Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee Quiz

Answer: California

Boyce and Lee both came from affluent families who lived on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California near Los Angeles. They served as altar boys together and both shared an interest in falconry, although Boyce's interest in the birds went much further than Lee's.

Answer: Boyce

Adrift after graduating from high school and failing to complete his studies at several different colleges, Chris's father, a former FBI agent, got his son a job at TRW Defense and Space Systems Group. Chris quickly impressed his superiors with his job performance, and before long the 21-year-old was assigned to the Black Vault with top secret clearance from the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency and the CIA. Chris had, during his short life, already become disillusioned with his faith and with his country in the aftermath of Vietnam.

When Chris saw evidence that his government was reneging on agreements with allies, manipulating their governments, and meddling in their internal affairs, he became even more disenchanted with the government and decided that he had to strike back.

Answer: Soviet Union

While Boyce possessed a high IQ, he lacked direction. Lee, on the other hand, had barely graduated from high school and had quickly gotten involved in drug dealing for a living. Chris knew that outrage at the nation's corrupt morals would not motivate Daulton to sell out his country, but money would. They decided Daulton would approach the Russians at their embassy in Mexico City.

Answer: Spy satellite

TRW developed and manufactured satellites used by the CIA. At TRW, Boyce's duties in the Black Vault included operating cryptographic equipment which was used to pass on telex traffic from the CIA in Washington to other locations, such as the CIA installation in Australia.

The information sold was mostly cipher cards for the surveillance satellites used by the CIA, and information on Rhyolite and Argus, two surveillance satellite programs.

Answer: Mexico

Daulton was hesitant at first about the whole idea of selling secrets to the Russians. But after another arrest for drug dealing which could cause his return to prison, Daulton saw this as his chance to leave the country and also begin another money-making enterprise.

He continued his drug business while in Mexico, and even asked the Russians to help him out by carrying drugs in their diplomatic courier pouches, which they did not do.

Answer: False

Daulton was desperate for cash to make a large heroin buy, and wanted to make a sale to the Russians. But when the Russians failed to respond to his signal for a meeting, Daulton went to the Russian Embassy and attempted to get a message through the gates.

The Mexican police detained Lee when they saw him throw something through the gates, and arrested him after they discovered drugs on him. An American Embassy staff member leaving a meeting at the Soviet Embassy became involved and sent the appropriate personnel to talk to Daulton at the Mexican jail. Lee was accused of the murder of a policeman and questioned for days. Among Lee's possessions were negatives which read 'Top Secret' and 'Pyramider'.

The Mexican police had enlarged prints made from the negatives, which were shown to the US Embassy official. Lee explained that he was involved with the CIA in disseminating information to the Soviets. Two FBI agents paid a visit to Daulton and he made a statement discussing Chris Boyce and working for the CIA.

After being released by the Mexican police, Daulton had the choice to be deported to either Russia or the United States. He chose the United States and was taken in to custody as soon as he crossed the border. Chris had often wondered how they had been able to get away with their actions for so long, and contemplated running after he found out about Daulton's arrest. He figured the FBI would find him where ever he went, so he stayed put. Boyce had already resigned from TRW and had started back to college. He was arrested ten days after Daulton.

Answer: True

Prior to their arrests, tension had grown between Boyce and Lee. Boyce felt that Lee was not sharing all of the money paid by the Russians (this was confirmed by the Russians when Boyce made a visit to Mexico City), and Lee felt that Boyce was holding out on information and deliberately giving the Russians poor quality stuff. Lee's attorney, Ken Kahn, sought to have the cases separated, arguing that his client's interests differed from those of Chris Boyce.

The prosecution of Lee and Boyce very nearly didn't take place. Top secret information on the Rhyolite and Argus systems would have been made public had it been introduced as evidence, something the CIA and the NSA were not willing to do.

It was agreed that Boyce and Lee would be prosecuted using declassified portions of the Pyramider documents only.

Answer: He was involved in spreading disinformation

Both Lee and Boyce pleaded not guilty. Lee and his attorneys claimed that Chris Boyce was a CIA agent who had involved Lee in spreading disinformation to the Soviets. Lee conceded that Boyce had never told him he worked for the CIA, but he reasoned that they could not have gotten away with their crime for so long otherwise. Chris Boyce's defense mainly consisted of his allegations that the information they were selling to the Soviets was outdated and overclassified, and he had sold information which wouldn't harm the United States. During his testimony on the stand, Boyce also claimed that Daulton had blackmailed him into being a spy.

Answer: Both were found guilty

Boyce was found guilty on all eight counts of espionage and conspiracy to commit espionage. He was sentenced to forty years in prison. Lee was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Boyce's lesser sentence is contributed to his sentence being considered under the Youth Act, his cooperation with the CIA about what information was sold to the Russians, and the fact that he had no criminal record. Lee's sentence was not considered under the Youth Act and he had numerous arrests in his past.

Answer: Boyce

Christopher Boyce escaped from Lompoc Correctional Institution in California in January 1980. He was recaptured by U.S. Marshals in August 1981 in Washington State.

Information for this quiz was gathered from Robert Lindsey's book "The Falcon and the Snowman". Lindsey also wrote "The Flight of the Falcon", detailing the search for Boyce after his escape.

Daulton Lee was paroled in 1998 at the age of 46. Christopher Boyce was paroled in March 2003 at the age of 50.