14 Facts About William Perl

William Perl, whose original name was William Mutterperl, was an American physicist and Soviet spy.

William Perl graduated with a degree in engineering in 1939, and in 1940 began working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at their Langley Army Air Base research facility in Hampton, Virginia.

In 1944 William Perl transferred to the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio.

William Perl was nearly given a position with the US Atomic Energy Commission when his connection with Barr and Sarant, suspected Communists, was turned up by a security check.

Unlike Barr and Sarant, William Perl decided not to flee the country, perhaps thinking he might be able to salvage his career.

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William Perl appeared before the Rosenberg Grand Jury in the summer of 1950, denying any relationship with Julius Rosenberg, Morton Sobell, Max Elitcher, Ann Sidorovich, and Michael Sidorovich.

On March 10,1951, Wise and William Perl met with FBI agents; Wise stated that William Perl had paid him a "substantial fee" as retainer.

In court, the Government argued that William Perl had knowingly lied that he knew Julius Rosenberg and Morton Sobell when they were all members of the Young Communists League or that he knew Helene Elitcher, Michael Sidorovich, or Anne Sidorvich.

Wise then argued that, earlier, William Perl had appeared voluntarily when answering, not as a defendant and not under oath.

On May 26,1953, in his summation, Wise argued that William Perl believed his answers true at the time he was answering.

William Perl had no motive to perjure himself; Wise asked for acquittal on all four perjury charges.

On May 22,1953, William Perl was found guilty on two counts of perjury for lying about his "acquaintance and association" with Rosenberg and Sobell.

William Perl served two concurrent five-year sentences at the New York House of Detention.

William Perl is mentioned in 14 KGB messages decrypted by the Venona project, a joint British-American intelligence effort, under the covernames 'Gnome' and 'Jacob'.