US retracts statement that alleged Russian spies in Hawaii used additional aliases

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The U.S. government is retracting its statement that a Hawaii couple accused of being Russian spies were using additional aliases.

Earlier, the government argued the couple — Walter Glenn Primrose, also known as Bobby Edward Fort, and Gwynn Darle Morrison, also known as Julie Lyn Montague — likely had other aliases.

On Friday, Morrison’s attorney Megan Kau filed a motion as a supplement to a motion and joinder to revoke the detention order so the couple can post bond until their trial. It said the defendants received an email from the government addressing the retraction.

The email noted the government retracts the argument that Primrose and Morrison were using additional aliases and that two individuals said those “references” were nicknames and the product of inside jokes.

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In the motion, Kau said “these spy allegations have damaged the defendants’ reputations, have caused them to be held without any basis, and have been reported on internationally.”

Primrose and Morrison are accused of stealing the identities of dead babies from Texas in the 1980s, and living under those names for decades. Primrose served nearly two decades under a different name in the Coast Guard.

Federal agents also recently seized the suspected KGB uniform seen in photos worn by the Kapolei couple.

Both are charged with identity theft, lying on their passport applications, and conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States.

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