Difference between revisions of "Gareth Williams"

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{{person
[[File:Gareth-Williams.jpg|thumb|200px|Gareth Willimas<br/>Photo-credit [http://thenewschronicle.com/british-spy-gareth-williams-death-updates/082907077/ The News Chronicle]]]
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|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Gareth_Williams
{{Current Events}}
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|isgp=https://isgp-studies.com/DL_2010_Gareth_Williams_death_Daily_Mail.php
Gareth Williams was 31 years old when his body was discovered in a padlocked sports holdall submerged in 'a fluid' in the bath of his top (3rd) floor flat at 36, Alderney Street, Pimlico, London {{Maplink|51.489881,-0.144882}}  on the afternoon of 23 August 2010. He had last been see alive in London on 15 August 2010. Police reported that the body "was in an advanced state of decay" when found and this made establishing the cause of death problematical.
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|constitutes=spook, cryptographer
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|image=Gareth-Williams.jpg
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|interests=
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|nationality=UK
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|birth_date=26 September 1978
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|birth_place=
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|death_date=16 August 2010
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|death_cause=sex game gone wrong
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|death_place=London,UK
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|victim_of=premature death
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|description=A brilliant cryptologist who worked for GCHQ and was found dead, naked, and locked in a sports bag allegedly a "suicide" or "sex game gone wrong".
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|parents=
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|spouses=
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|children=
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|relatives=
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|alma_mater=
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|political_parties=
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|employment={{job
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|title=Spook
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|employer=GCHQ
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|end=
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|description=Found dead, naked, and locked in a sports bag in 2010 - allegedly a suicide
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}}
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}}
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''Not to be confused with the [[Bilderberger]] [[Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn]].''
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'''Gareth Williams''' was a codes and ciphers expert on secondment from [[GCHQ]] to [[MI6]]. On the afternoon of 23 August 2010, age 31, he was found dead, naked and padlocked in a sports holdall submerged in "a fluid" in the bath of his [[London]] flat. According to the - rather improbable - official narrative, Williams locked himself in the bag in a "sex game gone wrong"; a yoga expert later tried more than 300 times to replicate the way Williams allegedly killed himself – and failed on every occasion<ref name=faulding/>.
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In August 2015, the ''[[The Sun]]'' claimed that he had hacked into US computers to gather data on [[Bill Clinton]],<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3215890/Spy-dead-bag-infuriated-MI6-bosses-illegally-hacking-secret-data-Bill-Clinton.html</ref> but there are many other more or less plausible motives for the assassination.
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==The death==
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[[image:Williams sports bag.png|left|thumb|400px|The official narrative claims that Williams locked himself in the sports bag.]]
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Gareth Williams was 31 when he was found dead, naked and decomposing in his flat in Pimlico, central London in 2010.<ref name=mailuk/> The body was inside a sports bag, its zipper padlocked shut from the outside, in the bath of an en-suite bathroom of the main bedroom. There were no obvious signs he had struggled to release himself from the bag and [[suicide]] looked unlikely in the supremely odd circumstances.<ref name=unredacted/>
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Williams had last been seen alive in London on 15 August 2010, eight days earlier. He probably met his death sometime between that last sighting and the following morning, 16 August 2013, when he failed to return to work. Police reported that the body "was in an advanced state of decay" when found and this made establishing the cause of death problematical, which is another indication that his death occurred soon after his last sighting.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20160131174437/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/02/gareth-williams-key-unanswered-questions</ref>
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He was not believed to be in a relationship at the time of his death, however during the investigation six boxes of unworn women's designer clothing worth £20,000 and a orange wig were found in the apartment.<ref name=mailuk/> However, the flat was used by [[MI6]] as a front, so the clothes were not necessarily part of some kinky sex play.
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Detectives who worked on the case in its early days were convinced the crime scene had been forensically "dry cleaned," which is security-service jargon for the removal of incriminating evidence such as [[fingerprints]] and [[DNA]].<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126354/Did-MI6-dry-clean-flat-cover-spy-bag-murder-Not-fingerprint-missing-hours-police-called.html</ref> Even though it was the middle of summer, the heating in the flat had been left on at the highest setting, hastening the decomposition of Williams body and making it impossible for the [[pathologist]] to ascertain the cause of death.<ref name=unredacted>https://theunredacted.com/gareth-williams-the-spy-in-the-bag/</ref>
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A smear campaign from unknown sources started to appear in the newspapers and with scant evidence made claims about Williams' [[homosexual]] private life and his apparent predilection for [[bondage]] and [[transvestitism]].<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20160131174437/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/02/gareth-williams-key-unanswered-questions</ref>
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==Official Narrative==
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A definitive [[official narrative]] never really emerged. In deference perhaps to the unusual circumstances of the case, the original line was that it was "highly likely" a third party was involved, but without a lot of new evidence emerging, this had changed by 2012 to "probably locked himself into sports bag".<ref name="may2012bbc">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17922388</ref><ref name="dec2012telegraph"/>
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In November 2013, [[Scotland Yard]] announced that his death was "probably an accident".<ref name="nov2013bbc">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24927078</ref> The official narrative is clear that however caused, his death was unconnected to his line of work.
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A 2023 review using "more modern techniques" concluded that he was likely alone when he died.<ref name=mailuk>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13043363/spy-bag-Scotland-Yard-MI6-Gareth-Williams-holdall-zips-padlocked.html</ref>
  
 
==Employment==
 
==Employment==
Williams was an employee of [[GCHQ]] Cheltenham. It is reported that, at the time of his death, he was nearing the end of a six month secondment to [[MI6]] whose HQ is about a mile away from his London flat on the opposite side of the river Thames. Williams is reported to have been a 'mathematical genius' and key (though relatively junior) member of [[GCHQ]] staff working in the field of cryptography as it applies to the Signals and communications intelligence functions of [[GCHQ]]. He is reported to have been a regular visitor to US [[NSA]] establishments at Fort Meade, Maryland and to have been a recent visitor to military intelligence establishments in Kabul, Afghanistan. However, Foreign Office policy is to neither confirm or deny the status of employees so this information remains wholly in the realms of media speculation at this time.
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Williams was an employee of [[GCHQ]], Cheltenham. It is reported that, at the time of his death, he was nearing the end of a six month secondment to [[MI6]] whose HQ is about a mile away from his London flat on the opposite side of the Thames. Williams is reported to have been a 'mathematical genius' and a key (though relatively junior) member of [[GCHQ]] staff working in the field of [[cryptography]] as it applies to the Signals and communications intelligence functions of [[GCHQ]]. He is reported to have been a regular visitor to [[NSA]] establishments at Fort Meade, Maryland and to have been a recent visitor to military intelligence establishments in Kabul, [[Afghanistan]].
  
 
==The Alderney Street Flat==
 
==The Alderney Street Flat==
 
[[File:36alderneyst.jpg|thumb|200px|36 Alderney St Pimlico - 23 August 2010]]
 
[[File:36alderneyst.jpg|thumb|200px|36 Alderney St Pimlico - 23 August 2010]]
 
[[File:36aTop.jpg|thumb|200px|36 Aldernet St, Top (3rd) floor]]
 
[[File:36aTop.jpg|thumb|200px|36 Aldernet St, Top (3rd) floor]]
The letting agents for the Alderney Street flat, Messrs WA Ellis of Knightsbridge, are quoted as follows in the Daily Mail:
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The letting agents for the Alderney Street flat ({{Maplink|51.489881,-0.144882}}), Messrs WA Ellis of Knightsbridge, are quoted as follows in the ''[[Daily Mail]]'':
 
{{QB
 
{{QB
|36 Alderney Street is owned by a private company, New Rodina. ‘There has been speculation that it is linked to MI6 or that it is a front for MI6. Our clients do not have any links to MI6 whatsoever and are distressed by the death of Mr Williams.’ <ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309150/Was-body-MI6-spy-submerged-mystery-fluid-speed-decay.html Was body of MI6 spy submerged in mystery fluid to speed up decay?] Daily Mail 5 September 2010. This article also contains the Flatt letting agent quotes about "New Rodina"</ref>
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|36 Alderney Street is owned by a private company, [[New Rodina]]. ‘There has been speculation that it is linked to [[MI6]] or that it is a front for MI6. Our clients do not have any links to MI6 whatsoever and are distressed by the death of Mr Williams.’ <ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309150/Was-body-MI6-spy-submerged-mystery-fluid-speed-decay.html Was body of MI6 spy submerged in mystery fluid to speed up decay?] Daily Mail 5 September 2010. This article also contains the Flat letting agent quotes about "New Rodina"</ref>
 
