PRE DIS

Washington – The U.S. Marshals Service is selling a single family home in Montclair, N.J., whose previous owners were part of a Russian spy ring busted by the FBI in 2010.

Richard and Cynthia Murphy were the names used by the two Russian spies who lived in the Montclair house. FBI Agents and analysts watched these and eight other deep-cover operatives for years as they established themselves in the U.S. and went about leading seemingly normal lives — getting married, buying homes, raising children and assimilating into American society.

The house is listed for sale at $444,900 through Fast Track Real Estate Co. of Waldwick, N.J. Built in 1950, the 1,830 square-foot house has four bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, a recently-updated kitchen, a garage and an unfinished basement. The lot backs to open space. The listing is online at http://tinyurl.com/spyhouse.

The house for sale at 31 Marquette Rd., Montclair, N.J.

Fraudulent documents and other images from the FBI investigation into
Richard and Cynthia Murphy
For more information on the FBI Russian spy case:
http://vault.fbi.gov/ghost-stories-russian-foreign-intelligence-service-illegals/

FURTHER READING

We can’t believe our friends are Russian spies, Richard and Cynthia Murphy’s N.J. neighbors say
BY BILL HUTCHINSON / DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2010, 4:00 AM

Neighbor’s photos of accused Russian spies Richard and Cynthia Murphy and their family.

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Richard and Cynthia (below) interact with their children.

CLICK IMAGE FOR MORE PICS OF SUSPECTED RUSSIAN SPIES RICHARD AND CYNTHIA MURPHY.
They were the best of friends. The two couples hiked, had barbecues and birthday parties with each other, and their children loved playing together.

But one of the families in this comfortable New Jersey life had a secret.

Richard and Cynthia Murphy were charged this week with living deep undercover to spy for Russia – an astonishing accusation in a post-Cold War era.

It was even more astonishing to a pair of their closest friends, who agreed to tell their story to the Daily News.

“We’re like, ‘Holy crap, this is Cyndy and Rick Murphy,” said the husband.

“Then we contact the FBI, and they corroborate all this … but it’s still so surreal. We were stunned.”

The couple, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they still can’t believe the people they palled around with nearly every weekend for two years were agents for the Kremlin.

“While we were in Hoboken, we were probably one of their closest friends,” the husband said.

“They’d baby-sit our kids. I kind of realized the other day that they never really let us baby-sit their kids – which, thinking back now, I can probably see why.”

Never once did they think the Murphys were into cloak-and-dagger espionage that included secret codes and money drops with shadowy Russian cohorts.

“I’m almost wondering if they got caught up in a situation that they didn’t know how to get out of, a situation they didn’t really want to be in but were forced to,” the husband said.

“My wife and I keep thinking this is all wrong, that they have the wrong people.”

The couple said they met the Murphys in 2003 when they moved into a Hoboken apartment complex.

“We were neighbors and we just kind of ran into them one day and just hit it off,” said the husband, who works in finance. “They seemed like a decent young couple.

“We just became good family friends, and their kids hung out with our kids. We’d have them over and they’d have us over. We had dinners together. We’ve had barbecues together out on our back patio.”

The couple’s photo album contains snapshots of the couples hiking a snowy trail at Turtleback Park in New Jersey, ice-skating together and celebrating the birthday of one of the Murphys’ young daughters at a Hoboken toy store in 2004. “I look back at it now and think, ‘We let them watch our kids!’ Russian spies watching our kids,” the husband said.

Richard Murphy told the couple he was attending school to study international affairs and politics. Cynthia Murphy worked at a finance company.

The Murphys gave all indications they were devoted to each other and their two daughters, Katie and Lisa, the couple said.

A federal complaint suggested the Murphys may never have been married at all – their entire lives, including their daughters, a ruse to cover up their real mission.

“They weren’t all lovey, touchy-feely, but who is nowadays?” the husband said. “They seemed like a normal couple. They loved their kids. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company; they’d laugh a lot.

“She was a great cook. She made us cakes and lasagna. She once made these cookies that were shaped like the Statue of Liberty and a New York taxicab.”

The couple moved out of state in 2006, but the wife and Cynthia Murphy continued to correspond via e-mail.

A day after the Murphys moved into their new home in Montclair, N.J., in August 2008, Cynthia Murphy sent the couple an e-mail sharing the news. “Goodbye Hoboken,” she wrote. “We even have one spare bedroom for a playroom/guest bedroom if you’re ever on the East Coast and would like to come visit.”

The couple last heard from the Murphys in December, when they received a Christmas card that featured a family photo taken in front of their new home.

“Looking back at it, it seems just weird,” the husband said. “Was it all fake? It must have been all fake, or, like I said, they just got caught up into something didn’t know how to get out of.”

The wife added, “I feel betrayed.”

The couple said they fear what might happen to the Murphys’ young girls.

“When I was talking to the FBI guy last night, I said, ‘Where’s Katie and Lisa?’ I told him if they don’t have a place to stay, send them down to us and we’ll take care of them, and we would in a heartbeat,” the husband said.

The couple said they are racking their brains to determine if they divulged anything that was helpful to the Murphys’ covert mission.

“I’m wondering did I see a van parked outside of our house that was the FBI staking them out, did I say anything about my time on the New York Stock Exchange,” the husband said.

“How does it make us feel?” he added. “Like pawns.”

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Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/friends-russian-spies-richard-cynthia-murphy-n-neighbors-article-1.185243#ixzz2QeaUv3wE