After executing a search warrant, authorities found items in Hansen's home that belonged to other missing women from the area. Eric Michael O'Neill is an American former FBI counter-terrorism and counterintelligence operative. His book written about this experience, Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy, was published in spring 2019. Robert Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Lutheran family who lived in the Norwood Park neighborhood. After working in the FBI division that developed secret listening devices, Hanssen was again placed in a position to track Russian agents operating in the United States. Brian Blomquist. He passed on data related to surveillance activities of FBI and provided the GRU with data of suspected Soviet intelligence spies. His assistant, Eric ONeill, was tasked with keeping investigators apprised of Hanssens movements. Despite having shown his face, disclosed his code name, and revealed his FBI affiliation, Hanssen escaped arrest when the FBI's investigation into the incident did not advance. 2000 - The FBI identifies Hanssen from a fingerprint and from a tape recording supplied by a disgruntled Russian intelligence operative. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. For unknown reasons[dubious discuss], the Soviets did not act against Polyakov until he was betrayed a second time by CIA mole Aldrich Ames in 1985. Judge Webster is uniquely qualified as a former FBI Director, CIA Director and Director of Central Intelligence to undertake this review. He restarted his espionage activities in 1985 and continued until 1991, when he ended communications during the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing he would be exposed. In return, he received large sums of money and other remuneration. FBI career and first espionage activities (19761981), FBI counterintelligence unit, further espionage activities (19851991), Later FBI career, continued espionage activities (19922001), Lynch, Christopher, The C.I. None of the internal information or personnel security measures in place alerted those charged with internal security to his activities. FBI leadership decided Hanssen needed to be removed from his temporary position and brought back to FBI Headquarters. In his communications with the Russians (some of which were eventually made public after his arrest) he insisted on setting the terms of how he would communicate, pass information, and pick up money. As a devout Catholic, Bonnie Hanssen feels that he needs time [in prison] to pray for forgiveness and be redeemed in some way, the wifes attorney, Janine Brookner, said in an interview. [52], However, Hanssen's suspicions did not stop him from making one more dead drop. Robert was born in 1939 in Iowa to Danish immigrants Christian and Edna Hansen. In her statement, Bonnie Hanssen thanked government officials for allowing her to retain the pension and for recognizing that she and the children clearly are innocent victims.. At one point Hanssen spoke to a Russian agent over a pay phone, but they generally relied on placing signals in public places. [64] His three daughters attended Oakcrest School for Girls in Vienna, Virginia, an independent Roman Catholic school. Literally, Hanssens colleagues and coworkers at the FBI conducted this investigation and did so quietly, securely and without hesitation. [44] FBI agent Michael Waguespack thought the voice was familiar, but could not remember who it was. A few years later, they moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and had two children. Hanssen's wife, Bonnie, retired from teaching theology at Oakcrest in 2020. (Serial Killer) Robert Christian Hansen was a convicted serial killer from America who abducted, raped, and murdered at least 17 women in and around Anchorage, Alaska, in the 1970s and early 1980s. Hanssen was detailed to the Office of Foreign Missions at the Department of State from 1995 to 2000. [72], Hanssen was the subject of a 2002 made-for-television movie, Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story, with the teleplay by Norman Mailer and starring William Hurt as Hanssen. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/robert-hanssen-6997.php. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. [66] Opus Dei member C. John McCloskey said he also occasionally attended the daily noontime Mass at the Catholic Information Center in downtown Washington. The Russian had obtained Hanssen's KGB file. The priest told Hanssen to stop his illegal activities and donate the money he had gotten from the Russians to charity. He used encrypted communications, dead drops, and other clandestine methods to provide information to the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR. He worked in an accounting firm for a year after which he was selected in the Chicago Police Department. Hanssen pled guilty to 15 counts of espionage on July 6, 2001. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. He met his second wife, Darla, shortly after his parole. Hanssen later joined the Catholic organization Opus Dei[13] with like-minded individuals. Darla was an extremely religious woman, and she felt that faith could be his way out. Wanting to get a fresh start, the newlywed couple migrated to Alaska in 1967 (per the New YorkDaily News). Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. 2023 Cable News Network. [34], In 1994, Hanssen expressed interest in a transfer to the new National Counterintelligence Center, which coordinated counterintelligence activities. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Still, he was not identified as a spy. He became known in the FBI as an expert on computers.[19]. He compromised information about Americas plan of forming Measurement and Signature Intelligence, its bugging plan over the Soviets by digging a tunnel under the decoding room of the Soviets new embassy and data on double agents of the US. To the residents of the quiet suburb of Vienna, Virginia, Robert Hanssen was the perfect neighbor. The first marriage lasted only for six months; his wife divorced him while he was serving a 3-year sentence for arson in Iowa. This is particularly timely as we move to the next generation of automation to support the FBIs information infrastructure. After a few years working as an accountant, he decided to enter law enforcement. He then followed his usual routine, taking a package consisting of a sealed garbage bag of classified material and taping it to the bottom side of a wooden footbridge over a creek. Their goal was to catch Hanssen red handed in espionage. Did you encounter any technical issues? Sullivan noted that Hanssen spent a lot of time trolling ACS for information. Leland Hale and Walter Gilmour co-authored the 1991 book "Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer," chronicling the life and crimes of Robert Hansen. However, Hanssen escaped notice, likely because these efforts concentrated on CIA agents rather than FBI agents. