Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer. With two children already out of school, the pension money will help Bonnie Hanssen support two children who are in college and two more still in high school, Brookner said. Still, he was not identified as a spy. Their goal was to catch Hanssen red handed in espionage. No one knew Hansen was abducting some of these women and killing them for sport. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968; Northwestern University, M.B.A. in Accounting and Information Systems, 1971. Robert Philip Hanssen is a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, who became infamous as a notorious double agent of the intelligence services of Soviet Union and later Russia. He relayed secret information to Russia regarding US intelligence and counterintelligence operations. During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. Hanssen also revealed a multimillion-dollar eavesdropping tunnel built by the FBI under the Soviet Embassy. Later, he hid a video camera in the bedroom connected via a closed-circuit television line so that Hoschouer could observe the Hanssens from his guest bedroom. After a few years working as an accountant, he decided to enter law enforcement. 1981 - Hanssens wife catches him with classified documents and convinces him to stop spying. Ames was arrested in 1994. 1981 - Is assigned to the Intelligence Division at FBI headquarters in DC. (2020, August 28). Each time, I share the pride and sanctity of those words when new agents swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same.. The first marriage lasted only for six months; his wife divorced him while he was serving a 3-year sentence for arson in Iowa. The pension was an important consideration for Hanssen in his plea negotiations, Brookner said. The complaint alleges that Hanssen, using the code name Ramon, engaged in espionage by providing highly classified information to the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR, using encrypted communications, dead drops, and other clandestine techniques. 2000 - The FBI identifies Hanssen from a fingerprint and from a tape recording supplied by a disgruntled Russian intelligence operative. It would seem as though Hansen's children want their privacy respected, and who could blame them? He was charged with selling U.S. intelligence documents to the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia for more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds over 22 years. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. It would seem as though Hansen's children want their privacy respected, and who could blame them? This innocent looking house in Vienna used to belong to Russian spy Robert Hanssen before he was caught by the Feds. The FBI trusted him with some of the most sensitive secrets of the U.S. government, and instead of upholding that trust, he abused and betrayed it. May 31, 2001 - Pleads not guilty to all charges. His wife was a teacher of theology at Oakcrest. Darla was an extremely religious woman, and she felt that faith could be his way out. McNamara, Robert. [34], In 1994, Hanssen expressed interest in a transfer to the new National Counterintelligence Center, which coordinated counterintelligence activities. He was also tasked with observing and learning as much as he could about Hanssens information technology setup in his office and with keeping an eye out on who Hanssen was meeting and talking with. The investigation is covered in O'Neill's memoir Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy, published by Penguin Random House in the spring of 2019. Hanssen's superiors were not amused and began an investigation. With two children already out of school, the pension money will help Bonnie Hanssen support two children who are in college and two more still in high school, Brookner said. His father, an officer of the Chicago police, often scorned and abused him emotionally. Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, at Foxstone Park,[5] near his home in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Vienna, Virginia, after leaving a package of classified materials at a dead drop site. After graduating from a public high school, Hanssen attended Knox College in Illinois, studying chemistry and Russian. When told that he would have to take a lie detector test to join, Hanssen changed his mind. His espionage was described by the Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. 1999 - Resumes spying, this time for the Russian Intelligence agency. , . Even without knowing who he was or where he worked, Hanssens value to the Russians was clear both by the substantial sums of money paid and the prestigious awards given to their own agents for Hanssens operation. children: Greg Hanssen, Jane Hanssen, John Hanssen, Lisa Hanssen, Mark Hanssen, Sue Hanssen, education: Kellogg School Of Management, Knox College (Illinois), See the events in life of Robert Hanssen in Chronological Order, (Former FBI Double Agent Who Spied for Russian Intelligence Services Against the United States from 1979 to 2001), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Hanssen.jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert-Philip-Hanssen.jpg. The news that he used to literally hunt women and kill them after sexually assaulting them sent shockwaves through the state of Alaska, and on occasion, even beyond its