The Spy Who Sold Codes and Cocaine | How to Free the FBI's Most Wanted | Episode 4

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This episode is the concluding story of Christopher Boyce (“The Falcon”) and Andrew Dalton Lee (“The Snowman”), two young Americans who sold US satellite secrets to the Soviets amid the turbulence of 1970s politics and personal rebellion. Through a rich conversation with Kate Mills Boyce—lawyer, author, and Christopher Boyce’s former wife—the show explores the aftermath of the original espionage, the battle against a harsh US justice system, the fight for parole, and their lives after the headlines. At its heart, the episode probes questions of justice, loyalty, redemption, and how personal narratives are shaped by both myth and reality.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of Kate Mills Boyce’s Involvement

• First Encounter: Kate, a young legal aid attorney, became interested after reading "The Falcon and the Snowman", especially noticing inconsistencies in Dalton Lee’s harsh sentence.
  • “I read it in one night because I couldn’t put it down… I was fascinated… by the way Andrew Dalton Lee was treated in the book. Here’s a man who didn’t testify, and he got a life sentence…” – Kate (04:27)
• Initial Correspondence: Kate wrote to Lee, leading to her eventual legal representation and personal bond (05:27).

2. Parole Battles and Legal Hurdles

• Federal Parole System: Despite both men being parolable under the law, Kate describes fighting institutional resistance, largely due to the “espionage” label.
  • “It’s like swimming against currents that are absolutely unreal… It’s about the basis of the crime. And it wasn’t the drug crimes. It was the espionage and the conspiracy to commit espionage.” – Kate (07:07)
• Personal Growth of Defendants: Both Lee and Boyce were young—Kate met Lee at 25, herself just 22. Their youth and lack of understanding of consequences are emphasized (07:52).

3. Relationship Between Boyce and Lee

• Breakdown: Their friendship fractured when Boyce testified against Lee, while Lee refused to implicate Boyce (09:19).
  • “The moment that friendship broke was when Chris Boyce testified against him. Dalton didn’t take the stand.” – Kate (09:19)
• Loyalty & Silence: Dalton never discussed Boyce, even with Kate as his lawyer (09:40).

4. The Hollywood Factor

• Impact of "The Falcon and the Snowman" Movie: The film complicated legal efforts by attracting unwanted publicity, which parole boards see as a negative.
  • “One of the things they grade on is publicity... If you keep hitting the newspapers and you keep doing interviews, you’re not getting paroled.” – Kate (13:06)
• Real vs. Hollywood Reality: Kate notes Sean Penn’s version of Lee was a caricature that didn’t match the real, fastidious man she knew (14:02).

5. Legal Breakthroughs and Parole Victories

• Dalton Lee’s Release: After almost 20 years of struggle, Kate wrote directly to the judge, supported by prosecutors, resulting in a rare letter on Lee’s behalf. (15:15 – 17:02)

  • Notable quote: “This is the first time in my entire career, my first time on the bench, that I’ve ever written a letter on behalf of an inmate. But I truly believe that Mr. Lee is not the same person that I sentenced in 1977.” – Judge Kelleher (16:39)

• Christopher Boyce’s Case: Kate resumed contact after freeing Lee, even as she battled cancer. Boyce had a much tougher legal road, with setbacks, solitary confinement, and supermax imprisonment (18:12 – 20:17).

• Parole Challenge and Groundbreaking Appeal: Kate discovered a crucial legal mistake: Boyce’s sentences for bank robbery were supposed to run concurrently, not consecutively, drastically reducing his time.

  • “It’s amazing that it took you to go in there and go back and say, well, no, look, this is what you said at the time.” – Host (26:14)
  • Kate’s successful appeal became a rare case of overturning a parole commission decision (26:50).

