathematician was found locked in a North Face holdall inside the bath of his apartment in London's upmarket Pimlico district in August 2010.

Sources: ITN/AFP

[video here]

Business Week : U.K. Spy Found in Locked Bag Died by Accident, Police Say

U.K. Spy Found in Locked Bag Died by Accident, Police Say (1)

By Jeremy Hodges | Bloomberg News | November 13, 2013

U.K. police investigating the death of a U.K. intelligence-agency worker who was found naked and padlocked inside a duffel bag in the bathtub in his apartment, said he wasn’t murdered.

Gareth Williams, 31, was found in August 2010 in his apartment in the Pimlico neighborhood of London. He had been working for MI6, the British overseas intelligence agency, as a code-breaker at the time of his death.

“It is now proven that it is theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves in that exact holdall, with the same type of lock,” Martin Hewitt, Detective Assistant Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, said in a press briefing today.

Officers interviewed 27 people from MI6 and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, known as GCHQ, and concluded that Williams’s death wasn’t connected to his work, Hewitt said.

A London coroner ruled in May 2012 that Williams’s death was “criminally mediated,” stopping short of calling his death an unlawful killing on the grounds that there wasn’t enough evidence.

Hewitt said it’s “a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died,” but “there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding.”

‘Conscientious, Decent’

While there were no fingerprints from Williams on the bathtub and police found unidentified traces of DNA from third parties in the apartment, there was no evidence of forced entry, a violent struggle, or anything to suggest that Williams’s apartment had been cleaned, Hewitt said.

A collection of 15,000 pounds ($24,000) worth of women’s clothing, including shoes and a collection of wigs, that were found in Williams’s apartment had nothing to do with his death, according to police. Williams was a “conscientious and decent man” who liked cycling and climbing, the detective said.

Williams’s family said they were disappointed over MI6’s failure “to take even the most basic inquiries concerning Gareth’s welfare when he failed to attend for work.”
STORY: An iPhone Tester Caught in Apple's Supply Chain

“We are naturally disappointed that 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,” they said in a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net

Daily Mail : Will MI6 spy death mystery never be solved? Scotland Yard reveal Gareth Williams 'probably' DID lock himself in bag... but also admit 'we will never know exactly how he died'

Will MI6 spy death mystery never be solved? Scotland Yard reveal Gareth Williams 'probably' DID lock himself in bag... but also admit 'we will never know exactly how he died'

Gareth Williams found dead in his Central London flat in August 2010
31-year-old's death was ruled to be 'probably' foul play by a coroner
But Scotland Yard announced that he seems to have locked himself in bag
Police admitted that they could not reach a conclusion 'beyond doubt'
Family believe he was killed and refuse to accept result of investigation

By Hugo Gye | November 13, 2013

Police today admitted that they are unable to explain the death of an MI6 spy whose body was found locked in a holdall bag.

Gareth Williams' mysterious death has been the subject of fierce speculation since he was found dead in his Central London flat three years ago.

Following a year-long investigation by Scotland Yard, officers today announced that they believe his death was accidental and that no one else was involved, although they concluded that it is impossible to reach a definite verdict on the case.

The finding contravenes the verdict of a coroner who last year ruled that Mr Williams had 'probably' been killed by someone else.

Scotland Yard detectives said that since it was possible for the codebreaker to climb in to the bag and lock it unaided, it is not necessary to posit any outside involvement.

They added that there was no evidence of anyone else in his flat at the time of his death, and no sign that the home had undergone a 'deep clean' to avoid incriminating a third party.

However, the review also found traces of DNA in the flat from 10 to 15 different people, none of whom they were able to identify.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: '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.

'But the reality is that for both hypotheses, there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding.'

Although he said that Mr Williams' death was 'most probably' an accident, he admitted: 'No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth's death beyond all reasonable doubt.'

However, the family of the 31-year-old disagree with the verdict, and continue to support the coroner's theory that he was unlawfully killed.

They said in a statement: 'We are naturally disappointed that 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 known at present the coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death.'

Mr Hewitt admitted that the police and MI6 had failed to co-operate fully, but said it was 'beyond credibility' that his investigation had been deliberately deceived by anyone trying to hide the truth about Mr Williams' 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.'

Following the inquest, police were given access to the codebreaker's personnel and vetting files, but found that there was 'no evidence to support the theory that Gareth's death was in any way related to his work'.

Mr Hewitt went on: '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.'

Mr Williams, who was found dead inside the locked bag in the bath of his flat in Pimlico in August 2010, is known to have had an interest in escapology.

He once had to be rescued by his landlady after he apparently tied himself to his bed wearing only boxer shorts and was unable to free himself.

MI6 failed to raise the alarm about his disappearance for more than a week after he failed to turn up for work at the agency's headquarters in Vauxhall.

His family said: 'We still 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.

'We believe that 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.

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

Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled in May last year 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.'

But within days of the verdict investigators claimed that it was in fact possible for a skilled escapologist to climb in to the red North Face holdall and lock it from the inside.

Police launched a review of the case following the inquest, over concerns that some evidence had been handled improperly.

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.

Foreign spies, the Russian mafia, a sex game gone wrong... or just a tragic accident?

The Metropolitan Police's conclusion that the Gareth Williams' death was nothing more than a tragic accident could put to rest the various theories which have attached themselves to the case.

It has long been suspected that Mr Williams could have been targeted by foreign agents because of his highly sensitive MI6 work.

He was said to be a mathematical prodigy, sent by GCHQ to work at MI6 for a year thanks to his exceptional skills as a codebreaker.

Another theory was that the Russian mafia assassinated him in a bid to stop him investigating money-laundering networks.

Others suspected that his death might have been the result of a sex game gone wrong, after it was claimed that he had close links with London's drag and bondage scenes.

A collection of women's designer clothes and shoes worth £15,000 was found in his closed, raising the possibility that he may have been a cross-dresser, although friends insisted that he had bought the clothes as gifts for others.

Mr Williams' relatives have previously suggested that incriminating items were planted in his flat after his death to cast doubt on his character.

Police issued e-fit images of a couple who were apparently seen visiting the spy shortly before he died, amidst suggestions they could hold the answer to the mystery.

Today's finding that Mr Williams's death was probably accidental has failed to satisfy not only his family, but dozens of members of the public who took to Twitter to express scepticism about Scotland Yard's verdict.