}}
 
}}
'''In the immortal words on Mandy Rice-Davis "Well he would say that wouldn't he". '''
 
  
'''New Rodina''' is an off-shore company based in the British Virgin Islands. It is therefore next to impossible to discover who its directors or controllers are. What IS known however, is that properties owned by New Rodina have been used in the past as "Safe Houses" provided by agencies of the British Government for people deemed in need of anonymity. Salman Rushdie is perhaps the best known example. It is also interesting to note that "Rodina" is both a Russian and Bulgarian word meaning "Motherland" and that "The Rodina Society" was used as a cover operation for KGB activity in the West during the Cold War. At the very least therefore, the name "New Rodina" will  ''resonate'' with MI6 - and the possibility that "resonate" is a serious understatement should not be ruled out.  
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Since [[New Rodina]] is an off-shore company based in the [[British Virgin Islands]], determining its directors or controllers is no easy matter. However, properties owned by New Rodina have been used in the past as "Safe Houses" provided by agencies of the British Government for people deemed in need of anonymity. [[Salman Rushdie]] is perhaps the best known example. It is also interesting to note that "Rodina" is both a Russian and Bulgarian word meaning "Motherland" and that "The Rodina Society" was used as a cover operation for [[KGB]] activity in the West during the [[Cold War]]. At the very least therefore, the name "New Rodina" will  ''resonate'' with MI6 - and the possibility that "resonate" is a serious understatement should not be ruled out.  
  
Since Wikispooks' approach to life dictates that 'conspiracy' '''ALWAYS''' has a higher probability than 'coincidence' in explaining intriguing events - and especially so where "intrigue" is involved by definition, research into associations between past events involving the SIS's and use of the word "Rodina" is clearly needed.
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==Commercially-controlled media speculation==
 
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The British {{ccm}} has indulged itself in predictable speculations (some no doubt planted) surrounding the unexplained death of a so-called 'spy'. They have variously alleged that:
==MSM speculation==
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*His mobile phone simcards were arranged in a "bizarre ritualistic manner" <ref name="mail">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1306233/Did-killer-MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-steal-state-secrets.html Did spy's killer steal state secrets?] - Daily Mail 26 August 2010</ref>
The British MSM has indulged itself in predictable speculations (some no doubt planted) surrounding the unexplained death of a so-called 'spy'. They have variously been alleged that:
 
*His mobile phone simcards were arranged in a "bizarre ritualistc manner" <ref name="mail">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1306233/Did-killer-MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-steal-state-secrets.html Did spy's killer steal state secrets?] - Daily Mail 26 August 2010</ref>
 
 
*There were Escort Agency telephone numbers on one phone SIM card and pornographic material on another. <ref name="mail"/>
 
*There were Escort Agency telephone numbers on one phone SIM card and pornographic material on another. <ref name="mail"/>
 
*He was gay and may have attracted the unwelcome attentions of a jealous aspiring partner <ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1306711/Parents-murdered-British-spy-fear-government-gay-smear-campaign-discredit-son.html Parents of murdered British spy hit back at 'government's gay smear' campaign to discredit him] - Daily Mail 27 August 2010</ref>
 
*He was gay and may have attracted the unwelcome attentions of a jealous aspiring partner <ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1306711/Parents-murdered-British-spy-fear-government-gay-smear-campaign-discredit-son.html Parents of murdered British spy hit back at 'government's gay smear' campaign to discredit him] - Daily Mail 27 August 2010</ref>
 
*"Bondage equipment was found at his flat. <ref name="kabul">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/29/mi6-officer-bondage-claims-untrue Bondage claims over dead MI6 officer untrue, say police] - The Guardian 29 August 2010</ref>
 
*"Bondage equipment was found at his flat. <ref name="kabul">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/29/mi6-officer-bondage-claims-untrue Bondage claims over dead MI6 officer untrue, say police] - The Guardian 29 August 2010</ref>
  
The police - to their credit - have matter-of-factly stamped on most of this stuff. Although they seem happy to allow, and even encourage continuing speculation <ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1311214/Detectives-believe-GCHQ-spys-death-sex-game-went-wrong.html Detectives believes dead MI6 spy may have zipped HIMSELF in bag in bizarre sex game that went wrong] Mail Online 12 September 2010</ref>
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The UK police have matter-of-factly stamped on most of this stuff. Although they seem happy to allow, and even encourage continuing speculation.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1311214/Detectives-believe-GCHQ-spys-death-sex-game-went-wrong.html Detectives believes dead MI6 spy may have zipped HIMSELF in bag in bizarre sex game that went wrong] Mail Online 12 September 2010</ref>
  
On 7 September 2010 the police appealed for information about a couple "of Mediterranean appearance" - with all the strange connotations the expression carries - who were allegedly captured on CCTV "one or two months before Mr Williams died" <ref name="med">[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7984508/MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-murder-police-hunt-for-Mediterranean-couple.html Police hunt for Mediterranean couple] - The Telegraph 6 September 2010</ref>.
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On 7 September 2010 the police appealed for information about a couple "of Mediterranean appearance" - with all the strange connotations the expression carries - who were allegedly captured on [[CCTV]] "one or two months before Mr Williams died" <ref name="med">[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7984508/MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-murder-police-hunt-for-Mediterranean-couple.html Police hunt for Mediterranean couple] - The Telegraph 6 September 2010</ref>.
  
==Wikispooks Speculation==
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==Speculation==
 
[[File:Holdall.jpg|thumb|350px|Red Extra-large "North Face" holdall in which the body was found ]]
 
[[File:Holdall.jpg|thumb|350px|Red Extra-large "North Face" holdall in which the body was found ]]
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'''The following speculations rest on one over-riding assumption.''' It is that the real reason for Gareth William's murder are known to [[MI6]] and are being ''deliberately obscured''. That assumption in turn rests on substantial evidence of a so-called 'turf-war' between the Metropolitan Police charged by statute with the investigation of a capital crime, and the 'Security Services' who are reported as being 'less than helpful' to the investigation. That together with lurid speculation in the {{ccm}} and variously attributed to 'sources close the inquiry', 'senior intelligence sources' and other such journalistic euphemisms. The waters are being well-and-truly muddied by people well placed to undertake the muddying.
  
'''The following speculations rest on one over-riding assumption.''' It is that the real reason for Gareth William's murder are known to [[MI6]] and '''must NOT become public knowledge'''. That assumption in turn rests on substantial evidence of a so-called 'turf-war' between the Metropolitan Police charged by statute with the investigation of a capital crime, and the 'Security Services' who are reported as being 'less than helpful' to the investigation. That together with lurid speculation in the MSM and variously attributed to 'sources close the inquiry', 'senior intelligence sources' and other such journalistic euphemisms. The waters are being well-and-truly muddied by people well placed to undertake the muddying.
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===The Manhattan 11 connection===
 
 
 
 
===Speculation 1 - The Manhattan 11 connection?===
 
 
The murder is connected with the recent "Manhattan 11" Russian Espionage fiasco in which 11 alleged Russian "Deep-Cover" sleeper spies were arrested, charged <ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/usrussia-spy-swap-under-way-after-deepcover-agents-admit-guilt-2022192.html US-Russia spy swap under way after deep-cover agents admit guilt] Independent 9 July 2010</ref> and subsequently exchanged for 4 alleged US spies held in Russia   
 
The murder is connected with the recent "Manhattan 11" Russian Espionage fiasco in which 11 alleged Russian "Deep-Cover" sleeper spies were arrested, charged <ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/usrussia-spy-swap-under-way-after-deepcover-agents-admit-guilt-2022192.html US-Russia spy swap under way after deep-cover agents admit guilt] Independent 9 July 2010</ref> and subsequently exchanged for 4 alleged US spies held in Russia   
 
<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1290475/Anna-Chapman-11-Russian-spies-accused-Cold-War-style-plot-US.html Red-headed femme fatale among 11 'Russian deep cover agents' accused of Cold War-style plot to spy on America] - Mail Online 29 June 2010</ref>
 
<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1290475/Anna-Chapman-11-Russian-spies-accused-Cold-War-style-plot-US.html Red-headed femme fatale among 11 'Russian deep cover agents' accused of Cold War-style plot to spy on America] - Mail Online 29 June 2010</ref>
 
{{QB
 
{{QB
|MURDERED spook Gareth Williams could have helped to nail Russian spy beauty Anna Chapman. Detectives are looking into claims the MI6 code breaker was in the US when ­Chapman was uncovered in June.... However, investigators are meeting “resistance” from US and UK intelligence agencies..... a high-level source told the Daily Star ­Sunday: “Mr Williams’ work in America is forming part of the inquiry.
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|MURDERED spook Gareth Williams could have helped to nail Russian spy beauty [[Anna Chapman]]. Detectives are looking into claims the MI6 code breaker was in the US when ­Chapman was uncovered in June.... However, investigators are meeting “resistance” from US and UK intelligence agencies..... a high-level source told the Daily Star ­Sunday: “Mr Williams’ work in America is forming part of the inquiry.
 
