Couple who stole identities of dead babies and suspected of KGB ties convicted

02 November 2023 , 02:35

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This undated photo provided by the United States District Court District of Hawaii, shows Gwynn Darle Morrison, also known as Julie Lyn Montague, purportedly in a KGB uniform - which the couple said they wore once, for fun (Image: AP)

Coast Guard veteran Walter Primose and his wife, Gwynn Morrison, both in their 60s, were convicted of conspiracy, passport fraud and identity theft after a dramatic court case revealed a difficult case where they were accused of having ties to the KGB and used the fraudulent identity to gain security clearance in the Defense Department.

Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague were their assumed names, which were the names of two babies who died in Texas when the couple was living there. The couple had argued in court that their actions did not harm anyone.

A former friend from their Texas high school said the couple changed their names to escape substantial debt. The state department confirmed the couple lost their home in Texas due to foreclosure.

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Gwynn Darle Morrison, 67, pictured here in her mugshot

Primrose even used the fake identity to join the Coast Guard, though his papers said he was 12 years younger than his actual age. He also used it to get a driver’s license and passports. The identity even snagged him the necessary credentials to work as a contractor for the Defense Department.

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At the start of the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck said the real Bobby Fort has been dead for more than 50 years. The baby had “a bad cough” and lived 3 months, Muehleck said. One of the witnesses who testified was Tonda Montague Ferguson, who said she was in the eighth grade when her mother gave birth to her sister, Julie Montague, in 1968. But the infant had birth defects and died about three weeks later, Ferguson said.

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The two babies were buried in Texas cemeteries 15 miles (24 kilometers) apart, Muehleck said. Prosecutors said the couple’s real names are Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison.

Besides the obvious gross misconduct, their case grabbed headlines last year as photos of them dressed as KGB agents surfaced as evidence in the case. Assistant US Attorney Thomas Muehleck alleged at the time that Morrison had a “close associate” who lived in Romania when it was still a Soviet bloc country, according to the New York Post.

They also alleged that the couple may have used other aliases. However, prosecutors backtracked on that one when the couple's lawyers insisted they just dressed up in the uniforms for fun once.

They’re due for sentencing in March, where they will face a maximum 10-year prison term for charges of "making false statements in the application and use of a passport."

Yelena Mandenberg