THE GRIEVING parents of a British intelligence (MI6) officer whose decomposed body was discovered in an apartment in central London formally identified their son’s remains yesterday as detectives searched for his killer.
Gareth Williams’s body was discovered in a holdall in the bath of an apartment in Pimlico, London, on Monday. Police believe he may have been dead for two weeks.
Mr Williams, a cycling and fitness fanatic who worked at GCHQ, the UK government’s eavesdropping and security centre in western England, was days from completing a year-long secondment at MI6 in London.
Tests are still being carried out to determine the cause of death.
The investigation is being carried out by the homicide and serious crime command, indicating that detectives do not believe the death to be related to terrorism or espionage.
Initial reports that Mr Williams was stabbed have been proven false.
Further tests could determine whether he was asphyxiated, and whether drugs or alcohol were present in his system.
Mr Williams’s parents, Ian and Ellen, arrived back from holiday in Canada and America to speak to police and to identify their son’s body, as a picture emerged of him as an intensely private and mild-mannered man.
William Hughes, Ellen’s cousin, said: “The last time I saw Gareth was just a few months ago at a family party and he was fine. He was always a quiet person, he was from a young age.” Mr Hughes said he had never known Mr Williams to bring home a partner, describing him as very private.
“I knew he worked at GCHQ and he had been working in London but I didn’t know what he did. It wasn’t said that we shouldn’t talk about it, I simply never asked and he never told me.”
Keith Thompson, of Holyhead cycling club in north Wales, said Mr Williams had joined the club at 17.
“He wasn’t a great conversationalist. I never spoke to him about his job or his private life. Nobody did with Gareth.”
Mr Williams left school at 15 and got a first-class degree in maths at 17, and a PhD at Manchester University.
His old maths teacher, Geraint Williams, said: “He was the best logician and the pupil with the fastest brain I have ever met. You only had to say things once, that’s why he was so successful.”
Investigators suspect Mr Williams may have known his killer as there was no sign of forced entry at his top-floor apartment.
Detectives think the motive could lie in his private life, but sources close to the inquiry said it was not clear how he had died and played down speculation that the murder was linked to his secretive line of work.
A source said: “The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links is pretty low down the list of probabilities.”
Police have begun examining Mr Williams's mobile phone and his financial records as well as CCTV camera footage from the streets and businesses surrounding his home. – ( Guardianservice)