Major new twist in Body in Bag case as Supreme Court hears shocking claim that murder victim helped create Bitcoin

SECONDS after the key was turned in the lock of the MI6 safe, officers searching for agent Gareth Williams were hit by a blast of scorching heat.

It was a warm August day, yet someone had left the central heating on in the top floor flat in Pimlico, central London.

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Moments later, officers discovered a padlocked red North Face bag in the bathtub, which was oozing a putrid red liquid.

The naked body of codebreaker Gareth was found in the 81 by 48 cm bag, which was padlocked from the outside, with the key under his right buttock.

The diminutive, 31-year-old math prodigy was 6 feet tall.

It seemed impossible that he had managed to get in alone.

Gareth's wardrobe contained £20,000 worth of designer clothes and shoes for women in his size.

A bright orange wig hung on the living room chair, while a sofa held Jemma Kidd lipstick and Harvey Nichols matte foundation.

And when his devices were searched, it turned out that he had visited bondage websites a few times.

In what became known as the spy case, Gareth's death sparked a wave of lurid speculation.

This week anyway Scotland Wharf Ultimately, it turned out that a new forensic investigation of the case had proven fruitless.

They said they hadn't found any new ones DNA to suggest someone else was in the flat when Gareth died.

Their conclusion was that he died alone.

Yet a 2012 inquest found that his death was “unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated.”

And in more intrigue this week, it was claimed that Gareth was one of the inventors of cryptocurrency Bitcoin during unrelated proceedings at the Supreme Court.

Russian mafia

Australian computer programmer Dr. Craig Wright is reportedly mentioned Gareth as a key player in the creation of Bitcoin during a separate lawsuit in the US.

The accusation was made during a bitter legal battle between Dr Wright and pressure group the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, or COPA, which alleged that Dr Wright claimed to have spoken to Gareth in 2011 – a year after he died.

Police confirmation this week that they believe no one else was involved in Gareth's death has irked some, including former Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, who has been studying the case.

He said: “The key question for the Met is why, when the coroner believed there was foul play, the police decided the opposite and are still sticking to the same story.

'Do they think the public are idiots? Why would anyone believe that?”

Peter Faulding, a confined space expert who helped police with their original investigation, said: “I believe the bag was placed in the bath while Gareth was already dead.

'No one in their right mind believes he was alone. It is a physical impossibility.”

If anyone else was involved Gareth's deaththey are masters of forensic detail.

No one in their right mind believes he was alone. It is a physical impossibility

Peter Faulding

The heat from the central heating caused the body to decompose more quickly, while placing the bag in the bath stopped the fluids leaking from it from leaking into the flat below.

And no footprints or suspicious DNA were found in the apartment.

Armchair detectives have a number of theories about the Welsh maths genius' death.

Some believed it was a professional Russian mafia attack or that the rogue state's security services – which have a vast and bloody reach – had committed another murder.

The women's clothes, they suggested, were a classic attempt to smear a victim and were placed there to create a false trail for investigators.

Others thought it was an inside job by British or American spies after Gareth stumbled upon some state secret and was about to become a whistleblower.

And some believe he may have been murdered by a lover during a bizarre sex game.

The intrigue, which could come straight from a spy thriller, takes place far from the village of Valley on the North Wales island of Anglesey, where Gareth grew up.

The son of Ian and Ellen, and brother of Ceri, spoke Welsh as his first language.

At Ysgol Gymraeg Morswyn primary school it immediately became clear that he was a child prodigy.

He was a very nice young man, but not a great conversationalist

Keith Thompson

At five o'clock he used the school computer and at ten o'clock he passed his math GCSE.

At the age of 13 he achieved A grades A level mathematics and computer science. His maths teacher Geraint Williams said: “He was the best logician with the fastest brain I ever met.”

Fellow pupils recalled that Gareth was 'isolated' by his intellect.

Like his father, he was an enthusiastic member of the Holyhead Cycling Club.

Keith Thompson, a cyclist who rode with the pair, said: “He was a very nice young man, but not a great conversationalist.

“Gareth wasn't the type to go to the pub after a race.”

He achieved a first in mathematics at Bangor University and began a PhD at the University of Manchester at the age of 18, where he was approached by GCHQthe UK cyber defense agency, and hired as code breaker on his own Headquarters Cheltenhamdeciphering messages left on cell phones and emails.

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He found refuge in a house in the Prestbury area of ​​the city, and landlady Jennifer Elliot found her tenant 'quiet and unassuming'.

In the ten years he lived there, he never brought anyone back and rarely went out after work, except for the occasional drink with colleagues.

But one night in 2009, around 2:30 a.m., Jennifer and her husband heard their tenant calling for help.

When they entered his room, they saw Gareth only in his boxer shorts, with both hands tied to the headboard.

In a statement at his inquest, Jennifer said his hands were 'tied tightly enough to cut his wrists'.

She added: “My husband said, 'What the hell are you doing?' He said he was just messing around to see if he could get out.

Although he was not clearly aroused, the couple believed it was “more likely sexual than escapology” and that he was “very embarrassed, panicky and apologetic.”

Later in 2009 he was posted to London to work for MI6 – the British Secret Intelligence Service – for three years.

Yet Gareth failed to settle in the capital and requested a transfer to GCHQ.

But a week before he was due to move back to Cheltenham, he disappeared.

A diligent timekeeper, he failed to show up for an MI6 meeting on August 16, but the alarm was not raised until August 23 – and then it was because of his family.

Gareth was an immensely talented person, but he was also very humble and generous

Sir John Zagers

His naked and decomposing body was subsequently found in his flat.

Within three minutes the temperature in the bag would have risen to 30 degrees Celsius.

Experts said he would have suffocated within 30 minutes.

Tests showed he had not been drinking or drinking drugs.

There were no injuries to his body or signs of a struggle.

At his inquest in 2010, expert Peter Faulding said he had made 300 failed attempts to lock himself in an identical bag.

He added: “Not even Harry Houdini himself could have done it.”

Coroner Fiona Wilcox insisted she was “satisfied that, on the balance of probabilities, Gareth was unlawfully killed”.

The police – who also thought about it he was probably murdered – continue their research.

Then came a breakthrough.

Jim Fetherstonhaugh, a retired Royal Artillery sergeant, showed that it was possible to lock yourself in a bag the same size as the one in which Gareth died.

His daughter Izzie demonstrated this by pulling the zippers together, creating an opening through which she could slip her fingers and lock the padlock.

The Met now had to ponder whether Gareth could have died in a sex game gone wrong.

Some investigators believed he suffered from 'claustrophilia': he enjoyed being confined in small spaces.

What is certainly true is that Gareth died having served his country with honor.

At his funeral in North Wales, Sir John Sawers, then head of MI6, told mourners: 'Gareth was an immensely talented person, but he was also very modest and generous.

“He has done very valuable work with us for national security.”

A master code breakerwhose death will always remain a mystery.

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