Bryan Denson was a court reporter for The Oregonian newspaper in Portland. It could be mind-numbing work sitting in the cheap seats of the American justice system. But then one day he got a tip about an espionage case coming in. The defendant was 24-year-old Nathan Nicholson. For Bryan it would out to be the story of a lifetime. For Nathan, it was the beginning of the end. 

To learn more about Nathan’s story, make sure to grab a copy of Bryan Denson’s book: The Spy’s Son. You can check out his other work at bryandenson.com.

Bryan also wrote a six-part series of Nathan’s story for The Oregonian, which you can check out here. 

A big thanks to The Oregonian/OregonLive for allowing Snap Judgment to use tape from Bryan Denson’s interview with Nathan Nicholson. 

Producer: Nancy López

Sound Design: Renzo Gorrio