Bobby Edward Fort was 27 when he enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1994 and retired 22 years later with a secret security clearance that allowed him to find work in Honolulu as a defense contractor. But in reality, Bobby Fort was long dead. He was just 3 months old when he drowned and died in a Texas hospital in 1967. Coast Guard enlisted man Bobby Fort had stolen the dead baby’s identity 35 years earlier. A fake birth certificate helped him obtain five passports, driver’s licenses and Department of Defense credentials. The scam came to light last week. On Thursday, the man who authorities said had posed as Fort was before a judge, who asked him to give his name: “Walter Glenn Primrose,” the 66-year-old said. Primrose was ordered held without bail by a U.S. District Court judge after a prosecutor provided new details about how he and his wife fraudulently lived for decades under the stolen identities of two dead Texas infants. While the hearing deepened the mystery of why the couple lost their pasts, it provided little clarity on whether the case against them goes beyond stolen identity, although a prosecutor suggested they could have ties abroad. “We believe that the defendant is obviously quite adept at impersonating other people, obtaining identification documents, fraud, evading detection,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Myers said. “He might — we’re not saying for sure — but he might have some disturbing foreign connections. And if he does, he might be able to use them to get help.” A search of the couple’s home in Hawaii turned up faded Polaroids of the two wearing jackets that appeared to be authentic Russian KGB uniforms, Myers said. An expert determined that the snapshots were taken in the 1980s. The search also yielded an invisible ink kit, coded language documents and maps showing military bases, Myers said. When the pair were left in a room together, they were recorded saying “things consistent with espionage,” Myers said. Federal defender Craig Jerome said the government provided only “speculation and insinuation” that the pair were involved in something more nefarious than “purely non-violent white-collar crimes.” “If it wasn’t for the speculation that the government approved these procedures without providing any real evidence … he would certainly be released,” Jerome said. Prosecutors feared Primrose would flee if released. They noted in court documents that he was an avionics technician in the Coast Guard and that he would be very adept at communicating covertly if released. U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom Trader said he based his detention order on the alleged fraud “in multiple instances spanning a long period of time.” Morrison faces a bail hearing on Tuesday. Her lawyer said the couple – regardless of the names they used – had led law-abiding lives. Attorney Megan Kaw told The Associated Press that the couple posed for photos in the alleged KGB jacket for fun. “He wants everyone to know he’s not a spy,” Kau said. “This is all blown way out of proportion. It’s government overreach.” The couple’s story begins in Texas, where Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison went to high school and college together and married in 1980, according to court documents. In the early 1980s, they told the family they were going into the witness protection program before abruptly leaving their home and fleeing Texas, Myers said. They handed over the keys to their home in Nacogdoches and told family members to take whatever they wanted. The home was later foreclosed on. When they reappeared they had new names and different explanations of what happened. In 1987, Primrose took the identity of Fort, an infant who died in 1967 in Burnet, Texas. Morrison took the identity of Julie Lyn Montague, who died in 1968 in the same hospital as Fort. Primrose and Morrison, both born in 1955, were more than a decade older than the dates of birth listed on their new IDs. “The defendant and his wife allegedly told other associates that they had to change their names for legal and financial reasons,” Myers said. “And that in the future we can contact them using their new names, Fort and Montague.” At one point, Primrose told someone he was a government agent and couldn’t share photos of himself. The couple remarried under their assumed names in 1988, according to court records. Primrose had a long-standing interest in espionage, Myers said. His wife had anti-government and anti-military sentiments and an associate told him she lived in Romania when it was part of the communist bloc. Kaw denied that Morrison ever lived in Romania. The couple, arrested Friday at their home in Kapolei, are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States, making a false statement on a passport application and aggravated identity theft. They face up to 17 years in prison if convicted of all charges. Inside their home, investigators discovered correspondence in which an associate believed Primrose had joined the CIA or become a terrorist, Myers said. Morrison used her real name to open a PO box, where she told the family to contact her. When her father died, her family was unable to reach her and asked local law enforcement to locate her. “Even the defendant’s family can’t find him when they need him,” Myers said. —— Melley reported from Los Angeles
