Focus on private life of murdered British code breaker

DETECTIVES investigating the killing of a British code breaker were examining last night whether he lived a double life.

The spotlight was on the private life of GCHQ mathematics prodigy Gareth Williams as investigators hunted for clues to identify his killer.

The 30-year-old’s decomposing body was found stuffed into a bag in the bath of his central London Government flat on Monday.

But the mystery over his final hours has since deepened after a post mortem examination failed to identify a cause of death.

Further tests will determine if the cycling fanatic was asphyxiated or poisoned, as well as if drugs or alcohol were present in his system.

A pathologist found Williams had not been stabbed or shot and there were no obvious signs of strangulation.

Police have refused to categorise the case as a murder inquiry, despite the bizarre circumstances, as they insist he may have died innocently.

One line of inquiry is that he is the victim of sex game that went wrong and questions remain over why he was not discovered sooner.

Williams was days from completing a one-year secondment to the headquarters of MI6 from his job at national “listening post” GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Police believe Williams’s body could have lain undiscovered for up to a fortnight and it is thought he was on holiday at the time of his death.

They suspect the key to the case could lie in his private life and are examining his mobile phone and financial records as well as CCTV cameras around his home.

Investigators suspect Williams might have known his killer as there was no sign of forced entry at his top-floor flat in smart Alderney Street, Pimlico.

His home has been the subject of a fingertip search amid fears that top-secret work material could have gone missing.

Williams’s parents Ian and Ellen travelled to London with his sister Ceri yesterday from their home in Anglesey to speak to police and formally identify his body.

A man who answered the door of their home said: “As you can imagine, it is hard enough at the moment and we have nothing to say.”

Further details of Williams continued to emerge as friends described him as an extremely bright, quiet and determined man.

Childhood friend Dylan Parry, 34, said Williams was academically gifted but socially naive and could be easily led. Parry went to school with Mr Williams at Uwchradd Bodedern secondary in Anglesey, North Wales.

Sources close to the inquiry said it was not clear how he died and played down speculation that the murder was linked to his secretive line of work.

One source said: “The suggestion there is terrorism or national security links to this case is pretty low down the list of probabilities.”