Many people continue to insist that it would have been impossible for the 31-year-old to lock himself inside the holdall without leaving any traces of DNA on the padlock.

THE MYSTERY CONTINUES: KEY QUESTIONS THE MET COULDN'T ANSWER

Despite the Metropolitan Police's conclusion that the death of Gareth Williams was probably an accident, a number of questions surrounding the mystery remain unanswered.

Scotland Yard claims that no one else was present in the spy's flat when he died, but investigators were unable to identify the DNA of 10 to 15 people which was found at the property.

By contrast, there were no traces of Mr Williams' own DNA on the padlock of the bag he was found in, nor were his palm prints found on the bathtub which held the bag.

The central heating was turned on in the Central London flat where the spy was living, even though it was August, a mystery not explained by the police investigation.

Moreover, it remains unclear why MI6 failed to report Mr Williams missing for a week after he repeatedly failed to turn up to work, a failing for which his manager publicly apologised during his inquest.

Attention initially focussed on a Mediterranean-looking couple believed to have visited the spy's home around the time of his death, but they have never been found or identified.

Reuters : UK police believe 'spy in the bag' case was an accident

UK police believe 'spy in the bag' case was an accident

November 13, 2013

(Reuters) - Police said on Wednesday they had found no evidence that anyone else was involved in the bizarre death of a British intelligence officer whose body was found in a padlocked bag in his bath in 2010.

Last year, a coroner concluded that other people were most likely involved in the death of Gareth Williams, 31, who was working at the time for Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service. An inquest found the death was "unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated."

But Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt told a news briefing that after reviewing the case, police believed the most likely explanation was that the death was an accident.

"The most probable scenario is that Gareth was alone," he told reporters.

"Our investigation concludes, therefore, that despite extensive enquiries ... no evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth's death beyond all reasonable doubt."

Hewitt said however he could not categorically rule out anyone else being involved.

Williams' family said while they accepted the police conclusions, they shared the coroner's belief that someone else must have been there at the London flat - an intelligence service "safe house" - in which his body was discovered.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)

Independent : MI6 spy in a bag case: Gareth Williams 'probably' locked himself in holdall by accident

MI6 spy in a bag case: Gareth Williams 'probably' locked himself in holdall by accident

Scotland Yard puts itself at odds with findings of coroner and family of MI6 codebreaker

Cahal Milmo | November 13, 2013

Scotland Yard today put itself at odds with the findings of a coroner and the family of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams by announcing that he had most probably died by accident when his body was found in a locked bag.

An inquest last year found that Mr Williams, whose remains were discovered inside a sports holdall in a bath with no evidence of his DNA on the padlock used to close it, had "on the balance of probabilities" been killed unlawfully in August 2010 while he was working for the Secret Intelligence Service while on secondment from GCHQ.

The finding by Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox prompted a reinvestigation by the Metropolitan Police lasting a further 12 months which officers said had been allowed unprecedented access to serving MI6 staff following strong criticism at the inquest of the spying agency's actions following the death of Mr Williams.

But a senior Yard officer announced that despite a re-examination of all evidence and the investigation of new leads no definitive answers had been obtained as to the cause of Mr Williams' death and the "most probable scenario" was that he had died alone in his flat in Pimlico, central London, as the result of accidentally locking himself inside the bag.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt told a press briefing at New Scotland Yard that while there was no evidence to conclusively explain the death of the 31-year-old codes expert, police were now able to draw a different "logical inference" from that of Dr Wilcox, who had found that the death was "likely to have been criminally meditated".

Mr Hewitt said: "With the conclusion of the investigation, the MPS position is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died. But the reality is that… there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding."

The Yard said Dr Wilcox had accepted the findings of the investigation but had decided there was insufficient evidence for her to apply to re-open her inquest and consider fresh findings.

But the family of Mr Williams, a maths prodigy from Anglesey, said they believed that the conclusion of Dr Wilcox that foul play was the most likely cause of the GCHQ specialist's death - and that the involvement of the security services could not be ruled out although there was no evidence to that effect - remained valid. Among the lines of inquiry reportedly pursued by police was the theory that Mr Williams may have been murdered in connection with work that had brought him into contact with active MI6 agents.

In a statement, the family said: "We consider that on the basis of the facts at present known the coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death."

The family were also sharply critical of MI6 after the spying agency failed to investigate his failure to attend work on 16 August 2010. His decomposing remains were not found until a week later inside his MI6-owned flat, where the central heating had been left on despite the summer weather.

The statement said: "We believe that if proper steps had been taken in the same manner as any reasonable employer would have taken, 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."

The Yard said that it had studied videos which emerged following last year's inquest showing how a person could lock themselves inside a sports bag and accepted it is "now proven" that such an event could have happened with the same North Face holdall and padlock in which Mr Williams was found.

Mr Hewitt said he believed that evidence pointed out by Dr Wilcox as significant, such as the absence of any palm prints from Mr Williams on the bath, could be explained by him not having touched it as he got into the bag but he accepted other evidence, such as the absence of the victim's DNA on the padlock, remained unexplained. He added that there was no evidence that Mr Williams' interest in bondage or escapology was linked to his death.

Mr Hewitt said his officers had been allowed to interview 27 MI6 and GCHQ employees after it emerged during the inquest that direct access had not been given to investigators following Mr Williams' death and potential evidence, including memory sticks and a bag found under his desk, had not been made available.

The officer admitted that the Yard "did not get it right" in its arrangements with MI6 but said it had now received full co-operation. He rejected suggestions that the intelligence agency had been able to "pull the wool over my eyes".

The Yard said it was no longer pursuing any active lines of enquiry but the case would remain review. The re-investigation found 10 to 15 traces of DNA which current technology is unable to develop into full profiles. All other DNA and fingerprints in the flat had been eliminated.

[video here]

North Wales Chronicle : Anglesey spy's death "probably an accident" say police

Anglesey spy's death "probably an accident" say police

Geraint Jones | November 13, 2013

AN ANGLESEY spy whose body was found in a holdall probably died alone in an accident, police have concluded.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt yesterday (November 13) revealed that his team disagreed with a coroner coroner’s conclusion that codebreaker Gareth Williams, aged 31, originally of Valley near Holyhead, was probably killed unlawfully.

He said: "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.

"But the reality is that for both hypotheses there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding."

Mr Williams was found in a found in the bag in the bath at his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23, 2010.

