Cabin 13: A True Crime Podcast

Case 026: USA v. Jonathan and Diana Toebbe

Cabin 13

December 20, 2020. An attaché to the FBI took custody of a package that had been sent to a foreign government. This mailing contained restricted documents belonging to the United States Navy.

The unidentified sender of these documents had two goals: the first was to establish a covert relationship with this foreign government. The second was to sell classified information regarding nuclear-powered submarines.

What sounds like the beginning of a spy movie was in reality much more mundane: a very smart couple doing very stupid things. 

Art
 "Brown Wooden House" by Johannes Plenio

Music
 "Tumbleweed Texas" by Chris Haugen

Sources

  1. “How a Mom & Dad Nuclear Spy Couple Used Sock Codes & Peanut Butter ‘Dead Drops’” by Caroline Byrne, spyscape.com.
  2. “Diana Toebbe: Harsher sentence for wife of spy convicted in US” by BBC News.
  3. “Maryland Nuclear Engineer and Wife Sentenced for Espionage-Related Offenses” by the Department of Justice (justice.gov)
  4. “Judge Gives Long Sentence to Couple Who Tried to Sell Submarine Secrets” by Julian E. Barnes, The New York Times.
  5. “Wife of Navy nuclear engineer in spy case pleads guilty” by Caitlin Yilek and Robert Legare, CBS News.
  6. “The FBI is still looking for a trove of nuclear sub secrets in an espionage case” by Ryan Lucas, KUOW.
  7. “U.S. naval engineer charged with submarine espionage to remain in jail” by Jan Wolfe, Reuters.
  8. “Couple accused in submarine espionage case indicted” by The Associated Press.
  9. “The Pathetic Details at the Heart of the Suburban Couple Spy Case” by Fred Kaplan, Slate
  10. “Spies next door? The suburban US couple accused of espionage” by Edward Helmore, The Guardian
  11. “Diana Toebbe & Jonathan Toebbe: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know” by Tom Cleary, heavy.com.
  12. “United States of America v. Jonathan Toebbe and Diana Toebbe” by the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (justice.gov)