Magda Hassan Wrote:How can the Sunday Telegraph discover this and not the Met or the Imtelligence services? Or that they did not want public?

Quote: MI6 is now fully co-operating with the police inquiry after criticism of its failure to do so initially;

(snip)

A fresh police investigation was ordered in the wake of the inquest, leading to the new leads. Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that the spy was murdered.
Crucially, they have secured the full co-operation of MI6. Earlier this year Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe ordered a "voluntary" mass DNA screening of MI6 officers to try to identify genetic material found on the bag in which Mr William's body was found.
Sir Bernard said he was angered by an "unacceptable" breakdown in communication which saw evidence withheld from his senior investigating officers. When asked what powers he had to ensure MI6 co-operated, he said: "It's the law."
According to a source with detailed knowledge of the inquiry, one of the first things that the detectives learned from this new "openness" on the part of the intelligence agencies is that far from being a back room technician, Mr Williams was "directly involved with two MI6 assets in the field".

Quote: The mystery couple seen near his flat, who were the subject of the police investigation for months, far from being an assassination squad, were, in fact, trying to find a pizza party in a neighbouring property.

Quote:Responding to a report in the Daily Telegraph on Thursday that detectives believe he probably did lock himself into the North Face holdall, a Metropolitan police spokesman said the review was ongoing.

"This remains an active investigation and officers continue to explore a number of lines of inquiry. Officers retain an open mind in relation to the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Williams."

Jan Klimkowski Wrote:

Magda Hassan Wrote:How can the Sunday Telegraph discover this and not the Met or the Imtelligence services? Or that they did not want public?

Magda - I don't read this as a genuine Sunday Telegraph investigation. It has the feel of a "confidential briefing" given directly to the reporter, possibly from police sources.

Note for instance:

Quote: MI6 is now fully co-operating with the police inquiry after criticism of its failure to do so initially;

(snip)

A fresh police investigation was ordered in the wake of the inquest, leading to the new leads. Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that the spy was murdered.
Crucially, they have secured the full co-operation of MI6. Earlier this year Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe ordered a "voluntary" mass DNA screening of MI6 officers to try to identify genetic material found on the bag in which Mr William's body was found.
Sir Bernard said he was angered by an "unacceptable" breakdown in communication which saw evidence withheld from his senior investigating officers. When asked what powers he had to ensure MI6 co-operated, he said: "It's the law."
According to a source with detailed knowledge of the inquiry, one of the first things that the detectives learned from this new "openness" on the part of the intelligence agencies is that far from being a back room technician, Mr Williams was "directly involved with two MI6 assets in the field".

This sounds like an "unattributable briefing" from Scotland Yard.

I also note the renewed attempt to rule out the "mystery Mediterranean couple":

Quote: The mystery couple seen near his flat, who were the subject of the police investigation for months, far from being an assassination squad, were, in fact, trying to find a pizza party in a neighbouring property.

There is information in this thread which strongly suggests that the "mystery Mediterranean couple" should remain objects of interest.

I'm still intrigued by the Boxing Day briefing that Gareth Williams "probably locked himself into the sports bag where his naked body was found and was not the victim of a hit by the security services, Scotland Yard has found after conducting a review of the case."

Which was then refuted, almost immediately, by a "Scotland Yard spokesperson" declaring the investiagation was active and officers retained an "open mind":

Quote:Responding to a report in the Daily Telegraph on Thursday that detectives believe he probably did lock himself into the North Face holdall, a Metropolitan police spokesman said the review was ongoing.

"This remains an active investigation and officers continue to explore a number of lines of inquiry. Officers retain an open mind in relation to the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Williams."

Here's a more mundane interpretation. "Plebgate".

Despite having been knighted in the New Year Honours List, Met Police top cop (Sir) Bernard Hogan-Howe is being attacked by several prominent Tories, ranging from former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell right up to PM David Cameron over "Plebgate". When, a couple of weeks ago, the government released the Plebgate Downing Street CCTV to Channel 4, Hogan-Howe reacted by committing 30 police officers to investigate the incident, even though two detectives would have been overkill and there were far better potential uses of those rozzers over the Xmas period.

So, we had a press briefing suggesting that police had concluded their investigation and which cleared the national security state of any foul play. Scotland Yard then refuted this, and stated the investigation is still active.

Methinks Sir Bernie is playing the leverage game, and ensuring he can put pressure on the government if they come after him over "Plebgate".

Truth and Justice are irrelevant in these machiavellian games. Once again, Gareth Williams is a mere flotsam and jetsam...

Peter Lemkin Wrote:Just noting that this case has gone 'cold'....as it was put in the deep freezer. Will it ever thaw?

Quote:

GCHQ's spy death riddle shines light on UK hacker war

Was Gareth Williams spotted at Blackhat or Defcon?

[URL="http://go.theregister.com/tl/870/-2818/idc-generating-proven-business-value-emc-next-gen-backup.pdf?td=wptl870tp"]

[/URL]
British intelligence agent Dr Gareth Williams' last mission before he was "unlawfully killed" was to infiltrate and report on US hacker meetings, evidence given at his inquest this week has indicated.
Williams appears to have been one of a team of intelligence officers and agents sent to penetrate hacking networks in the US and the UK.

At first sight he appears to be more Austin Powers than James Bond, but Williams is the first spy geek to be publicly unmasked, in sadly sensational circumstances.