None of his DNA was found on the lock on the bag and his palm prints were not found on the rim of the bath.

However, Mr Hewitt said there was no evidence that the flat had been "deep-cleaned" to remove forensic evidence and no evidence of a struggle or a break-in.

He added: "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."

Mr Williams worked for GCHQ but was on secondment to MI6 when he died.

Police interviewed 27 members of staff from the two agencies as part of their investigation.

They found no evidence in Mr Williams’ personnel and vetting files to suggest his death was in any way related to his work.

Mr Hewitt went on: "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."

Last year coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox found that he was probably killed and it "remained a legitimate line of inquiry" that the secret services may have been involved in the death.

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

Mr Williams's family said in a statement issued through the police: "We are naturally disappointed that 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 known at present the coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death. "

Huffington Post : Gareth Williams, British Spy, Likely Died In Bag By Accident

Gareth Williams, British Spy, Likely Died In Bag By Accident

By RAPHAEL SATTER | November 13, 2013

LONDON (AP) — A spy whose naked, decomposing body was found inside a padlocked gym bag at his apartment likely died in an accident with no one else involved, British police said Wednesday — a tentative conclusion that is unlikely to calm conspiracy theories around the bizarre case.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said the death of Gareth Williams, whose remains were found inside a bag in his bathtub in August 2010, was "most probably" an accident.

But he conceded that the facts could not be established beyond a reasonable doubt, and Williams' family members said they still believe he was killed.

The police verdict also disagrees with a coroner's inquest, which concluded last year that Williams had probably been killed by another person in a "criminally meditated act."

Hewitt told reporters at Scotland Yard headquarters that a police review had found little evidence of foul play in a death that has spawned a host of theories, from assassination to sexual adventure gone awry.

Williams, a cyberwarfare expert, worked for Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping service and was attached to the overseas espionage agency MI6 when he died.

Hewitt said the police position "is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died."

"But the reality is that for both hypotheses, there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding."

Some have raised the possibility that Williams locked himself in the bag as part of a sex game gone wrong. Investigators found that he had visited bondage and sadomasochism websites, including some related to claustrophilia — a desire for confinement in enclosed spaces.

Police concluded that it could have been possible for Williams to climb inside the sports bag and lock it. However, none of Williams' DNA was found on the lock on the bag and his palm prints were not found on the rim of the bath.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox last year was critical in her inquest verdict of MI6, which failed to pass evidence to investigating police. And she said that while it appeared unlikely that British intelligence agencies were involved in Williams' death, it was a "legitimate line of inquiry."

Hewitt said there was no evidence that the apartment had been cleaned to remove forensic traces and nothing to suggest a struggle or a break-in.

And he dismissed the idea that Britain's secretive intelligence services had carried out a cover-up.

"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."

He said there was "no evidence to support the theory that Gareth's death was in any way related to his work."

Williams' relatives said in a statement that they were disappointed that the facts were still not clear, but still believed it was likely he had been the victim of foul play.

"We consider that on the basis of the facts known at present the coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death," the statement said.

CNN : Police: MI6 agent not killed, as previously thought

Police: MI6 agent not killed, as previously thought

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams' body was found locked in a bag in his apartment in 2010
A coroner's inquest into his death concluded it was likely someone had killed him
But Scotland Yard says it thinks it's most likely no one else was involved in Williams death
However, it says there remains insufficient evidence to be definitive on the case

By Andrew Carey, CNN | November 13, 2013

London (CNN) -- Gareth Williams, the MI6 codebreaker found dead inside an externally locked bag in his apartment in 2010, was probably not killed as previously believed, London's Metropolitan Police said Wednesday, citing a lack of evidence otherwise.

Taking a different position from a coroner's report last year that said it was likely someone killed Gareth Williams, London's Metropolitan Police said its three-year investigation suggested that Williams most likely locked himself inside the large bag.

"We believe that it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said.

But the Met said that despite its investigation, there remained insufficient evidence to be definitive on how Williams died.

"There are holes in what we understand about the circumstances of Gareth Williams' death," Hewitt said, admitting that some of the evidence is "odd."

This includes the lack of Williams' DNA on the padlock used to lock the large red bag his body was found in and the lack of hand prints on the edge of the bath where it was found, he said.

"What we are left with is either individual pieces of evidence, or a lack of such evidence, that can logically support one of a number of hypotheses," Hewitt said.

The case has gripped the British public since Williams, known for his mathematical genius and code-breaking talent, was found dead at age 31 in August 2010.

Among the theories aired by UK media were that Williams might have died at the hands of foreign intelligence agents or as a result of a kinky sexual encounter gone wrong. Added to that speculation was the discovery of women's clothes, wigs and cosmetics in Williams' apartment.

At the inquest into his death last year, coroner Fiona Wilcox shot down that speculation, saying she thought Williams bought them out of an interest in fashion, rather than any sexual motivation.

Other reports about the "body-in-a-bag spy" detailed how two experts spent days trying to figure out whether Williams could have contorted himself in such a way as to lock himself into the North Face holdall bag, with a key to the padlock inside.

Video of two experts trying to recreate the scene was showing to the court. One had tried 300 times without success, but neither ruled out definitively the possibility Williams could have somehow done it alone.

"It is now proven that it is theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves in that exact holdall, with the same type of lock, and in the configuration in which Gareth was found. It is important to note that this fact was found to be a possibility by the inquest," Hewitt said.

Meanwhile, family members suggested Williams had been murdered by killers versed in the "dark arts" of espionage.

Referring to speculation that Williams' flat might have been forensically cleaned by unknown people responsible for his death, Hewitt said Wednesday that a deep-clean would have removed all traces of Williams' DNA as well that of visitors to his flat.

He said 10 to 15 traces of DNA had been found that were too insignificant to use to build a full profile and said advances in forensic science could "present opportunities for progress." For the time being, however, there are "no active lines of enquiry that it is proportionate to pursue."

Williams' family expressed their regret that mystery still surrounds his death but said they agree with the coroner's verdict "on the basis of the facts at present known."

"We are naturally disappointed that 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," they said in a written statement.

The family reiterated their disappointment that Williams' employers at MI6 had not checked on his welfare when he failed to attend work on August 16, 2010.

Williams was finally reported missing by a co-worker on August 23, more than a week after the normally punctilious employee had last shown up at work.

