Preparations for the trial of Penkovsky and Wynne took six months. Everything – the questions and the expected answers – were carefully rehearsed.
Court proceedings began in open session on Tuesday 7 May 1963 with Penkovsky standing accused of treason and Wynne of assisting him. About 300 selected Soviet citizens and some authorised diplomats and journalists were present.
The trial lasted five days. Penkovsky admitted his guilt and stuck to the script throughout. Wynne maintained he knew nothing of Penkovsky’s treachery – if, indeed, Penkovsky was passing secrets – and acted, perhaps naively, as an innocent messenger. He strayed from the script, but to no avail.
Penkovsky’s behaviour was controlled and professional throughout. He showed no nerves, no fear and little emotion. Much of the detail of the espionage evidence against him had come from Penkovsky himself during pre-trial interrogation. With regard to character and motivation he maintained he was driven solely by his desire for Western luxuries and alcohol, not by any political motive. He had never – he said – had any difference of opinion with the party or the government. He admitted to some dalliances with women, but denied the extensive philandering of which he stood accused. He loved his wife and two daughters.
The court questioned Penkovsky on strained relationships between the CIA and MI6, asking if he had ever met separately with the CIA debriefing team. He admitted that there had been one such meeting, in Paris. It had been very informal, and he claimed that the American team had expressed regret at having to share him with the British.
The third day (Thursday) was a closed session with the public and press excluded. There was also a closed session on the morning of the fifth and final day (Saturday). At no time during the open sessions were the names of any senior Soviet officials such as Varentsov and Serov mentioned.
On the Saturday afternoon both men were found guilty. Penkovsky was sentenced to death by firing squad and Wynne to eight years’ detention.
Officially, Penkovsky was executed by gunshot in Lubyanka Prison in Moscow on 16 May 1963. Within a few days, however, it was rumoured that he had not been shot but tied to a stretcher and burned alive as a graphic warning to other potential defectors, and that his ashes had been thrown into a mass grave at Donskoi Monastery cemetery in Moscow. The Soviet authorities did nothing to confirm or deny this rumour.