Lonetree Liked Communism, Witness Says

A former Marine who served with Marine Sgt. Clayton Lonetree in Vienna testified today that he nearly came to blows with the accused spy when Lonetree told him he thought communism was better than democracy.

“Sergeant Lonetree was defending communism and fascism and was defending the communist system and Hitler’s system and Mussolini’s system,” J. R. Muldowney said.

The Marine Corps has charged Lonetree, 25, with supplying U.S. secrets to KGB agents after he became romantically involved with a Soviet woman while a guard at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow between 1984 and 1986.

Muldowney, now a civilian who had worked with Lonetree at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, also said Lonetree defended the KGB.

“I got the distinct feeling he thought the KGB was a superior intelligence system,” Muldowney said, adding that their discussion nearly escalated into a fight.

“He looked like he was frustrated, at the end of his rope and ready to come to blows,” Muldowney said.

Prosecutors contend that Lonetree, an American Indian, engaged in spying out of a deep hatred for the U.S. government’s treatment of Indians and a strong attraction to the communist system.

Defense attorneys maintain that Lonetree assumed a self-appointed role as a “free-lance double agent,” hoping to uncover what he thought was a spy ring.