"We believe that 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," they said.

The family also noted that the Met's investigators "were at last able to interview directly members of (UK intelligence agencies) GCHQ and SIS."

Addressing media, Hewitt disputed a suggestion that police had been "blindsided" in their investigation by intelligence agencies but acknowledged that their method of interaction had improved during the investigation. "We didn't get it right at the beginning," he said.

Initially, he said, the only Met officers to deal with the intelligence agencies were those in SO15 -- or counterterrorism command. The SO15 officers had assessed Williams' vetting and personnel files and found nothing relevant to the case.

After the inquest, the senior investigating officer in the case personally requested and was granted access to the files and came to the same conclusion, Hewitt said.

"The investigation into Gareth's death will remain under review, and any new significant information or evidence will be robustly investigated," he said.

"If it is possible for us to give his family more answers we will do so."

Newstalk : UK spy who died in a bag probably locked himself in, review finds

UK spy who died in a bag probably locked himself in, review finds

November 13, 2013

MI6 agent Gareth Williams probably died after locking himself inside his own holdall, a fresh police review of the case has found.

The naked body of the 31-year-old was discovered in the bag in his central London flat in August 2010, triggering speculation that he had been targeted by foreign agents because of his work.

However, the latest investigation by the Metropolitan Police has found that Mr. Williams, who had a keen interest in escapology, probably died alone in an accident.

The finding directly contradicts the outcome of an inquest last year where the coroner had ruled that Mr Williams, a GCHQ codebreaker on secondment to MI6, had probably been "unlawfully killed".

The inquest had heard that two experts had tried 400 times to lock themselves in a similar bag but had failed. However, days after the inquest had finished, an Army Sergeant showed how it was possible to climb into the North Face holdall and do up the zip before padlocking it shut.

Announcing the findings on Wednesday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said the investigation had included that "on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died".

He said "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" he added.

Mr. Williams was found inside the bag in the bath at his flat on August 23rd in 2010.

Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes of being locked inside the bag. They said that none of his DNA had been found on the lock on the bag and his palm prints were not found on the rim of the bath.

IBT : Spy in the Bag Gareth Williams’ Death ‘Probably an Accident’

Spy in the Bag Gareth Williams’ Death ‘Probably an Accident’

By Ewan Palmer | November 13, 2013

Police investigating the death of an MI6 spy whose body was found inside a padlocked sports bag in 2010 have declared his death was probably an accident.

Officers discovered former GCHQ worker Gareth Williams naked and locked inside a North Face sports bag in the bath tub of his flat in Pimlico in 2010.

However, the coroner added that there has been "endless speculation but little real evidence" surrounding his death and that it may never be "satisfactorily explained".

An inquest into the spy's death said he probably died from suffocation as a result of being locked in the bag or from an unknown poison which disappeared in his system during decomposition and then placed in the bag.

Metropolitan Police has now said it is "more probable" that no one else was involved in the spy's death, but they could not "fundamentally and beyond doubt" rule out the possibility that a third party was involved.

Dept sst coms Martin Hewitt, who oversaw the investigation from Specialist Crime and Operations, said: "Many questions remain unanswered as to the circumstances of Gareth's untimely death.

"What is clear is that this has been a tragedy for his family, friends and those who knew him. Gareth was a private man, the universal view of whom was as a decent and conscientious colleague.

"After the inquest we reviewed all the evidence gathered up to that point and carried out additional enquiries.

"Learning from the inquest we set up our investigation in a different way, and this has led to greater clarity on some aspects of the case.

"Now at the end of our investigation, based on the evidence, or where we have been unable to find positive evidence, we believe that it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died."

During the investigation into Williams' deaths, investigators found it was theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves inside the bag, with the same type of lock, and in the position the spy was found in.

There was also no evidence that Williams' flat had been subjected to a "forensic clean" following his death and fingerprints and traces of DNA going back years were recovered from the scene.

Met Police added there is "no evidence of any animosity towards [Williams], and it has not been possible to identify anyone with a motive for causing him harm".

William's family said how they are "disappointed" that the full circumstances surrounding his death are unknown and still believe he was killed unlawfully.

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: e.palmer@ibtimes.co.uk
To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.co.uk

The Week : Gareth Williams: MI6 spy's death 'probably an accident'

Gareth Williams: MI6 spy's death 'probably an accident'

Conclusion of three-year police investigation contradicts coroner's theory of unlawful killing

November 13, 2013

GARETH WILLIAMS, the MI6 spy whose body was found naked in a padlocked sports bag, probably died in an accident, Scotland Yard has said.

Last year, a coroner ruled that it was likely Williams, 31, from Anglesey, had been unlawfully killed. But following a three-year investigation, police have now said "it was more probable" that no other person was present when he died in his London flat on 23 August 2010.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said he was satisfied that it was "theoretically possible" Williams could have zipped and padlocked the bag from the inside, although "many questions remain unanswered" as to the circumstances of his death.

Williams had been on a secondment with MI6 from his job as a communications officer at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It had taken a week for MI6 to investigate the code-breaker's disappearance, and a post-mortem examination carried out by a Home Office pathologist failed to determine the cause of death.

Subsequent theories included polonium poisoning by foreign agents, a bizarre sex game gone wrong and a fatal art project called 'Living Spaces' for a course at Central Saint Martins.

Police today said there was no evidence that the MI6 officer had intended to take his own life or that his death was connected to his work. There were about ten to 15 traces of DNA in the flat from which it had not been possible to gain full DNA profiles, but all other DNA profiles and fingerprints had been eliminated. They added that there was no evidence that Williams's flat had been forensically cleaned.

But Williams's family said they stood by the coroner's findings, reports The Times. In a statement they said: "We are naturally disappointed that 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."

ITV : Police: MI6 spy death remains a mystery

Police: MI6 spy death remains a mystery

by Lucy Manning - UK Editor | November 13, 2013

Reconsidering all the original evidence and following new lines of inquiry, police say there is still insufficient evidence to be definitive on the circumstances of Gareth Williams' death.

They say it is theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves in a bag with the sort of lock used.

They outlined:

There is no evidence to support the theory there was a forensic clean of fingerprints

There is no evidence of a third person in the flat

No evidence of forced entry

Police say they have had full support from security services and there is nothing to support the theory that Mr Williams' death was related to his work.