:''“We need to know what he was working on during his ­visits there. MI6 and CIA code crackers played a vital part in outing Chapman and the ­Russian spy ring."'' <ref>[http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/151344/Dead-spy-Gareth-Williams-linked-to-red-Anna/ DEAD SPY GARETH WILLIAMS LINKED TO RED ANNA] - Sunday Star 9 September 2010</ref>
 
:''“We need to know what he was working on during his ­visits there. MI6 and CIA code crackers played a vital part in outing Chapman and the ­Russian spy ring."'' <ref>[http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/151344/Dead-spy-Gareth-Williams-linked-to-red-Anna/ DEAD SPY GARETH WILLIAMS LINKED TO RED ANNA] - Sunday Star 9 September 2010</ref>
 
}}
 
}}
 
Further indications of a possible Russian connection are provided by the name of the company that owns Williams' flat - see [[Gareth Williams#The Alderney Street Flat|The Alderney Street Flat]] above
 
Further indications of a possible Russian connection are provided by the name of the company that owns Williams' flat - see [[Gareth Williams#The Alderney Street Flat|The Alderney Street Flat]] above
  
'''More soon'''
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====Update - 5 October 2010====
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Two linked articles by '''[[Trowbridge H Ford|Trowbridge Ford]]''' provide in-depth analysis of the [[NSA]] and its relationship with its UK equivalent [[GCHQ]], [[MI6]] and related US Agencies. <ref>[http://codshit.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-americas-nsa-and-britains-gchq.html The killing of Gareth Williams - part 1.] Trowbridge Ford - Codshit blog 27 September 2010</ref> <ref>[http://codshit.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-americas-nsa-and-britains-gchq-had.html The killing of Gareth Williams - part 2.] Trowbridge Ford - Codshit blog 4 October 2010</ref> They lead to a plausible explanation for Gareth Williams' demise together with its manner and timing. The history of the NSA is fairly well known, especially through the writings of [[James Bamford]]. But, as is always the case where the workings of Spook agencies are concerned, the nuggets of genuinely embarrassing information that such persistent and well-connected individuals provide, tend to be more than balanced by the disinformation they are fed on a semi-privileged basis. Reporting 'US Officials', Bamford poo-poo's the notion that Williams' death might be connected in any way with his status as a spook <ref>[http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/09/gareth_williams_death_not_spy-.html U.S. officials: Gareth Williams death not spy-related]</ref> which is another good reason to suspect the opposite
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The biggest issue facing [[NSA]] operations over the past 10 years has undoubtedly been the extent of its allowable (ie legal) internal surveillance operations. US Law and the US Constitution place irritating and (to the NSA top brass) 'mission-inhibiting' obstacles in its path - and so, as is the way with SIS's the world over, they tend to be simply ignored.  But ignoring them also carries big risks.
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It seems that the outing of the so-called Manhattan 11 'spy-ring' involved prolonged and extensive unauthorised surveillance by the NSA which, because of its need for the cryptanalysis skills on which the [[NSA]] and [[GCHQ]] were/are collaborating, Gareth Williams was aware of - at least at the technical level. The timings involved together with publicly available evidence to date, point to the following possible scenario: 
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*The 'Mediterranean couple' who visited his flat were connected to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Chapman Anna Chapman] - possibly her ex-husband and former roommate Lena Savitskaya who knew about the MI6 flat from earlier recruitment overtures to Anna Chapman that apparently took place there. Their purpose was to sound out its presumed MI6 connected occupant, about exposing the illegal NSA surveillance activity that led to Anna Chapman's loss of UK citizenship and her being deported to Russia.
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*Williams was intrigued. He should have reported the encounter to superiors but didn't - although the premises being what it is, they probably monitored it anyway.
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*Williams returned to the US  in July and asked questions which marked him as particularly dangerous since, as a UK citizen, he was not subject to the onerous secrecy laws covering US agents in possession of similar information. He could not be silenced in the manner, for example, that Thomas Drake was in process of being silenced during Williams' Fort Meade visits.
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*Williams also spoke of his concerns to a GCHQ colleague and her husband who were at Fort Meade as part of the same NSA/GCHQ cooperation. This led to MI6/NSA moving them to Denver on a different mission so as to remove them from knowledge of further developments - an action that reinforces the probability that MI6 already knew of the unreported encounter at the London flat.
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*For whatever additional reasons - or none - Williams' attitude, demeanour , questioning, knowledge, insider status and non-US citizen status were cumulatively judged a risk to the [[NSA]] that could not be tolerated.
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*A poison of the variety '[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides amanita phalloides]' (or a more potent high-tec equivalent from the US [https://wikispooks.com/wiki/File:Weaponisation_of_Mycotoxins.pdf Weaponisation of Mico-toxins] program) was somehow administered on or about 10th August, just prior to his final return to the UK.
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*Williams realised he had been poisoned a few days later as the effects began to accumulate. He spent some £90 at Harrods - most of it on medication at the pharmacy and NOT on women's toiletries as leaked to the press. His pallor in the Holland Park video stills from 15 August are of a man in a very jaundiced and sickly condition <ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309610/2-weeks-MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-police-probe-radiation-theory.html Was it Poison] - Daily Mail 7 September 2010</ref>
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* On the evening of 15 August [[MI6]] operatives visited the flat and found Williams either dead or nearly so. He was padlocked into the holdall, the flat cleaned up, all the medicines removed (though the Harrods receipt was somehow missed) and things arranged for the police to find when asked to check on Williams 'non-contact'. They let themselves out, locking the door after them.
  
===Speculation 2 - A Mossad / Israeli 'false-flag' connection?===
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For the two weeks to 5 October 2010 the silence has been deafening.
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===A Mossad / Israeli [[False flag]] connection===
 
The rationale here goes like this:
 
The rationale here goes like this:
  
Line 55: Line 112:
 
Evidence for this speculation is that the way in which the body was left would greatly inhibit the spread of the smell of decay or of body fluids leaking through the floor and thus delay discovery sufficient for the perpetrators to be well clear of the country with little or no CCTV evidence still extant. It is also consistent with police appeals for information about a couple "of Mediterranean appearance" caught on what CCTV there is (or rather has been revealed) of the weeks before the body was discovered. <ref name="med"/>  Williams is also reported to have been a regular visitor to the [[NSA]] HQ at Fort Meade Maryland and these reports are now subject to obfuscation and water muddying. He was also on secondment to [[MI6]]. He was thus at the hub of the technical and operational agencies charged with finding out and dealing with such possibilities - the purposes to which such 'finding-out' is put, remaining moot.
 
Evidence for this speculation is that the way in which the body was left would greatly inhibit the spread of the smell of decay or of body fluids leaking through the floor and thus delay discovery sufficient for the perpetrators to be well clear of the country with little or no CCTV evidence still extant. It is also consistent with police appeals for information about a couple "of Mediterranean appearance" caught on what CCTV there is (or rather has been revealed) of the weeks before the body was discovered. <ref name="med"/>  Williams is also reported to have been a regular visitor to the [[NSA]] HQ at Fort Meade Maryland and these reports are now subject to obfuscation and water muddying. He was also on secondment to [[MI6]]. He was thus at the hub of the technical and operational agencies charged with finding out and dealing with such possibilities - the purposes to which such 'finding-out' is put, remaining moot.
  
===Speculation 3 - A Hamid Kazai 'Special Operation' connection?===
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===A Hamid Karzai 'Special Operation' connection===
 
Pure speculation this one - lateral thinking you might say.  
 
Pure speculation this one - lateral thinking you might say.  
  
