What happened to Barthanes matches the work of a gholam--ripped limb from limb inside a locked room. This suggests the Gholam has been free from the Great Hunt... I doubt he would have been let out before the Forsaken were freed though, since he would have been impossible to control.

Golam didn't kill asmo that's for sure.

 

There was no body, no trace, implying balefire used.

Gholams eat the dead.

They drink the blood.

They devour flesh.

If a Gholam killed Asmodean, it'd lick the floor clean and ask for seconds.

 

-wolfs

Actually no, the Gholam has always left bodies behind.

 

Besides, Asmodean wouldn't have recognised it as a you... it is a creature, not a person to warrant Asmo's comment.

 

That being said it doesn't require balefire for their to be no body, though it does suggest the Power was used.

Gholams eat the dead.

They drink the blood.

They devour flesh.

If a Gholam killed Asmodean, it'd lick the floor clean and ask for seconds.

 

Eat the dead ... no.

Drink the blood ... yep.

Devour the flesh ... nope.

Killed Asmodean .... nope.