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She commutes 20 miles
to court each trial day
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and remains a puzzle to the last.
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She tells the jury of
the horrors of kidnapping,
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of being terrified, brainwashed.
Her lawyer says, by the sla
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is that the truth, or is she lying?
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It sent shock waves around the world,
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and the repercussions are
certain to be felt
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for years to come.
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When the children started
talking about robes and candles,
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you could see that it had to be satanic.
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We are continuing to examine evidence
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following up on a substantial...
-Wanted by the FBI
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as a criminal instead of a victim.
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The shocker.
It was stunning.
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I have seen ambulances.
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I cannot tell you if
there have been any injuries.
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It's an evil act of terror.
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19
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I was 15 years old.
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My dad was a surgeon
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and my mom was trained
and worked as a nurse,
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but was a homemaker.
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We attended Carmichael
seventh-day adventist church.
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My mom was actually a volunteer
clerk for the church.
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That day, my mom had been
called from the church,
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saying that one of the other
volunteers that was scheduled
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to do the bank deposit
wasn't able to make it,
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so if my mom would fill in
for her, that'd be great.
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She went to the church, met
two other volunteers there
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to prepare the deposit,
and made their way to
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Crocker national bank in Carmichael.
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I was about 19, and I was
a loan officer assistant.
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I was extremely conservative.
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You know, I liked The Beach Boys,
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I liked The Carpenters.
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I didn't have aspirations to do much more
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than be a secretary assistant
and just live my life
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00:02:11,165 --> 00:02:14,199
and have the white picket
fence and have my kids.
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I was standing at the back counter,
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fairly close to the back door.
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They opened the door for Mrs. Opsahl.
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She came in.
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I knew her as a customer.
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I just remember her as a
very quiet, nice, older lady.
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And then a woman came through the back door
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and several other people in black ski masks
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with military jackets on,
with a 12-Gauge shotgun.
49
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The woman wielded the shotgun around,
50
00:02:51,872 --> 00:02:54,072
and it went off...
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...and shot Mrs. Opsahl.
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She was about five feet from me.
53
00:03:04,718 --> 00:03:07,419
And then the violence started,
54
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so I dropped, and I laid
there with my eyes shut.
55
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They literally were saying,
56
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"we're going to blow your
mother heads off.
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You need to get down,
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or we're going to kill
you all right now."
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00:03:22,203 --> 00:03:25,537
They were clicking shotguns
on the back of your head,
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to make it sound like you were
gonna get your head blown off.
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And then they were gone, and they told us
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to keep our heads down and count to 60.
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Mrs. Opsahl was moaning
on the ground next to us.
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We went to the kitchen
and got a bunch of towels
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to try to stop the bleeding.
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A 12-Gauge shotgun at fairly close range...
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Will take out most of the person.
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When we got the towels to put on the wounds,
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they just went through her.
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00:04:14,221 --> 00:04:17,456
We were the first bank
in the state of California
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that someone was actually murdered at.
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They didn't even have cameras in the bank.
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They didn't have guards in the bank,
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00:04:24,398 --> 00:04:26,732
so they got away with it.
75
00:04:26,834 --> 00:04:29,868
No, now we have no
identification of anybody.
76
00:04:29,970 --> 00:04:31,770
We do not have a suspect at this time.
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We're receiving a lot of information
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00:04:34,041 --> 00:04:35,240
that's being sorted through,
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but as of this moment, we have no suspects.
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00:04:40,547 --> 00:04:43,248
The only people robbing banks in those days
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was automatic weapons were the sla
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the sla was formed by a group
of people who were very upset
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about the way the government
in the country was being run.
84
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They wanted to start a revolution.
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00:04:56,463 --> 00:05:00,532
We thought that it
might have been the sla,
86
00:05:00,634 --> 00:05:02,501
but again, because we were so remote,
87
00:05:02,603 --> 00:05:04,803
we thought, "there's no way
that this terrorist group
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00:05:04,905 --> 00:05:07,739
is going to come all
the way to Carmichael."
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00:05:07,841 --> 00:05:09,408
The sla came from white people
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00:05:09,510 --> 00:05:11,476
who wanted to help people in prison.
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00:05:11,578 --> 00:05:17,482
They were an odd mix of people,
but very typical of the left.
92
00:05:17,584 --> 00:05:19,818
It was post-Vietnam,
93
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so a lot of people my
age were pretty despondent
94
00:05:23,857 --> 00:05:26,325
because the revolution had not come.
95
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You know, we expected to
change the world in 1968,
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00:05:29,563 --> 00:05:31,163
and it didn't happen.
97
00:05:31,265 --> 00:05:34,599
We were very despondent with the country.
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00:05:34,702 --> 00:05:36,768
There were people who
believed in armed struggle.
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00:05:39,039 --> 00:05:42,074
Every other day, it seemed
like bombs were being set off.
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00:05:42,176 --> 00:05:44,209
It was a crazy, crazy time.
101
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The sla became totally isolated
and only heard
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00:05:51,251 --> 00:05:55,587
their own rhetoric, and that's
a deadly, deadly combination.
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00:06:05,099 --> 00:06:07,566
The father of 19-year-old
Patricia Hearst said today
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that he hopes that his
daughter still is alive.
