Accused Spy Seeks Leave to Attend Funeral

Lawyers for accused spy Jerry A. Whitworth on Tuesday sought a temporary release from jail for their client so he can attend the funeral of his mother, who was killed in a traffic accident late Monday in Oklahoma.

Agnes Morton, 71, died when her vehicle was struck from behind on a rain-slick highway outside Muldrow, hometown of the accused espionage agent.

Morton had visited her son in jail in mid-June shortly after his arrest on charges that he conspired to pass secret military information to John A. Walker Jr., accused leader of a major Navy spy ring that also allegedly included Walker’s son and brother.

Attorney Negotiating

Whitworth’s attorney, James Larson, was negotiating Tuesday with the U.S. attorney’s office in an attempt to win Whitworth’s temporary release. He would not predict his chances of success. Whitworth is being held without bail in a Bay Area detention facility.

If officials at the U.S. attorney’s office agree, then Whitworth must come up with as much as $5,000 in advance to pay for two federal marshals to escort him to and from Oklahoma, Larson said. The plan would ultimately have to be approved by a federal court judge.

Services for Mrs. Morton are scheduled Thursday in Muldrow, a small eastern Oklahoma farming community near Fort Smith, Ark.

Accused of Receiving $328,000

Whitworth, a retired Navy radioman, is accused of receiving a total of $328,000 from Walker over a period of seven years, during meetings in such far-flung locales as Hong Kong, Manila, San Diego and Norfolk, Va.

A June 17 indictment alleged that while in the Navy Whitworth copied and turned over to Walker numerous sensitive military documents knowing that Walker would pass them on to Soviet agents.