His naked and decomposing body was found in the foetal position inside a sports holdall in the bath of his central London flat on 23 August 2010, one week after he had failed to turn up for work at SIS - aka MI6 - headquarters in Vauxhall Cross, London.
Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said yesterday that she was satisfied that a third party had placed the bag with his body into the bath and had also, "on a balance of probability", padlocked it shut.
According to pathologists and escapologists who testified during her enquiry, the padlock on the almost airtight enclosure sealed his fate, stupefying and then killing him within minutes from CO2 poisoning.
His death was "was unnatural and criminally mediated", she said. It was not suicide.

Who shut the lock on the holdall is a question that the coroner said could not be resolved with the evidence available. "Most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered," she said.
The compelling answer is a sex date a week before somebody he had invited in to play bondage games and who may have panicked and fled when Williams lost consciousness, or sadistically locked the bag and left him to suffer.
Whoever he or she was, they did not leave enough DNA or forensic traces for detectives to have made progress to date. But the police forensic examination team, who checked through Williams' Mac laptop and iPhone collection, seem to have been blithely unaware of how many digital traces they may have missed or how much more may still be out there.
Williams' last espionage targets were participants in the Black Hat and Defcon 18 hacker and security conferences held in Las Vegas in July 2010. His SIS manager told the enquiry that Williams was one of a "group" of agents tasked to attend the conferences.
The inquest was told about the unique Defcon 18 badge that had been found in his flat. The gimmick features a reflective display and an embedded digital signal controller that geeks were invited to manipulate.
Previously, as an operational officer, Williams had met two SIS agents working in the field in Britain, although not as their case officer or handler. Had he had not become cheesed off with SIS, the inquest was told, he would have been assigned abroad as a British secret agent. A few months before his death, he asked to go back to GCHQ.
Williams' working life, after graduating with a first in mathematics in 1996 aged 17, was spent in Cheltenham at GCHQ, Britain's signals intelligence agency. He joined in 2001 after completing a PhD in computer science at Manchester University. His final role in GCHQ had been designing "practical applications for emerging technologies".
In 2007, he applied to become a secret agent by transferring to SIS, the UK's human intelligence agency responsible for spies and spy recruitment. He was put through a series of aptitude and skill tests. He failed. He also attended Black Hat 16 the same year, according to an SIS witness, presumably also then staying on to attend Defcon.
In 2008, he tried again to join SIS, and this time passed the tests. He started in spring 2009 after moving to London, and took part in five SIS training courses before embarking on "active operational work" within UK.
To spy on geeks, you need to hire a serious and thoroughly convincing geek.

Quote:

Police set to rule out foul play in 'spy in a bag' mystery

Scotland Yard expected to conclude MI6 spy Gareth Williams likely to have climbed in to holdall himself

MI6 spy Gareth Williams's body was found in a similar North Face bag









By Tom Whitehead, Security Editor

10:00PM GMT 12 Nov 2013


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

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



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

It also raises the prospect of police closing or scaling back the investigation and ending the mystery that has fuelled countless conspiracy theories.

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The naked, decomposing body of Mr Williams, a codebreaker on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, the signals intelligence agency, was found in a padlocked holdall 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 Mr Williams was probably "unlawfully killed" in a criminal act after experts found it impossible to climb in to a bag by themselves.
She said his death most likely involved a third party and he was either poisoned or suffocated.
She also said the possibility that a member of the intelligence services was involved in the maths prodigy's death remained a "legitimate line of inquiry" for police.
The Metropolitan Police announced an urgent review of the case in the wake of the inquest findings, including concerns over how some evidence was handled by MI6 and counter terrorism officers during a two year investigation in to the death.
But it is understood that has now concluded that it was possible for Mr Williams, who the inquest heard had an interest in escapology, to get in to the bag by himself and that 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 not 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."
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 saw officers reinterview MI6 officers and take their DNA samples.
However, the Telegraph disclosed last year how detectives increasingly believed Mr Williams probably locked himself inside and died as a result of a tragic accident.
Detectives were able to repeat the experiment with some slight differences to the way the bag is locked, which fits with how Williams was found.
One 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."

David Guyatt Wrote:Gareth Williams climbed into the sports bag himself.

David Guyatt Wrote:No foul play.

David Guyatt Wrote:Their conclusion is apparently based on the scientific model, that if one keeps their eyes firmly closed when observing, they'll not be contaminated by the evidence - and rather stupid conclusions can, therefore, be accomodated.

Quote:
The MI6 spy found dead in a bag three years ago most likely locked himself in the holdall, police are expected to announce on Wednesday.

Quote:
A fresh Scotland Yard review ....

Quote:
The findings will contradict the conclusions of a coroner who last year said he had "probably" died at the hands of another.

Quote:
It also raises the prospect of police closing or scaling back the investigation and ending the mystery that has fuelled countless conspiracy theories.

Quote:
But it is understood that has now concluded that it was possible for Mr Williams, who the inquest heard had an interest in escapology, to get into the bag by himself and that was the most likely scenario.

Quote:
A senior Whitehall source said: "It seems as though the coroner made a mistake in ruling out evidence that Williams could not 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."

Quote:
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.

Quote:
Detectives were able to repeat the experiment with some slight differences ....