Now available:
Charming single-family home, 4BR, 1 1/2 baths, attached garage, unfinished basement. Great fixer upper potential. Previously owned by Russian spies.
The former Montclair, N.J., home of Richard and Cynthia Murphy, aka Vladimir Guryev and Lidiya Guriyeva, is on the market. The “Murphys” were part of the so-called Illegals ring of Russian spies that the FBI busted back in 2010. The couple assimilated into American life, raised two girls. Mrs. and Mrs. M were actually arrested in this house, though that should hardly depress the market value. It’s listing for $444,900. Twenty-four hour surveillance and FBI wiretapping does not convey.
The current owners, the U.S. Marshals Service, are ditching the 1,830 square-foot two-story as part of the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Program.
We wrote about the Russian spy ring in the magazine after learning that one of our staff writers was subletting an apartment from a member of the outfit, Mikhail Semenko.
When the Murphys were hauled off by the feds, the neighbors on tree-lined Marquette Rd. were amazed to hear who was living in number 31. “They couldn’t have been spies,” one neighbor jokingly told the New York Times. “Look what she did with the hydrangeas.”
Sadly, the Marshals Service is not known for its horticultural prowess, so the flower beds may need a little TLC.
