'Spy in the bag' probably died in accident: UK police

LONDON - Agence France Presse

This undated file photo provided by the Metropolitan Police shows British intelligence official Gareth Williams, 31, who worked for Britain's secret eavesdropping service GCHQ but was attached to the country's MI6 overseas spy agency when his naked and decomposing remains were found in 2010 at his central London apartment. AP photo

A British intelligence analyst whose naked body was found zipped in a holdall three years ago most likely killed himself by accident, police said on Wednesday.
 
A fresh review of the so-called "spy in the bag" case has concluded that Gareth Williams, 31, was not murdered but had climbed into the bag without assistance.
 
"My personal view at the end of the investigation is that what happened was an accident," Martin Hewitt, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police told reporters.
 
"I am convinced that Gareth's death was in no way related to his work." The police findings contradict the conclusions of a coroner who concluded at an inquest last year that Williams was "probably" the victim of another person.
 
Hewitt refused to speculate whether Williams' death at his flat in London in August 2010 was linked to his alleged interest in escapology and bondage.
 
He said: "It is now proven that it is theoretically possible for a person to lock themselves in that exact holdall, with the same type of lock, and in the configuration in which Gareth was found.
 
"It is important to note that this fact was found to be a possibility by the inquest." Williams' naked and decomposing body was found in a padlocked North Face holdall in the bathtub at his flat in the upmarket Pimlico district of London.
 
He was a codebreaker for the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ who had been seconded to the MI6 foreign intelligence service.
 
His death sparked a fierce debate about whether he had been murdered because of his work. No one has been arrested over the death.