Death Of UK Spy Continues To Baffle...

[mosaix]

Yet more emerging detail from this baffling case.

For those non-UK residents the body of Gareth Williams, a British spy working for MI6, was found inside a locked holdall in the bath of his London flat. If I remember correctly no cause of death was identified.

The inquest into his death started a few weeks ago.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17837869

Further links to the case can be found at the bottom of the BBC web page.

[Vertigo]

It really bugs me that the media keep presenting Mr Williams as a spy. As far as I understand it he was a scientist - a mathematician working on encyption and decryption at GCHQ - who was on secondment to MI6 in London. That does not make him a spy, just someone working in the national security business. Miss Moneypenny worked for MI6 but she wasn't a spy!

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

As far as I understand it he was a scientist - a mathematician working on encyption and decryption at GCHQ - who was on secondment to MI6 in London.

Sounds like deep cover to me, Vertigo.

[Vladd67]

People forget that most of the staff at Five and Six are just civil servants doing paper work and research etc etc. There are no James Bonds.

[Vertigo]

Yes that's very true. My mum actually worked for a while at MI6 as a secretary (I'll have to kill you all now I've revealed that) and she said it was one of the most boring jobs she'd ever done.

This is one of the reason's I always liked Harry Palmer more than James Bond. Just seemed so much more plausible, if a little more prosaic.

And Mosaic; deep cover indeed!

Actually on a more serious note what annoys me is that he wasn't a spy (well I can't know that for sure but it seems highly unlikely) and, certainly, this is a pretty bizarre case with the potential for a whole load of embarrassment for his family piled on top of their grief. And this embarrassment is only made worse by the media latching onto him being a 'spy' and consequently airing all his dirty washing in public like this.

I feel very sorry for his family.

[mosaix]

Yet more coverage from the inquest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17865736

Evidence given from witnesses who have attempted to lock themselves inside a similar holdall to see if Williams could have done it himself.

All very odd...

[Bowler1]

All aspects of the case need to be explored but even still it is odd. If I was going to zip myself into a bag why do it in a bath?

[Moonbat]

why do it in a bath?

For the reasons we are lead to believe he was doing it, to clean up any secretions that come out of the bag whilst locked inside it, I guess.

[Bowler1]

I don't dispute what you are saying Moonbat but it just adds another confusing layer to the whole thing. So, he was going to zip himself up in the bath and catch any messy secretions in the bath. What could be so messy, and two things come to mind and I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd do either while zipped up in a bag!

[mosaix]

It occurs to me that if you are going to lock yourself up in a bag and then release yourself then the whole thing is a lot more stable if done in a bath. Otherwise you're going to be rolling around on the floor, making the whole thing more difficult.

The thing to me that seems most odd, is that the key to the padlock was underneath him, inside the bag. If there was a third party involved then most probably the person that locked the padlock would be in possession of the key - even if it wasn't required to do the actual locking.

[Ursa major]

Don't keys usually come in pairs?

I thought this (from the link Mosaix provided in post#6) suggest one scenario:

Peter Faulding told Mr Williams's inquest he would have been dead within 30 minutes of being put in the holdall.

If the victim was into bondage of some sort, he may have placed himself in the bag with the assistance of someone else. It could be that, for reasons we don't know, he was left there too long and, tragically, expired. (Perhaps the other person thought that because Mr Williams had a key, he could get himself out.) Given the circumstances, the other person, on finding the dead body, could have legged it, believing that at the least they'd be charged with negligence (of some sort), and may well have faced a charge of manslaughter.

Or they may have left before: wasn't there earlier evidence that Mr Williams had had to be released after being tied to a bed? Perhaps this was some sort of cruellish game, but unbeknownst to the participants, it had become deadly.

[Bowler1]

Most pad locks come with two keys. Was that key the spare or not? Poking a stick at your comment above but in general Mosaix I think he may have had the key with him and lost it in the bag. If he was that bored he should have just gone down Blockbusters and got a few videos!

I still have problems with the bath but it would be better than rolling around on the floor.

I'm stopping here, I'm baffled now. Leaves thread with confused face on.

Crossed over with Ursa, still baffled.

[Dave]

Jonathan Creek would be able to solve it.

[Bowler1]

If I saw this case on TV I don't think I'd believe it, its that left field...

[Bowler1]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17893145

Looks like Mr Williams death is to remain a mystery!