William Perl
William Perl (1920–1970), whose original name was William Mutterperl,[1] was an American physicist and Soviet spy.
Background
While a student at the
Career
Following his doctoral work at Columbia, Perl returned to Cleveland to work on a
Rosenberg Case
In July 1950, Vivian Glassman, Barr's fiancée, visited Perl in Cleveland to give him $2,000, advising him to go to Europe. Unlike Barr and Sarant, Perl decided not to flee the country, perhaps thinking he might be able to salvage his career.
Rosenberg Grand Jury
Perl appeared before the Rosenberg Grand Jury in the summer of 1950, denying any relationship with Julius Rosenberg, Morton Sobell, Max Elitcher, Ann Sidorovich, and Michael Sidorovich. By August 29, 1950, Wise was advising Perl to cooperate.[5] On March 10, 1951, Wise and Perl met with FBI agents; Wise stated that Perl had paid him a "substantial fee" as retainer.[6][7] On March 15, 1951, Perl was arrested. In April 1951, FBI advised Wise that they would make no deal with Perl over a plea of perjury.[7] Wise argued that the Government lacked jurisdiction to indict, to no avail.[8] The Government delayed the trial in September 1951 due to Wise's illness.[7] In June 1952, Wise asked for a reduction in bail from twenty to five thousand dollars; the judge reserved the decision.[9] In December 1952, Wise asked for another deferral, as he would be in Florida for the winter; the judge decided to keep to resumption in February 1953. In March 1953, Wise again asked for deferral until after Wise's return from Florida on April 21, 1953, stating that Perl would otherwise ask for adjournment. On March 26, 1953, the Government agreed to resume on May 4, 1953. After his return in late April 1953, Wise "stated in strict confidence that he felt Perl should plead guilty and cooperate with Government in giving espionage into." By early May 1953, Wise reported that Perl remained unwilling to cooperate. On May 4, 1953, U.S. Judge Thomas Francis Murphy (government prosecutor in the Hiss Case) referred trial for instant case of perjury to Judge Sylvester J. Ryan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, to commence on May 19, 1953, with Lloyd McMahon and Robert Martin prosecuting and Raymond L. Wise and Stanley Kanavek defending.[10]
Trial
In court, the Government argued that Perl had knowingly lied that he knew
Venona
Perl is mentioned in 14 KGB messages decrypted by the Venona project, a joint British-American intelligence effort, under the covernames 'Gnome' and 'Jacob'.[12] One cable, dated 14 September 1944, requests a $500 bonus for Perl's information on a Westinghouse jet engine assembly.[13] John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr have suggested that data provided by him aided the Soviets in the unique tail-fin design of the MiG-15 fighter used in the Korean War.[14]
See also
- Atomic spies
- Julius Rosenberg
- Morton Sobell
- Raymond L. Wise
- Joel Barr
- Alfred Sarant
- Max Elitcher
References
- ISBN 9781936274253. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ^ Radosh and Milton, p. 117
- ^ "(Search on "Perl" + "Raymond Wise")". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ISBN 9780300072051. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ "FBI Records: The Vault: William Perl Part 02 of 23". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ TRIALS: Off Base TIME 1 June 1953.
- ^ a b c "FBI Records: The Vault: William Perl Part 03 of 23". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ "FBI Records: The Vault: William Perl Part 04 of 23". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ "FBI Records: The Vault: William Perl Part 07 of 23". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ "FBI Records: The Vault: William Perl Part 08 of 23". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ "FBI Records: The Vault: William Perl Part 09 of 23". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ Haynes and Klehr, p. 361, n.235
- ^ Sibley, p. 102
- ^ Haynes and Klehr, p. 10
External sources
- Douglas Linder, A Trial Account (2001)
- ISBN 0-300-07771-8.
- John Earl Haynes, "Cover Name, Cryptonym, CPUSA Party Name, Pseudonym, and Real Name Index. A Research Historian’s Working Reference" (revised February 2007), on the author's web site.
- ISBN 0-300-07205-8
- Katherine A. S. Sibley, Red Spies in America: Stolen Secrets and the Dawn of the Cold War, Wichita: University Press of Kansas, 2007. ISBN 0-700-61555-5