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00:06:10,170 --> 00:06:13,372
19-year-old Patricia Hearst
lived in this apartment.
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00:06:13,474 --> 00:06:15,307
Police say about 9:00 last night,
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a young woman knocked on her door
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00:06:16,877 --> 00:06:19,244
saying her car had been in an accident.
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When she opened the door,
two armed men burst in.
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Well, I heard a scream, and then I heard
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what were gunshots.
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00:06:25,786 --> 00:06:29,454
Well, I heard her pleading,
"please, no. Not me."
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We had visited Hearst castle
not too long before then,
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and we learned about the publishing empire
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that Patty Hearst's grandfather had built.
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I understood that the person kidnapped was
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the granddaughter of
the builder of that empire.
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I couldn't imagine something so bizarre
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happening so suddenly,
120
00:06:51,044 --> 00:06:53,245
and what would I do in that situation?
121
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It wasn't until Thursday
that communique was received
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from the symbionese liberation army.
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00:06:59,186 --> 00:07:02,454
It said they are holding
Ms. Hearst a prisoner of war.
124
00:07:02,556 --> 00:07:04,723
The letter said Ms. Hearst was unharmed,
125
00:07:04,825 --> 00:07:07,392
but would be killed if
authorities tried to rescue her.
126
00:07:07,494 --> 00:07:12,864
The media's response was
the most sensational response
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00:07:12,966 --> 00:07:15,734
we've ever seen, I think,
at least in the bay area.
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00:07:15,836 --> 00:07:19,871
Everything they did was major,
major news all the time,
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00:07:19,973 --> 00:07:23,742
and I've never seen a media
response to anything like that.
130
00:07:23,844 --> 00:07:25,744
And the sla, at least,
131
00:07:25,846 --> 00:07:28,046
knew that they were getting media attention
132
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and had the floor with these communiques
133
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that would be played to the country.
134
00:07:32,653 --> 00:07:34,786
Finally, the sla demands arrived,
135
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and along with them, a document
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00:07:36,490 --> 00:07:39,257
containing the
symbionese liberation program.
137
00:07:39,359 --> 00:07:42,027
It's a declaration of revolutionary war
138
00:07:42,129 --> 00:07:44,563
that states their agenda to fight and die
139
00:07:44,665 --> 00:07:47,065
to win the freedom of oppressed poor people.
140
00:07:47,167 --> 00:07:49,801
It rallies them to unite
as a fighting force
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00:07:49,903 --> 00:07:53,538
that will destroy the capitalist
state and all it stands for.
142
00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:55,540
The manifesto says they will help women
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find new and better roles
and live as free people.
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00:07:59,112 --> 00:08:00,946
The prison system should be destroyed
145
00:08:01,048 --> 00:08:03,849
and the prisoners welcomed home with love.
146
00:08:03,951 --> 00:08:07,486
The sla also calls for
all state lands and buildings
147
00:08:07,588 --> 00:08:10,489
of the capitalist class
to be returned to the people
148
00:08:10,591 --> 00:08:12,457
and for the rent system to end.
149
00:08:24,404 --> 00:08:27,606
In a letter to Randolph Hearst,
the symbionese liberation army
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00:08:27,708 --> 00:08:30,141
said it would hold his
daughter until he provided
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00:08:30,244 --> 00:08:33,411
each of the nearly two million
poor people in California
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00:08:33,514 --> 00:08:35,914
with $70 worth of free food.
153
00:08:36,016 --> 00:08:37,115
The letter was accompanied by
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a tape recording from Patricia Hearst.
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00:09:20,193 --> 00:09:24,195
We love you, Patty,
and we're all praying for you.
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I'm sorry I'm crying,
but I'm happy you're safe.
157
00:09:27,935 --> 00:09:30,135
Mr. Hearst said he
took the recording as proof
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00:09:30,237 --> 00:09:31,970
that his daughter is alive,
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and he said he would try to meet the demands.
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It was good to feed people
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and have the Hearst family do that,
162
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but again, the way it was done,
by kidnapping his daughter,
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was kind of not good, obviously.
164
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She clearly moved towards the group
165
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as the communiques progressed.
166
00:10:08,241 --> 00:10:11,943
8th grade history class,
we would have a current events,
167
00:10:12,045 --> 00:10:16,681
and over that course of the
year, I just gravitated towards
168
00:10:16,783 --> 00:10:21,086
the story of Patty Hearst and the sla
169
00:10:21,188 --> 00:10:25,023
when I first was reporting
on the story, I sympathized,
170
00:10:25,125 --> 00:10:29,160
and then the sympathy
quickly turned to anger
171
00:10:29,262 --> 00:10:33,064
and just bewilderment -- like,
how could someone make
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00:10:33,166 --> 00:10:37,035
that kind of change in their world view?
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00:10:38,505 --> 00:10:40,705
I had no idea that
I was going to
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00:10:40,807 --> 00:10:45,410
soon become part of
that story, tragically.
