Third party ‘involved in death of MI6 spy’

Unidentified forensic traces were left on the bag encasing his curled-up naked body in a bath, Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire told an inquest into his death.

The leading officer in the case came close to ruling out suicide as she said “two minor components of another contributor’s DNA” were found on the zip toggle and padlock.

Ms Sebire said her officers had looked at all possibilities but told Westminster Coroner’s Court: “My thought or my opinion since I went into the scene is that a third party had been involved in the death or by putting the body in the bag.”

Mr Williams was found in the foetal position in the bag, there were no signs of struggle and his body position appeared “calm”, the detective said.

The officer said she would have expected to find fingerprints left by Mr Williams on the lower bathroom tiles but there were none.

A spot of someone else’s blood was found in the communal hallway, the detective said, and an “old” and “very small” spot of Mr Williams’s blood, possibly from a cut, on the carpet near the stairs.

Ms Sebire also described the “high-value” items found in a bedroom, which included 26 shoes and boots, mainly bearing designer labels; wigs wrapped in net packaging, which “appear to be unused”, including one Mr Williams had bought on a recent trip to the US; small and medium-sized female clothing worth an estimated £20,000; and make-up items that were “all new” and apparently unused.

The only used items appeared to be four pairs of the size 6 and 6.5 shoes, which was Mr Williams’s size, Ms Sebire said.

The inquest continues today.