borders. They gave him a new job supervising FBI computer security. He had opportunity. With two children already out of school, the pension money will help Bonnie Hanssen support two children who are in college and two more still in high school, Brookner said. He could sit in his office and shut the door. Though both Hansen and his wife earned respectable incomes, it would be revealed that it was Darla who was supporting the household. His father served on the police force in Chicago and was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II when Hanssen was born. His espionage of more than two decades had earned him cash of over 1.4 million USD and diamonds. The prolonged abuse that he endured not only made his childhood challenging, but also chased him throughout his life. However, Hanssen escaped notice, likely because these efforts concentrated on CIA agents rather than FBI agents. The first time around, his wife divorced him after a mere half-year because of his incarceration for arson in Iowa. Robert Hansen was a reputed baker and a married man with two children living in Anchorage, Alaska. The couple, however, did not have a great relationship. February 18, 2001 - Is arrested in a Virginia park after making a drop of classified documents. While their exact whereabouts are unknown to the public, it's suspected that they still live in the Midwest. The couple married in 1968, and Hanssen converted from Lutheranism to his wife's Catholicism. The crimes alleged are an affront not only to his fellow FBI employees but to the American people, not to mention the pain and suffering he has brought upon his family. He was finally arrested in early 2001 from Foxstone Park for trading classified information of the US to the Soviet Union and later to the Russian Federation. Many of them were agents of the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB, or its military counterpart, the GRU. [52], However, Hanssen's suspicions did not stop him from making one more dead drop. For a time he planned to become a dentist, but eventually wound up obtaining an MBA and becoming an accountant. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. Robert was described as a loner and a quiet person, and he had a strained relationship as well with his strict and dominating father. During the early 1990s, KGB veterans began to approach western intelligence agencies and provide information. The FBI entrusted him with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States Government and instead of being humbled by this honor, Hanssen has allegedly abused and betrayed that trust. As an agency, we lived up to our responsibility, regardless of how painful it might be. Mislock has since theorized that Hanssen probably went onto his computer to see if his superiors were investigating him for espionage and invented the document story to cover his tracks. In the end, officials believed his claim that he was merely demonstrating flaws in the FBI's security system. He did well in his elective, Russian. On July 6, 2001, he was tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on fifteen counts for his espionage. Robert was born in 1939 in Iowa to Danish immigrants Christian and Edna Hansen. Intelligence officials began debriefing Hanssen this week, defense attorney Preston Burton said Thursday. Its amazing to live with a man for all those years and not know him.. He enrolled in dental school at Northwestern University[11] but switched his focus to business after three years. Hanssen's three sons attended The Heights School in Potomac, Maryland, an all-boys preparatory school. Judge Webster is uniquely qualified as a former FBI Director, CIA Director and Director of Central Intelligence to undertake this review. Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. In return, he received large sums of money and other remuneration. Hanssen refused. Galey claims that although she offered to have sex with him, Hanssen declined, saying he was trying to convert her to Catholicism. Hanssen met Bernadette "Bonnie" Wauck, a staunch Roman Catholic, while attending dental school at Northwestern. Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. Although Hanssen was unaware of it, Ames had already exposed all three agents earlier that year. In the 1990s, after the arrest of Aldrich Ames, the FBI and CIA realized that a mole within the intelligence community was still sharing classified information with the Russians. The investigation of Hanssen was conducted by the FBI in partnership with the CIA, the Department of State, and, of course, the Justice Department. After her children endured relentless bullying at school, she decided that her best path led out of Alaska (via The Cinemaholic). The criminal conduct alleged represents the most traitorous actions imaginable against a country governed by the Rule of Law. He was delegated to probe police officers who were suspected of corruption. [4][31], When the USSR disbanded in December 1991, Hanssen, possibly worried that he could be exposed during the ensuing political upheaval, ended communications with his handlers for a time. Hansen was first married in his native Iowa when he was in his early 20s (via The Cinemaholic). [77] David Wise wrote Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America. Our joint efforts over the last several years and specifically in this case should give pause to those contemplating betrayal of the Nations trust. Under the plea agreement, Hanssen is obligated to return the $1.4 million in spying proceeds to the government, but Brookner said she doubts that will ever happen. [5] His mother was Edna Margret Petersen. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832. When these two KGB officials returned to Moscow, they were tried and convicted on espionage charges and executed. In 1967, the couple moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and had two children. The investigation was not fruitful and the FBI was unable to charge Bloch on any account. [46][47][48], The FBI surveilled Hanssen and soon discovered he was again in contact with the Russians. At the Heights, McPherson told the family that they would not have to worry. The FBI believes that the Russians never knew the name of their source. Interestingly, Hansen got married twice. Robert Hansen died at the age of 75 in 2014, still safely behind bars (via theAnchorage Daily News). Hanssen is a Special Agent of the FBI with a long career in counterintelligence. After being released, he met his second wife, Darla Henrichsen, and the pair got married in 1963. He established contact with the SVR (the successor to the Soviet-era KGB) during the autumn of 1999. Robert Phillip Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 18, 1944. She would use her money to run the household and support the couple's children, while Hansen would spend the money he made at the bakery on "his own needs," according to what she would later tell Sergeant Flothe, who played a pivotal role in his capture. (Photo courtesy of FBI/Newsmakers). In what is now considered the largest intelligence breach in FBI history, Robert Hanssen's scandal made him millions in diamonds and cash, but cost the FBI $7 million and the lives of three informants. The FBI and CIA formed a joint mole-hunting team in 1994 to find the suspected second intelligence leak. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. [36], IT personnel from the National Security Division's IIS Unit were sent to investigate Hanssen's desktop computer after a reported failure. May 10, 2002 - Is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. After one teenage victim was able to escape, authorities were able to learn her abductor's identity. He was eventually placed on administrative leave, where he remained falsely accused until after Hanssen was arrested. His bride left him after six months when Hansen was put in prison for setting fire to the local school district's bus barns. All his six children went to schools linked with Opus Dei. Hanssen wanted to be posted to Allenwood in hopes that he might be visited frequently by his wife Bonnie and their six children. Robert Hansen died at the age of 75 in 2014, still safely behind bars (via the Anchorage Daily News). His father, Howard, a Chicago police officer, was allegedly emotionally abusive to Hanssen during his childhood. There he served as an investigator of internal affairs with specialisation in forensic accounting. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. I dont think there was anybody more shocked by all this, Brookner said. However, even though Hansen would go to church with his wife, nothing really changed. After Ames's arrest in 1994, some of these intelligence breaches remained unsolved. FBI agents remove evidence from Robert Hanssen's home in Vienna, Virginia on February 20, 2001. . Wauck also knew that the FBI was hunting for a mole and spoke with his supervisor, who took no action. In January 2001, Hanssen was given an office and an assistant, Eric O'Neill, who, in reality, was a young FBI surveillance specialist who had been assigned to watch Hanssen. For more than a decade, Hansen had been luring sex workers into his vehicle or home with the promise of an easy transaction. Robert Hansen was actually married twice. [20] In 1985, Hanssen was again transferred to the FBI's field office in New York, where he continued to work in counterintelligence against the Soviets. But Brookner said Hanssens family was never the beneficiary of any spy money and that Bonnie Hanssen has no idea what happened to the proceeds from his spying, including $800,000 that authorities say the Russians deposited for him in a Moscow bank. I intend to act swiftly on his recommendations. Judge Webster and anyone he selects to assist him will have complete access and whatever resources are necessary to complete this task. Hanssen subsequently was assigned to a variety of national security posts that legitimately provided him access to classified information relating to the former Soviet Union and Russia. The level of support and expertise from Acting Deputy Attorney General Robert Mueller, Counsel for Intelligence Policy Frances Fragos Townsend, U.S. Attorney Helen Fahey and Assistant United States Attorney Randy Bellows is superb. Imagine finding out that your husband is a ruthless serial rapist and murderer. Instead, the 57-year-old defendant will be sentenced to life in prison without parole if he honors his pledge to tell the government all the secrets behind his two-decade career as a Russian spy. All Rights Reserved. In his communications with the Russians (some of which were eventually made public after his arrest) he insisted on setting the terms of how he would communicate, pass information, and pick up money. The ensuing investigation confirmed