Alleged Russian Spies Accused Of Stealing Dead Babies' Identities; Both Arrested

An elderly Hawaiian couple allegedly stole the identities of two deceased babies and used the children's names to secure government documents, federal authorities alleged.

Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison got arrested at their home in Kapolei, Oahu, on July 22, the Associated Press reported.

The pair, both in their 60s, faced charges of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, aggravated identity theft, false statement in an application for a passport and false statement in an application and use of a passport, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii a day before the couple's arrest.

Primrose and Morrison assumed the identities of infants Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague, respectively, since 1987, a copy of the document obtained by Hawaii News Now showed.

Fort died of asphyxia in Burnet, Texas, in 1967, while Montague passed away at the same hospital as Fort in 1968.

Primrose used his new identity to fraudulently enlist in the Coast Guard, where he worked as an avionic electrical technician for 22 years before retiring. He was a U.S. Department of Defense contractor until his arrest.

Primrose was also able to secure five U.S. passports and a driver's license in Hawaii with Fort's identity, records revealed.

Meanwhile, Morrison was issued three passports using Montague's identity.

Primrose and Morrison told people they stole the identities of the deceased children to dodge legal and financial trouble, Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Myers claimed.

The couple lost their home in Nacogdoches, Texas to foreclosure in 1987, the same year they assumed the deceased babies' identities, a DSS affidavit noted.

A search of the pair’s Hawaii home turned up photos of them wearing what appeared to be authentic uniforms of the Committee for State Security, the late Soviet Union's main intelligence agency, now more commonly known as the KGB, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Muehleck revealed in court documents.

The photos were taken in the 1980s, an expert determined.

Morrison lived in Romania while the country was still part of the Soviet Bloc, a person claiming to be a "close associate claimed," according to Muehleck.

In addition to the photos, an invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and maps showing military bases were also found in Primrose and Morrison's home, Myers claimed.

The two were recorded saying "things consistent with espionage" when they were left in a room together, the prosecutor alleged.

Investigators also discovered correspondence in which an associate believed Primrose had joined the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency or had become a terrorist, according to Myers.

A lawyer for Primrose declined to comment.

Megan Kau, Morrison's attorney, claimed her client never lived in Romania. Morrison and Primrose wore the jackets as a joke, the lawyer explained.

"She tried on a uniform that was at a friend’s house one time and they took pictures. She was born and raised in the United States, and she wants the world to know that she is not a spy," Kau was quoted as saying by Hawaii News Now.

Morrison did not know why the friend had the jacket, the attorney added.

Federal defender Craig Jerome claimed the government only provided "speculation and innuendo" that Primrose and Morrison were involved in something more nefarious than "purely white-collar nonviolent offenses."

The government is currently trying to have the couple held without bond. A detention hearing was set for Tuesday.

There is a high risk that Primrose and Morrison would flee if freed, prosecutors warned. The former was highly skilled in communicating secretly if released, they claimed.