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00:10:47,981 --> 00:10:50,181
I think even the left that
didn't support the sla
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thought it was a triumph,
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00:10:51,852 --> 00:10:56,087
because the Hearsts represented
the essence of capitalism
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00:10:56,189 --> 00:10:57,355
and then many of the things we thought
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00:10:57,457 --> 00:10:58,690
that were wrong in the world,
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00:10:58,792 --> 00:11:02,327
and the fact that one of
their own could change sides --
181
00:11:02,429 --> 00:11:05,063
there was a sense of romanticism in this,
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00:11:05,165 --> 00:11:07,232
of her joining her captors.
183
00:11:07,334 --> 00:11:09,901
Looking now, I think that's ludicrous,
184
00:11:10,003 --> 00:11:11,503
but I think many of us, including me,
185
00:11:11,605 --> 00:11:14,305
felt it was a good thing that she joined.
186
00:11:14,408 --> 00:11:18,710
I'd say she was a member
of the sla, in my opinion.
187
00:11:18,812 --> 00:11:21,012
Voluntarily? No.
188
00:11:21,114 --> 00:11:24,983
I think they turned her into
somebody else by torturing her.
189
00:11:25,085 --> 00:11:27,419
We were pretty sure that
she had Stockholm syndrome,
190
00:11:27,521 --> 00:11:29,521
where a victim identifies
191
00:11:29,623 --> 00:11:31,790
with the perpetrators of the kidnapping.
192
00:11:46,173 --> 00:11:50,675
Hibernia bank robbery.
That was a publicity stunt.
193
00:11:50,777 --> 00:11:52,077
It was a big deal, in the sense that
194
00:11:52,179 --> 00:11:55,880
Patty was put front and center
with a submachine gun
195
00:11:55,982 --> 00:11:58,616
as their poster girl for the revolution.
196
00:12:03,790 --> 00:12:05,824
You absolutely saw the
hand ready to pull the trigger?
197
00:12:05,926 --> 00:12:07,959
I would say the stance
would say that she did
198
00:12:08,028 --> 00:12:09,627
have her hands on the trigger
199
00:12:09,730 --> 00:12:12,630
and ready to shoot anything
you got in her way.
200
00:12:12,733 --> 00:12:16,201
Eyewitnesses say the girl
identified as Patricia Hearst
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00:12:16,303 --> 00:12:19,938
stood right about here,
with her gun pointed so,
202
00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:21,139
her right hand either
203
00:12:21,241 --> 00:12:24,342
near the trigger of
the gun or in her pocket,
204
00:12:24,478 --> 00:12:26,578
and they say her gun was aimed at
205
00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:30,682
between five and eight
bank employees and customers,
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00:12:30,784 --> 00:12:33,351
who were ordered face down
on the floor of the bank
207
00:12:33,453 --> 00:12:34,986
behind these counters.
208
00:12:35,088 --> 00:12:37,856
When Patricia Hearst got kidnapped,
209
00:12:37,958 --> 00:12:40,125
I felt like that was a horrible thing,
210
00:12:40,227 --> 00:12:42,927
so I didn't understand why Patty Hearst
211
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was in that bank holding a weapon
212
00:12:46,233 --> 00:12:48,233
and pointing it at people
and threatening them.
213
00:12:48,335 --> 00:12:52,237
It angered me, because it
was such a terrible thing,
214
00:12:52,339 --> 00:12:54,472
and yet here she was, doing that.
215
00:13:02,115 --> 00:13:05,150
They escaped. The
FBI was looking for them.
216
00:13:09,756 --> 00:13:12,157
The FBI and the LAPD figured out
217
00:13:12,259 --> 00:13:15,794
through this parking ticket
where the sla was in L.A.
218
00:13:15,896 --> 00:13:17,162
And people in the neighborhood,
219
00:13:17,264 --> 00:13:19,264
the African-American, poor neighborhood,
220
00:13:19,366 --> 00:13:20,832
told the police that there was this group
221
00:13:20,934 --> 00:13:22,567
of weird white people there.
222
00:13:22,669 --> 00:13:24,536
Everything happened in a frantic two hours
223
00:13:24,638 --> 00:13:26,738
just before sundown last night.
224
00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,942
500 policemen and FBI agents.
225
00:13:31,044 --> 00:13:33,244
It was a massive operation.
226
00:13:33,346 --> 00:13:35,847
And then the shooting began.
227
00:13:40,654 --> 00:13:42,754
We need all the ammo
that we've got in the safe.
228
00:13:42,856 --> 00:13:44,022
We're taking automatic fire
229
00:13:44,124 --> 00:13:45,590
front and back from this location.
230
00:13:45,692 --> 00:13:47,292
They're much better-armed than we are.
231
00:13:47,394 --> 00:13:51,229
These people had a veritable
arsenal inside that home.
232
00:13:51,331 --> 00:13:54,132
That was probably the most rounds
233
00:13:54,234 --> 00:13:56,234
fired in a firefight
234
00:13:56,336 --> 00:14:00,205
in the United States, in its history.
235
00:14:00,307 --> 00:14:03,608
Seven barrages of tear
gas, and still no surrender.
236
00:14:03,710 --> 00:14:05,143
Then the house burst into flames,
237
00:14:05,245 --> 00:14:06,978
perhaps from a tear gas grenade.
238
00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,147
It was no effort to put out the fire.
239
00:14:09,249 --> 00:14:11,482
The gun battle continued.
