A forensic review into the death of M16 worker Gareth Williams, whose body was found inside a zipped holdall at his London flat, has not uncovered new evidence to suggest he was with someone else when he died, the Metropolitan police have said.
Williams, 31, from Anglesey, was last seen alive on 15 August 2010. Eight days later, he was found dead inside a zipped and padlocked red North Face holdall in an empty bath at his central London flat. His body was badly decomposed after remaining in the bag in the August heat until he was discovered. Tests found no traces of alcohol, drugs or poison in his body.
Williams worked as a code-breaker at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and was on a three-year secondment to MI6 at the time of his death.
A 2012 inquest found his death was unnatural and likely to have been “criminally mediated”. Although a coroner concluded in 2012 that Williams was on the balance of probabilities unlawfully killed, a police investigation found he had probably died accidentally on his own.
A further forensic review was commissioned in 2021 and its findings had not thrown further light on the case, said DCI Neil John, the senior investigating officer.
“Since 2010 the Met has carried out extensive enquiries into Gareth’s death. An independent forensic review began in January 2021 and we received the findings in November 2023,” John said. “No new DNA evidence was found and no further lines of enquiry were identified. We have informed Gareth’s family of the outcome and our thoughts remain with them.”
The force added that any further information or evidence would be reviewed by detectives.
The case prompted speculation that his death could be linked to the secret intelligence work that the codes and ciphers expert was engaged in as a GCHQ officer.
After Williams’s death, scientists had previously been unable to obtain full DNA profiles from some of the samples identified in the flat in Pimlico.
The decision to launch a forensic review followed a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, which suggested it was possible that advances in DNA science would allow the further study of a single hair that was found at the scene.