His interest in womens' clothes fuelled much speculation, they say, but the clothing had no bearing on the circumstances of his death.

Officers say Mr Williams was a very private person, who was close to his family and had few close friends. He was concientious and was a decent man with hobbies.

Police explained no evidence has been identified that could establish the full circumstances of Mr Williams' death beyond reasonable doubt.

They say, on balance, their probable conclusion is that no person was present when he died and there is insuffient new evidence to re-open an inquest.

There are no more active lines of inquiry but police say the case will remain under review.

~~~

Family disappointed over codebreaker's death mystery

The family of Gareth Williams have said they are "naturally disappointed" it is not possible to state with certainty how the codebreaker died.

They said in a statement they back the coroner's verdict that Gareth was probably unlawfully killed over the latest police conclusions.

They said: "We consider that on the basis of the facts at present known the Coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death."

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

"We believe that 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."

~~~

Police: Wool hasn't been pulled over eyes on spy death

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said MI6 worker Gareth Williams' death was "most probably" an accident, although he admitted: "No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth's death beyond all reasonable doubt."

Mr Williams, a fitness enthusiast originally from Anglesey, was found in the bag in the bath at his flat in Pimlico on August 23, 2010.

Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 32-inch by 19-inch holdall.

None of his DNA was found on the lock on the bag and his palm prints were not found on the rim of the bath.

However, Mr Hewitt said there was no evidence that the flat had been "deep-cleaned" to remove forensic traces and nothing to suggest a struggle or a break-in.

He said it was "beyond credibility" that the secret services had "pulled the wool" over his eyes.

"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."

~~~

'Gaps in understanding' over MI6 spy's death

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, of the Metropolitan Police, says there remains "gaps in understanding" regarding the death of MI6 worker Gareth Williams.

But he has concluded, following two years of investigation, that it is "most probable" that the codebreaker was alone at the time of his death.

[video here]

~~~

No request for spy inquest verdict to be quashed

No request has been made to the Attorney General's office for him to apply to the High Court to have the inquest verdict into the death of Gareth Williams quashed.

