(HONOLULU) — Bail was denied Monday for the wife of a U.S. defense contractor accused of stealing the identity of a dead child, as well as conspiracy, according to her attorney.
Walter Glenn Primrose, 66, and Gwynn Morrison, 66, were indicted for conspiracy against the U.S. government, aggravated identity theft and making false statements in the application and use of a passport, federal court documents show.
The Hawaii couple pleaded not guilty in federal court on Aug. 2. They both will be held behind bars without bail, a judge ruled. Primrose was denied bail last month.
In court documents, prosecutors allege that Primrose and Morrison stole the identities of two Texas infants, Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague, both born in the late 1960s.
Primrose, aka Bobby, and Morrison, aka Julie, “assumed the identities of deceased American-born infants and have been fully living in these fraudulently assumed identities since 1987,” an affidavit in the complaint shows.
During a hearing last month, U.S. attorneys accused Primrose of abruptly leaving Texas in 1987 after assuming Bobby’s identity. The couple reportedly told a family member that they were entering the Witness Protection Program.
The real Bobby Edward Fort died in 1967 from asphyxia, while the real Julie Lyn Montague died in 1968, according to the complaint.
Unlike Primrose — who identified himself as Walter Primrose and accepted that identity at last week’s bail hearing — Morrison insisted that her name was Julie Lyn Montague.
According to an affidavit, Primrose told a family member that he worked for a government agency and wasn’t allowed to share photos of himself.
Prosecutors argued Primrose should be denied bail because they said the defendants might have “troubling foreign connections,” ABC News learned.
U.S. attorneys said witness interviews in Texas and Hawaii revealed that the couple “had a longstanding interest in espionage issues.”
Prosecutors also say searches of their home revealed maps of military bases, coded messages, sets of invisible ink and photos of them dressed up in KGB military outfits.
The U.S. attorneys said forensic experts believe the photos were taken in the 1980s. Defense attorneys claimed the outfits were a costume.
Prosecutors said that after their arrest, while left in a room alone, Primrose and Morrison allegedly referenced things related to espionage.
Primrose enrolled in the U.S. Coast Guard using fake documents in 1994 and served until 2016, court documents allege. Since then, he has been a Department of Defense contractor with access to military installations, according to court documents.
Defense attorneys pointed out that their clients have not been charged with anything related to espionage but only “white collar” crimes related to identity fraud.
Morrison’s attorney, Megan Kau, and Primrose’s attorney, Maximilian Mizono, did not have a comment when reached, respectively, by ABC News.
Both will go to trial on Sept. 26.
ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.
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