Rumoured Russian spy couple convicted of stealing identities of dead babies
Bobby Fort and Julie Montague face up to 10 years behind bars
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A Hawaii couple who once posed in “KGB” uniforms have been convicted of stealing the identities of dead babies and living under their names for decades.
Bobby Fort and Julie Montague, whom prosecutors before the trial claimed said things “consistent with espionage” have always denied being Russian spies.
They were never charged with anything associated with espionage but a jury in Hawaii took two hours before convicting them of conspiracy, passport fraud and identity theft.
Prosecutors told the trial that the real Bobby Fort died at the age of three months from a “bad cough” more than five decades ago.
Witness Tonda Montague Ferguson told the jury that her sister Julia had been born in 1968 but had birth defects and only survived for three weeks. Both babies were buried in Texas cemeteries just miles apart.
Prosecutors say that the couple’s real names are Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison.
Assistant US Attorney Tom Muehleck said that the couple had gone to the same Texas high school and that a classmate recalled they said they were going to change their names because of financial debt.
The court was told that Fort used his fake identity, which made him 12 years younger, to join the US Coast Guard.
They will both be sentenced in March and face up to 10 years in prison.
Authorities say that Primrose was issued five US passports under the Bobby Fort identity, while Morrison received three US passports under the name of Julie Montague.
"She is not a spy," Megan Kau, attorney for alleged Russian spy Gwynn Morrison claims her client posed in a KGB uniform for fun in the 1980's.
— Lynn Kawano (@LynnKawano) July 28, 2022
Gov't accuses her, husband Walter Primose of stealing the identities of dead babies. More: https://t.co/gwVHFQieMR #hawaiinewsnow pic.twitter.com/SkXNFuo6Bc
Early in the investigation, prosecutors had introduced polaroids of the couple dressed in KGB uniforms, an invisible ink kit, coded documents and maps of military bases.
But in the end, prosecutors backed away from prosecuting anything related to “Russian spy intrigue”, reported The Associated Press.
Lawyers for the couple said they had once worn the same jacket for fun.
“She is not a spy,” Morrison’s attorney Megan Kau told Hawaii News Now last year.