Today, after a two-year investigation, the Metropolitan Police concluded it is "most probable" that no-one else was present when the MI6 codebreaker died. An earlier inquest concluded Mr Williams was "probably" killed unlawfully.

~~~

Police defend MI6 spy death findings

November 13, 2013

Police insist they have not had the wool pulled over their eyes by intelligence services after concluding there was no foul play in the death of codebreaker Gareth Williams.

Following a two-year investigation by the Metropolitan Police, officers concluded it was "most probable" the MI6 worker was alone at the time of his death.

Their conclusions starkly contradict those of Dr Fiona Wilcox, who ruled at an inquest last year that the spy was "probably unlawfully killed".

Mr Williams, 31, was found dead in the locked bag in the bath at his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23, 2010.
An expert attempts to get himself inside a similar holdall, as part of a demonstration played during the inquest. Credit: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire

None of his DNA was found on the padlock on the bag and there were no palmprints on the rim of the bath. The heating had been left on in the flat, despite it being summer, and MI6 failed to raise the alarm about his disappearance for more than a week.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "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.

"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."

However he admitted: "No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth's death beyond all reasonable doubt."

Mr Williams's family still believe that he was unlawfully killed, and released a statement to say that they were "naturally disappointed" about the lack of conclusions in the case.

We are naturally disappointed that 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 known at present the Coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death.

– Gareth Williams' family statement.

In May last year at the end of the inquest, Dr Wilcox found that Mr Williams was probably killed and it "remained a legitimate line of inquiry" that the secret services may have been involved in the death.

She said she was sure a third party locked the code-breaker inside the red holdall in which his naked body was found in his bathtub, and that "the cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated".

Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 32-inch by 19-inch holdall.

Mr Williams worked for GCHQ but was on secondment to MI6 when he died. Police interviewed a total of 27 members of staff from the two agencies as part of their investigation.

His family expressed anger that MI6 took so long to check what had happened to him.

They said: "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.

"We believe that 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.

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

Watch Lucy's report on the verdict: [video here]

NYT : Police Say Spy Found in Bag Probably Died by Accident

Police Say Spy Found in Bag Probably Died by Accident

By STEPHEN CASTLE | November 13, 2013

LONDON — The bizarre death of a British intelligence analyst whose body was discovered inside a sports bag in a bathtub was called a probable accident by the London police on Wednesday, an inconclusive ending to one of the most puzzling investigations in recent years.

Gareth Williams, 31, a Welsh-born mathematician involved in code-breaking work, was found dead on Aug. 23, 2010, by police officers who entered his London apartment. His naked body was curled in a fetal position inside a sports bag in an otherwise empty bathtub. In a twist worthy of a spy movie, the bag was padlocked, but the keys to the lock were inside the bag, beneath the decomposing body.

Mr. Williams had evidently led a private existence, with few close friends. But with its tantalizing glimpse into the secretive world of espionage, the “spy in a bag” case drew intense interest from the news media, which speculated that Mr. Williams might have been killed, or might have died as an accidental consequence of an interest in escapology or bondage.

A post-mortem examination failed to identify a cause of death. A coroner’s inquest in 2012 found that someone else was probably involved in the death. However, the police now say they believe that Mr. Williams was most likely alone and locked himself in the bag, though they cannot rule out the possibility that someone else was present.

“From the inquest, we set up our investigation in a different way, and this has led to greater clarity on some aspects of the case,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, who oversaw the police investigation, said in a statement. “Now, at the end of our investigation, based on the evidence, or where we have been unable to find positive evidence, we believe that it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.”

After three years of investigation, Mr. Hewitt said, “many questions remain unanswered.”

He said there was no evidence that Mr. Williams’s apartment on Alderney Street in the Pimlico neighborhood — close to the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, where he had been working — had been “deep-cleaned,” a term used for the removal of forensic traces by intelligence operatives. There was also nothing to suggest a struggle or a break-in, he said.

Though the police did not themselves demonstrate that it was possible for a person to lock himself inside a bag, Mr. Hewitt said, they saw video of this being done.

Why Mr. Williams would have done so was not entirely clear. The 2012 coroner’s inquest heard evidence that he had visited websites dedicated to bondage and claustrophilia, which involves seeking sexual thrills from being shut in enclosed spaces.

Mr. Williams’s family said in a statement on Wednesday that they stood by the coroner’s findings — that he was probably the victim of an unlawful killing — rather than those of the police.

“We are naturally disappointed that 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,” the family said. “We consider that, on the basis of the facts at present known, the coroner’s verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death.”

A version of this article appears in print on November 14, 2013, on page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Police Say Spy Found in Bag Probably Died by Accident.

Daily Mail : Fury of spy in the bag's family: As police dismiss MI6 man's death as an accident, parents insist coroner was right and their son WAS unlawfully killed

Fury of spy in the bag's family: As police dismiss MI6 man's death as an accident, parents insist coroner was right and their son WAS unlawfully killed

Gareth Williams found dead in his Central London flat in August 2010
31-year-old's death was ruled to be 'probably' foul play by a coroner
But Scotland Yard announced that he seems to have locked himself in bag
Family believe he was killed and refuse to accept result of investigation
They accuse MI6 of allowing circumstances of death to be 'covered up'

By Rebecca Camber | November 13, 2013

Serious question marks remained in the spy in a bag mystery last night after a three-year police investigation failed to explain his death.

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.

Last year Westminster Coroner Dr Fiona 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.’

Pathologists said the fitness enthusiast would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 32in by 19in North Face holdall.

During his inquest in April last year two experts found it impossible to lock themselves into the bag – despite trying 400 times. However, retired Army sergeant William MacKay has since demonstrated it is possible to squeeze inside the holdall and lock it from the inside.

Mr Hewitt dismissed the theory that the flat had been ‘deep-cleaned’ to remove any evidence of a struggle or a break-in.

Following the inquest, police launched a full review of the case, interviewing 27 staff from the security services for the first time.

The spy worked for GCHQ but was on secondment to MI6 when he died.

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.’
He said police had re-examined the spy’s telephones and laptops.

The agent had used the internet to search bondage websites before his death but there were no specific searches around getting into a bag, Mr Hewitt said.

He also said a stash of designer women’s clothing found at the flat had no bearing on his death. Although police are not pursuing any more active lines of inquiry, the case will remain under review.

12 crucial questions that still need an answer

The three-year police investigation into Gareth Williams’ death has left a number of crucial questions unanswered, including:

Why did a week elapse before he was reported missing by MI6?

Gareth Williams was meticulous about timekeeping and attendance at work.

Yet despite being based in an office of just four people at MI6 headquarters, it took a week before his employers contacted police to say he was missing.

This potentially allowed evidence to be lost as the body decomposed – or for the scene to be tampered with.

On MI6’s failure to report the codebreaker’s absence, Dr Fiona Wilcox, the coroner who presided over the inquest into Mr Williams’ death, said that evidence given anonymously by Mr Williams’ MI6 line manager, known only as Witness G, had ‘stretched the bounds of credibility’.

Even after Mr Williams’ bosses decided he was missing there was a further four hours delay before raising the alarm.

Why was the death scene so spotless?

When a police officer finally arrived at the flat in Pimlico where Mr Williams lived on August 23, 2010, he was struck by how ‘extremely tidy’ the property was.

His mobile phone and two SIM cards were neatly arranged on a table and a laptop was on the floor. Could the scene have been cleaned up after he died?

