FBI Bought Neighbor’s House to Keep Eye on Spy Suspect Hanssen

Perry Hood said he always thought there was something odd about the woman who bought his Vienna, Va., home in December.

Ann Manning offered a great price and paid cash. She even ignored an inspection report pointing out loose bathroom tiles and fogged-up windows. Her only condition: Hood and his wife, Laura, had to be out in two weeks flat.

Then, after all the rush, Hood heard from his old neighbors on Talisman Drive that no one had bothered to move in.

On Feb. 20, things became much clearer. The FBI announced that Hood’s former neighbor, Robert Philip Hanssen, had been charged with spying for Moscow.

Hood said he picked up the phone and immediately called his real estate agent. “You know what?” he said. “I think the FBI bought our house.”

Wednesday, the Washington Post confirmed a “Dateline NBC” report that the bureau indeed had bought the Hoods’ brick and wood split-level house that is across the street and down about 50 yards from the Hanssen home. Property records show Ann Manning took title to the house for $362,500 in cash on Dec. 22.

The four-bedroom house sits on a slight incline in the 9400 block. Hood, who paid $225,000 in 1987, said that the house has two kitchens and that the front room and the second-floor kitchen window provide an unobstructed view of comings and goings at the Hanssen house.