David Greenglass, Rosenberg spy case witness, dies

FILE - In this April 26, 1956, file photo, David Greenglass sits beside Deputy U.S. Marshal Joseph Oreto, left, at the Senate Internal Security in Washington. The former Army sergeant and Los Alamos bomb project employee, whose testimony led to the conviction and execution of his sister, Ethel Rosenberg and brother-in-law, Julius Rosenberg, died on July 1. He was 92. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin, File) FILE - In this April 26, 1956, file photo, David Greenglass sits beside Deputy U.S. Marshal Joseph Oreto, left, at the Senate Internal Security in Washington. The former Army sergeant and Los Alamos bomb project employee, whose testimony led to the conviction and execution of his sister, Ethel Rosenberg and brother-in-law, Julius Rosenberg, died on July 1. He was 92. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin, File)

By Associated Press October 15, 2014 1 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – In 1953, at the height of the Cold War, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg died in the electric chair after being convicted of conspiring to pass secrets about the atomic bomb to the Soviets. The government’s star witness at their trial: Ethel’s own brother, David Greenglass.

On Tuesday, family members disclosed that Greenglass died in July in New York City at age 92.

He had served 10 years in prison for espionage followed by years of living in Queens under an assumed name.

Greenberg eventually admitted that he had lied on the stand against his sister.

The Rosenbergs’ sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol, took on the surname of their adoptive parents after the deaths of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.