The smell of the decomposing body became apparent only when the bathroom door was opened. In the bath was a bulging, padlocked holdall from which it was noticed that red fluid was seeping into the bathtub.

Could he have locked himself in the holdall?

The naked body of 5ft 8in Mr Williams was discovered inside the 32in by 19in North Face holdall. The Metropolitan Police concluded yesterday his death was an accident – he must have placed himself inside the bag, locked it and died from suffocation.

But during the inquest last year Dr Wilcox watched video footage of expert witnesses attempting – and failing – 400 times to perform this feat.

There were no signs that once inside the bag Mr Williams had violently struggled, despite the fact that it could have taken him three minutes to lapse into unconsciousness from the build-up of carbon dioxide within.

In stark contrast to the police, Dr Wilcox concluded a third party placed the bag in the bath and locked it.

Could he have been poisoned?

The coroner found that Mr Williams probably died rapidly from hypocapnia, the fatal accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood.

But she also refused to rule out that he was killed by a mystery poison such as cyanide, insulin, laughing gas, chloroform or amyl nitrate.

None of these could be detected if they had been used because of the terribly decomposed state of his body.

Where were his fingerprints?

Mr Williams’ DNA was not found on the bag’s lock and there were no foot or finger prints left on the bath and tiles – something that would have been expected had he climbed into the holdall while it was in the bath.

Forensic experts said at least one unidentified person may have been in the bathroom between the time the bag was put in the bath and its discovery by police eight days later.

Commenting on the lack of prints, the coroner added: ‘In relation to the prints found within the bathroom, in my view what was more significant was what was not found rather than what was found.’

Elsewhere in the flat there was a similar lack of clues with police finding all the fingerprints belonged to Mr Williams or his close family.

Of the DNA found, ten to 15 traces cannot be developed into full profiles, including those found on a green hand towel in his kitchen.

There was no sign of a break-in, but police found that the front door latch could be reached and raised through the letterbox.

Why was the heating on in mid summer?

Mr Williams, an extremely fit cyclist and lover of the outdoors, died during August, when the central heating would normally be switched off.

The fact that it was on in his top floor flat has raised a suspicion that it is linked to his death – or at least an attempt to destroy evidence by speeding up the decomposition of his body inside a sealed holdall.

The fact that the holdall was placed in a bath meant fluids released from the bag drained away.

Was there a phone call to a killer?

An iPhone left lying on a table in Mr Williams’ flat was one of the key lines of inquiry after the inquest.

The £500 device, one of four owned by the MI6 officer, was ‘restored to factory settings’, in the late evening of August 15, 2010, just hours before Mr Williams died.

A mobile phone operator told police it had not been used over the previous three months.

Investigators believed the phone might have somehow been used to contact whoever might have killed him.

What took MI6 so long?

After the inquest Dr Wilcox said it remained ‘a legitimate line of inquiry’ that the secret services were involved in Mr Williams’ death, noting however that there was no evidence to show that he died at the hands of spies.

But his family remain convinced that MI6 undermined the inquiry, whether deliberately or by unintentional errors.

In the initial investigation, Scotland Yard created a ‘firewall’ between MI6 and the murder squad by insisting all inquiries must go via the force’s counter-terror branch, which has specialist security clearance.

MI6 failed to provide formal, sworn statements to the inquest because the counter-terror branch did not press for anything more than anonymous summaries of informal interviews.

The inquest also heard that Mr Williams’ GCHQ computer was not handed over until six days after his body was discovered and the MI6 one four days later.

Did the police bungle the investigation?

Police missed potentially vital clues by failing to recover Mr Williams’ possessions from a shared locker in his office.

Two counter terrorism officers were criticised for failing to document or seize the items, which include nine computer memory sticks and another bag. Incredibly, they also failed to tell the murder squad about the evidence.

Was there a false trail?

While family and friends portrayed Mr Williams as a very private man of conventional tastes, a different picture emerged following his death.

Police discovered a £20,000 collection of women’s designer clothing and shoes in his flat, and a video on one of his phones showed Mr Williams ‘gyrating’ in nothing more than a pair of women’s calf-length boots while a former landlady told how she had once found him tied to his bedposts wearing only his boxer shorts.

Police also found evidence that Mr Williams looked at bondage websites and visited transvestite clubs and gay bars – but they could not identify a single sexual partner.

The family raised concerns about how such material appeared to be being leaked to the media – so fuelling speculation that Mr Williams was a transvestite who was the victim of a sex game that went wrong.

During the inquest Dr Wilcox concluded that Mr Williams was not a transvestite and that his collection of women’s clothes were probably gifts for friends.

She dismissed claims that Mr Williams had entered the sports bag seeking sexual gratification.

The coroner said: ‘I wonder what the motive was for the release of this material to the media. I wonder whether this was an attempt by a third party to intimate a sexual motive.’

Could he have been blackmailed?

The question of whether Mr Williams’ death connected to his work is complicated by the fact that MI6 obtained a public interest immunity certificate keeping secret details of the work he carried out for them and GCHQ.

They have been keen to paint a picture of Mr Williams as a ‘low risk’ official, whose academic skills kept him deskbound.

But during the inquest it became clear he was a highly skilled computer scientist who had recently met two informants and was ready to be deployed on an active mission.

One manager said he made a ‘small number’ of unauthorised searches on the MI6 database which could have left him open to blackmail.

A Knightsbridge waitress recalled how the reclusive loner regularly came to her café.

When she reported him missing, GCHQ’s human resources chief told a police worker that Mr Williams had been ‘just taken off an operation’ and was unhappy.

Why was he in Las Vegas?

Just days before his death Mr Williams was sent by GCHQ to attend a secretive conference in Las Vegas.

Called DefCon, the event is a magnet for spies from agencies across the world and included classes in opening padlocks without keys, escaping from handcuffs, tampering with objects without leaving traces and confounding drug tests.

IOL News (Zambia) : British spy ‘killed himself by accident’

British spy ‘killed himself by accident’

AFP | November 13, 2013

London - A British intelligence analyst whose naked body was found zipped in a holdall three years ago most likely killed himself by accident, police said on Wednesday.

A fresh review of the so-called “spy in the bag” case has concluded that Gareth Williams, 31, was not murdered but had climbed into the bag without assistance.

“My personal view at the end of the investigation is that what happened was an accident,” Martin Hewitt, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police told reporters.

“I am convinced that Gareth's death was in no way related to his work.”

The police findings contradict the conclusions of a coroner who concluded at an inquest last year that Williams was “probably” the victim of another person.

Hewitt refused to speculate whether Williams' death at his flat in London in August 2010 was linked to his alleged interest in escapology and bondage.

He said: “It is now proven that it is theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves in that exact holdall, with the same type of lock, and in the configuration in which Gareth was found.

“It is important to note that this fact was found to be a possibility by the inquest.”

Williams' naked and decomposing body was found in a padlocked North Face holdall in the bathtub at his flat in the upmarket Pimlico district of London.

He was a codebreaker for the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ who had been seconded to the MI6 foreign intelligence service.

His death sparked a fierce debate about whether he had been murdered because of his work. No one has been arrested over the death.

Al Jazeera : UK spy found dead in locked bag 'not murder'

UK spy found dead in locked bag 'not murder'

Police say MI6 worker Gareth Williams, whose body was found in a padlocked bag, died accidentally and on his own.

November 13, 2013

A British spy whose naked, decomposing body was found padlocked in a bag in his bath probably died accidentally on his own, police in the UK have said, rejecting conspiracy theories that his death was the work of foreign agents.

The Metropolitan Police's deputy assistant commissioner, Martin Hewitt, said on Wednesday that investigations suggested it was likely Gareth Williams, a code-breaker working for MI6, had not been murdered.

"Most probably, it was an accident," Hewitt said. "I'm convinced that Gareth's death was in no way linked to his work."

In May last year, a coroner concluded that Williams was probably killed unlawfully by another person.