this suspicion. He was paid handsomely by the Soviets. [33], Hanssen continued to take risks in 1993 when he hacked into the computer of a fellow FBI agent, Ray Mislock, printed out a classified document from Mislock's computer and took the document to Mislock, saying, "You didn't believe me that the system was insecure." ThoughtCo. Hanssen took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, but he decided to violate that oath. On January 12, 1976, Robert Philip Hanssen swore an oath to enforce the law and protect the nation as a newly minted FBI special agent. Desk: FBI and CIA Counterintelligence As Seen From My Cubicle Dog Ear Publishing 2010, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy, Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America, "USA v. Robert Philip Hanssen: Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint, Arrest Warrant and Search Warrant", "Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator", "A Review of FBI Security Programs (Webster Report)", "A Review of the FBI's Performance in Deterring, Detecting, and Investigating the Espionage Activities of Robert Philip Hanssen", Thompson Statement Regarding Hanssen Guilty Plea, "Spy's Wife Speaks, After Taking a Lie Test", "Riddle Resolved: Who Dimed Out American Traitor and Super-Spy, Robert Hanssen? They have committed their lives to public service and to upholding the high standards of the FBI. Nor can there be any doubt that he was keenly aware of the gravity of his traitorous actions. While it did not contain Hanssen's name, among the information was an audiotape of a July 21, 1986, conversation between "B" and KGB agent Aleksander Fefelov. Though the government alleges that Robert Hanssen, 56,. I have hurt so many deeply. Further, the complaint alleges that Hanssen, using his training and experience to protect himself from discovery by the FBI, never met face-to-face with his Russian handlers, never revealed to them his true identity or where he worked, constantly checked FBI records for signs he and the drop sites he was using were being investigated, refused any foreign travel to meet with the Russians, and even declined to accept any trade craft. Hanssen never displayed outward signs that he was receiving large amounts of unexplained cash. Hanssen's story is the subject of the 2021 documentary A Spy in the FBI. When O'Neill could briefly obtain Hanssen's PDA and have agents download and decode its encrypted contents, the FBI had decisive evidence. https://www.thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832 (accessed January 18, 2023). [7][8] On May 10, 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to 15 consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He managed to avoid a death penalty by negotiating a plea deal where he agreed to cooperate with government agents. Darla fled the state to Arkansas, where she had family. Their actions represent counterintelligence at its very best and under the most difficult and sensitive of circumstances. Eric Michael O'Neill is an American former FBI counter-terrorism and counterintelligence operative. The following year he was shifted to counter-intelligence division where he was delegated the job of organising data of Soviet intelligence. In one letter to his Russian handlers, Hanssen complains about lost opportunities to alert them that the FBI had discovered the microphone hidden at the State Department, known then by the FBI but apparently not by Hanssen as being monitored by a Russian intelligence officer. At least three Russian agents he identified had been executed, and it was suspected that he compromised dozens of intelligence operations. FBI and CIA personnel who debriefed Hanssen about his 21 years. Martynov and Motorin were condemned to death and executed via a gunshot to the back of the head. 1979 - Begins spying for the Soviet Union. appreciated. The FBI could not produce any good evidence, and as a result, Bloch was never charged with a crime, although the State Department later terminated his employment and denied his pension. [4] The family moved to Richmond, California in 1942, but returned to Iowa in 1949, settling in Pocahontas. July 6, 2001 - Pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty. WASHINGTON - Convicted FBI spy Robert Hanssen, who's set to be sentenced to life in prison tomorrow, asked his best friend to drug and have sex with . He was indiscreet enough to type his name into FBI search engines. She left her children, Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric well taken care of, but she didn't leave . House Belonging To Former Spy Robert Hanssen Won't Sell. The affidavit alleges that Hanssen voluntarily became an agent of the KGB in 1985 while assigned to the intelligence division at the FBI field office in New York City as supervisor of a foreign counterintelligence squad. The information he delivered compromised numerous human sources, counterintelligence techniques, investigations, dozens of classified U.S. government documents, and technical operations of extraordinary importance and value. He visited an office of the Russian government's trading company and offered to spy. [49][50][51], During his final days with the FBI, Hanssen began to suspect something was wrong. He later wrote to his KGB handler, speaking about the severity with which U.S. laws punishes his alleged actions, and acknowledging I know far