Williams is reported to have visited 'Intelligence facilities' in Kabul in the weeks before his death. <ref name="kabul"/>  Hamid Kazai (President of Afghanistan) has become both an embarrassment and a liability to US objectives in Afghanistan. Great hopes were vested in his being ousted in the Autumn 2009 'elections' but despite them being reported by independent observers as little better than a sham, Karzai easily held on to power. It is speculated that Williams became privy to a Special Forces operation to eliminate Karzai. For whatever reason, the operation failed or had to be aborted - or maybe it is still on the stocks. Williams knowledge was dangerous and he voiced the wrong kind of concerns - or worse - to the wrong people.
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[[Hamid Karzai]] ([[President of Afghanistan]]) was something of an embarrassment and a liability to US objectives in Afghanistan. Great hopes were vested in his being ousted in the Autumn 2009 'elections', the last chance to do so before foreign forces withdrew. But despite the elections being reported by independent observers as little better than a sham, Karzai easily held on to power. Gareth Williams visited 'Intelligence facilities' in Kabul in the weeks before his death<ref name="kabul"/> and it is speculated that he became privy to a Special Forces operation to eliminate Karzai. (As it is speculated that [[Pat Tillman]] was murdered in [[Afghanistan]] for knowing too much, in his case perhaps about drugs){{cn}}. For whatever reason, the operation failed or had to be aborted - or maybe it is still on the stocks. Williams knowledge was dangerous and he voiced the wrong kind of concerns - or worse - to the wrong people.
  
===Speculation 4 - International Banking security connection===
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===International Banking security connection===
This is based entirely on a Telegraph report attributed to "Sources" and "a British Intelligence Officer". So, all the caveats concerning spook routine use and manipulation of the MSM apply in spades. According to the Telegraph:
+
This is based entirely on a ''[[Telegraph]]'' report attributed to "Sources" and "a British Intelligence Officer". So, all the caveats concerning spook routine use and manipulation of the MSM apply in spades. According to [[''the Telegraph'']]:
{{QB
+
{{SMWQ
|Sources have told this newspaper that Britain's intelligence services – MI6, MI5 and GCHQ – are liaising closely to establish whether Gareth Williams was targeted by a foreign power. The 31-year-old was seconded from GCHQ to work on top-secret systems to defend British banks and transport infrastructure from cyber attack and to eavesdrop on terrorist communications. As a result he may have come to the attention of foreign intelligence agencies. .... It is feared that by the time of his death last month Mr Williams's presence in London had become known to foreign spies, despite the fact he was living in a MI6 safe house with an alarm system linking him to nearby MI6 headquarters. "It would have been part of their brief", said a British intelligence officer. ....It is understood Mr Williams's job at the time of his death was creating computer defences in the City of London. Williams would have had access to information which other countries would want to obtain. The intelligence source said: "His job was to defend the banking system on which Britain's banking, commerce and all our public services depend. It was the kind of work that would have made him prime target for recruitment..... "He was also in a position to know about huge money transfers out of the Middle East which were linked to terror groups. It would be priceless data."  <ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7996520/Concern-grows-over-foreign-involvement-in-spys-death.html Concern grows over foreign involvement in spy's death ]</ref>
+
|source_name=the Telegraph
 +
|source_URL=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7996520/Concern-grows-over-foreign-involvement-in-spys-death.html
 +
|source_details=Concern grows over foreign involvement in spy's death
 +
|authors=Patrick Sawer, Gordon Thomas
 +
|date=11 Sep 2010
 +
|text=Sources have told this newspaper that Britain's intelligence services – [[MI6]], [[MI5]] and [[GCHQ]] – are liaising closely to establish whether Gareth Williams was targeted by a foreign power. The 31-year-old was seconded from GCHQ to work on top-secret systems to defend British banks and transport infrastructure from cyber attack and to eavesdrop on terrorist communications. As a result he may have come to the attention of foreign intelligence agencies... It is feared that by the time of his death last month Mr Williams's presence in London had become known to foreign spies, despite the fact he was living in a MI6 safe house with an alarm system linking him to nearby MI6 headquarters. "It would have been part of their brief", said a British intelligence officer... It is understood Mr Williams's job at the time of his death was creating computer defences in the City of London. Williams would have had access to information which other countries would want to obtain. The intelligence source said: "His job was to defend the [[banking]] system on which Britain's banking, commerce and all our public services depend. It was the kind of work that would have made him prime target for recruitment... "He was also in a position to know about huge money transfers out of the Middle East which were linked to terror groups. It would be priceless data.
 
}}
 
}}
 
Williams' involvement in Afghanistan SIGINT work are also repeated in this article, as are his frequent visits to The USA.
 
Williams' involvement in Afghanistan SIGINT work are also repeated in this article, as are his frequent visits to The USA.
  
===Speculation 5 - from Aangirfan <ref>[http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2010/08/murder-of-spook-gareth-williams-nsa.html Murder of Spooks Gareth Williams: NSA; Mindcontrol] - Aangirfan blog</ref>===
+
===Gudrun Loftus connection===
A '''must read''' compendium of links and theories about the case.
+
That there is a connection between the death of Gareth William and the apparently accidental death of [[Gudrun Loftus]], the Oxford University Lecturer found fatally injured in a university stairwell on 5th October 2010. <ref>[http://www.cherwell.org/content/10737 Tragic death of German tutor at St John's College]</ref> The reasoning behind this is complex but plausible and is explored in detail in two articles by Trowbridge Ford:
 +
*[[Document:A Gareth Wiliams - Gudrun Loftus Axis?]] - Wikispooks
 +
*[http://codshit.blogspot.com/2010/11/gareth-williams-and-gudrun-loftus.html Gareth Williams And Gudrun Loftus Murdered To Avoid Their Becoming More George Blakes] - Codshit.com
  
 +
===A private sector commercial connection===
 +
*[http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/gareth-williams-was-mi6-spy-being-778704 A Mirror News article] reports a Miss Elizabeth Guthrie, daughter of a US Stock Broker alleging that Williams was about to resign his GCHQ/MI6 post to pursue a 'business venture' with her and another "agent" and that he had expressed concern about being followed immediately before his death.
 +
*[http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/GCHQ-considering-measures-prevent-whizzes-going/story-13564967-detail/story.html GCHQ worries] about losing talented spies to the private sector
  
----
+
==Inquest into the death==
 +
Dr [[Fiona Wilcox]], the Westminster coroner, scheduled a pre-inquest review for 29 March 2012.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9046477/Light-to-be-shed-on-mystery-of-MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-death.html Light to be shed on mystery of MI6 spy Gareth Williams' death] Telegraph 28 January 2012</ref>
  
 +
The [[Foreign Secretary]], [[William Hague]], signed a [[Public-interest immunity certificate]] authorising the withholding from the inquest of details of Williams's work and U.S. joint operations.<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126680/Hague-orders-body-bag-spy-evidence-heard-secret-MI6-agents-work-U-S-reported.html</ref><ref name=telegraph-20120422>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9218325/Secret-meeting-between-MI6-and-police-hours-after-discovery-of-spy-Gareth-Williamss-death.html</ref>
  
'''Wikispooks entirely discounts the possibility of the murder being sexual or lifestyle related but expects the outcome of the investigation to conclude - for public consumption - that it was. The reason behind this is simply that we catagorically stated it was not sexual or lifestyle related right from the start and, regardless of whether it is proved to be so, we are a bit too arrogant to admit we were wrong.
+
The Williams family lawyer, Anthony O’Toole, was banned from grilling an [[MI6]] agent during this inquest. He stated "I was not allowed by the coroner to say to the spook, 'You know how to get into the flats without keys, don’t you?' I was told it was contrary to [[national security]]." Suggesting that spies removed crucial evidence before police found the body, O’Toole added "My suggestion is that the dark arts were involved and there was a curious lack of evidence in there, almost like it had been swept clean."<ref name="mirror2013">http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/spy-in-the-bag-gareth-williams-lawyer-banned-2789440</ref>
  
==Representative MSM Coverage==
+
===Inquest verdict===
 +
The Westminster Coroner's inquest concluded that "she could not rule out the involvement of the security services in the death", which sparked a review of the case by [[Scotland Yard]]’s murder squad. This 7 month process which involved re-interviewing his colleagues from [[MI6]] and taking DNA samples concluded in December 2012 that Gareth Williams "probably locked himself into the sports bag".<ref name="dec2012telegraph">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9750403/MI6-codebreaker-Gareth-Williams-probably-locked-himself-into-sports-bag.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
[[Metropolitan Police]]'s [[Deputy Assistant Commissioner]] [[Martin Hewitt]] said that he had no explanation for why none of Mr Williams’ DNA was found on the padlock of the holdall, why his palm prints were not on the rim of the bath or why the heating had been left on in the flat despite it being summer. He nevertheless termed it ''"beyond credibility"'' that [[MI6]] or [[GCHQ]] had destroyed evidence.<ref name="mirror2013"/>
 +
 
