ATLANTA — A Georgia man who helped capture one of America’s most dangerous double agents is sharing more details on how he did it.
Aldrich Ames died in a Maryland prison last week at the age of 84. In 1994, he admitted to disclosing the identities of 10 Russian officials and one East European who were spying for the United States or Great Britain.
Now that Ames has died, Dell Spry is sharing his story only with Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne.
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Spry says that catching spies for the FBI was his calling in life.
“I love catching spies. I was good at it. I was good at identifying people who were spying,” he said.
Ames worked for the CIA when he leaked information to the Soviet Union.
Spry was the one who put the handcuffs on Ames when he was arrested on Feb. 21, 1994, in Arlington, Virginia.
“We jumped out our car, and I ran over and grabbed his arms,” he recalled. “As I was putting the handcuffs on him, I told him he was under arrest for espionage against the United States, and his voice just left him. He couldn’t breathe for a second.”
He says that when he put Ames in the back of his car, he started mumbling.
“We believe he was saying, ‘Think, think, think,’ and it’s like he was wondering, ‘How did they catch me?’” Spry said.
Spry says a weekly search of Ames’ garbage by himself and other agents turned up a ripped-up Post-it note discussing a future drop of information.
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He estimates the Soviets executed 10 people because of Ames’ information.
“We were honest to God, realistic, humanly sick and angry,” he said.
Spry says that Ames received millions of dollars and a dacha in Russia from the Soviets in exchange for his information.
“I believe in the power of Jesus Christ, and I believe that He told me you are the one I am choosing and I want you to find this man. I want you to take him to where he can’t kill other innocent people,” Spry said.
The former spy catcher told Winne that the Cold War may be over, but the danger of foreign espionage persists.
“The lesson, for this nation right now is, we haven’t got the last spy. You’ve got folks out there that they’re going, ‘We got him, we got the last spy.’ No sir, we don’t, not by a long shot,” Spry said.
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