August 23, 2010. London, England. After he is not heard from for a week, the nude decomposed body of 31-year old Gareth Williams, a junior analyst who had been working with MI6, is found inside a padlocked holdall bag in the bathtub of his flat. While his cause of death cannot be determined, there are differing opinions about whether Gareth could have locked himself in the bag on his own and suffocated, or if he was murdered by an unknown third party. A number of different theories are pushed forward, such as Gareth being killed by Russian agents or becoming the victim of a sex game gone wrong, but there are no conclusive answers about how he died.  Did Gareth Williams somehow manage to trap himself inside the bag and die in a tragic accident, or did something else take place? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore of the most bizarre unexplained deaths in the history of the United Kingdom.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Gareth_Williams

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/sep/06/mi6-death-gareth-williams-cctv

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-11095158

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/20/gareth-williams-spy-mi6

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12059910

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/02/gareth-williams-key-unanswered-questions

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/23/spy-in-bag-death-coroners-inquest

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/02/gareth-williams-death-mi6

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/may/02/gareth-williams-coroner-never-solved

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24927078

https://www.businessinsider.com/kgb-defector-russia-killed-the-british-spy-found-in-a-duffel-bag-2015-9

https://nowthenmagazine.com/articles/murder-the-likely-story-of-gareth-williams

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tomwarren/secrets-of-the-spy-in-the-bag

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/gareth-williams-mi6-bag-bath-b2490768.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-68202900

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“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at Crimecon UK” in London on September 21-22, 2024. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD24”, by visiting Crimecon.com or Crimecon.co.uk.

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the Berkshire Podcast Festival, taking place in North Adams, Massachusetts on October 18-20, 2024. To get a 30 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD2024”, by visiting https://www.berkshirepodcastfestival.com/.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.