 +
[[Peter Faulding]], a rescue expert, tried more than 300 times to lock himself himself inside a holdall in the way Williams would have to have done – and failed on every occasion. 'Not even [[Houdini]] would have been able to pull it off,' he wrote.<ref name=faulding>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11653393/Spy-bag-Gareth-Williams-murdered-claims-author-new-book.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
==CCM coverage and Information Archive==
 +
There is a useful archive of information Compiled by [http://winterpatriot.com/ "Winter Patriot"]:
 +
*[http://tswktm.blogspot.com/ The Spy who knew too much] - a useful information archive
 +
*[http://shatasm.blogspot.com/ Sherlock Holmes And The Alderney Street Mystery] - An ongoing spoof investigation in the manner of a Sherlock Holmes novel.
 +
 
 +
===Representative CCM Coverage===
 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/25/mi6-worker-murdered-london-flat MI6 worker found murdered in London flat] - The Guardian 25 August 2010
 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/25/mi6-worker-murdered-london-flat MI6 worker found murdered in London flat] - The Guardian 25 August 2010
 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/28/spy-alive-eight-days-body Spy last seen alive eight days before body was found in bag] - The Guardian 25 August 2010
 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/28/spy-alive-eight-days-body Spy last seen alive eight days before body was found in bag] - The Guardian 25 August 2010
Line 82: Line 163:
 
*[http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Race-to-solve-secret-of.6495258.jp?articlepage=1 Race to solve secret of grisly murder in an MI6 'safehouse'] - The Scotsman 26 August 2010. With comment by Prof Glees of The Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham
 
*[http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Race-to-solve-secret-of.6495258.jp?articlepage=1 Race to solve secret of grisly murder in an MI6 'safehouse'] - The Scotsman 26 August 2010. With comment by Prof Glees of The Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham
 
*[http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/195755/Murdered-spy-may-have-met-his-killer-on-missions-to-USA MURDERED SPY MAY HAVE MET HIS KILLER ON MISSIONS TO USA] Daily Express 27 August 2010
 
*[http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/195755/Murdered-spy-may-have-met-his-killer-on-missions-to-USA MURDERED SPY MAY HAVE MET HIS KILLER ON MISSIONS TO USA] Daily Express 27 August 2010
 +
*[http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1315388_professor_who_helped_death_riddle_spy_get__job_at_mi6 Professor who helped death riddle spy get  job at MI6] - 28 August 2010. Manchester Evening News, YakubQureshi
 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/29/mi6-officer-bondage-claims-untrue MI6 bondage claims untrue] - The Guardian 29 August 2010
 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/29/mi6-officer-bondage-claims-untrue MI6 bondage claims untrue] - The Guardian 29 August 2010
 
*[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/mi6-death-murder-most-strange-2064789.html MI6 death: Murder most strange] - The Independent 29 August 2010. Interesting takes on the matter from lots of SIS-connected people.
 
*[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/mi6-death-murder-most-strange-2064789.html MI6 death: Murder most strange] - The Independent 29 August 2010. Interesting takes on the matter from lots of SIS-connected people.
Line 89: Line 171:
 
*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7984508/MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-murder-police-hunt-for-Mediterranean-couple.html MI6 spy Gareth Williams murder: police hunt for Mediterranean couple] - The Telegraph 6 September 2010
 
*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7984508/MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-murder-police-hunt-for-Mediterranean-couple.html MI6 spy Gareth Williams murder: police hunt for Mediterranean couple] - The Telegraph 6 September 2010
 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/06/mi6-death-gareth-williams-cctv Police issue CCTV footage of dead MI6 worker] - Guardian 6 September 2010
 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/06/mi6-death-gareth-williams-cctv Police issue CCTV footage of dead MI6 worker] - Guardian 6 September 2010
 +
*[http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/09/07/police-hunt-for-couple-seen-near-murdered-spy-s-flat-91466-27214840/ Police hunt for couple seen near murdered spy’s flat] - Wales online 7 September 2010
 
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309610/2-weeks-MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-police-probe-radiation-theory.html Was it poison? Two weeks after murdered spy was found in his bath, baffled police release CCTV of victim as they probe radiation theory] - Daily Mail 7 September 2010
 
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309610/2-weeks-MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-police-probe-radiation-theory.html Was it poison? Two weeks after murdered spy was found in his bath, baffled police release CCTV of victim as they probe radiation theory] - Daily Mail 7 September 2010
 
*[http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/197592/Murdered-spy-Gareth-Williams-was-being-tailed-/ MURDERED SPY GARETH WILLIAMS ‘WAS BEING TAILED’] - Express 9 September 2010.
 
*[http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/197592/Murdered-spy-Gareth-Williams-was-being-tailed-/ MURDERED SPY GARETH WILLIAMS ‘WAS BEING TAILED’] - Express 9 September 2010.
 
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1311214/Detectives-believe-GCHQ-spys-death-sex-game-went-wrong.html Detectives believes dead MI6 spy may have zipped HIMSELF in bag in bizarre sex game that went wrong] - Mail Online 12 September 2010
 
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1311214/Detectives-believe-GCHQ-spys-death-sex-game-went-wrong.html Detectives believes dead MI6 spy may have zipped HIMSELF in bag in bizarre sex game that went wrong] - Mail Online 12 September 2010
 
*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7996520/Concern-grows-over-foreign-involvement-in-spys-death.html Concern grows over foreign involvement in spy's death] - Telegraph 11 September 2010
 
*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7996520/Concern-grows-over-foreign-involvement-in-spys-death.html Concern grows over foreign involvement in spy's death] - Telegraph 11 September 2010
 +
*[http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/68890,news-comment,news-politics,mi6-man-locked-himself-in-his-holdall-oh-yes-gareth-williams MI6 man ‘locked himself in his holdall’. Oh yes?] Latest theory about the death of Gareth Williams is preposterous, say security experts. The First Post 20 September 2010
 +
*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8012360/MI6-spy-found-in-sports-bag-had-been-playing-sex-game-police-believe.html MI6 spy found in sports bag had been playing sex game, police believe]. Telegraph 20 September 2010
 +
*[http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/09/20/death-of-welsh-spy-not-treated-as-suspicious-91466-27301272/ Death of Welsh spy not treated as suspicious]. Wales Online 20 September 2010
 +
*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8024998/FBI-joins-investigation-into-MI6-spys-death.html FBI joins investigation into MI6 spy's death] - Telegraph 25 September 2010
 +
*[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-enigma-of-a-codebreakers-death-2089891.html The enigma of a code-breaker's death]- David Randall, The Independent 26 September 2010 - "The reputation of a brilliant man who served his country will be for ever tainted by the failure to explain his demise"
 +
*[http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/204542/Death-mystery-spy-Gareth-Williams-was-terror-plot-hero/ DEATH MYSTERY SPY GARETH WILLIAMS WAS TERROR PLOT HERO] - Express 10 October 2010 (The terror plot referred to in the Mumbai attack of November 2008)
 +
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/20/gareth-williams-spy-mi6 Who was Gareth Williams?] Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy. The Guardian 20 November 2010
 +
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1341571/MI6-spy-Gareth-Williams-secret-double-identity-gay-friend-insists.html#ixzz19CR6wK00 The secret double identity of murdered spy: Friend insists Gareth Williams was not gay - and was being trained by MI6 for undercover role] Mail Online 26 December 2010 - a long and detailed article which, whilst passing the usual distorting MSM editorial Screening processes, is worth archiving for reference and further research
 +
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12974045 Gareth Williams MI6 death: police inquiry questioned] BBC Wales, By Iolo ap Dafydd. BBC Wales also aired a Documentary "called [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0105q8t "Death of a Welsh Spy"] - 11 April 2011. As part of their "Week In Week Out" series on the same day. Unfortunately it has not been made available for on-line viewing.
 +
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2025701/Russian-Embassy-car-spotted-near-body-bag-spys-home-days-murdered.html Russian Embassy car spotted near 'body in bag' spy's home days before he was murdered] - MailOnline 13 August 2011.
 +
*[http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/08/21/government-s-response-to-welsh-spy-s-mysterious-death-a-disgrace-91466-29274692/ Government’s response to Welsh spy’s mysterious death a ‘disgrace’] - Wales Online 21 August 2011
 +
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126354/Did-MI6-dry-clean-flat-cover-spy-bag-murder-Not-fingerprint-missing-hours-police-called.html? Did MI6 'dry clean' this flat to cover up the spy in a bag murder?  Not one [[fingerprint]] and five missing hours before police called] Mail Online. 7 April 2012
 +
*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9218325/Secret-meeting-between-MI6-and-police-hours-after-discovery-of-spy-Gareth-Williamss-death.html Secret meeting between MI6 and police hours after discovery of spy Gareth Williams's death] - The Telegraph 22 April 2012
 +
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/03/gareth_williams_inquest/ GCHQ's spy death riddle shines light on UK hacker war] - Duncan Campbell. The Register 3 May 2012
 +
 +
===Cover-up story as at 2nd Dec 2010 from the BBC===
 +
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12059910 Dead MI6 spy Gareth Williams 'visited bondage websites'] BBC, 2 Dec 2010 ''"Gareth Williams, 31 ... also visited a drag show and owned £15,000 worth of women's designer clothing ... "someone else was in the flat" ... "If he was alive, he got into it voluntarily or, if not, he was unconscious and placed in the bag" ... an expert, brought in to examine the red holdall in which Mr Williams was found, concluded he could not have locked it ... The keys were found inside the bag ... She said experts had said the temperature inside the bag would have risen to 30C (80F) within three minutes and he would have suffocated inside half-an-hour.''
 +
 +
==2015 developments==
 +
In September and October 2015, [[Boris Karpichkov]], a former [[KGB]] agent who defected from [[Russia]] and who now lives in Britain, stated during interviews that "sources in Russia" have claimed that the Russian [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|Foreign Intelligence Service]], also known as the SVR, was responsible for the murder. According to Karpichkov, the SVR tried and failed to blackmail Williams into becoming a [[double agent]].<ref name="mail2015-10-23">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3287000/After-years-intrigue-Kremlin-defector-solved-riddle-spy-bag-Former-Russian-major-claims-KGB-trying-recruit-Gareth-Williams.html</ref>
  
