407: Barry Colvert – John Walker Spy Ring Case, Early Days of FBI Polygraphs

In this episode of FBI Case File Review, retired agent and veteran polygraph examiner Barry Colvert reviews the over 20 polygraph exams he conducted on the John Walker spy ring case, beginning with Barbara Walker, John’s ex-wife who was almost dismissed as a drunken spouse seeking revenge for unpaid child support money and alimony, when she claimed John had been selling military secrets to the Soviet Union. That quirky beginning led to one of the most damaging losses and compromises to national security ever investigated. Barry got confessions from John Walker and his brother Arthur, and interrogated co-conspirators Jerry Whitworth and John’s son, Michael Walker. Barry also polygraphed John’s daughter, Laura, who declined her father’s proposals for her to commit espionage too.

John and Art Walker were both sentenced to life, and both died in prison in 2014. Jerry Whitworth, who went to trial, was sentenced to 365 years imprisonment and, as of the date of this episode, is still incarcerated. Michael Walker was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and, after serving 15-years, was released in 2000.

“The sexy part, the part that would be in the movie, that would be what you would’ve gotten from Joe Wolfinger. I wanna take you into the interview suite, the polygraph suite, so to speak, with three of the players. The big player is John Walker and his brother, Art. But the key really to this was the ex-wife, Barbara Walker.”—Retired Agent Barry Colvert

Special Agent (Retired)

Barry D. Colvert

1962 – 1997

Barry Colvert served in the FBI for 35 years. From 1962 to 1980, he worked criminal matters, fugitives, bank robberies, kidnappings, extortions, and a serial murder case in the Baltimore and New York Divisions and the  Washington Field Office, WFO, in D.C.

After 1980, he became the primary polygraph examiner and interrogator based out of WFO. He conducted examinations across the Bureau’s full jurisdiction—white-collar crime, political and public corruption, fraud, sexual offenses, homicide, counterintelligence, and espionage—and played key roles in landmark cases including the Walker family spy ring; Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard; Soviet spies Aldrich and Rosario Ames; East German spy Huseyin Yildirim; Hungarian spy Roderick Ramsay; and Greek spy Steven Lalas.

He was specially requested by Independent Counsel teams for Iran-Contra and the Raymond Donovan inquiries, contributed to the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing investigation, testified in the first federal “no-body” murder prosecution, and supported criminal, counterintelligence, and terrorism cases across the Far East, Europe, South America, and the former Soviet republics.

After retiring from the FBI, Colvert served as a polygraph consultant for federal and private attorneys on espionage, homicide, narcotics, white-collar crime, sexual offenses, political corruption, and Independent Counsel matters.

His high-profile work includes the Wen Ho Lee case; Ronald Carey and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Congressman Gary Condit in the Chandra Levy investigation; detainees at Guantanamo Bay; the exoneration of Thomas Haynesworth with the Innocence Project; the Albuquerque serial murder investigation; and sexual assault investigations involving Harvey Weinstein and Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. Barry D. Colvert – CV

The following are news articles and images related to the John Walker spy ring espionage investigation:

FBI Website|History – John Anthony Walker Jr. Spy Case

New York Times – 8/15/1985: U.S. SEEKING TO DETERMINE IF SPY HAD GREATER ROLE THAN THOUGHT

The Roanoke Times – 6/4/1995: SPY RING’S WALKER, 10 YEARS AFTER, STILL COLD WAR CAPTIVE

U.S. Naval Institute News – 9/2/2014: The John Walker Spy Ring and The U.S. Navy’s Biggest Betrayal

The Virginian-Pilot – 8/16/2020: Walker spy case remains legendary 35 years later

ABC News – 7/11/ 2001: Polygraphs Accurate But Not Foolproof

To learn more about the investigation, listen to episode 079: Joe Wolfinger – Family Espionage, John Walker Spy Ring.

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