SPY SUSPECT WATCHED FOR 3 MONTHS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706200003-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: May 27, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000706200003-7
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Spy Suspect
Watched for
3 Months
Daughter and Ex- Wife
Tipped FBI, Source Says
By Molly Sinclair and Chris Spolar
m Staff Writers
The FBI began watching John Anthony
Walker Jr., accused along with his son of
spying for the Soviet Union, about three
months ago, a government source said yes-
terday.
The source said Walker was turned in by
his 25-year-old daughter, Cynthia, in addi-
tion to his former wife, Barbara Joy Crow-
ley Walker, 47.
Family members of John Walker, 47, a
retired Navy communications officer who
has been living in Norfolk and working as a
private detective, may have suspected
Walker's alleged espionage activities, the
source said.
In an effort to determine the extent of
the alleged activities of Walker and his son,
Michael Lance Walker, 22, both charged
with espionage, government agents have
"conducted lots of interviews and more in-
terviews will be done before this case is
through," the source said.
Barbara Walker, who was divorced from
John Walker in 1976, declined comment
yesterday about her former husband and
son when contacted in West Dennis, Mass.,
where she has been working as a checkout
clerk in The Christmas Tree Shops.
"I don't want to talk," she said.
Shortly afterward, she left her job and
went to the two-bedroom apartment.where
she lives with her daughter, Cynthia, and
Cynthia's 8-year-old son, Tommy.
Their second-floor apartment is located
above a bookstore on the main street of
West Dennis, a tourist town on Cape Cod.
Cynthia Walker, one of three daughters
of John Walker and the sister of Michael
Walker, also declined comment. She works
in a dentist's office.
The Walker family includes five brothers,
including John and two others with military
WASHINGTON POST
27 May 1985
service, as well as in-laws and grown chil-
dren in several cities.
John Walker served as a communications
officer with "top secret crypto" clearance
before retiring from the U.S. Navy in 1976.
For the last several years, he has operated
three detective companies, one of which
specialized in electronic debugging.
Walker kept an airplane, a house-
boat and a van loaded with electron-
ic equipment.
John Walker's arrest at a Ramada
Inn in Rockville came shortly after
FBI agents allegedly saw him drop a
shopping bag filled with 129 clas-
sified documents, including some
from the Nimitz, in a wooded area
in western Montgomery County.
A Soviet national seen near the
alleged "drop site" has left the coun-
try, officials said.
Subsequent to Walker's arrest,
about 20 FBI agents searched his
home at 8524 Old Ocean View Rd.
in Norfolk and uncovered material
that led to the arrest of his son, Mi-
chael, a seaman serving aboard the
Nimitz, according to the criminal
complaint filed by the FBI in federal
court in Baltimore.
Government officials now say
that the case has turned out to be
far more significant than originally
suspected at the time of the first
arrest.
Michael Walker, 22, has been
serving as a yeoman third class
aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier
the Nimitz for the last 17 months.
Before enlisting in the Navy in De-
cember 1982, he lived with his fa-
ther in Norfolk.
A source familiar with the Walker
case said that Barbara and Cynthia
Walker contacted the FBI about
three months ago. The source said
a telephone tip is not sufficient in a
case like this.
"They would have to go in, and
make a written statement ... and
sign it ... for something this seri-
ous," the source said.
The FBI office closest to the
West Dennis area is in Hyannis,
where the agency has two or three
agents assigned to a small office,
the source said.
While Barbara and Cynthia Walk-
er kept silent yesterday, the West
Dennis townspeople who know
them provided some details about
the quiet life they have had, despite
the recent publicity surrounding the
family.
Krista Booker, 22, who works at
The Christmas Tree Shops, said
yesterday that Barbara Walker had
been working there about a year
and was "really nice ... friendly to
everybody."
Yesterday, a busy day for the
town's tourist trade, The Christmas
Tree Shops was jammed with cus-
tomers buying an assortment of
Christmas ornaments, nautical
knickknacks and pottery. Barbara
Walker, wearing the store's green
apron, was one of about six workers
manning cash registers. Another
half-dozen workers helped bag pur-
chases for customers.
Residents said Barbara Walker
moved into the apartment with her
daughter in January. They pay
about $350 a month for their sub-
sidized housing, according to neigh-
bors.
Tom Bayek Jr., 20, the cook at
The Village Deli down the street
from the Walkers' apartment, said
it was common knowledge in West
Dennis that espionage charges had
been filed against Barbara Walker's
husband.
Bayek said the espionage charges
against Michael Walker may have
come as a surprise to Barbara Walk-
er. "I think she had to be surprised,"
Bayek said. "She talked highly of
her son in the Navy. She was proud
of him."
There has been little or no con-
tact between John Walker and his
daughter Cynthia, residents here
said. "Tommy's never seen his
grandfather-he says that all the
time," Bayek said. .
Michael Walker's wife, Rachel;
22, who lives in Virginia Beach,
went to Baltimore this weekend in
an effort to see her husband. It
was not known yesterday whether
Rachel made the trip on her own
or was summoned by the FBI , 'vr
whether she was permitted to talk
to her husband.
Staff writer Sharon LaFraniere
contributed to this report.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000706200003-7