A twisted Hawaii couple once feared to be Russian spies have been convicted of stealing dead babies’ identities to escape their debts.
Gwynn Darle Morrison and Walter Glenn Primrose assumed the identities of deceased Texas infants Julie Montague and Bobby Fort for decades.
The couple, in their late 60s, had eight passports between them and previously set alarm bells ringing when photos were unearthed showing them posing up in KGB uniforms.
During the trial in the U.S. District Court in Honolulu, the presiding judge referred to the couple by their assumed names.
But at the start of he hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck said the real Bobby Fort has more than 50 years ago. The baby had ‘a bad cough’ and lived 3 months, Muehleck said.
Walter Glenn Primrose (left) and Gwynn Darle Morrison (right) have been convicted of stealing the identities’ of dead Texas babies in a bid to escape their debts
Prosecutors initially appeared to suggest the couple could be Russian spies after they produced Polaroids showing them posing up in KGB uniforms
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.
The two babies were buried in Texas cemeteries 15 miles (24 kilometers) apart, Muehleck said.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours before reaching guilty verdicts Monday, according to court records.
The couple had attended the same Texas high school and stayed with a classmate who told prosecutors they had discussed changing their names to avoid their debts, CBS reports.
Primrose even used his fake identity, which made him 12 years younger, to join the Coast Guard and obtained secret-level security clearance which then enabled him to get a job as US defense contractor, according to Hawaii Public Radio.
The outlet reported that the couple left Texas in the 1980s, telling friends they were entering a witness protection program.
Meanwhile Primrose claimed to be a government agent who could not be photographed. In 1988 they remarried under their fake identities, court records show.
The couple had argued in court that their actions did not harm anyone.
The couple were arrested at their Kapolei home in Hawaii and have since been found guilty of making false statements in the application and use of a passport, conspiracy charges and aggravated identity theft
They are now facing up to ten years in prison for charges of making false statements in the application and use of a passport.
They face up to five years for conspiracy charges and mandatory two-year consecutive terms for aggravated identity theft.
The case made headlines following their arrests last year after prosecutors suggested it was about more than just identity theft.
They produced Polaroids of the couple wearing wearing jackets that appear to be authentic KGB uniforms.
An invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and military map bases, were also uncovered CBS reports.
Lawyers for the couple said they wore the same jacket once for fun and prosecutors later backed away from any Russian spy intrigue .