WALKER LIVES UP TO HIS STAR BILLING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100520017-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: May 25, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100520017-9
6
.W 1CLE
APPW
ON PAGE NEW YORK TIMES
25 May 1986
Walker Lives Up to His Star Billing
HEN a verdict depends heaoilySan F on th the e testi taco
-
ee witness, there comes a time
when that iwitness goes on trial ngl
IffW defendant. A case point: the espiwith the
onage
Proceedings against Jerry A. Whhworth, which for the
last few weeks temporarily became a trial of the Govern.
mew's star witness, John A. Walker Jr.
Mr. Walker, who has ac'oowledged spying for 17
years and recruiting We son and older brother to steal
militar'y data that he said to the Soviet Union, did not
have a trial of his own. He pleaded guilty to espionage
along with his son, Michael L. Walker, in Baltimore in
October. His brother, Arthtr J. walker, did not take the
stand at his own brief trial In which he was convicted in
Norfolk, Va., in August.
Thus, John Walksr'i testimony at Mr. Whitworth's
trial was more than the presentation of crucial evidence
to bohiter the ant sa prosecution's WWtlaos that the defend.
Navy cryptographic data and mes-
sages and passed them to Mr. Walker in exchange for
$3,000 over a 10-year period. It was also the first and
only chance for the jury and the public to assess Mr.
Walker's truthfulness and, in the process, get a close-up
look at America's First Family of Espionage.
The courtroom heard from a handful of Walkers:
John, the seemingly unremorseful peddler of military se-
crets; Arthur, the mousy older brother who had financial
problems; Michael, the son who stole to please his dad;
Barbara Joy Crowley Walker, the former wife who fi-
nally blew the whistle, and Laura Walker Snyder, the
daughter who served as the catalyst who moved her
mother to action.
For a time prosecutors struggled to keep what they
have characterized as the most important espionage
case in the last 30 years from degenerating into a soap
opera. Spectators were left with a host of titillating ques-
tions that nearly overshadowed the matter of Mr. Whit-
worth's guilt or innocenbe. Did John threaten to kill
Laura's husband if he disclosed John's spying activities
to authorities? Did John tell Barbara to become a prosti-
tute to pay the family bills? Did Barbara have an affair
with Arthur while she was still married to John?
For his part, John Walker stuck to his story that he
originally recruited Mr. Whitworth to steal secrets when
they served as Navy radiomen in 1974 in San Diego, after
determining to his own satisfaction that the defendant
"had larceny in his heart." But Mr. Walker also ap?
peared to hurt the prosecution by insisting that he never
told any of his recruits, including Mr. Whitworth, that the
stolen materials were destined for the Soviet Union:
Arthur Walker, a retired Navy officer, substantiated
John Walker's story that he stole classified military data
from the defense contractor for whom he worked and
passed it to his brother. But on the topic of Mr. Whit-
worth, he Could only say that John Walker told him that a
person on the West Coast was also involved.
Michael Walker testified that his mother told him
when he was 13 years old that his father was spying for
the Soviet Union, but he did not believe her until years
later, when John Walker recruited him. He told of a
manipulative father who was pleased that his am, had
the guts" to steal classified information from the aircraft
carrier to which he was assigned.
His older sister, Laura Walker ? Snyder, testified
about their father's unsuccessful attempts to enlist her
as a spy while she was in the Army. Like her younger
brother, she said she knew Mr. Whitworth but did not
know if he was involved with her father's illegal activi-
ties.
Barbara Joy Crowley Walker said she told Mr. Whit-
worth In 1973 that she knew her husband was trying to re.
cruit him as a spy. Three years later, she said, she reas-
sured Mr. Whitworth that she would not turn her husband
in just because they were about to file for divorce.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100520017-9