240
00:14:11,585 --> 00:14:13,384
It looks like the Los Angeles police have
241
00:14:13,486 --> 00:14:17,255
indeed found the hideout of
the symbionese liberation army,
242
00:14:17,357 --> 00:14:19,257
and there's not much left of it now.
243
00:14:19,359 --> 00:14:20,658
Apparently, they haven't been able
244
00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:24,863
to get any of the suspects
out of the house.
245
00:14:24,965 --> 00:14:26,030
I watched the shootout.
246
00:14:26,132 --> 00:14:28,566
I think almost everybody I knew did.
247
00:14:28,668 --> 00:14:30,735
It was surreal.
248
00:14:30,837 --> 00:14:34,939
It was really sad that this
was gonna be the ending of...
249
00:14:35,041 --> 00:14:36,875
We didn't know who was in the house.
250
00:14:39,279 --> 00:14:42,614
One white woman still
has not been identified.
251
00:14:42,716 --> 00:14:44,215
The big concern was,
252
00:14:44,317 --> 00:14:47,952
was Patty Hearst killed in the firefight?
253
00:14:54,327 --> 00:14:57,629
Tonight, may 18th, reported by Tom Brokaw.
254
00:14:57,731 --> 00:14:58,997
Good evening.
255
00:14:59,099 --> 00:15:02,100
Patricia Hearst was not
killed in a police raid
256
00:15:02,202 --> 00:15:03,668
on a symbionese liberation army
257
00:15:03,770 --> 00:15:05,470
hideout in Los Angeles last night.
258
00:15:05,572 --> 00:15:07,305
The fact remains that Patricia Hearst
259
00:15:07,407 --> 00:15:09,874
has been missing now for 104 days,
260
00:15:09,976 --> 00:15:12,410
and her whereabouts are still unknown.
261
00:15:12,479 --> 00:15:15,914
Patty Hearst is now
listed by the FBI as a fugitive,
262
00:15:16,016 --> 00:15:19,183
armed and dangerous.
263
00:15:19,286 --> 00:15:22,654
She is believed still in
or around Los Angeles.
264
00:15:22,756 --> 00:15:24,522
Police, for the last couple of days,
265
00:15:24,624 --> 00:15:26,391
have been moving from stakeout to stakeout,
266
00:15:26,493 --> 00:15:29,827
following one lead then
another, trying to find her
267
00:15:29,930 --> 00:15:32,096
and the few other sla members who remain.
268
00:15:32,198 --> 00:15:33,898
Two of the remaining fugitive members
269
00:15:33,967 --> 00:15:35,500
of the symbionese liberation army
270
00:15:35,602 --> 00:15:37,936
are William Harris and his wife, Emily.
271
00:15:38,038 --> 00:15:39,904
Bill Harris was a marine,
272
00:15:40,006 --> 00:15:43,308
and Emily was a schoolteacher from Indiana.
273
00:15:43,410 --> 00:15:46,711
Bill and Emily and Patty
came back to the bay area,
274
00:15:46,813 --> 00:15:48,880
hooked up to a group of people
275
00:15:48,982 --> 00:15:52,483
who were the second organization of the sla.
276
00:15:52,585 --> 00:15:56,654
Kathy Soliah, her brother Steven,
277
00:15:56,756 --> 00:16:00,591
her boyfriend, Jim Kilgore,
and Michael Bortin.
278
00:16:00,694 --> 00:16:02,827
The new group of people that came in had
279
00:16:02,929 --> 00:16:09,000
a very clear pattern
of behavior to steal from
280
00:16:09,102 --> 00:16:13,871
the corporate infrastructure
that they despised so much
281
00:16:13,940 --> 00:16:18,977
and use that stolen money
to afford weaponry,
282
00:16:19,079 --> 00:16:23,781
and then to eventually
build bombs and set them off
283
00:16:23,883 --> 00:16:27,218
to send the messages
that they wanted to set.
284
00:16:32,592 --> 00:16:34,759
There was a lot of tension in the group,
285
00:16:34,861 --> 00:16:35,860
from what I understand.
286
00:16:35,962 --> 00:16:37,495
People wanted different things,
287
00:16:37,597 --> 00:16:43,434
yet the decision was made
to Rob a bank in Carmichael.
288
00:16:43,536 --> 00:16:47,372
How'd this group of regular
people do these horrendous acts?
289
00:16:47,474 --> 00:16:51,109
How did people of my
generation kidnap a girl
290
00:16:51,211 --> 00:16:54,078
and murder a wonderful
woman and mother in a bank?
291
00:16:54,180 --> 00:16:57,382
How did that happen?
292
00:16:57,484 --> 00:17:01,986
The police identified who
the person was on the floor
293
00:17:02,088 --> 00:17:06,858
in a pool of blood, called
my dad at the hospital.
294
00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:11,529
So he drove to the bank, but by that time,
295
00:17:11,631 --> 00:17:14,265
my mom had already been taken
away by the ambulance,
296
00:17:14,367 --> 00:17:17,268
and he just saw a pool of blood
297
00:17:17,370 --> 00:17:22,306
and then turned around,
went back to the hospital.