 +
In response to the SVR's attempts, Williams apparently claimed that he knew "the identity of a Russian spy inside the GCHQ." Karpichkov claimed that Williams's threat meant that "the SVR then had no alternative but to exterminate him in order to protect their agent inside GCHQ." Regarding the cause of death, Karpichkov claimed that the SVR killed Williams "by an untraceable poison introduced in his ear."<ref>Barbara Tasch (28 September 2015) [http://www.businessinsider.com/kgb-defector-russia-killed-the-british-spy-found-in-a-duffel-bag-2015-9 KGB defector: Russia killed the British spy found in a duffel bag], ''[[Business Insider]]''.</ref><ref>Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith (28 September 2015) [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mi6-spy-gareth-williams-was-killed-by-russia-for-refusing-to-become-double-agent-former-kgb-man-a6670196.html MI6 spy Gareth Williams was ‘killed by Russia for refusing to become double agent’, former KGB man claims], ''[[The Independent]]''.</ref>
 +
 +
==External Links==
 +
* [http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2010/08/murder-of-spook-gareth-williams-nsa.html Murder of Spooks Gareth Williams: NSA; Mindcontrol] - Aangirfan blog, a recommended compendium of links and theories about the case.
 +
{{SMWDocs}}
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Gareth}}
 
[[Category:Spooks]]
 
[[Category:MI6]]
 
[[Category:GCHQ]]
 
[[Category:Premature Death]]
 

Latest revision as of 09:34, 17 September 2024

Person.png Gareth Williams   ISGPRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(spook, cryptographer)
Gareth-Williams.jpg
Born26 September 1978
Died16 August 2010 (Age 31)
London, UK
Cause of death
sex game gone wrong
NationalityUK
Victim ofpremature death
A brilliant cryptologist who worked for GCHQ and was found dead, naked, and locked in a sports bag allegedly a "suicide" or "sex game gone wrong".

Employment.png Spook Wikipedia-icon.png

Dates unknown
EmployerGCHQ
Found dead, naked, and locked in a sports bag in 2010 - allegedly a suicide

Not to be confused with the Bilderberger Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn.

Gareth Williams was a codes and ciphers expert on secondment from GCHQ to MI6. On the afternoon of 23 August 2010, age 31, he was found dead, naked and padlocked in a sports holdall submerged in "a fluid" in the bath of his London flat. According to the - rather improbable - official narrative, Williams locked himself in the bag in a "sex game gone wrong"; a yoga expert later tried more than 300 times to replicate the way Williams allegedly killed himself – and failed on every occasion[1].

In August 2015, the The Sun claimed that he had hacked into US computers to gather data on Bill Clinton,[2] but there are many other more or less plausible motives for the assassination.

The death

The official narrative claims that Williams locked himself in the sports bag.

Gareth Williams was 31 when he was found dead, naked and decomposing in his flat in Pimlico, central London in 2010.[3] The body was inside a sports bag, its zipper padlocked shut from the outside, in the bath of an en-suite bathroom of the main bedroom. There were no obvious signs he had struggled to release himself from the bag and suicide looked unlikely in the supremely odd circumstances.[4]

Williams had last been seen alive in London on 15 August 2010, eight days earlier. He probably met his death sometime between that last sighting and the following morning, 16 August 2013, when he failed to return to work. Police reported that the body "was in an advanced state of decay" when found and this made establishing the cause of death problematical, which is another indication that his death occurred soon after his last sighting.[5]

He was not believed to be in a relationship at the time of his death, however during the investigation six boxes of unworn women's designer clothing worth £20,000 and a orange wig were found in the apartment.[3] However, the flat was used by MI6 as a front, so the clothes were not necessarily part of some kinky sex play.

Detectives who worked on the case in its early days were convinced the crime scene had been forensically "dry cleaned," which is security-service jargon for the removal of incriminating evidence such as fingerprints and DNA.[6] Even though it was the middle of summer, the heating in the flat had been left on at the highest setting, hastening the decomposition of Williams body and making it impossible for the pathologist to ascertain the cause of death.[4]

A smear campaign from unknown sources started to appear in the newspapers and with scant evidence made claims about Williams' homosexual private life and his apparent predilection for bondage and transvestitism.[7]

Official Narrative

A definitive official narrative never really emerged. In deference perhaps to the unusual circumstances of the case, the original line was that it was "highly likely" a third party was involved, but without a lot of new evidence emerging, this had changed by 2012 to "probably locked himself into sports bag".[8][9]

In November 2013, Scotland Yard announced that his death was "probably an accident".[10] The official narrative is clear that however caused, his death was unconnected to his line of work.

A 2023 review using "more modern techniques" concluded that he was likely alone when he died.[3]

Employment

Williams was an employee of GCHQ, Cheltenham. It is reported that, at the time of his death, he was nearing the end of a six month secondment to MI6 whose HQ is about a mile away from his London flat on the opposite side of the Thames. Williams is reported to have been a 'mathematical genius' and a key (though relatively junior) member of GCHQ staff working in the field of cryptography as it applies to the Signals and communications intelligence functions of GCHQ. He is reported to have been a regular visitor to NSA establishments at Fort Meade, Maryland and to have been a recent visitor to military intelligence establishments in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Alderney Street Flat

36 Alderney St Pimlico - 23 August 2010
36 Aldernet St, Top (3rd) floor

The letting agents for the Alderney Street flat (Map), Messrs WA Ellis of Knightsbridge, are quoted as follows in the Daily Mail:

36 Alderney Street is owned by a private company, New Rodina. ‘There has been speculation that it is linked to MI6 or that it is a front for MI6. Our clients do not have any links to MI6 whatsoever and are distressed by the death of Mr Williams.’ [11]

Since New Rodina is an off-shore company based in the British Virgin Islands, determining its directors or controllers is no easy matter. However, properties owned by New Rodina have been used in the past as "Safe Houses" provided by agencies of the British Government for people deemed in need of anonymity. Salman Rushdie is perhaps the best known example. It is also interesting to note that "Rodina" is both a Russian and Bulgarian word meaning "Motherland" and that "The Rodina Society" was used as a cover operation for KGB activity in the West during the Cold War. At the very least therefore, the name "New Rodina" will resonate with MI6 - and the possibility that "resonate" is a serious understatement should not be ruled out.

