The holdall death mystery of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams may never be solved, a British coroner said today.
Dr Fiona Wilcox said it was “unlikely” the circumstances “will ever be satisfactorily explained”.
Despite a 21-month police inquiry and a seven-day inquest, “most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered”, she added.
Starting her narrative verdict at Westminster Coroner’s Court, Dr Wilcox said it was “especially important” not to speculate.
Mr Williams (31), a fitness enthusiast originally from Anglesey, was found naked, curled up in the padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23rd, 2010. A police investigation which cost millions of pounds has drawn a blank.
Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 32in by 19in red North Face bag. Poisoning and asphyxiation were the “foremost contenders” in solving the death riddle, they said.
Bag experts said that even renowned escapologist Harry Houdini would have struggled to lock himself in the bag, while Mr Williams’s family lawyer has suggested the “dark arts” of the secret services were behind the mystery.
However, police recovered no evidence of a third party being present and have no suspects in their inquiry.
Revelations that MI6 failed to raise the alarm about his disappearance for more than a week prompted elaborate conspiracy theories about his job and private life.
Several years before his death, Mr Williams tied himself to his bed and had to be cut free by his landlord and landlady, the inquest heard. It also emerged that the bachelor stored £20,000 of women’s clothes in his immaculate flat and was fascinated by drag queens.
Mr Williams was unhappy living in London at the time of his death and complained to family of “friction” at the intelligence agency.
He hated the post-work drinking culture and “flash car competitions” and was due to move back to the West Country a week after his naked body was discovered.
Secrecy surrounding his job had proved a stumbling block as Scotland Yard murder detectives were not able to speak to his MI6 colleagues directly. Scotland Yard has said it will review lines of inquiry, with fresh attention on the expert mathematician’s colleagues.
Dr Wilcox attacked police and MI6 yesterday for evidence disclosure failures surrounding belongings left at Mr Williams’s desk.
Nine computer memory sticks and a mystery black bag were overlooked in the inquiry until the lead detective, Jackie Sebire, was made aware this week. Ms Sebire said she remained convinced that Mr Williams’s death was suspicious.
“Obviously a lot of information has come out through the course of this inquest which we have not been party to,” she said.
Ms Sebire said Mr Williams was a “brilliant young man who spent his entire life working for his country and was commended for it”.
The detective added: “My strongest belief is that a third party was involved and I would ask people to search their consciences and come to us to find some resolutions to this case and some peace for his family.”
PA