The State - News from Sept. 27, 1985

Government prosecutors agreed to turn over to the defense the names of two confidential informants used to support issuance of a search warrant in the case against spy suspect Jerry Whitworth, a retired Navy radio man charged with stealing American military secrets for the Soviet Union. The two informants were identified in court only as being from the East Coast and associated with the case against John A. Walker Jr., alleged mastermind of the spy ring, which has been described by the government as one of the most damaging espionage operations against the United States in three decades. The agreement came during a pretrial hearing in San Francisco federal court during which Whitworth, 46, lost a bid to learn the identity of a third informant, who has been described only as “a friend.”