Who was Robert Hanssen married to? Family life explored as former FBI agent turned Russian spy dies aged 79

Spy for Soviet and Russian intelligence services Robert Hanssen passed away on Monday at the age of 79. He was discovered dead in a Colorado supermax prison cell.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons stated that Robert was discovered unresponsive on Monday morning at the United States Penitentiary. The statement revealed that the staff members tried to revive him, and emergency medical services later arrived at the spot. Robert had been serving his sentence at the ADX Florence since 2002.

Robert pleaded guilty in 2001 to selling classified information to the Soviet Union and Russia in exchange for diamonds, cash, and foreign bank deposits worth $1.4 million. He married Bernadette Hanssen in 1986, and they had six children.

He provided information on human resources, counterintelligence techniques, and investigations, alongside plans by the US for nuclear war and a secret eavesdropping tunnel under the Soviet embassy in Washington, DC.

According to the FBI, Hanssen was one of the most "damaging spy in Bureau history." They also revealed that he used encrypted methods and other methods to hand over information to the KGB and its successor agency, SVR, since 1985.

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Robert Hanssen was the father of six children

Robert Hanssen's family were residents of the Norwood Park neighborhood. His father was employed at the Chicago Police Department, and Robert was reportedly a victim of his abuse when he was a kid.

Hanssen first went to William Howard Taft High School, where he obtained his graduation. He then obtained a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1966 from Knox College.

Hanssen soon developed an interest in business, and in 1971, he acquired his MBA in accounting and information systems. Although he joined an accounting firm, he resigned and joined as an internal affairs investigator in the Chicago Police Department. He then joined the FBI in 1976.

Robert tied the knot with Bernadette Hanssen in August 1968 and converted to Catholicism. The duo became the parents of six children: Greg, Jane, John, Lisa, Mark, and Sue. All his kids were related to the Catholic fraternal order called Opus Dei. The kids attended schools associated with Opus Dei.

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Robert Hanssen's work as a spy over the years

Robert Hanssen was arrested in 2001 and he pleaded guilty the same year (Image via RonMilnerBoodle/Twitter)

After joining the FBI in 1976, Robert Hanssen worked at their field offices in Gary, Indiana, and New York. He joined the counter-intelligence division, where he got the job of organizing data from Soviet intelligence.

He then got in touch with the GRU, a Soviet military intelligence agency for espionage, in 1979 and provided data about FBI activities and suspected Soviet intelligence spies. He joined the Budget Unit of the FBI in 1981 and was able to get access to more FBI activities.

Hanssen then came to the Soviet Analytical Unit, which started digging in to find and capture Soviet agents in the US. He began working as a Soviet spy in October 1985 and revealed the names of three KGB agents who were serving the FBI, and he received $500,000 along with jewelry in exchange.

Robert Hanssen continued working as a spy but discontinued it in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. He contacted the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service in 1999 and provided secret information about US intelligence and counterintelligence operations to Russia.

The FBI was already searching for a defector at the time, and although their suspect was a CIA officer, they turned their focus on Robert when a Russian defector leaked details about him. Hanssen was brought back to the FBI headquarters in 2001 and was arrested the same year when he was keeping a bag that had information for a Russian handler.