The decomposing body of British code-breaker Gareth Williams was found padlocked shut in a holdall in a bath in his London flat, an inquest heard today.
The cause of death is yet to be established after he was discovered in the British government flat on August 23rd, Westminster Coroner's Court heard.
Police broke into the top floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico after Mr Williams failed to appear at work for several days.
Coroner Dr Paul Knapman revealed he was found in a bag which was "padlocked shut" and the corpse appeared to be in an "advanced state of decay", a court spokeswoman said.
A post mortem examination carried out on August 25th failed to establish a cause of death and investigations are continuing, the court heard. The inquest was adjourned to September 8th.
Dr Knapman will be kept informed of how the investigation is progressing and consider when to release the body so a funeral can take place, the court spokeswoman said.
There were no members of his family in court. Mr Williams (30) was last seen alive eight days before his corpse was discovered.
Police have not said whether the sighting was made on CCTV or came from another source.
The investigation is being led by the Met's Homicide Command with the security-vetted Counter Terror Command (SO15) also playing a lesser role in proceedings.
Officers are still trying to determine if he was asphyxiated, poisoned or if drugs or alcohol were present in his system. A pathologist found Mr Williams was not stabbed or shot and there were no obvious signs of strangulation.
Mr Williams was days from completing a one-year secondment to the headquarters of the Secret
Intelligence Service, MI6, in Vauxhall, London.
PA