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history. His active and long stint as a Soviet spy began on October 1, 1985, when he sent an unsigned letter to KGB, where he mentioned the names of at least three agents of KGB who were covertly serving FBI. After being imprisoned, Hanssen claimed he periodically admitted his espionage to priests in confession. Sunday night the FBI arrested Robert Philip Hanssen who has been charged with committing espionage. As difficult as this moment is for the FBI and for the country, I am immensely proud of the men and women who conducted this investigation. Undated file photo released by the FBI February 20, 2001 shows a package recovered at the 'Lewis' drop site containing $50,000 cash allegedly left by Russians for FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen. He then enrolled at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to study dentistry but after three years shifted to business studies. [4], In 1989, Hanssen compromised the FBI investigation of Felix Bloch, a Department of State official who had become suspected of espionage. May 16, 2001 - Is indicted on 21 counts of spying for the Soviet Union/Russia and passing top secret material to the Soviet Union/Russia. He also designated a code to be used when dates were exchanged. To get Hanssen back to FBI Headquarters where he could be closely monitored, Neil Gallagher, assistant director of the National Security Division at the time, called Hanssen to inform him of a bogus assignment to serve on his staff as a special assistant for a technology project. Discovery Company. [6] To avoid the death penalty, Hanssen pleaded guilty to 14 counts of espionage and one of conspiracy to commit espionage. After Bonnie Hanssen confronted her husband, he told her that he had been in contact with his Soviet intelligence counterparts only as a ploy to trick them with disinformation, the attorney said. He urged fellow Catholics in the FBI to attend Mass more often and denounced the Russians as "godless", even though he had been spying for them. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. He had opportunity. Robert Hanssen's business cards, chalk and thumb tacks, which he used to communicate with his Russian contacts, according to the FBI. WASHINGTON - Convicted FBI spy Robert Hanssen, who's set to be sentenced to life in prison tomorrow, asked his best friend to drug and have sex with . We dont know at this point what happened to that money, she said. Our hearts go out to them. Though both Hansen and his wife earned respectable incomes, it would . [37], During the same period, Hanssen searched the FBI's internal computer case record to see if he was being investigated. With two children already out of school, the pension money will help Bonnie Hanssen support two children who are in college and two more still in high school, Brookner said. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. The damage Hanssen did was considerable. The one thing the father and son would eventually have in common is their interest in hunting. With the mole finally identified, locations, dates, and cases were matched with Hanssen's activities during the period. Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer. Gallagher also told Hanssen that then-Director Louis Freeh had approved a two-year extension on his service and a promotion to the Senior Executive Service. The information he is alleged to have provided compromised numerous human sources, technical operations, counterintelligence techniques, sources and methods, and investigations, including the Felix Bloch investigation. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. "I have opened the door for calumny against my totally innocent wife and children. During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. [65], A priest at Oakcrest said Hanssen had regularly attended a 6:30a.m. daily Mass for over a decade. [45] FBI analyst Bob King remembered Hanssen using that same quote. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832. Hansen would force some of these women into the small plane that he owned and fly them to a remote location in the Alaskan wilderness. [56][57], Hanssen never told the KGB or GRU his identity and refused to meet them personally, except for the abortive 1993 contact in the Russian embassy parking garage. Hanssen claimed he was trying to connect a color printer to his computer but needed the password cracker to bypass the administrative password. The CIA and FBI searched his house, tapped his telephone, and surveilled him, following him and his family everywhere. Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. "Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole." The 2007 documentary Superspy: The Man Who Betrayed the West describes the hunt to trap Hanssen. [30], In 1990, Hanssen's brother-in-law, Mark Wauck, who was also an FBI employee, recommended to the FBI that Hanssen be investigated for espionage because his sister, Hanssen's wife, told him that her sister, Jeanne Beglis, had found a pile of cash on a dresser in the Hanssens' house. Agents find a bag nearby containing $50,000 that they believe is Hanssens payment for the documents. What makes Hansen seem even more grisly than other serial killers was the way that many of his victims were murdered. Interestingly, Hansen got married twice. All his six children went to schools linked with Opus Dei. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. His espionage was described by the Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. Since he held key counterintelligence positions, he had authorized access to classified information. Robert Philip Hanssen is a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, who became infamous as a notorious double agent of the intelligence services of Soviet Union and later Russia. May 10, 2002 - Is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. To closely oversee his activities, the FBI relocated him in its headquarters in January 2001. In short, the trusted insider betrayed his trust without detection. ThoughtCo. In this article, Hansens dynamic with his own family is discussed to give you a better insight into the life of the now-deceased murderer. As soon as they let their guard down, Hansen would attack, brutally sexually assaulting them before finally killing them (per Anchorage Daily News). [6] His espionage of more than two decades had earned him cash of over 1.4 million USD and diamonds. What Happened To Serial Killer Robert Hansen's Children? After divorcing Robert, Darla was faced with a choice. But even as her life regains some sense of normalcy, Bonnie Hanssen struggles to understand the havoc that the last few months have wrought, Brookner said. Hanssen was recalled yet again to Washington, D.C., in 1987. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. Through our cooperative efforts, the FBI and CIA were able to learn the true identity of Ramon and the FBI was able to conduct a solid investigation. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. They have committed their lives to public service and to upholding the high standards of the FBI. This innocent looking house in Vienna used to belong to Russian spy Robert Hanssen before he was caught by the Feds. Without the current unprecedented level of trust and cooperation between the CIA and FBI, making this case would not have been possible. A reader replied to the blog, claiming to have been roommates with Hansen's daughter in the early 1990s, but this has yet to be substantiated. The couple's relationship was fraught, and Darla, who had a master's degree in Education and taught children with learning disabilities, supported herself. In mid-2001 he was tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on fifteen counts as a spy and was given sentence of fifteen life terms without a chance of parole. Three years later, Hanssen transferred to the FBI's Soviet analytical unit, responsible for studying, identifying, and capturing Soviet spies and intelligence operatives in the United States. Hanssen is mentioned in the seventh episode of The History Channel series America's Book of Secrets, as well as in the fifth episode of Netflix series Spycraft. It was not a very demanding job, said Sullivan. For more information:- Press Release - Veteran FBI Agent Arrested and Charged with Espionage- Affidavit- Statement ofFBI Director Louis J. Freeh on the Arrestof FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen (see below), Statement of FBI Director Louis J. Freeh On the Arrestof FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen, For Immediate ReleaseFebruary 20, 2001Washington D.C.FBI National Press Office. [14] The next year, Hanssen was transferred to counterintelligence and given the task of compiling a database of Soviet intelligence for the FBI. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. Darla earned a living for the household as well, teaching children with disabilities. She is also challenging some of her husbands credit card bills. 1991 - Breaks off relations with the KGB. The couple married in 1968, and Hanssen converted from Lutheranism to his wife's Catholicism. The FBI believed his story, and Hanssen was merely given a warning. Hanssen appeared to be a devoted anti-communist. Hanssen was set to retire, so investigators had to move fast. His wife was a teacher of theology at Oakcrest. FBI and CIA personnel who debriefed Hanssen about his 21 years. [4][10] He graduated from William Howard Taft High School in 1962 and then attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1966. The investigation was not fruitful and the FBI was unable to charge Bloch on any account. The complaint alleges that Hanssen, using the code name Ramon, engaged in espionage by providing highly classified information to the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR, using encrypted communications, dead drops, and other clandestine techniques. FBI agents remove evidence from Robert Hanssen's home in Vienna, Virginia on February 20, 2001. . On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested at a park in northern Virginia after he had placed a package at a dead drop location. Hanssen was incarcerated in a "supermax" federal prison in Colorado which also houses other notorious inmates, including the Unabomber, one of the Boston Marathon bombers, and a number of organized crime figures. The failure of the Bloch investigation and the FBI's investigation of how the KGB learned that they were investigating Bloch caused the mole hunt that eventually resulted in the arrest of Hanssen. Under Mr. Hanssen's plea bargain, she. She would then use this money to run her house and support her children. The FBI entrusted him with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States Government and instead of being humbled by this honor, Hanssen has allegedly abused and betrayed that trust. [32] The following year, after the Russian Federation assumed control of the defunct Soviet spy agencies, Hanssen made a risky approach to the GRU, with whom he had not been in contact in ten months. The ensuing investigation confirmed this suspicion. He is a public speaker and security When O'Neill could briefly obtain Hanssen's PDA and have agents download and decode its encrypted contents, the FBI had decisive evidence. Once there, he would turn them loose and begin a human hunting expedition. He also independently disclosed the identity of two KGB officials who, first compromised by Aldrich Ames, had been recruited by the U.S. Government to serve as agents in place at the Soviet Embassy in Washington. Once he got caught, the only thing he cared about was trying to provide for his wife and his children, who visit him regularly in prison, Brookner said. A turning point came in 2000, when the FBI and CIA were able to secure original Russian documentation of an American spy who appeared to be Hanssen. I take solace and satisfaction, however, that the FBI succeeded in this investigation. The agents working for him reported this breach to a supervisor, but no action was taken. Instead, the 57-year-old defendant will be sentenced to life in prison without parole if he honors his pledge to tell the government all the secrets behind his two-decade career as a Russian spy. Hanssen ensured that he did not reveal himself with his study, but in addition, he gave the entire studyincluding the list of all Soviets who had contacted the FBI about FBI molesto the KGB in 1988. Today, Mrs. Hanssen is teaching at a Catholic school in suburban Virginia and is living in the house she shared with her husband and their six children. I am shamed by it," Hanssen told U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton. Hanssen's three sons attended The Heights School in Potomac, Maryland, an all-boys preparatory school. Throughout his spying, Hanssen remained anonymous to the Russians. Director Tenet and I have