298
00:17:22,409 --> 00:17:27,311
And he was one of three or four doctors
299
00:17:27,414 --> 00:17:30,314
that was actually working there in the E.R.,
300
00:17:30,417 --> 00:17:34,285
trying to regain a blood pressure and pulse.
301
00:17:34,387 --> 00:17:37,088
These were other doctors that knew my dad,
302
00:17:37,190 --> 00:17:39,057
of course, very well, knew my mom --
303
00:17:39,159 --> 00:17:44,295
and the others, one by one, gave up,
304
00:17:44,397 --> 00:17:46,831
and didn't know how to --
305
00:17:46,933 --> 00:17:49,033
you know, get my dad to realize that
306
00:17:49,135 --> 00:17:53,071
she was brought in dead on arrival.
307
00:17:53,173 --> 00:17:54,705
One of them intervened
308
00:17:54,808 --> 00:17:57,642
and just had to pull my dad away.
309
00:18:03,016 --> 00:18:05,349
Then I show up at the principal's office,
310
00:18:05,452 --> 00:18:10,488
and my older sister Sonia
and my younger brother Roy
311
00:18:10,590 --> 00:18:15,460
was pulled in, and they were
as bewildered as I was.
312
00:18:15,562 --> 00:18:17,862
So we go to American river hospital
313
00:18:17,964 --> 00:18:20,331
and we're escorted up
into the emergency room,
314
00:18:20,433 --> 00:18:26,003
and in there, you know, my dad's
all red-faced and puffy-eyed.
315
00:18:26,106 --> 00:18:31,509
And then my dad just kind of mutters out,
316
00:18:31,611 --> 00:18:38,116
"it's mom, and she's --"
and he says she's been shot.
317
00:18:38,218 --> 00:18:43,287
We go, "no. What? Shot?
Who would shoot mom?"
318
00:18:43,389 --> 00:18:47,058
And my dad says, "she's dead."
319
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:48,359
And then, yeah,
320
00:18:48,461 --> 00:18:51,229
that just shatters every neuron in your brain.
321
00:18:53,833 --> 00:18:56,134
So my dad came home later that day
322
00:18:56,236 --> 00:18:58,870
and turned on the news to find out,
323
00:18:58,972 --> 00:19:02,206
you know, what's being reported,
or have they found out anything?
324
00:19:02,308 --> 00:19:05,610
Who were the bank robbers?
Had they caught them?
325
00:19:05,712 --> 00:19:09,780
But they just reported a woman
in the bank was shot and killed,
326
00:19:09,883 --> 00:19:14,285
and then the news anchor
saying that she was taken
327
00:19:14,387 --> 00:19:16,754
to the hospital where her husband worked,
328
00:19:16,856 --> 00:19:22,093
and then they said, "but his
efforts to save her failed."
329
00:19:22,195 --> 00:19:26,397
And I remember taking that
wording of the report like,
330
00:19:26,499 --> 00:19:31,469
"what, are you trying to blame
my dad for my mom's death?"
331
00:19:31,571 --> 00:19:34,372
The sla worked on these things constantly.
332
00:19:34,474 --> 00:19:36,474
It was their entire life's mission.
333
00:19:36,576 --> 00:19:39,076
It's not like they haphazardly
showed up at a bank
334
00:19:39,179 --> 00:19:40,878
and ran in to steal money.
335
00:19:40,980 --> 00:19:43,214
These things were extremely well-planned,
336
00:19:43,316 --> 00:19:45,917
and so was the escape route,
and that's why they got away.
337
00:19:46,019 --> 00:19:49,453
It's an Avenue, an extensive
Avenue of investigation
338
00:19:49,556 --> 00:19:51,722
that we have to consider.
339
00:19:51,824 --> 00:19:56,761
But this is not to imply
that it's the sla, no --
340
00:19:56,863 --> 00:19:59,864
but we have to consider that it might be
341
00:19:59,966 --> 00:20:02,533
a group type of activity.
342
00:20:02,635 --> 00:20:04,402
Because it was a bank,
343
00:20:04,504 --> 00:20:06,971
the FBI took over the investigation.
344
00:20:07,073 --> 00:20:09,640
They took prints from inside the bank.
345
00:20:09,742 --> 00:20:11,642
They took witness statements.
346
00:20:11,744 --> 00:20:13,878
Sacramento sheriff's department
was responsible
347
00:20:13,980 --> 00:20:18,349
for investigating the murder of Mrs. Opsahl.
348
00:20:18,451 --> 00:20:20,017
They collected her dress.
349
00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:21,852
They did forensics on the bullets,
350
00:20:21,955 --> 00:20:23,487
but I don't think they could get specific
351
00:20:23,590 --> 00:20:28,526
into batches or trace metal
analysis of the actual pellets.
352
00:20:28,628 --> 00:20:30,294
Back in the days when this happened,
353
00:20:30,396 --> 00:20:33,464
there was no DNA evidence.
354
00:20:33,566 --> 00:20:36,601
My dad went through a long period of grief.
355
00:20:36,703 --> 00:20:42,440
He essentially cried himself
to sleep every night for a year.
356
00:20:42,542 --> 00:20:47,211
I mean, the rest of us just were
encouraged to get on with life
357
00:20:47,313 --> 00:20:51,382
and trust that the justice
system would do its job.
