Whitworth Had ‘Larceny in His Heart,’ Walker Says

Confessed spy John A. Walker Jr., in his first detailed public accounting of his 17-year espionage career, said Monday he knew that the highly classified coding material he sold to the Soviet Union was the U.S. military’s most valued possession, and that he pilfered all he could obtain.

Walker, a retired Navy communications specialist, told jurors in the spy trial of Jerry A. Whitworth, his former “best friend” and accused accomplice, that he recruited Whitworth after concluding Whitworth had “larceny in his heart” and would be willing to enter the spy ring for cash.

Walker said he also spied for the money--the Soviets are estimated to have paid him more than $1 million over the years--and that he began in 1968 in the belief that more income could save his failing marriage to his wife, Barbara.

“I erroneously felt that the (marital) problem could be solved financially,” said Walker, 48, dressed in a gray suit and no longer wearing the toupee he wore before his arrest by the FBI last May 20. “. . . I believe that ultimately led to my getting involved in espionage.”

Walker, who pleaded guilty last October to espionage and faces a sentence of life in prison, headed a spy ring within the U.S. Navy that federal prosecutors say was the most damaging to operate against the United States in 30 years. Monday, he began testifying as the key witness against Whitworth, 46, who is charged with seven espionage counts that carry potential life sentences, and with evading income taxes on $332,000 he is accused of receiving from the Soviets.

Most of the testimony in the trial so far has been preparatory to Walker’s appearance. Earlier witnesses have described the nature and value of the material Whitworth and Walker are alleged to have supplied to the Soviets and have chronicled Walker’s spying activities and his capture.

Now, Walker’s testimony is intended by prosecutors to directly link Whitworth, also a retired Navy communications specialist, to the espionage ring. And on Monday, Walker told jurors that Whitworth responded with enthusiasm to the prospect of spying.

But before that, Walker, under questioning by Assistant U.S. Atty. William (Buck) Farmer, explained his early solo career as a spy.

He said that within three days of making the “impulsive” decision to become a spy, he drove the four hours from his home base at Norfolk, Va., one of four main Navy communications centers, to the Soviet Embassy in Washington.

Top Secret List

Walker, entering the front gate, carried with him a top-secret key list for a KL-47 system, a military cryptographic machine that was widely used on ships, submarines and at shore bases until it went into disuse three years ago.

“I told him I was interested in dealing,” he said, recalling his first meeting with a Soviet agent.

At that meeting, the Soviets asked him to provide them with a “shopping list” of what he could obtain.

“I was totally honest about what I had access to, which was everything,” Walker said.

After receiving $1,000 or $2,000 in cash, he said, he was dressed in a large overcoat and a hat pulled over his eyes and was driven from the embassy to his car in a Soviet vehicle , escorted by two Russians. He returned to Norfolk for that night’s duty, and immediately began copying secret and top-secret coding material.

He said he knew the material on military codes was the most sensitive he could get because it was the Soviet’s “most highly targeted area.” He said the value of the material was often discussed among his Navy peers in “cryptographic circles.”

Looks for Partner

By the early 1970s, Walker testified, he decided he needed a partner in espionage. The candidate who emerged, Walker said, was Whitworth. Walker was in charge of the Navy radio school in San Diego when he met Whitworth, who was an instructor in the school.

“He was the only one I felt was qualified to do anything that complex,” Walker said of his former sailing buddy. Walker said he concluded that Whitworth would be willing to join him because Whitworth had said several times that he was interested in a lucrative “one-time score,” perhaps by getting involved in a major drug deal.

Walker nonetheless began his “sales pitch” cautiously at a 1974 meeting in a bar near Lindbergh Field in San Diego. He told Whitworth that “even discussing” what he was about to reveal was illegal, and made Whitworth give a “blood oath” that he would not unveil Walker’s activity.

“He was excited and was interested in it,” Walker testified, adding that he went on to tell Whitworth that he could make $2,000 to $4,000 a month by supplying Walker with coding material and message traffic. Walker said that at that first meeting he was deliberately vague about to whom he was selling the material, but he added that they discussed the gravity of espionage and believed that if caught they could be executed. (Actually, at the time the death penalty did not apply to espionage in peacetime.)

The only qualms Whitworth discussed at the meeting, Walker testified, was whether Walker’s wife knew about his spying activity. That was also a concern of the Soviets. Walker said he had lied to the Soviets, denying that his wife, whom he described as “unstable” and an alcoholic, knew of his activities.

Wife Knew, He Said

But, Walker testified, “You can’t keep anything from your wife. Every married man knows that.”

Ultimately, it was Barbara Walker, who divorced Walker in 1976, who called the FBI in Boston in late 1984, telling them that Walker had long been involved in espionage, and that led to the unraveling of his spy ring.

Also eventually implicated in the spy ring were Walker’s son, Michael, 22, a seaman on the aircraft carrier Nimitz, and his brother, Arthur, 50, a retired Navy lieutenant commander.

Arthur Walker was convicted of espionage on Aug. 9 and sentenced to three life terms plus 40 years in prison and was fined $250,000. Michael Walker pleaded guilty in the same plea bargain with his father on Oct. 28 and faces a 25-year sentence, which would make him eligible for parole in about eight years. John A. Walker’s lawyers have said that the spymaster agreed to plead guilty and testify against Whitworth to obtain a less-than-life sentence for his son.

Walker fidgeted with a pencil during much of his hour on the stand Monday. At one point he grew irritated at Farmer, saying in response to one question, “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.” But for the most part, the former private investigator and high school dropout seemed calm and confident.

He freely used military jargon when recalling tours on nuclear submarines and at the Norfolk communication center. He displayed a dry sense of humor by giving his current address as 611 Broadway in Oakland, a jail, and by telling U.S. District Judge John P. Vukasin, who became confused at one point in the testimony, that he too occasionally became confused when the Soviets gave him the elaborate instructions for clandestine meetings.

Walker entered the courtroom without looking at his longtime friend, and noticeably glanced at Whitworth only once--when he was asked to identify the defendant. Neither Whitworth nor Whitworth’s wife, Brenda Reis, who was in the crowded courtroom audience, showed any reaction to Walker. It was the first contact between Walker and Whitworth since both were arrested last May.