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Show oeraes The Salt Lake Tribune NATION Sunday, March11, 2001 Espionage Arrests Devastate Accused Agents’ Families Utah woman knowsgrief wifeof latest alleged spy maybe experiencing husbandbutalso his paycheck and his future retirement income, which would be forfeited if he is convicted of espionage. She could even lose her home,cars and other assets if the government can show they were paidfor by spy income. BY MEGAN GARVEY LOS ANGELES TIMES WASHINGTON — WhenRobert Philip Hanssen was arrested two weeks ago andcharged with spying for Russia, his FBI colleagues were astonished that the alleged espionage had gone undetected for 15 years. They weren't the only ones. By all accounts, Bonnie Hanssen — his wife ofnearly 30 years — didn’t find out until agents reported catching her husband climbing under a footbridge in a park near their home, secret documents in That morning, the 54-year-old Bonnie lived a quietlife as a deeply religious housewife and mother of six. By bedtime, she was the newest memberofthe sorrowful sorority ofaccused spies’ wives. “Everything you've ever known suddenly is not true,” said Paula Hill, whose first husband, Richard Miller, was the first FBI agent ever accused of espionage. “My husband, my church, my government —evel was thrown upinthe air, and I had to go put the puzzle pieces back together.” For Bonnie Hanssen,the pieces now maynotseem to haveeverfit together. According to correspondence released by federal law enforcementofficials, the man who faithfully attended church by her side was at the sametimepledging fidelity to the godless Soviet governmenthalf a world away. Now she maylose not only her That could leave Bonnie Hanssen, who works part time at the Catholic girls’ school that her ae child attends, in dire Tigh the governmentalleges that Robert Hanssen, 56, received $1.4 million in cash and diamonds from Moscow for betraying U.S. secrets, neighbors say the Hanssens did not lead a lavish life. They drove older cars‘and lived in a splitlevel house where their children shared bedrooms. Summer vacations were usually road trips to Florida to see the paternal grandparents. Bonnie Hanssen, they say, was traditional to the pointof standing out, a throwback to days when wives deferred to their husbands. Other than an appearance at her husband’s arraignment Feb. 20 — during which the two did not speak — Bonnie Hanssen has remained in seclusion and has not spoken publicly. But her mother knows whatsheis going through. “My daughter has suffered a crushing blow,” Frances Wauck said. “We've known this man for 35 years. It’sjust absolu.ely awful. We are in shock.” As her husband’s lawyers seek the best defensefor the 25-year FBI veteran, Bonnie Hanssen has had to get legal counsel of her own. Evenif she is cleared of any involvement — as her lawyer says she will be — thefallout for Bonnie and hersix children, two of them still in high school, will last a lifetime. No one, say the women who have lived through similar nightmares, will have a harder time than Bonnie Hanssen }orself in struggling with this .uestion: How, assuming her husband's guilt, could she not have known? Psychologists say the side of himself that Hanssen appears to have kept from his wife may not have beendifficultto conceal. “This would be easier to keep secret than when one partneris having an affair,” said Steve Brody, a psychologist in private practice in Northern California. “If there is already this assumption that you don’t ask questions about his job, it wouldn't be hard for him to avoid at all. How is anybody supposed to know he is a double spy?” If, as friends and family have said, Bonnie Hanssen had no idea that something was amiss with her husband,she wouldbe rare among the wives of accused spies. Although Paula Hill was blindsided by chargesthat her first husband was involved in a sexual affair with a female Soviet agent, she was well awareofhis struggles at work. “T knew he was terrible agent and I knew that he had moral failings,” said Hill, who had eight children younger than 18 when her husbandwas arrested in 1984. Miller was sentenced in 1986 to 20 years for trading secrets for sex and the promise of $65,000. The sentence was later reduced, and he spentonly 8 years in prison. For Paula Hill — who heard the newsofHanssen’sarrest on the car knowing something was seriously wrong. “All day Sunday I laid on the bed andlooked at mylittle stucco ceiling, every peak and nook, and ate myself alive,” she said. “Tuesday, Richard’s boss came to meandsaid: “Your husband has been terminated and arrested. You will get one more paycheck.’ I knew,ofcourse.I'd been sick tomy stomach. I sat there and went through the wantads looking for a job.” In the months that followed, Hill's eldest son, Paul Miller, then 18, worked as a waiter at a country club, bringing home the only paycheck. She wenton welfare for six months until LDS Church officials Scientifically Prov Mier Meymehtits Treatmentof|: with Neck or Herniated and|: Low Back sienBeg Degenerative Discs |; west beara Baie STL ecdelae colMClLeela ccl re! Or No Charge NON-SURGICAL SPINAL DECOMPRESSION THERAPY IS THE SOLUTION FOR YOUR BACK PAIN PROBLEM! Call Now For A Peeleta ttsgel) * Degenerative Discs FREE CONSULTATION PeeBead BeetiC) ear No aes dicare Welcome 265-2700 ¢ Salt Lake County 265-2700 ¢ Davis County eyEe ee) Gm & Wellness Clinic radio on her wayto herjob teach- ing at a Utah high school — Bonnie Hanssen’s circumstances brought a flood of bad memories. She went through the motions at that period oftime,all the while ursing Home Costs Worry You? 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