358
00:20:51,484 --> 00:20:54,051
So, with Patty Hearst now officially wanted
359
00:20:54,153 --> 00:20:56,254
by both the FBI and Los Angeles county
360
00:20:56,356 --> 00:20:58,389
as a criminal instead of a victim,
361
00:20:58,491 --> 00:21:01,225
southern California's
largest manhunt continues.
362
00:21:04,364 --> 00:21:07,331
The FBI is definitely looking for them
363
00:21:07,433 --> 00:21:12,236
in every post office across the United States.
364
00:21:12,338 --> 00:21:14,605
The pictures of Bill and Emily Harris
365
00:21:14,707 --> 00:21:18,309
are there, along with
the pictures of Patty Hearst.
366
00:21:18,411 --> 00:21:23,281
I remember thinking, "jeez,
why can't you get them?"
367
00:21:23,383 --> 00:21:26,284
There was an sla wanted
poster for all of them,
368
00:21:26,386 --> 00:21:29,553
so I made about a dozen of those posters
369
00:21:29,656 --> 00:21:32,556
and would take it out and
practice shooting my pistol
370
00:21:32,659 --> 00:21:37,128
and then skeet shoot, and
it helped me get through it,
371
00:21:37,230 --> 00:21:39,697
because I did have frustration about it,
372
00:21:39,799 --> 00:21:45,102
and I'll admit it, I was angry.
373
00:21:45,204 --> 00:21:49,373
As a result of that bank
robbery, the sla got money.
374
00:21:49,475 --> 00:21:52,143
That money allowed them to buy bomb supplies.
375
00:21:52,245 --> 00:21:55,246
Very shortly afterwards was
they came down to Los Angeles
376
00:21:55,348 --> 00:21:58,082
and built these bombs
to murder police officers.
377
00:21:58,184 --> 00:22:00,451
The two bombs in Los Angeles
were both discovered
378
00:22:00,553 --> 00:22:02,119
before they were triggered.
379
00:22:02,221 --> 00:22:04,955
If the officers had gotten
in the cars and driven
380
00:22:05,058 --> 00:22:06,257
and the bombs were detonated,
381
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:08,025
many people would have been killed.
382
00:22:30,817 --> 00:22:33,284
The running is over for Patricia Hearst.
383
00:22:33,386 --> 00:22:34,952
Who's in the hands of
federal authorities tonight
384
00:22:35,054 --> 00:22:36,454
in San Francisco, California.
385
00:22:36,556 --> 00:22:39,890
On her way to jail in a t-shirt
and reddish shag haircut.
386
00:22:39,992 --> 00:22:42,727
She smiled for photographers
and appeared at ease.
387
00:22:42,829 --> 00:22:45,262
Mrs. Hearst, you must be greatly relieved.
388
00:22:45,365 --> 00:22:47,131
Yes, all our prayers are answered.
389
00:22:47,233 --> 00:22:48,532
We can hardly believe it.
390
00:22:48,634 --> 00:22:50,034
Held on half a million dollars bail.
391
00:22:50,136 --> 00:22:53,003
$500,000 bail.
392
00:22:53,106 --> 00:22:55,706
Accused of bank robbery,
unlawful possession of weapons,
393
00:22:55,808 --> 00:22:57,908
and those are only federal charges.
394
00:22:58,010 --> 00:23:01,645
Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Hearst
visited Patty in her jail cell,
395
00:23:01,748 --> 00:23:06,517
and then said, "she was happy.
She really wants to come home."
396
00:23:06,619 --> 00:23:08,319
Asked if he would put up
the money to free her,
397
00:23:08,421 --> 00:23:11,389
Mr. Hearst said, "I think so."
398
00:23:11,491 --> 00:23:13,958
I do remember being relieved that,
399
00:23:14,060 --> 00:23:18,295
"good. Maybe this crazy
saga is gonna be over" --
400
00:23:18,398 --> 00:23:20,865
that the truth would come out,
that we'd learn the facts,
401
00:23:20,967 --> 00:23:23,567
get the evidence, and hold
the people responsible
402
00:23:23,669 --> 00:23:27,104
in a court of law, and we'd have justice.
403
00:23:42,522 --> 00:23:45,656
She commutes 20 miles
to court each trial day,
404
00:23:45,758 --> 00:23:48,058
and remains a puzzle to the last.
405
00:23:48,161 --> 00:23:50,494
She tells the jury of
the horrors of kidnapping,
406
00:23:50,596 --> 00:23:54,298
of being terrified, brainwashed,
her lawyer says, by the sla.
407
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:55,833
Is that the truth, or is she lying?
408
00:23:55,935 --> 00:23:58,235
Judge Orrick admonished the 22-year-old,
409
00:23:58,337 --> 00:24:01,839
"Ms. Hearst, the nature of
your conduct cannot be condoned.
410
00:24:01,941 --> 00:24:03,908
You are committed to seven years."
411
00:24:04,010 --> 00:24:06,911
She should have won that trial,
for the hibernia bank robbery.
412
00:24:07,013 --> 00:24:08,946
I felt that she deserved to be acquitted.
