Robert Hanssen: 'He wanted to be James Bond, and he thought they'd made him a ... trends now
A FBI 'spycatcher' who helped secure the conviction of one of America's most infamous traitors has expressed sadness at his death, saying he had hoped to confront him one final time.
Robert Hanssen was found dead in his cell in the Colorado supermax on Monday, aged 79.
A FBI agent, he had been convicted of spying for Russia in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison. His downfall rocked the intelligence community and shocked the country.
Hanssen, a counterintelligence supervisor, was a devout Catholic father of six, and a follower of the strict Opus Dei group.
Yet it emerged that he was a sexual deviant who invited his best friend to watch him have sex with his wife on a secretly installed television system she never knew about. He sent nude photos of her to the same friend, and used to prowl strip clubs, where he tried to convert strippers to Catholicism. In particular, he spent time with a stripper named Priscilla Sue Galey, giving her money, jewels and a Mercedes-Benz.
A psychiatrist hired by Hanssen's defense team to examine him said his sexual perversions were part of a psychological disorder.
Robert Hanssen (left) was serving 15 consecutive life sentences in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to espionage charges. Eric O'Neill (right) helped convict him
FBI agents are pictured arresting Hanssen near his Virginia home in February 2001
FBI agents are seen here sealing off Hanssen's home before searching it for further evidence
Following Hanssen's death, the man who held the key to his downfall said he regretted not being able to ask him why he betrayed the United States.
'I just heard that the FBI's most damaging spy Robert Hanssen, code name: Gray Day, passed away in his jail cell today,' tweeted Eric O'Neill.
'This closes the door on a huge moment in my life. I had hoped to confront him one last time, face to face.'
O'Neill was a 27-year-old FBI newcomer when his boss assigned him, in 2001, to spy on Hanssen - who by then was suspected of leaking top secret information to Russia.
O'Neill told The Washington Post that he was still processing Hanssen's death.
Asked why Hanssen did it, O'Neill said Hanssen was a patriot but also a disgruntled employee.
Hanssen was not well paid, and raising six children took its toll. He ws paid $1.4 million, and given diamonds, by his Russian handlers.
But part of his motivation was pride: He wanted to be a field agent, instead of a desk-bound analyst.
Hanssen negotiated a plea deal to share information with agents so that he did not receive the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole
FBI agents are pictured removing evidence of Hanssen's espionage from his Virginia home
He began his espionage operation just three years after being hired by the FBI and continued until shortly before his planned retirement
O'Neill said on Monday he was still processing Hanssen's death
O'Neill and Hanssen's story was turned into a 2007 film, Breach
'He wanted to be James Bond, and he thought they'd made him a librarian,' O'Neill said.
O'Neill worked closely with Hanssen, observing him and trying to confirm the rumor of him being on Moscow's payroll.
Their story was turned into a 2007 film, Breach, starring Ryan Philippe as O'Neill and Chris Cooper as Hanssen.
As time went by, O'Neill realized that Hanssen was always with his PalmPilot, and so began to suspect that that held vital