Commercially-controlled media speculation

The British commercially-controlled media has indulged itself in predictable speculations (some no doubt planted) surrounding the unexplained death of a so-called 'spy'. They have variously alleged that:

  • His mobile phone simcards were arranged in a "bizarre ritualistic manner" [12]
  • There were Escort Agency telephone numbers on one phone SIM card and pornographic material on another. [12]
  • He was gay and may have attracted the unwelcome attentions of a jealous aspiring partner [13]
  • "Bondage equipment was found at his flat. [14]

The UK police have matter-of-factly stamped on most of this stuff. Although they seem happy to allow, and even encourage continuing speculation.[15]

On 7 September 2010 the police appealed for information about a couple "of Mediterranean appearance" - with all the strange connotations the expression carries - who were allegedly captured on CCTV "one or two months before Mr Williams died" [16].

Speculation

Red Extra-large "North Face" holdall in which the body was found

The following speculations rest on one over-riding assumption. It is that the real reason for Gareth William's murder are known to MI6 and are being deliberately obscured. That assumption in turn rests on substantial evidence of a so-called 'turf-war' between the Metropolitan Police charged by statute with the investigation of a capital crime, and the 'Security Services' who are reported as being 'less than helpful' to the investigation. That together with lurid speculation in the commercially-controlled media and variously attributed to 'sources close the inquiry', 'senior intelligence sources' and other such journalistic euphemisms. The waters are being well-and-truly muddied by people well placed to undertake the muddying.

The Manhattan 11 connection

The murder is connected with the recent "Manhattan 11" Russian Espionage fiasco in which 11 alleged Russian "Deep-Cover" sleeper spies were arrested, charged [17] and subsequently exchanged for 4 alleged US spies held in Russia [18]

MURDERED spook Gareth Williams could have helped to nail Russian spy beauty Anna Chapman. Detectives are looking into claims the MI6 code breaker was in the US when ­Chapman was uncovered in June.... However, investigators are meeting “resistance” from US and UK intelligence agencies..... a high-level source told the Daily Star ­Sunday: “Mr Williams’ work in America is forming part of the inquiry.

“We need to know what he was working on during his ­visits there. MI6 and CIA code crackers played a vital part in outing Chapman and the ­Russian spy ring." [19]

Further indications of a possible Russian connection are provided by the name of the company that owns Williams' flat - see The Alderney Street Flat above

Update - 5 October 2010

Two linked articles by Trowbridge Ford provide in-depth analysis of the NSA and its relationship with its UK equivalent GCHQ, MI6 and related US Agencies. [20] [21] They lead to a plausible explanation for Gareth Williams' demise together with its manner and timing. The history of the NSA is fairly well known, especially through the writings of James Bamford. But, as is always the case where the workings of Spook agencies are concerned, the nuggets of genuinely embarrassing information that such persistent and well-connected individuals provide, tend to be more than balanced by the disinformation they are fed on a semi-privileged basis. Reporting 'US Officials', Bamford poo-poo's the notion that Williams' death might be connected in any way with his status as a spook [22] which is another good reason to suspect the opposite

The biggest issue facing NSA operations over the past 10 years has undoubtedly been the extent of its allowable (ie legal) internal surveillance operations. US Law and the US Constitution place irritating and (to the NSA top brass) 'mission-inhibiting' obstacles in its path - and so, as is the way with SIS's the world over, they tend to be simply ignored. But ignoring them also carries big risks.

It seems that the outing of the so-called Manhattan 11 'spy-ring' involved prolonged and extensive unauthorised surveillance by the NSA which, because of its need for the cryptanalysis skills on which the NSA and GCHQ were/are collaborating, Gareth Williams was aware of - at least at the technical level. The timings involved together with publicly available evidence to date, point to the following possible scenario:

  • The 'Mediterranean couple' who visited his flat were connected to Anna Chapman - possibly her ex-husband and former roommate Lena Savitskaya who knew about the MI6 flat from earlier recruitment overtures to Anna Chapman that apparently took place there. Their purpose was to sound out its presumed MI6 connected occupant, about exposing the illegal NSA surveillance activity that led to Anna Chapman's loss of UK citizenship and her being deported to Russia.
  • Williams was intrigued. He should have reported the encounter to superiors but didn't - although the premises being what it is, they probably monitored it anyway.
  • Williams returned to the US in July and asked questions which marked him as particularly dangerous since, as a UK citizen, he was not subject to the onerous secrecy laws covering US agents in possession of similar information. He could not be silenced in the manner, for example, that Thomas Drake was in process of being silenced during Williams' Fort Meade visits.
  • Williams also spoke of his concerns to a GCHQ colleague and her husband who were at Fort Meade as part of the same NSA/GCHQ cooperation. This led to MI6/NSA moving them to Denver on a different mission so as to remove them from knowledge of further developments - an action that reinforces the probability that MI6 already knew of the unreported encounter at the London flat.
  • For whatever additional reasons - or none - Williams' attitude, demeanour , questioning, knowledge, insider status and non-US citizen status were cumulatively judged a risk to the NSA that could not be tolerated.
  • A poison of the variety 'amanita phalloides' (or a more potent high-tec equivalent from the US Weaponisation of Mico-toxins program) was somehow administered on or about 10th August, just prior to his final return to the UK.
  • Williams realised he had been poisoned a few days later as the effects began to accumulate. He spent some £90 at Harrods - most of it on medication at the pharmacy and NOT on women's toiletries as leaked to the press. His pallor in the Holland Park video stills from 15 August are of a man in a very jaundiced and sickly condition [23]
  • On the evening of 15 August MI6 operatives visited the flat and found Williams either dead or nearly so. He was padlocked into the holdall, the flat cleaned up, all the medicines removed (though the Harrods receipt was somehow missed) and things arranged for the police to find when asked to check on Williams 'non-contact'. They let themselves out, locking the door after them.

For the two weeks to 5 October 2010 the silence has been deafening.

A Mossad / Israeli False flag connection

The rationale here goes like this:

There is one over riding, non-negotiable requirement for the success of Israel's foreign policy goals. It is that the growing regional power and alleged nuclear weapons ambitions of Iran be neutralised. Israeli cannot accomplish this on its own and judges sanctions to be a waste of time. Israel SIS's judge that the best way to provoke the US into a military attack would be for it to suffer a major terrorist attack by Iran. This speculation holds that Israel was/is at an advanced planning and logistical stage of ensuring that just such an attack occurs and is blamed on Iran. And that Gareth Williams, because of his deep involvement and knowledge of UKUSA / Israeli SIGINT / NSA operations handled, or otherwise came across, evidence of the planned operation and voiced his concerns to the wrong people.

Evidence for this speculation is that the way in which the body was left would greatly inhibit the spread of the smell of decay or of body fluids leaking through the floor and thus delay discovery sufficient for the perpetrators to be well clear of the country with little or no CCTV evidence still extant. It is also consistent with police appeals for information about a couple "of Mediterranean appearance" caught on what CCTV there is (or rather has been revealed) of the weeks before the body was discovered. [16] Williams is also reported to have been a regular visitor to the NSA HQ at Fort Meade Maryland and these reports are now subject to obfuscation and water muddying. He was also on secondment to MI6. He was thus at the hub of the technical and operational agencies charged with finding out and dealing with such possibilities - the purposes to which such 'finding-out' is put, remaining moot.

A Hamid Karzai 'Special Operation' connection

Pure speculation this one - lateral thinking you might say.

Hamid Karzai (President of Afghanistan) was something of an embarrassment and a liability to US objectives in Afghanistan. Great hopes were vested in his being ousted in the Autumn 2009 'elections', the last chance to do so before foreign forces withdrew. But despite the elections being reported by independent observers as little better than a sham, Karzai easily held on to power. Gareth Williams visited 'Intelligence facilities' in Kabul in the weeks before his death[14] and it is speculated that he became privy to a Special Forces operation to eliminate Karzai. (As it is speculated that Pat Tillman was murdered in Afghanistan for knowing too much, in his case perhaps about drugs)[citation needed]. For whatever reason, the operation failed or had to be aborted - or maybe it is still on the stocks. Williams knowledge was dangerous and he voiced the wrong kind of concerns - or worse - to the wrong people.