6. Navigating Personal and Professional Boundaries

• Kate and Boyce's Relationship: Their connection deepened during the struggle, blurring lines between legal work and romance, especially during Kate’s cancer treatments (22:35 – 23:44).
• Friendship with Dalton Lee: Dalton felt betrayed when Kate took Boyce’s case, showing the emotional costs of loyalty in high-stakes situations (21:26 – 22:15).

7. Was the Espionage Really That Damaging?

• Comparisons to Other Spies: With Boyce never swearing the government oath (unlike CIA and FBI spies Nicholson and Pitts) and the Soviets—according to a letter Kate received from the FSB—having no files or significant use for what was passed, the episode questions whether the “crime” justified the punishment (29:06 – 32:14).
  • “They not only didn’t have a damage assessment, they didn’t even have files on Chris and Dalton.” – Kate (31:19)

8. Life After Prison

• Adjustment to Normalcy: Upon Boyce’s release in 2002 after 25 years, the couple attempted to lead a quiet, unremarkable life, away from fame and notoriety. Yet, the shadow of the story—and the myth built by Hollywood and media—lingers.

  • “He went right back to falconry, I think, five minutes after he got off the plane… We bought a house. We had cars. We have dogs and falcons and chickens and everything that goes with it.” – Kate (33:47)

• Costs—Emotional, Physical, Financial: For Kate, the legal battle was pro bono and deeply personal, woven with her struggle with recurring cancer (34:44, 35:23).

9. Legacy and Public Fascination

• Public Memory and Modern Resonance: The story resurfaces with every new intelligence scandal—most notably Snowden—highlighting America’s ongoing struggle to understand whistleblowers, punishment, and redemption (37:19 – 38:07).
• Personal Perspective: Kate emphasizes the importance of moving forward: “I don’t live in the past. I live in the current time and hopes for the future…” (38:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “He was very personable... very intelligent. I think the original book… undercut that… He was a very brilliant man. Still is.” – Kate on Dalton Lee (06:31)
• “I have an extremely huge ego when it comes to this. I am not going to step back if I’ve started something. I see it through…” – Kate, on her commitment (20:46)
• “Cancer’s not a club I would have voluntarily joined, but I’ve learned a lot about myself and my own level of personal strength and perseverance…” – Kate (35:23)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:18] – Introduction to Kate Mills Boyce and how she met Dalton Lee
• [07:07] – Federal parole challenges and the weight of espionage
• [09:12] – The moment Boyce and Lee’s friendship ended
• [13:00] – The impact of the "Falcon and the Snowman" movie
• [15:19] – Dalton Lee’s early release, legal strategy, and judge’s support
• [18:12] – Kate reconnects with Boyce; her battle with cancer
• [20:44] – Taking on Boyce’s parole case as a new challenge
• [26:14] – Discovery that Boyce’s sentences were concurrent, not consecutive
• [29:06] – Importance of the Pitts and Nicholson cases
• [30:13] – The astonishing request for a damage report from the Russian FSB
• [32:14] – FSB (KGB) confirms to Kate there was essentially no intelligence impact
• [33:44] – Life after release: falconry, attempts at normality
• [35:23] – Kate’s health battles and personal reflections
• [37:19] – The story’s public afterlife and recurring interest
• [38:39] – Kate on living for the present and hopes for the future

Overall Tone & Style

While the conversation is deeply informative and at times technical, it is also intimate, candid, and often wry, especially from Kate. Host Charlie Higson is warm, respectful, and brings out both legal nuance and personal insight, blending the heavier historical elements with moments of levity.

Conclusion

This episode provides far more than a retelling of a Cold War spy scandal; it’s a meditation on youth, justice, and the complicated aftermath of notorious crimes. Through Kate Mills Boyce’s astonishing persistence, the limits and failings of the system are exposed, and the human dimension of those once-abstract names—Boyce and Lee—comes to the forefront. The line between crime and cause, loyalty and betrayal, myth and reality remains blurred, making the story as relevant as ever.

For those wanting a deeper understanding of what happens after the headlines fade, this episode is essential listening—though, as Kate hints, their story is never quite over.