better than most what minefields are laid and the risks.. Before concluding, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet for the cooperation and assistance of his agency in this investigation. The FBI paid $7 million to a KGB agent to obtain a file on an anonymous mole, whom the FBI later identified as Hanssen through fingerprint and voice analysis. His twenty two years of espionage against the US began in 1979. Polyakov was arrested in 1986 and executed in 1988. Bonnie had previously told her brother that Hanssen once talked about retiring in Poland, then part of the Eastern Bloc. On October 1, 1985, Hanssen sent an anonymous letter to the KGB offering his services and asking for $100,000 in cash, equivalent to $251,949 in 2021. He wrote to them anonymously. But police also found an aviation map Hansen had marked with various X's, later revealed to be his kill map (via Murderpedia). They never lived the high life; they never even went out to dinner, she said. Ames was officially blamed for giving Polyakov's name to the Soviets, while Hanssen's attempt was not revealed until after his 2001 capture. [21][29] On two occasions, Hanssen gave the Soviets a complete list of American double agents. The one thing the father and son would eventually have in common is their interest in hunting. Hansen was convicted in 1984 after confessing to killing 17 women, mostly dancers and prostitutes, during a 12-year span. Hanssens espionage activities began in 1985. As a result of these assignments within the FBI, Hanssen gained access to some of the most sensitive and highly classified information in the United States Government. [72], Hanssen was the subject of a 2002 made-for-television movie, Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story, with the teleplay by Norman Mailer and starring William Hurt as Hanssen. She went with Hanssen on visits to Hong Kong and the FBI training facility in Quantico, Virginia. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. The damage Hanssen did was considerable. But in 1999, while assigned as an FBI liaison with the State Department, he once again began selling American secrets. [7] On July 6, 2001, he pleaded guilty to 13 counts of espionage, one count of attempted espionage, and one of conspiracy to commit espionage in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much A Warner Bros. Hanssen applied for a cryptographer job in the National Security Agency but was rebuffed due to budget setbacks. [27][28] When the Soviets began construction on a new embassy during 1977, the FBI dug a tunnel beneath their decoding room. He became known in the FBI as an expert on computers.[19]. The complaint alleges that Hanssen conspired to and did commit espionage for Russia and the former Soviet Union. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Robert was born in 1939 in Iowa to Danish immigrants Christian and Edna Hansen. May 16, 2001 - Is indicted on 21 counts of spying for the Soviet Union/Russia and passing top secret material to the Soviet Union/Russia. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested at a park in northern Virginia after he had placed a package at a dead drop location. "[3] Hanssen is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences without parole at ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison near Florence, Colorado. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Asked what Bonnie Hanssen thinks may have motivated her husband, Brookner said: Who knows? That effort is complemented by substantial FBI proactive investigation of foreign service intelligence officers here and by the critical work done by the CIA. A feature film called Breach was released in 2007. [63], According to USA Today, those who knew the Hanssens described them as a close family. Leland Hale and Walter Gilmour co-authored the 1991 book "Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer," chronicling the life and crimes of Robert Hansen. Despite having shown his face, disclosed his code name, and revealed his FBI affiliation, Hanssen escaped arrest when the FBI's investigation into the incident did not advance. None of the internal information or personnel security measures in place alerted those charged with internal security to his activities. After a stint of three years he was shifted to the Soviet Analytical Unit that delved in probing, recognising and catching Soviet agents in the US. He placed a white piece of tape on a park sign, which was a signal to his Russian contacts that there was information at the dead drop site. Hanssen was tracked from the time he left his house in Fairfax County, Virginia, to the time he got home at night, and it was confirmed that he was still an active spy. Robert Hansen's Parents. His application in the National Security Agency, for the post of a cryptographer, was rejected due to budget restrictions. In 1979, Hanssen approached the Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and offered his services. [37], During the same period, Hanssen searched the FBI's internal computer case record to see if he was being investigated. I take solace and satisfaction, however, that the FBI succeeded in this investigation. His espionage was described by the Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history." Hanssen is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences without parole at ADX Florence, a federal supermax prison near Florence, Colorado. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. After being imprisoned, Hanssen claimed he periodically admitted his espionage to priests in confession. [62] Hanssen took the risk of recommending to his handlers that they try to recruit his closest friend, a colonel in the United States Army. In 1962 he completed his graduation from William Howard Taft High School. In 1993, he took a daring step by personally approaching a GRU official to offer his espionage, mentioning his codename Ramon Garcia, but the official turned him away. After the transfer, while on a business visit back to Washington, D.C., he resumed his espionage career. In school, he was bullied for his acne, girls would not talk to him, and he also developed a stutter. [69], Hanssen frequently visited D.C. strip clubs and spent a great deal of time with a Washington stripper named Priscilla Sue Galey. Literally, Hanssens colleagues and coworkers at the FBI conducted this investigation and did so quietly, securely and without hesitation. The evidence against him was overwhelming, and to avoid the death penalty, Hanssen confessed and agreed to be debriefed by American intelligence officials. The full extent of the damage done is yet unknown because no accurate damage assessment could be conducted without jeopardizing the investigation. [4][10] He graduated from William Howard Taft High School in 1962 and then attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1966. On February 18, 2001, he was arrested by the FBI when he was keeping a waste bag full of classified information in a pre-planned place from where his Russian handler could collect it. After executing a search warrant, authorities found items in Hansen's home that belonged to other missing women from the area. The attorney estimated that Hanssen contributed $10,000 to $20,000 to Mother Teresa in small installments over the years, although the FBI has not been able to verify the payments. In short, the trusted insider betrayed his trust without detection. Later he would convert to Catholicism from Lutheranism. This is particularly timely as we move to the next generation of automation to support the FBIs information infrastructure. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. It wasnt money, thats for sure, she said, noting that the family lived in a modest home with three mortgages and drove older-model cars as they scrimped to send their children to private Catholic schools. Robert Hansen Remains 'Person of Interest' in Mom's Disappearance As for the investigation back in the 1960s when Joan Hansen disappeared, Urquhart was obviously not working for the Sheriff's office. The Soviets, suspicious of being lured into a trap, demanded to meet him. All denied everything. Ames had been stationed in Rome at the time of the Bloch investigation and could not have known about that case or the tunnel under the embassy, as he did not work for the FBI.[39][40]. Friends of Hanssen later came forward and told journalists that Hanssen had exhibited eccentric behavior, which included an obsession with pornography. January 12, 2001 - Hanssen is reassigned from counterintelligence to an obscure office at FBI headquarters. "Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole." According to her, Hanssen never slept with her. The couple went on to have two children. The couple's relationship was fraught, and Darla, who had a master's degree in Education and taught children with learning disabilities, supported herself. While their exact whereabouts are unknown to the public, it's suspected that they still live in the Midwest. Gallagher also told Hanssen that then-Director Louis Freeh had approved a two-year extension on his service and a promotion to the Senior Executive Service. After confirmation by the FBI CART Unit, Sullivan filed a report with the Office of Professional Responsibility requesting the further investigation of Hanssen's attempted hack. [23] Martynov and Motorin were recalled to Moscow, where they were arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of espionage against the Soviet government. 2:02 PM EDT, Thu April 14, 2022, FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen is shown in this undated file photo, released by the FBI February 20, 2001. The agencies initially focused primarilyand incorrectlyon a veteran CIA case officer, who was investigated for nearly two years. [35] Three years later, convicted FBI mole Earl Edwin Pitts told the FBI that he suspected Hanssen due to the Mislock incident. Waguespack listened to the tape again and recognized the voice as belonging to Hanssen. In November 1998, they had a man with a foreign accent come to Kelley's door, warn him that the FBI knew he was a spy, and tell him to show up at a Metro station the next day to escape. An official website of the United States government. But the government could not prove he had lied, and wishing to avoid a public trial, the government chose not to void his plea agreement. This wedded bliss was short-lived, however. In the early 1980s, Hanssen was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. To his colleagues in the bureau he seemed to be a model agent. In the face of worldwide publicity about one of the most damaging espionage breaches in U.S. history, Bonnie Hanssen, 54, has maintained a steadfast silence since her husband of nearly 30 years was