UK intelligence officer: No cover-up in 'spy in the bag' case

LONDON - There was "no evidence" to suggest that British intelligence services were part of a cover-up after one of their own was found naked and decomposing inside a locked duffel bag in his London apartment, an intelligence officer said on Thursday.

"Witness F" gave evidence to the inquest -- which are held when deaths are deemed violent or unnatural -- in the August 2010 death of MI6 officer Gareth Williams from behind a screen, BBC News reported.


MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence agency, is roughly equivalent to the Untied States' CIA.

The denial came on the same day that one of the code-breaker's relatives shrieked and brought proceedings to a halt while listening to details of a series of missteps that allowed for the spy to lay in his bathroom undiscovered for a week, the Telegraph reported.

UK cops close to arrest over British spy found dead in a bag?

The relatives walked out of the inquest in tears during Witness F's evidence, the BBC reported.

Their lawyer Anthony O'Toole said the agency showed a "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety."

Williams, 31, was a math prodigy working as a codebreaker at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the state eavesdropping service. 

Williams' family became increasingly upset during the four days of proceedings as it became clear that his absence did not spark any concern, despite the sensitive nature of his job, according to reports.

Witness F, a senior intelligence officer, told the inquest that MI6 was "profoundly sorry" for the delays, which had made it more difficult for the family to "come to terms with his dreadful death," the newspaper reported.

A detective told the inquest on Tuesday that a "third party was involved in that padlock being locked, and Gareth being placed in the bag."

Spy death inquiry looks at bondage link

The inquest has also been told that Williams, who was single and intensely private, would not have let a stranger into his flat, and that he would not have given his keys to anyone apart from close family.

There were no signs of a break-in or indications of foul play.

Small amounts of unidentified DNA were detected on the bag.

On Wednesday, the inquest heard that years earlier Williams had been found tied to his bed and unable to free himself.

Williams had shouted out for help in the middle of the night when he was living in an annex of the home of his then-landlady Jennifer Elliot in Cheltenham, western England.

Mystery couple sought in UK cyberspy's bizarre death

Elliot and her husband found Williams dressed only in boxer shorts with his hands tied to the headboard of the bed. He told her that he had been just "messing about," trying to see "if I could get myself free," the Telegraph newspaper reported.

In a written statement, Elliot said it was likely "to be sexual rather than escapology," the paper added.

Williams later took up a three-year assignment at the headquarters of Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, whose offices are on the banks of the River Thames in central London.

 

Discuss this post

Yeah MI6 dropped the ball on this one but Williams is responsible for his own safety to a point as well. If there really was no forced entry then he probably didn't perceive who ever did it as a threat. The article and evidence suggest that he got himself in trouble before by "thinking with his second head" instead using his brain and all but insinuates that this led to his death. Weather it's covering up something else remains to be seen...

  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:46 PM EDT

So this is a BDSM session gone wrong?

Man, those upper class Brits are kinda pervy :D

    Reply#2 - Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:37 AM EDT

    I think a person could practice this and be able to do it and lock themselves into a duffle bag. He could have had the zippers facing in the bad and the lock setup already on a zipper. Maybe he had a fetish or obsession with trapping himself. He had been found trapped and handcuffed before and others would know if he did. He has a wig and girl things, it makes me think they are his and they could find out maybe how he obtained these items. I think he had a mental health problem and had imaginary friends. Being a spy sounds like a lonely life. He may have dressed as a female and pretended to be other people as a way of having friends. What was he working on and why would someone want him dead. Just because a person is a spy and in there own country is not a reason for them to be killed. He appears to be a perfectionist with the way his room is and it might have been a hidden pleasure of his to play out being trapped and try and get some pretty girl to come and save him. I can't believe they are saying no one can do it, he could have done this as a spy trick. It would make you look like a victim if people were after you and were going to enter your room. The wig and other female items would fit a story he could produce, that a women had held him a gun point and put him into the bag. I think he did it himself but you never know.

      Reply#3 - Sat Apr 28, 2012 1:11 PM EDT
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