Williams, 31, worked as a code breaker at the GCHQ but was on a three-year secondment to MI6, which deals with foreign espionage matters. His remains were found inside a zipped and padlocked red hold-all at an intelligence service "safe house" close to MI6's headquarters.

His body had laid undiscovered for a week. Tests found no traces of alcohol, drugs or poison in his body. Detectives found no palm prints on the side of the bath nor any traces of his DNA on the padlock.

Hewitt admitted the original police investigation had been flawed, and after the inquest they pursued new lines of inquiry. But detectives found no evidence anyone had been in the flat when he died.

He rejected suggestions the flat could have undergone a "forensic clean" to remove traces of any killers.

Despite the fact that there had always been doubt that someone could have locked themselves in a bag, as a number of experts tried and failed, Hewitt said they now believed this was what Williams had done, though he had not intended to kill themselves.

"It's theoretically possible for someone to do that. It is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present," said Hewitt.

Source: Reuters

NBC : British spy found padlocked in bag in bathtub died accidentally, police say

British spy found padlocked in bag in bathtub died accidentally, police say

By Michael Holden, Reuters | November 13, 2013

LONDON -- A British spy, whose naked, decomposing body was found padlocked in a bag in his bathtub, probably died accidentally on his own, police said on Wednesday, rejecting conspiracy theories that his bizarre death was the work of foreign agents.

In May last year, a coroner concluded that Gareth Williams, who was working for Britain's external intelligence service MI6 when he was found dead at his home in August 2010, was probably killed unlawfully by another person.

His spy background and the fact that expensive, unworn women's clothes were found at his flat provoked a wide range of "weird and wonderful" theories, London Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said, but further investigations now suggested it was more likely he had not been murdered.

"Most probably, it was an accident," Hewitt told reporters. "I'm convinced that Gareth's death was in no way linked to his work."

Williams, 31, worked as a code breaker at the Government Communications Headquarters but was on a three-year secondment to MI6, which deals with foreign espionage matters.

The remains of the math prodigy were found curled up inside a zipped and padlocked red hold-all at the London flat -- an intelligence service "safe house" -- close to MI6's headquarters.

His body was badly decomposed after remaining in the bag in the August heat for a full week until he was discovered. Tests found no traces of alcohol, drugs or poison in his body.

Detectives found no palm prints on the side of the bath nor any traces of his DNA on the padlock.

Instead, they found make-up, a long-haired wig and unworn women's clothes and shoes worth around 20,000 pounds ($31,900). They also found images of transvestites, a picture of Williams wearing only boots, and evidence of visits to sexual bondage websites on his computer.

"This is a case where there's been enormous theorizing and speculating...and weird and wonderful stories," Hewitt said.

Hewitt admitted the original police investigation had been flawed and after the inquest they pursued new lines of inquiry.

But detectives found no evidence anyone had been in the flat when he died. Hewitt rejected suggestions the flat could have undergone a "forensic clean" to remove traces of any killers.

He ruled out any suggestion that Williams interest in women's clothing or his work as a spy had played a part, and said they did not believe he had meant to take his own life.

Despite the fact that there had always been doubt that someone could have locked themselves in a bag -- a number of experts tried and failed -- Hewitt said they now believed this was what Williams had done.

"It's theoretically possible for someone to do that. It is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present," said Hewitt, who agreed Williams's interest in escapology might have been a factor.

He could not categorically rule out anyone else being involved and said any new evidence would be followed up.

In a statement, Williams's family said they still believed the coroner's conclusions more accurately reflected what had happened, and repeated their anger that MI6 had failed to report Williams missing for days after he did not show up at work.

Hewitt denied suggestions Britain's spies had simply staged an elaborate cover-up.

"I do not believe I have had the wool pulled over my eyes."

Vancouver Sun : Don't confuse him with James Bond: U.K. spy in a bag ‘killed himself by accident’

Don't confuse him with James Bond: U.K. spy in a bag ‘killed himself by accident’

By Tom Whitehead | The Daily Telegraph | November 13, 2013

The MI6 spy found dead in a bag three years ago most likely locked himself inside, police are expected to announce Wednesday.

A fresh Scotland Yard review of the so-called “spy in a bag” case has concluded that Gareth Williams was able to climb into a sports bag unaided and there is little evidence of foul play, The Daily Telegraph understands.

The findings will contradict the conclusions of a coroner who last year said Williams had “probably” died at the hands of another.

It also raises the prospect of police closing or scaling back the investigation and ending, at least officially, the mystery that has prompted so many conspiracy theories.

BODY NAKED, DECOMPOSING

The naked, decomposing body of Williams, a codebreaker on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, Britain’s signals intelligence agency, was found in a padlocked sports bag in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010.

Despite an intensive police investigation, no one has been arrested and the circumstances surrounding his death have remained a mystery.

Following an eight-day inquest last year, coroner Dr. Fiona Wilcox concluded that Williams was probably “unlawfully killed” in a criminal act, after experts found it impossible to climb into a similar bag and lock it unaided.

Wilcox said his death most likely involved a third party and that he was either poisoned or suffocated.

She also said the possibility that a member of the intelligence services was involved in the math prodigy’s death remained a “legitimate line of inquiry” for police.

CORONER SPARKED REVIEW

The Metropolitan Police announced an urgent review of the case in the wake of the coroner’s findings, including concerns over how some evidence was handled by MI6 and counter-terrorism officers during the two-year investigation.

But it is understood the review has concluded that it was possible for Williams, whom the inquest heard had an interest in escapology, to lock himself in the bag unassisted, and that this was the most likely scenario.

A senior Whitehall source said: “It seems as though the coroner made a mistake in ruling out evidence that Williams could have climbed into the holdall without outside help.

“If it can be demonstrated that Williams was able to climb into the holdall unassisted, then all the other fanciful conspiracy theories start to fall apart.”

400 ATTEMPTS

On behalf of the coroner, two experts tried 400 times to lock themselves into the bag, and one claimed that even Harry Houdini “would have struggled” to squeeze himself inside.

But days after the inquest, a retired Army sergeant showed how it was possible to climb into a similar North Face bag and lock it from the inside.

The renewed investigation involved officers reinterviewing MI6 officers and taking their DNA samples.

However, The Daily Telegraph disclosed last year how detectives increasingly believed Williams probably locked himself in the bag and died accidentally.

Detectives were able to repeat the sergeant’s experiments with the lock in different positions, which matched how Williams was found.

A source close to the inquiry said at the time: “They have been unable to find any trace of anyone who should not have been in the flat, and have every reason to believe that Gareth may have climbed into the bag himself and had been unable to get out.”

© Copyright (c) The Daily Telegraph

Metro Police : Identification of Gareth Williams

Identification of Gareth Williams [PDF]

I note you seek access to the following information:

I have a freedom of information request relating to the identification of Gareth Williams who was found in a Sports bag in a bath in London SW1 in August 2010.

My question can be answered by email. It is this:

It has been variously reported that
a) the body was identified by the parents of Gareth when they came back from a holiday in Canada.
b) the body was identified by a photo of Gareth supplied by the family.

I would like to know
-- on what date the body was formally identified
-- where the body was when formally identified
-- how the formal identification was made
-- who made the formal identification, whether by photographic comparison or visual sight.

DECISION

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

The subject of identification of Mr Williams was dealt with by HM Coroner Fiona Wilcox from Inner West London Coroners Office during the inquest into Mr Williams death between the 23rd April 2012 and 2nd May 2012.

Identification of Mr Williams was made on 25th August 2010 by a coroners officer comparing a recent photograph which had been supplied by the family of the deceased.

Kindly note that further requests for information on this subject may attract the following exemptions:

Section 21 - Information reasonably accessible by other means
Section 30 - Investigations

The inquest of Mr Williams was a public one and as such the coroner's transcript is a matter of public record. The media were present at the inquest and details of matters pertaining to Mr Williams' death have been widely reported in the press.

Specialist Crime & Operations