413
00:24:09,048 --> 00:24:11,115
At the time of the bank
robbery, she was innocent.
414
00:24:11,217 --> 00:24:15,419
It's really hard to describe her
in any way other than a victim.
415
00:24:15,521 --> 00:24:17,488
I mean, at some point she joined,
416
00:24:17,590 --> 00:24:21,459
overtly involved herself in acts --
417
00:24:21,561 --> 00:24:23,027
that doesn't make her responsible.
418
00:24:23,129 --> 00:24:24,662
I mean, she never asked to be kidnapped,
419
00:24:24,764 --> 00:24:28,165
and being kept in a closet
50 days can make you change.
420
00:24:28,267 --> 00:24:31,836
There are techniques that
are used to brainwash people
421
00:24:31,938 --> 00:24:34,138
and to turn them to your side, and the sla
422
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,574
had people aboveground
that knew those techniques
423
00:24:36,676 --> 00:24:39,443
and got training from them. I know that.
424
00:24:39,545 --> 00:24:44,114
There's no way that she wanted
to go underground with the sla
425
00:24:44,217 --> 00:24:46,450
for the hibernia bank robbery.
426
00:24:46,552 --> 00:24:49,453
Patty Hearst did more time
than any of her kidnapers,
427
00:24:49,555 --> 00:24:50,821
which is a crazy fact, and just tells you
428
00:24:50,923 --> 00:24:56,293
of how topsy-turvy
the entire saga of the sla was.
429
00:24:56,395 --> 00:24:58,662
It still baffles me today,
430
00:24:58,764 --> 00:25:02,399
but I think a lot of it had
to do with public opinion.
431
00:25:02,502 --> 00:25:05,402
She was just a spoiled, rich
kid that turned her nose up
432
00:25:05,505 --> 00:25:09,573
at everybody that was worried
about her for all that time.
433
00:25:09,675 --> 00:25:12,009
The hibernia bank robbery --
434
00:25:12,111 --> 00:25:16,013
I was angry that she didn't
get more than a couple years.
435
00:25:16,115 --> 00:25:20,651
I was very, very frustrated about it.
436
00:25:20,753 --> 00:25:22,820
When Patricia was in custody
437
00:25:22,922 --> 00:25:26,690
and while she's going through
the hibernia bank robbery trial,
438
00:25:26,792 --> 00:25:29,693
she is being interviewed
by agents from the FBI
439
00:25:29,795 --> 00:25:33,631
about Crocker, and Patricia
Hearst told them factually
440
00:25:33,733 --> 00:25:36,567
the information about
who pulled the trigger,
441
00:25:36,669 --> 00:25:41,105
who was a participant in the
Crocker national bank robbery.
442
00:25:41,207 --> 00:25:42,239
It didn't benefit us,
443
00:25:42,341 --> 00:25:46,677
because the investigators didn't trust her.
444
00:25:46,779 --> 00:25:49,747
The FBI was so set against ever believing
445
00:25:49,849 --> 00:25:51,682
anything that Patty Hearst said,
446
00:25:51,784 --> 00:25:53,183
because they were prosecuting her
447
00:25:53,286 --> 00:25:55,553
and discrediting her on the stand.
448
00:26:06,165 --> 00:26:08,065
Murder is a separate crime.
449
00:26:08,167 --> 00:26:11,268
They didn't have the information
to charge the murders.
450
00:26:11,370 --> 00:26:15,773
All they had was the uncorroborated word
451
00:26:15,875 --> 00:26:20,377
of a co-defendant, what
Patricia Hearst told them.
452
00:26:20,479 --> 00:26:22,012
I remember asking my dad the questions like,
453
00:26:22,114 --> 00:26:24,281
"how is bank robbery
more important than murder?
454
00:26:24,383 --> 00:26:26,550
Why wouldn't they
charge him with murder?"
455
00:26:26,652 --> 00:26:27,885
And my dad just explained that
456
00:26:27,987 --> 00:26:29,820
these are federal bank robbery charges,
457
00:26:29,922 --> 00:26:33,157
and they don't have jurisdiction
to try people for murder.
458
00:26:33,259 --> 00:26:35,793
That's a state jurisdiction,
459
00:26:35,895 --> 00:26:38,462
and that our local district attorney just
460
00:26:38,564 --> 00:26:42,299
wasn't ready to file charges
of murder on any of them yet.
461
00:26:42,401 --> 00:26:45,336
I was very hopeful that
the truth would come out,
462
00:26:45,438 --> 00:26:49,573
that we'd hold the people
responsible in a court of law,
463
00:26:49,675 --> 00:26:54,845
and we'd have justice for my mom's murder.
464
00:26:57,416 --> 00:27:00,150
When I testified at Steven's trial,
465
00:27:00,252 --> 00:27:02,286
I did not think I would get justice,
466
00:27:02,388 --> 00:27:04,254
that was the whole frustration for me,
467
00:27:04,357 --> 00:27:08,192
because nobody believed me but the defense,
468
00:27:08,294 --> 00:27:10,828
and they were only using me.
469
00:27:10,930 --> 00:27:14,131
The police did come right
away and interview us.