International Banking security connection

This is based entirely on a Telegraph report attributed to "Sources" and "a British Intelligence Officer". So, all the caveats concerning spook routine use and manipulation of the MSM apply in spades. According to ''the Telegraph'':

“Sources have told this newspaper that Britain's intelligence services – MI6, MI5 and GCHQ – are liaising closely to establish whether Gareth Williams was targeted by a foreign power. The 31-year-old was seconded from GCHQ to work on top-secret systems to defend British banks and transport infrastructure from cyber attack and to eavesdrop on terrorist communications. As a result he may have come to the attention of foreign intelligence agencies... It is feared that by the time of his death last month Mr Williams's presence in London had become known to foreign spies, despite the fact he was living in a MI6 safe house with an alarm system linking him to nearby MI6 headquarters. "It would have been part of their brief", said a British intelligence officer... It is understood Mr Williams's job at the time of his death was creating computer defences in the City of London. Williams would have had access to information which other countries would want to obtain. The intelligence source said: "His job was to defend the banking system on which Britain's banking, commerce and all our public services depend. It was the kind of work that would have made him prime target for recruitment... "He was also in a position to know about huge money transfers out of the Middle East which were linked to terror groups. It would be priceless data.”
Patrick Sawer,  Gordon Thomas (11 Sep 2010)  [24]

Williams' involvement in Afghanistan SIGINT work are also repeated in this article, as are his frequent visits to The USA.

Gudrun Loftus connection

That there is a connection between the death of Gareth William and the apparently accidental death of Gudrun Loftus, the Oxford University Lecturer found fatally injured in a university stairwell on 5th October 2010. [25] The reasoning behind this is complex but plausible and is explored in detail in two articles by Trowbridge Ford:

A private sector commercial connection

  • A Mirror News article reports a Miss Elizabeth Guthrie, daughter of a US Stock Broker alleging that Williams was about to resign his GCHQ/MI6 post to pursue a 'business venture' with her and another "agent" and that he had expressed concern about being followed immediately before his death.
  • GCHQ worries about losing talented spies to the private sector

Inquest into the death

Dr Fiona Wilcox, the Westminster coroner, scheduled a pre-inquest review for 29 March 2012.[26]

The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, signed a Public-interest immunity certificate authorising the withholding from the inquest of details of Williams's work and U.S. joint operations.[27][28]

The Williams family lawyer, Anthony O’Toole, was banned from grilling an MI6 agent during this inquest. He stated "I was not allowed by the coroner to say to the spook, 'You know how to get into the flats without keys, don’t you?' I was told it was contrary to national security." Suggesting that spies removed crucial evidence before police found the body, O’Toole added "My suggestion is that the dark arts were involved and there was a curious lack of evidence in there, almost like it had been swept clean."[29]

Inquest verdict

The Westminster Coroner's inquest concluded that "she could not rule out the involvement of the security services in the death", which sparked a review of the case by Scotland Yard’s murder squad. This 7 month process which involved re-interviewing his colleagues from MI6 and taking DNA samples concluded in December 2012 that Gareth Williams "probably locked himself into the sports bag".[9]

Metropolitan Police's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said that he had no explanation for why none of Mr Williams’ DNA was found on the padlock of the holdall, why his palm prints were not on the rim of the bath or why the heating had been left on in the flat despite it being summer. He nevertheless termed it "beyond credibility" that MI6 or GCHQ had destroyed evidence.[29]

Peter Faulding, a rescue expert, tried more than 300 times to lock himself himself inside a holdall in the way Williams would have to have done – and failed on every occasion. 'Not even Houdini would have been able to pull it off,' he wrote.[1]

CCM coverage and Information Archive

There is a useful archive of information Compiled by "Winter Patriot":

Representative CCM Coverage

Cover-up story as at 2nd Dec 2010 from the BBC

  • Dead MI6 spy Gareth Williams 'visited bondage websites' BBC, 2 Dec 2010 "Gareth Williams, 31 ... also visited a drag show and owned £15,000 worth of women's designer clothing ... "someone else was in the flat" ... "If he was alive, he got into it voluntarily or, if not, he was unconscious and placed in the bag" ... an expert, brought in to examine the red holdall in which Mr Williams was found, concluded he could not have locked it ... The keys were found inside the bag ... She said experts had said the temperature inside the bag would have risen to 30C (80F) within three minutes and he would have suffocated inside half-an-hour.

2015 developments

In September and October 2015, Boris Karpichkov, a former KGB agent who defected from Russia and who now lives in Britain, stated during interviews that "sources in Russia" have claimed that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, also known as the SVR, was responsible for the murder. According to Karpichkov, the SVR tried and failed to blackmail Williams into becoming a double agent.[30]

In response to the SVR's attempts, Williams apparently claimed that he knew "the identity of a Russian spy inside the GCHQ." Karpichkov claimed that Williams's threat meant that "the SVR then had no alternative but to exterminate him in order to protect their agent inside GCHQ." Regarding the cause of death, Karpichkov claimed that the SVR killed Williams "by an untraceable poison introduced in his ear."[31][32]

External Links

 

Related Documents

TitleTypePublication dateAuthor(s)Description
Document:A Gareth Wiliams - Gudrun Loftus Axis?article8 November 2010Trowbridge FordIs there a connection between the death of Gareth Williams and the apparently accidental death of Oxford University academic Gudrun Loftus?
Document:NSA GCHQ and the Death of Gareth Williamsarticle14 November 2011Trowbridge FordA speculative article connecting the NSA with the death of Gareth Williams
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References

  1. a b https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11653393/Spy-bag-Gareth-Williams-murdered-claims-author-new-book.html
  2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3215890/Spy-dead-bag-infuriated-MI6-bosses-illegally-hacking-secret-data-Bill-Clinton.html
  3. a b c https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13043363/spy-bag-Scotland-Yard-MI6-Gareth-Williams-holdall-zips-padlocked.html
  4. a b https://theunredacted.com/gareth-williams-the-spy-in-the-bag/
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20160131174437/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/02/gareth-williams-key-unanswered-questions
  6. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126354/Did-MI6-dry-clean-flat-cover-spy-bag-murder-Not-fingerprint-missing-hours-police-called.html
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20160131174437/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/02/gareth-williams-key-unanswered-questions
  8. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17922388
  9. a b http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9750403/MI6-codebreaker-Gareth-Williams-probably-locked-himself-into-sports-bag.html
  10. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24927078
  11. Was body of MI6 spy submerged in mystery fluid to speed up decay? Daily Mail 5 September 2010. This article also contains the Flat letting agent quotes about "New Rodina"
  12. a b Did spy's killer steal state secrets? - Daily Mail 26 August 2010
  13. Parents of murdered British spy hit back at 'government's gay smear' campaign to discredit him - Daily Mail 27 August 2010
  14. a b Bondage claims over dead MI6 officer untrue, say police - The Guardian 29 August 2010
  15. Detectives believes dead MI6 spy may have zipped HIMSELF in bag in bizarre sex game that went wrong Mail Online 12 September 2010
  16. a b Police hunt for Mediterranean couple - The Telegraph 6 September 2010
  17. US-Russia spy swap under way after deep-cover agents admit guilt Independent 9 July 2010
  18. Red-headed femme fatale among 11 'Russian deep cover agents' accused of Cold War-style plot to spy on America - Mail Online 29 June 2010
  19. DEAD SPY GARETH WILLIAMS LINKED TO RED ANNA - Sunday Star 9 September 2010
  20. The killing of Gareth Williams - part 1. Trowbridge Ford - Codshit blog 27 September 2010
  21. The killing of Gareth Williams - part 2. Trowbridge Ford - Codshit blog 4 October 2010
  22. U.S. officials: Gareth Williams death not spy-related
  23. Was it Poison - Daily Mail 7 September 2010
  24. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7996520/Concern-grows-over-foreign-involvement-in-spys-death.html the Telegraph Concern grows over foreign involvement in spy's death
  25. Tragic death of German tutor at St John's College
  26. Light to be shed on mystery of MI6 spy Gareth Williams' death Telegraph 28 January 2012
  27. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126680/Hague-orders-body-bag-spy-evidence-heard-secret-MI6-agents-work-U-S-reported.html
  28. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9218325/Secret-meeting-between-MI6-and-police-hours-after-discovery-of-spy-Gareth-Williamss-death.html
  29. a b http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/spy-in-the-bag-gareth-williams-lawyer-banned-2789440
  30. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3287000/After-years-intrigue-Kremlin-defector-solved-riddle-spy-bag-Former-Russian-major-claims-KGB-trying-recruit-Gareth-Williams.html
  31. Barbara Tasch (28 September 2015) KGB defector: Russia killed the British spy found in a duffel bag, Business Insider.
  32. Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith (28 September 2015) MI6 spy Gareth Williams was ‘killed by Russia for refusing to become double agent’, former KGB man claims, The Independent.