MI6 OFFICER WAS "DEAD" BEFORE HE WAS PUT INSIDE BAG
Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay
2 May 2012
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17932164
MI6 officer Gareth Williams was "on the balance of probabilities" unlawfully killed, coroner Fiona Wilcox has said.
But Peter Faulding, an expert on confined spaces, who gave evidence at the inquest said he was convinced Mr Williams was dead before he was put inside the bag
He told the BBC he had tried and failed 300 times to put himself into a bag as Mr Williams' body was found.
"Even Harry Houdini wouldn't have managed it", he said.
Both Mr Faulding - who is 5'6" tall and weighs 70kg - and the dead MI6 officer were of "similar" build.
Mr Faulding said getting into the bag was not a problem.
"Gareth could have got into the bag: I put my head in first, followed by the shoulders and then the leg. You can get into the bag and you can zip the bag up. That's not a problem," he said.
"There would have been prints hand prints and footprints in the bath if Gareth hadn't been dead first”
Peter Faulding
'PEACEFUL POSITION'
"The problem is when it is in the bath, putting the padlock on and actually securing the bag from the inside.
"Gareth was found in a very peaceful position, so there was no struggle"
he added.
He believes the critical issue was the way in which the bag had been padlocked.
"You can't access the lock from the inside without damaging the bag. So it cannot be padlocked from the inside. And the lock was left in a strange position."
THE LOCKED BAG RIDDLE
One key question before the inquest was whether Mr Williams had locked himself in the bag.
Expert witness Peter Faulding, shown above, said that he had tried and failed to lock the bag from inside 300 times
Absence of any traces of DNA compounds Mr Faulding's fear that Mr Williams was dead before he was put inside the bag.
"There would have been prints. There would have been DNA left on the bath as Gareth lowered himself inside the bag. But there was no DNA, no fingerprints, nothing actually at the scene.
"The door was closed and the key to the bag was actually under Gareth's right buttock. The heating was turned on fully in August".
"My belief is that the bag was placed in the bath with Gareth dead already.
"I believe there was definitely a third party involved or third parties", Mr Faulding said.
MORE ON THIS STORY
MI6 spy death 'probably unlawful' 02 MAY 2012, UK
Analysis: Gareth Williams' last hours 02 MAY 2012, UK
Video footage of Peter Faulding was shown at the inquest
MI6 spy death 'probably unlawful'
Analysis: Gareth Williams' last hours
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Douteur je doute. On ne doute jamais assez. Tout ce qu'on vous dit est faux. Tout ce que vous savez est faux. Parce que tout ce qu'on vous dit est faux. Mais il se peut qu'une partie de ce que savez soit vraie mais laquelle? Le professeur Bulle a parlé. Ou pensé quelque chose. Ou eut une émotion quelconque. Le professeur Bulle pense quelques fois par année donc il lui arrive d'être. Mais pas souvent!