briefed the intelligence committees of Congress because of the clear national security implications. He was paid handsomely by the Soviets. This included all the FBI activities related to wiretapping and electronic surveillance, which were Hanssen's responsibility. Robert Christian Boes Hansen was born in Estherville, Iowa, at Coleman Hospital on February 15, 1939, the elder of two children to an American mother and a Danish father. Please be aware how deeply Mrs. Hanssen regrets the damage that her husband, Robert Hanssen, has caused to our country and to their family, the statement said. The information he delivered compromised numerous human sources, counterintelligence techniques, investigations, dozens of classified U.S. government documents, and technical operations of extraordinary importance and value. We particularly appreciate the unhesitating leadership and support of Attorney General Ashcroft from the moment he took office. The complaint alleges that he received over $600,000. Marriage: Bernadette Bonnie (Wauck) Hanssen (August 10, 1968-present), Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John Jack, Sue and Jane, Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. In the 1990s, after the arrest of Aldrich Ames, the FBI and CIA realized that a mole within the intelligence community was still sharing classified information with the Russians. Wauck also knew that the FBI was hunting for a mole and spoke with his supervisor, who took no action. She supports the plea agreement and agrees that the sentence of life in prison without parole, rather than the death penalty, is appropriate in these circumstances.. January 12, 2001 - Hanssen is reassigned from counterintelligence to an obscure office at FBI headquarters. Hanssen parked on a residential street and walked down a wooded path to a footbridge with the classified materials wrapped in a plastic bag. Hanssen's jailers allowed him to watch this movie, but he was so angered by it that he turned it off. At least two movies have been made about Hanssen. He married Bernadette Wauck in 1968 and, influenced by his devout Catholic wife, he converted to Catholicism. The FBI waited two more days to see if any of Hanssen's SVR handlers would show up at Foxstone Park. As Director of the FBI, I am proud of the courageous men and women of the FBI who each day make enormous sacrifices in serving their country. [36], IT personnel from the National Security Division's IIS Unit were sent to investigate Hanssen's desktop computer after a reported failure. When told that he would have to take a lie detector test to join, Hanssen changed his mind. When they failed to appear, the Justice Department announced the arrest on February 20. She told Sergeant Flothe (the man who played a pivotal role in Hansens capture) that their income streams were separate and that Hansen would spend the money from the bakery on his own needs. "Once he got caught, the only thing he cared about was trying to provide for his wife and his children," who visit him regularly in prison, Brookner said. He had been married twice, and fathered children. July 6, 2001 - Pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in. They paid $7 million to KGB agent Alexandr Shcherbakov[43] who had access to a file on "B". He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. 1979 - Begins spying for the Soviet Union. Some promising suspects were cleared, and the mole hunt found other penetrations, such as CIA officer Harold James Nicholson. "I apologize for my behavior. He once said in a letter to the KGB that it should emulate the management style of Mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daleya comment that easily could have led an investigator to look at people from Chicago. Hanssen allegedly began spying for the Soviets in 1985 when, in his first letter to the KGB, he volunteered information that compromised several sensitive techniques. He was sentenced to life in prison. As an agency, we lived up to our responsibility, regardless of how painful it might be. In school, he was bullied for his acne, girls would not talk to him, and he also developed a stutter. As alleged, he did so using a variety of sophisticated means of communication, encryption, and dead drops. The Russians then filed an official protest with the State Department, believing Hanssen to be a triple agent. Hanssen disclosed this information to the Soviets in September 1989 and received a $55,000 payment the next month, equivalent to $120,232 in 2021. I dont think there was anybody more shocked by all this, Brookner said. [25] That same year, Hanssen, according to a government report, committed a "serious security breach" by revealing secret information to a Soviet defector during a debriefing. He established contact with the SVR (the successor to the Soviet-era KGB) during the autumn of 1999. The news that he used to literally hunt women and kill them after sexually assaulting them sent shockwaves through the state of Alaska, and on occasion, even beyond its borders. Ames was arrested in 1994. Hanssen restarted communications the next year and continued until his arrest. His twenty two years of espionage against the US began in 1979. Although Hanssen was unaware of it, Ames had already exposed all three agents earlier that year. [70] Hanssen gave her money, jewels, and a used Mercedes-Benz but ended contact with her before his arrest when she began abusing drugs and doing sex work. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. For more than a decade, Hansen had been luring sex workers into his vehicle or home with the promise of an easy transaction. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested and charged with committing espionage on behalf of Russia and the former Soviet Union. [54], With the representation of Washington lawyer Plato Cacheris, Hanssen negotiated a plea bargain that enabled him to avoid the death penalty in exchange for cooperating with authorities. The complaint, however, does not allege any compromises by him at the State Department. His father served on the police force in Chicago and was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II when Hanssen was born. Through Attorney General John Ashcroft, I would like to thank the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Asked what Bonnie Hanssen thinks may have motivated her husband, Brookner said: Who knows? The agencies initially focused primarilyand incorrectlyon a veteran CIA case officer, who was investigated for nearly two years.
