>
The spy in the bag WAS murdered, the author of the new book claims: The expert investigator tried to lock himself in a holdall more than 300 times, but couldn’t do it, and says he’s certain Gareth Williams was murdered and then smeared as a sexual deviant
- Gareth Williams was found dead in a padlocked bag in a bathroom at his apartment in 2010.
- Theories surrounding his death range from a sex game gone wrong to a Russian hit.
- Now an expert investigator says in a new book he’s sure the spy was killed
- Click here to read an exclusive excerpt from Peter Faulding’s book on The Mail+
IT’S the real-life spy mystery that spawned a host of theories ranging from a sex game gone wrong to a Russian murder: how did “spy in the bag” Gareth Williams meet his untimely end?
Now a new book from an unusual deaths researcher claims to have the answer.
In an exclusive excerpt in The Mail+ todayPeter Faulding says that he is convinced that the agent was murdered.
His book, What Lies Beneath: My Life as a Forensic Search and Rescue Expert, delves into the case that became a worldwide sensation in 2010. In an attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery, he attempted to lock himself up more than 300 times. into a bag the way Mr. Williams should have, and he failed every time. “Not even Houdini would have been able to pull it off,” she writes.
Gareth Williams was 31 years old when he was found dead. He was on secondment from GCHQ to MI6.
Forensic teams remove the body of Gareth Williams from his south London flat in 2010
Peter Faulding tries to lock himself inside an overnight bag. He couldn’t do this 300 times.
Mr Williams worked for GCHQ and was posted to MI6 when he was found dead in a padlocked holdall in the bathroom of his London flat. There were no fingerprints or signs of a struggle, and the front door was locked from the outside.
Women’s clothing was found in the flat, and over the next few months, more evidence suggested that a perverted sex game had gone tragically wrong. But Mr Faulding writes: ‘To be honest, it seemed farfetched to me. I know people like self-suffocation and bondage, but the technicalities of what was being suggested seemed impossible.
‘I presented my thoughts to the research team. In my opinion, Gareth was already dead when he was put in the bag.
And he adds: “It seemed to me that someone was trying to defame him.”
An inquest found that Mr Williams’ death was “unnatural and likely mediated by crime”. But a subsequent reinvestigation by the Metropolitan Police concluded that Williams’ death was “probably an accident”.
Mr. Faulding is convinced that Mr. Williams was brutally maligned as a sexual deviant, and that the truth about his death is very different. Now read why in an exclusive excerpt from his book, only on The Mail+.
What Lies Beneath: My Life As A Forensic Search and Rescue Expert by Peter Faulding will be published by Macmillan on February 2 at £18.99. Copyright 2023 Peter Faulding. To request a copy, visit www.mailshop.co.uk or call 020 3176 2937.