Previous: Toxicology: Negative
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| We found two pieces from the Daily Mail. |
But, as compared to the reports we'd seen from the press services, and especially those from overseas, this report was slightly more detailed. The full text ran as follows:
Tests on the body of MI6 spy Gareth Williams have revealed no traces of any foreign substances that may have led to his death.
No evidence of drugs, alcohol or poisons were found during a battery of tests conducted by toxicologists, sources close to the inquiry said.
The 31-year-old GCHQ code-breaker's naked and decomposing body was found in a padlocked holdall in the bath of his Pimlico flat on August 23.
The mysterious circumstances of Mr Williams' death sparked an international frenzy of speculation earlier this year.
Police have been mystified since cycling enthusiast Mr Williams was found dead inside his £400,000 two-bedroom flat in Pimlico, half-a-mile from the MI6 HQ in Westminster.
The initial reaction of the police constable who discovered his body was: ‘This is a murder scene.’
There were also rumours that Mr Williams was the victim of a professional ‘hit’. Other theories included the suggestion that he had been murdered by Russian agents.
Tests on his body were ordered to establish whether he was poisoned, as happened when Polonium 210 radiation was used to murder exiled Russian secret agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.
Initial toxicology tests showed no traces of alcohol or recreational drugs in Mr Williams’ system.
The MI6 agent’s family have angrily accused the Government of running a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign to blacken his name after reports that he was gay and a cross-dresser.
Police denied claims that gay magazines, bondage gear and the phone numbers of gay escort men were found in the apartment near his body.
Police also dismissed allegations of irregularities in his finances and that a top-secret laptop computer had gone missing from his flat.
Crucially, there was no evidence of violence and no cuts or bruises on Mr Williams’ body, suggesting there had been no struggle.
Coroner Dr Paul Knapman is due to review the case in private next Wednesday after opening an inquest on September 1.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Results from comprehensive further toxicology tests carried out in relation to the death of Gareth Williams have come back negative, showing no trace of any drugs, alcohol, poisons or any other substances that would indicate cause of death.
'There are no plans to carry out any further tests of this type, but enquiries continue to try and establish a formal cause of death.
'Mr Williams' death remains suspicious and unexplained and enquiries into the circumstances continue.'
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| This report was quickly re-written with a drastic change of direction. |
The new headline included the original, "MI6 spy Gareth Williams had 'no traces of foreign substances' in his body which was found zipped in a sportsbag," and the new text still included the no-news plus some background and speculation.
But now the background and speculation were more focused, and pointed in a very different direction. Just to make sure no one missed it, the original headline was now preceded by the words, "Clues point to sex game."
The revised text read as follows:
The MI6 spy found dead in a sports bag was not poisoned or under the influence of alcohol at the time of his death, tests have revealed.
After investigating all other avenues, detectives now believe it was a sadomasochistic sex game which led to Gareth Williams' death.
Toxicology tests ruled out the possibility of him being drugged or injected with any lethal toxin.
The codebreaker’s naked body was found locked in a sports bag in his empty bath.
Tests on his body, which have taken two months to complete, have failed to find any foreign substances – or alcohol – or give any indication as to how he died.
Police are now focused on finding a couple known to have been with the 31-year-old in the weeks before his death.
The Mediterranean couple, who are understood to have had a set of keys to the flat, are thought to be key to the investigation.
The man and woman, in their thirties, were known to Mr Williams and were seen entering the flat owned by the intelligence services in late June or early July. But, despite repeated appeals, they have failed to come forward.
Detectives are convinced that the cipher expert could not have died alone.
One possible explanation being investigated by detectives is that Mr Williams was locked in the bag by someone else and left in the bath as part of the bizarre sex game. It is thought that when the person returned to release him they found him dead and fled.
Police are certain he was alive when he was padlocked into the large holdall by, which led to him suffocating. There were no injuries on his body to suggest a struggle.
Inquiries continue into his private life, which officers remain convinced will be the key to solving the case.
There has been months of speculation about the death of the spy, who had been working for the Secret Intelligence Service on secondment from GCHQ in Cheltenham.
The inconclusive toxicology results will only serve to deepen the intrigue surrounding the case.
Mr Williams’ decomposing body was found inside a zipped and padlocked North Face bag in his flat on August 23.
Initially it was thought the cycling enthusiast had been murdered, but the case remains officially classified as ‘suspicious and unexplained’.
Police have discounted suggestions that Mr Williams committed suicide alone. The Mail has learnt that the outer door to his flat in Pimlico, Central London, had apparently been locked from the outside when police arrived on the scene.
Detectives have found no evidence to support claims that Mr Williams was a cross-dresser, that bondage equipment was found at his home, that a laptop was missing from the flat, or that he had reported to spy bosses that he was being followed.
Nor, as was claimed in one report, was any suspicious liquid found next to his body in the sports bag.
Police have also dismissed allegations of irregularities in his finances and there is no evidence that Mr Williams had committed any criminal acts.
The spy was last seen eight days before his body was found. CCTV showed him shopping at Harrods and at Holland Park tube station.
Colleagues later raised the alarm after he had not been seen for days.
Officers found no sign of any forced entry to the property or a disturbance inside. Westminster Coroner Dr Paul Knapman is due to review the case in private next Wednesday, after opening an inquest last month.
Yesterday a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘Results from comprehensive further toxicology tests carried out in relation to the death of Gareth Williams have come back negative, showing no trace of any drugs, alcohol, poisons or any other substances that would indicate cause of death.
‘There are no plans to carry out any further tests of this type, but enquiries continue to try and establish a formal cause of death.
‘Mr Williams’ death remains suspicious and unexplained and enquiries into the circumstances continue.’
Next: What Might Have Happened