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After executing a search warrant, authorities found items in Hansen's home that belonged to other missing women from the area. Eric Michael O'Neill is an American former FBI counter-terrorism and counterintelligence operative. His book written about this experience, Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy, was published in spring 2019. Robert Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Lutheran family who lived in the Norwood Park neighborhood. After working in the FBI division that developed secret listening devices, Hanssen was again placed in a position to track Russian agents operating in the United States. Brian Blomquist. He passed on data related to surveillance activities of FBI and provided the GRU with data of suspected Soviet intelligence spies. His assistant, Eric ONeill, was tasked with keeping investigators apprised of Hanssens movements. Despite having shown his face, disclosed his code name, and revealed his FBI affiliation, Hanssen escaped arrest when the FBI's investigation into the incident did not advance. 2000 - The FBI identifies Hanssen from a fingerprint and from a tape recording supplied by a disgruntled Russian intelligence operative. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. For unknown reasons[dubious discuss], the Soviets did not act against Polyakov until he was betrayed a second time by CIA mole Aldrich Ames in 1985. Judge Webster is uniquely qualified as a former FBI Director, CIA Director and Director of Central Intelligence to undertake this review. He restarted his espionage activities in 1985 and continued until 1991, when he ended communications during the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing he would be exposed. In return, he received large sums of money and other remuneration. FBI career and first espionage activities (19761981), FBI counterintelligence unit, further espionage activities (19851991), Later FBI career, continued espionage activities (19922001), Lynch, Christopher, The C.I. None of the internal information or personnel security measures in place alerted those charged with internal security to his activities. FBI leadership decided Hanssen needed to be removed from his temporary position and brought back to FBI Headquarters. In his communications with the Russians (some of which were eventually made public after his arrest) he insisted on setting the terms of how he would communicate, pass information, and pick up money. As a devout Catholic, Bonnie Hanssen feels that he needs time [in prison] to pray for forgiveness and be redeemed in some way, the wifes attorney, Janine Brookner, said in an interview. [52], However, Hanssen's suspicions did not stop him from making one more dead drop. Robert was born in 1939 in Iowa to Danish immigrants Christian and Edna Hansen. In her statement, Bonnie Hanssen thanked government officials for allowing her to retain the pension and for recognizing that she and the children clearly are innocent victims.. At one point Hanssen spoke to a Russian agent over a pay phone, but they generally relied on placing signals in public places. [64] His three daughters attended Oakcrest School for Girls in Vienna, Virginia, an independent Roman Catholic school. Literally, Hanssens colleagues and coworkers at the FBI conducted this investigation and did so quietly, securely and without hesitation. [44] FBI agent Michael Waguespack thought the voice was familiar, but could not remember who it was. A few years later, they moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and had two children. Hanssen's wife, Bonnie, retired from teaching theology at Oakcrest in 2020. (Serial Killer) Robert Christian Hansen was a convicted serial killer from America who abducted, raped, and murdered at least 17 women in and around Anchorage, Alaska, in the 1970s and early 1980s. Hanssen was detailed to the Office of Foreign Missions at the Department of State from 1995 to 2000. [72], Hanssen was the subject of a 2002 made-for-television movie, Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story, with the teleplay by Norman Mailer and starring William Hurt as Hanssen. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/robert-hanssen-6997.php. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. [66] Opus Dei member C. John McCloskey said he also occasionally attended the daily noontime Mass at the Catholic Information Center in downtown Washington. The Russian had obtained Hanssen's KGB file. The priest told Hanssen to stop his illegal activities and donate the money he had gotten from the Russians to charity. He used encrypted communications, dead drops, and other clandestine methods to provide information to the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR. He worked in an accounting firm for a year after which he was selected in the Chicago Police Department. Hanssen pled guilty to 15 counts of espionage on July 6, 2001. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. He met his second wife, Darla, shortly after his parole. Hanssen later joined the Catholic organization Opus Dei[13] with like-minded individuals. Darla was an extremely religious woman, and she felt that faith could be his way out. Wanting to get a fresh start, the newlywed couple migrated to Alaska in 1967 (per the New YorkDaily News). Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John "Jack," Sue and Jane Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. 2023 Cable News Network. [34], In 1994, Hanssen expressed interest in a transfer to the new National Counterintelligence Center, which coordinated counterintelligence activities. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Still, he was not identified as a spy. He became known in the FBI as an expert on computers.[19]. He compromised information about Americas plan of forming Measurement and Signature Intelligence, its bugging plan over the Soviets by digging a tunnel under the decoding room of the Soviets new embassy and data on double agents of the US. To the residents of the quiet suburb of Vienna, Virginia, Robert Hanssen was the perfect neighbor. The first marriage lasted only for six months; his wife divorced him while he was serving a 3-year sentence for arson in Iowa. This is particularly timely as we move to the next generation of automation to support the FBIs information infrastructure. After a few years working as an accountant, he decided to enter law enforcement. He then followed his usual routine, taking a package consisting of a sealed garbage bag of classified material and taping it to the bottom side of a wooden footbridge over a creek. Their goal was to catch Hanssen red handed in espionage. Did you encounter any technical issues? Sullivan noted that Hanssen spent a lot of time trolling ACS for information. Leland Hale and Walter Gilmour co-authored the 1991 book "Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer," chronicling the life and crimes of Robert Hansen. However, Hanssen escaped notice, likely because these efforts concentrated on CIA agents rather than FBI agents. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history. His active and long stint as a Soviet spy began on October 1, 1985, when he sent an unsigned letter to KGB, where he mentioned the names of at least three agents of KGB who were covertly serving FBI. After being imprisoned, Hanssen claimed he periodically admitted his espionage to priests in confession. Sunday night the FBI arrested Robert Philip Hanssen who has been charged with committing espionage. As difficult as this moment is for the FBI and for the country, I am immensely proud of the men and women who conducted this investigation. Undated file photo released by the FBI February 20, 2001 shows a package recovered at the 'Lewis' drop site containing $50,000 cash allegedly left by Russians for FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen. He then enrolled at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to study dentistry but after three years shifted to business studies. [4], In 1989, Hanssen compromised the FBI investigation of Felix Bloch, a Department of State official who had become suspected of espionage. May 16, 2001 - Is indicted on 21 counts of spying for the Soviet Union/Russia and passing top secret material to the Soviet Union/Russia. He also designated a code to be used when dates were exchanged. To get Hanssen back to FBI Headquarters where he could be closely monitored, Neil Gallagher, assistant director of the National Security Division at the time, called Hanssen to inform him of a bogus assignment to serve on his staff as a special assistant for a technology project. Discovery Company. [6] To avoid the death penalty, Hanssen pleaded guilty to 14 counts of espionage and one of conspiracy to commit espionage. After Bonnie Hanssen confronted her husband, he told her that he had been in contact with his Soviet intelligence counterparts only as a ploy to trick them with disinformation, the attorney said. He urged fellow Catholics in the FBI to attend Mass more often and denounced the Russians as "godless", even though he had been spying for them. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. He had opportunity. Robert Hanssen's business cards, chalk and thumb tacks, which he used to communicate with his Russian contacts, according to the FBI. WASHINGTON - Convicted FBI spy Robert Hanssen, who's set to be sentenced to life in prison tomorrow, asked his best friend to drug and have sex with . We dont know at this point what happened to that money, she said. Our hearts go out to them. Though both Hansen and his wife earned respectable incomes, it would . [37], During the same period, Hanssen searched the FBI's internal computer case record to see if he was being investigated. With two children already out of school, the pension money will help Bonnie Hanssen support two children who are in college and two more still in high school, Brookner said. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. The damage Hanssen did was considerable. The one thing the father and son would eventually have in common is their interest in hunting. With the mole finally identified, locations, dates, and cases were matched with Hanssen's activities during the period. Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer. Gallagher also told Hanssen that then-Director Louis Freeh had approved a two-year extension on his service and a promotion to the Senior Executive Service. The information he is alleged to have provided compromised numerous human sources, technical operations, counterintelligence techniques, sources and methods, and investigations, including the Felix Bloch investigation. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. "I have opened the door for calumny against my totally innocent wife and children. During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. [65], A priest at Oakcrest said Hanssen had regularly attended a 6:30a.m. daily Mass for over a decade. [45] FBI analyst Bob King remembered Hanssen using that same quote. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/robert-hanssen-4587832. Hansen would force some of these women into the small plane that he owned and fly them to a remote location in the Alaskan wilderness. [56][57], Hanssen never told the KGB or GRU his identity and refused to meet them personally, except for the abortive 1993 contact in the Russian embassy parking garage. Hanssen claimed he was trying to connect a color printer to his computer but needed the password cracker to bypass the administrative password. The CIA and FBI searched his house, tapped his telephone, and surveilled him, following him and his family everywhere. Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. "Robert Hanssen, FBI Agent Who Became a Soviet Mole." The 2007 documentary Superspy: The Man Who Betrayed the West describes the hunt to trap Hanssen. [30], In 1990, Hanssen's brother-in-law, Mark Wauck, who was also an FBI employee, recommended to the FBI that Hanssen be investigated for espionage because his sister, Hanssen's wife, told him that her sister, Jeanne Beglis, had found a pile of cash on a dresser in the Hanssens' house. Agents find a bag nearby containing $50,000 that they believe is Hanssens payment for the documents. What makes Hansen seem even more grisly than other serial killers was the way that many of his victims were murdered. Interestingly, Hansen got married twice. All his six children went to schools linked with Opus Dei. On May 10, 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. His espionage was described by the Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. Since he held key counterintelligence positions, he had authorized access to classified information. Robert Philip Hanssen is a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, who became infamous as a notorious double agent of the intelligence services of Soviet Union and later Russia. May 10, 2002 - Is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. To closely oversee his activities, the FBI relocated him in its headquarters in January 2001. In short, the trusted insider betrayed his trust without detection. ThoughtCo. In this article, Hansens dynamic with his own family is discussed to give you a better insight into the life of the now-deceased murderer. As soon as they let their guard down, Hansen would attack, brutally sexually assaulting them before finally killing them (per Anchorage Daily News). [6] His espionage of more than two decades had earned him cash of over 1.4 million USD and diamonds. What Happened To Serial Killer Robert Hansen's Children? After divorcing Robert, Darla was faced with a choice. But even as her life regains some sense of normalcy, Bonnie Hanssen struggles to understand the havoc that the last few months have wrought, Brookner said. Hanssen was recalled yet again to Washington, D.C., in 1987. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. Through our cooperative efforts, the FBI and CIA were able to learn the true identity of Ramon and the FBI was able to conduct a solid investigation. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. They have committed their lives to public service and to upholding the high standards of the FBI. This innocent looking house in Vienna used to belong to Russian spy Robert Hanssen before he was caught by the Feds. Without the current unprecedented level of trust and cooperation between the CIA and FBI, making this case would not have been possible. A reader replied to the blog, claiming to have been roommates with Hansen's daughter in the early 1990s, but this has yet to be substantiated. The couple's relationship was fraught, and Darla, who had a master's degree in Education and taught children with learning disabilities, supported herself. In mid-2001 he was tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on fifteen counts as a spy and was given sentence of fifteen life terms without a chance of parole. Three years later, Hanssen transferred to the FBI's Soviet analytical unit, responsible for studying, identifying, and capturing Soviet spies and intelligence operatives in the United States. Hanssen is mentioned in the seventh episode of The History Channel series America's Book of Secrets, as well as in the fifth episode of Netflix series Spycraft. It was not a very demanding job, said Sullivan. For more information:- Press Release - Veteran FBI Agent Arrested and Charged with Espionage- Affidavit- Statement ofFBI Director Louis J. Freeh on the Arrestof FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen (see below), Statement of FBI Director Louis J. Freeh On the Arrestof FBI Special Agent Robert Philip Hanssen, For Immediate ReleaseFebruary 20, 2001Washington D.C.FBI National Press Office. [14] The next year, Hanssen was transferred to counterintelligence and given the task of compiling a database of Soviet intelligence for the FBI. in Chemistry, 1966; Attended Northwestern University Dental School, 1966-1968;. Darla earned a living for the household as well, teaching children with disabilities. She is also challenging some of her husbands credit card bills. 1991 - Breaks off relations with the KGB. The couple married in 1968, and Hanssen converted from Lutheranism to his wife's Catholicism. The FBI believed his story, and Hanssen was merely given a warning. Hanssen appeared to be a devoted anti-communist. Hanssen was set to retire, so investigators had to move fast. His wife was a teacher of theology at Oakcrest. FBI and CIA personnel who debriefed Hanssen about his 21 years. [4][10] He graduated from William Howard Taft High School in 1962 and then attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1966. The investigation was not fruitful and the FBI was unable to charge Bloch on any account. The complaint alleges that Hanssen, using the code name Ramon, engaged in espionage by providing highly classified information to the KGB and its successor agency, the SVR, using encrypted communications, dead drops, and other clandestine techniques. FBI agents remove evidence from Robert Hanssen's home in Vienna, Virginia on February 20, 2001. . On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested at a park in northern Virginia after he had placed a package at a dead drop location. Hanssen was incarcerated in a "supermax" federal prison in Colorado which also houses other notorious inmates, including the Unabomber, one of the Boston Marathon bombers, and a number of organized crime figures. The failure of the Bloch investigation and the FBI's investigation of how the KGB learned that they were investigating Bloch caused the mole hunt that eventually resulted in the arrest of Hanssen. Under Mr. Hanssen's plea bargain, she. She would then use this money to run her house and support her children. The FBI entrusted him with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States Government and instead of being humbled by this honor, Hanssen has allegedly abused and betrayed that trust. [32] The following year, after the Russian Federation assumed control of the defunct Soviet spy agencies, Hanssen made a risky approach to the GRU, with whom he had not been in contact in ten months. The ensuing investigation confirmed this suspicion. He is a public speaker and security When O'Neill could briefly obtain Hanssen's PDA and have agents download and decode its encrypted contents, the FBI had decisive evidence. Once there, he would turn them loose and begin a human hunting expedition. He also independently disclosed the identity of two KGB officials who, first compromised by Aldrich Ames, had been recruited by the U.S. Government to serve as agents in place at the Soviet Embassy in Washington. Once he got caught, the only thing he cared about was trying to provide for his wife and his children, who visit him regularly in prison, Brookner said. A turning point came in 2000, when the FBI and CIA were able to secure original Russian documentation of an American spy who appeared to be Hanssen. I take solace and satisfaction, however, that the FBI succeeded in this investigation. The agents working for him reported this breach to a supervisor, but no action was taken. Instead, the 57-year-old defendant will be sentenced to life in prison without parole if he honors his pledge to tell the government all the secrets behind his two-decade career as a Russian spy. Hanssen ensured that he did not reveal himself with his study, but in addition, he gave the entire studyincluding the list of all Soviets who had contacted the FBI about FBI molesto the KGB in 1988. Today, Mrs. Hanssen is teaching at a Catholic school in suburban Virginia and is living in the house she shared with her husband and their six children. I am shamed by it," Hanssen told U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton. Hanssen's three sons attended The Heights School in Potomac, Maryland, an all-boys preparatory school. Throughout his spying, Hanssen remained anonymous to the Russians. Director