arrested in February near their home in suburban Washington. News reports at the time of his sentencing said American intelligence agencies were not entirely satisfied with the extent of his cooperation and believed he was holding back information. The premise of The Frozen Ground is that a state trooper, played by Nicolas Cage, teams up with a surviving victim of a serial killerto bring him down. Hanssen was recalled yet again to Washington, D.C., in 1987. Rifling through the rest of the files, they found notes of the mole using a quote from General George S. Patton about "the purple-pissing Japanese". This brief union did not produce any children. Wanting to get a fresh start, the newlywed couple migrated to Alaska in 1967 (per the New YorkDaily News). For unknown reasons[dubious discuss], the Soviets did not act against Polyakov until he was betrayed a second time by CIA mole Aldrich Ames in 1985. At one point Hanssen spoke to a Russian agent over a pay phone, but they generally relied on placing signals in public places. In this assignment, however, Hanssen did continue to have access to sensitive FBI information as he remained assigned to the FBIs National Security Division and routinely dealt with sensitive and classified matters. She would then use this money to run her house and support her children. [70] Hanssen gave her money, jewels, and a used Mercedes-Benz but ended contact with her before his arrest when she began abusing drugs and doing sex work. On May 10, 2002, he was given sentence of fifteen life terms without a chance of parole. Since becoming Director over seven years ago, I have administered the FBI oath to each graduating class of Special Agents at the FBI Academy. But money is. [26], Later that year, Hanssen gave extensive information about American planning for measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT), a general term for intelligence collected by a variety of electronic means, such as radar, spy satellites, and signal intercepts. Three years later, Hanssen transferred to the FBI's Soviet analytical unit, responsible for studying, identifying, and capturing Soviet spies and intelligence operatives in the United States. He urged fellow Catholics in the FBI to attend Mass more often and denounced the Russians as "godless", even though he had been spying for them. [7][8] He was sentenced to 15 life terms without the possibility of parole. Hanssen's children returned to school within days of his arrest, family and friends said, to maintain their routines. Yet Brookner said Bonnie Hanssen has no intention of divorcing her husband. Investigators learned that Hanssen was set to make a dead drop on February 18, 2001. [58] Going by the alias "Ramon" or "Ramon Garcia",[59] Hanssen exchanged intelligence and payments through an old-fashioned dead drop system in which he and his KGB handlers left packages in public, unobtrusive places. As Hanssen walked back to his car, the arrest team rushed up and took him into custody. But even as her life regains some sense of normalcy, Bonnie Hanssen struggles to understand the havoc that the last few months have wrought, Brookner said. The agents working for him reported this breach to a supervisor, but no action was taken. It is alleged that Hanssen provided to the former Soviet Union and subsequently to Russia substantial volumes of highly classified information that he acquired during the course of his job responsibilities in counterintelligence. He emerged as one of the most damaging spies to have infiltrated the FBI resulting in probably the worst intelligence disaster in the history of the US. The Russian had obtained Hanssen's KGB file. Hansen was convicted of just four of the murders in a deal that spared him . Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole. [4] He was spying at the same time as Aldrich Ames in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). When FBI agents observed this incriminating act, they rushed in to arrest Hanssen. He was the single most devastating mole in US history, and compromised more CIA assets than anyone in history, until Robert Hanssen that is. At present he is serving his fifteen successive life terms at a federal supermax prison, the ADX Florence. Realizing the importance of the material, the United States paid $7 million for it. [4][42], FBI investigators later made progress during an operation where they paid disaffected Russian intelligence officers to deliver information on moles. He also believed he heard noises on his car radio that indicated it was bugged, although the FBI was later unable to reproduce the noises Hanssen claimed to have heard. By. I am shamed by it," Hanssen told U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton. Furthermore, she supported her husband when he was first incarcerated for theft, and then for abducting and sexually abusing a housewife and a prostitute (although the rape charge concerning the latter was dropped when he pleaded guilty.) A reader replied to the blog, claiming to have been roommates with Hansen's daughter in the early 1990s, but this has yet to be substantiated. He was made the chief of National Security Threat List Unit of FBI in Washington, D.C. in 1992. As soon as they let their guard down, Hansen would attack, brutally sexually assaulting them before finally killing them (per Anchorage Daily News).
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