Tenet and I have briefed the intelligence committees of Congress because of the clear national security implications. He was paid handsomely by the Soviets. This included all the FBI activities related to wiretapping and electronic surveillance, which were Hanssen's responsibility. Robert Christian Boes Hansen was born in Estherville, Iowa, at Coleman Hospital on February 15, 1939, the elder of two children to an American mother and a Danish father. Please be aware how deeply Mrs. Hanssen regrets the damage that her husband, Robert Hanssen, has caused to our country and to their family, the statement said. The information he delivered compromised numerous human sources, counterintelligence techniques, investigations, dozens of classified U.S. government documents, and technical operations of extraordinary importance and value. We particularly appreciate the unhesitating leadership and support of Attorney General Ashcroft from the moment he took office. The complaint alleges that he received over $600,000. Marriage: Bernadette Bonnie (Wauck) Hanssen (August 10, 1968-present), Children: Lisa, Greg, Mark, John Jack, Sue and Jane, Education: Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, A.B. In the 1990s, after the arrest of Aldrich Ames, the FBI and CIA realized that a mole within the intelligence community was still sharing classified information with the Russians. Wauck also knew that the FBI was hunting for a mole and spoke with his supervisor, who took no action. She supports the plea agreement and agrees that the sentence of life in prison without parole, rather than the death penalty, is appropriate in these circumstances.. January 12, 2001 - Hanssen is reassigned from counterintelligence to an obscure office at FBI headquarters. Hanssen parked on a residential street and walked down a wooded path to a footbridge with the classified materials wrapped in a plastic bag. Hanssen's jailers allowed him to watch this movie, but he was so angered by it that he turned it off. At least two movies have been made about Hanssen. He married Bernadette Wauck in 1968 and, influenced by his devout Catholic wife, he converted to Catholicism. The FBI waited two more days to see if any of Hanssen's SVR handlers would show up at Foxstone Park. As Director of the FBI, I am proud of the courageous men and women of the FBI who each day make enormous sacrifices in serving their country. [36], IT personnel from the National Security Division's IIS Unit were sent to investigate Hanssen's desktop computer after a reported failure. When told that he would have to take a lie detector test to join, Hanssen changed his mind. When they failed to appear, the Justice Department announced the arrest on February 20. She told Sergeant Flothe (the man who played a pivotal role in Hansens capture) that their income streams were separate and that Hansen would spend the money from the bakery on his own needs. "Once he got caught, the only thing he cared about was trying to provide for his wife and his children," who visit him regularly in prison, Brookner said. He had been married twice, and fathered children. July 6, 2001 - Pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty. Instead, he ultimately became the most damaging spy in. They paid $7 million to KGB agent Alexandr Shcherbakov[43] who had access to a file on "B". He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. 1979 - Begins spying for the Soviet Union. Some promising suspects were cleared, and the mole hunt found other penetrations, such as CIA officer Harold James Nicholson. "I apologize for my behavior. He once said in a letter to the KGB that it should emulate the management style of Mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daleya comment that easily could have led an investigator to look at people from Chicago. Hanssen allegedly began spying for the Soviets in 1985 when, in his first letter to the KGB, he volunteered information that compromised several sensitive techniques. He was sentenced to life in prison. As an agency, we lived up to our responsibility, regardless of how painful it might be. In school, he was bullied for his acne, girls would not talk to him, and he also developed a stutter. As alleged, he did so using a variety of sophisticated means of communication, encryption, and dead drops. The Russians then filed an official protest with the State Department, believing Hanssen to be a triple agent. Hanssen disclosed this information to the Soviets in September 1989 and received a $55,000 payment the next month, equivalent to $120,232 in 2021. I dont think there was anybody more shocked by all this, Brookner said. [25] That same year, Hanssen, according to a government report, committed a "serious security breach" by revealing secret information to a Soviet defector during a debriefing. He established contact with the SVR (the successor to the Soviet-era KGB) during the autumn of 1999. The news that he used to literally hunt women and kill them after sexually assaulting them sent shockwaves through the state of Alaska, and on occasion, even beyond its borders. Ames was arrested in 1994. Hanssen restarted communications the next year and continued until his arrest. His twenty two years of espionage against the US began in 1979. Although Hanssen was unaware of it, Ames had already exposed all three agents earlier that year. [70] Hanssen gave her money, jewels, and a used Mercedes-Benz but ended contact with her before his arrest when she began abusing drugs and doing sex work. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. For more than a decade, Hansen had been luring sex workers into his vehicle or home with the promise of an easy transaction. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested and charged with committing espionage on behalf of Russia and the former Soviet Union. [54], With the representation of Washington lawyer Plato Cacheris, Hanssen negotiated a plea bargain that enabled him to avoid the death penalty in exchange for cooperating with authorities. The complaint, however, does not allege any compromises by him at the State Department. His father served on the police force in Chicago and was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II when Hanssen was born. Through Attorney General John Ashcroft, I would like to thank the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Asked what Bonnie Hanssen thinks may have motivated her husband, Brookner said: Who knows? The agencies initially focused primarilyand incorrectlyon a veteran CIA case officer, who was investigated for nearly two years.
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