470
00:27:14,233 --> 00:27:16,600
I was adamant to describe to them
471
00:27:16,702 --> 00:27:19,503
that it was a woman that did the shooting,
472
00:27:19,605 --> 00:27:23,507
and they said, you know,
"how could you possibly know?"
473
00:27:23,609 --> 00:27:26,410
I knew it was a woman that did it,
474
00:27:26,512 --> 00:27:29,847
but I didn't know who the woman was.
475
00:27:29,949 --> 00:27:32,416
I was subpoenaed by the defense,
476
00:27:32,518 --> 00:27:37,988
then had to go to court
to testify for Steven,
477
00:27:38,090 --> 00:27:41,025
and then there were three other tellers
478
00:27:41,127 --> 00:27:46,530
that were brought to contradict
me by the prosecution.
479
00:27:46,632 --> 00:27:49,299
The Steven Soliah trial was a debacle.
480
00:27:49,402 --> 00:27:51,235
They tried to prove that Steven Soliah
481
00:27:51,337 --> 00:27:53,671
was one of the people inside the bank.
482
00:27:53,773 --> 00:27:56,507
He wasn't, and Patty Hearst
had told the FBI that
483
00:27:56,609 --> 00:27:58,275
when they interviewed her.
484
00:27:58,377 --> 00:28:01,912
They chose not to believe her.
485
00:28:02,014 --> 00:28:05,049
When the sla was coming into the bank,
486
00:28:05,151 --> 00:28:08,352
there was an individual that was right there
487
00:28:08,454 --> 00:28:11,121
at the same place that the perpetrators were,
488
00:28:11,223 --> 00:28:14,358
and that person, by coincidence,
489
00:28:14,460 --> 00:28:17,928
was the spitting image of Steven Soliah.
490
00:28:18,030 --> 00:28:20,898
So the case was prosecuted,
491
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,535
and who does the defense
call as their first witness?
492
00:28:24,637 --> 00:28:27,938
They call that guy.
493
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,074
Steven Soliah was acquitted
today of helping
494
00:28:30,176 --> 00:28:32,943
the symbionese liberation army
Rob a Sacramento bank.
495
00:28:35,314 --> 00:28:36,513
So the case was lost.
496
00:28:36,615 --> 00:28:39,083
It was lost because they tried
to make Patty Hearst out
497
00:28:39,185 --> 00:28:41,051
to be a liar, and she wasn't,
498
00:28:41,153 --> 00:28:45,489
so they proceeded with a theory which
499
00:28:45,591 --> 00:28:48,158
they had information was not true.
500
00:28:48,260 --> 00:28:50,394
It was simply bungled.
501
00:28:53,365 --> 00:28:56,967
We were driving in the car
when some news came up.
502
00:28:57,069 --> 00:28:59,903
I remember my dad turning
up the radio and saying,
503
00:29:00,005 --> 00:29:02,573
"this is the verdict that
they're going to announce,"
504
00:29:02,675 --> 00:29:06,076
that maybe justice in
some way could be done now,
505
00:29:06,178 --> 00:29:09,546
and then it just said that
Steven Soliah is acquitted
506
00:29:09,648 --> 00:29:12,449
of the bank robbery at
the Carmichael national bank
507
00:29:12,551 --> 00:29:16,820
in which a woman was killed.
508
00:29:16,922 --> 00:29:18,956
And my dad's just shaking his head,
509
00:29:19,058 --> 00:29:20,557
and I remember having to ask my dad,
510
00:29:20,659 --> 00:29:22,693
"what does acquitted mean?"
511
00:29:22,795 --> 00:29:27,297
He just said, "it means
they got away with murder."
512
00:29:27,433 --> 00:29:32,703
If Steven had been convicted,
then the Sacramento D.A.
513
00:29:32,805 --> 00:29:36,173
Would have figured that proves
the sla committed the murder,
514
00:29:36,275 --> 00:29:38,742
and then they would have
gone ahead and prosecuted
515
00:29:38,844 --> 00:29:42,112
all the other sla members for the murder.
516
00:29:42,214 --> 00:29:44,615
But when Steven Soliah was not convicted,
517
00:29:44,717 --> 00:29:48,285
I think the Sacramento D.A.
Wanted no part of it.
518
00:29:48,387 --> 00:29:50,587
This office has completed its investigation
519
00:29:50,689 --> 00:29:52,556
of the bank robbery and murder which occurred
520
00:29:52,658 --> 00:29:55,659
at the Crocker bank located in Carmichael.
521
00:29:55,761 --> 00:29:57,861
We are satisfied at this time that there is
522
00:29:57,963 --> 00:30:01,298
insufficient evidence to prove
the identity of the person
523
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,068
who actually fired the shotgun
that killed Mrs. Opsahl.
524
00:30:05,171 --> 00:30:07,304
Opsahl: It's like my
mom's life didn't matter.
525
00:30:07,406 --> 00:30:11,108
It was so frustrating and so sad,
526
00:30:11,210 --> 00:30:14,778
because you felt like there was no --
527
00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:17,414
nobody paid for what they did.
528
00:30:17,516 --> 00:30:21,685
When someone is killed in a
bank robbery or any violence,
529
00:30:21,787 --> 00:30:24,555
what some people don't
really realize, maybe,
530
00:30:24,657 --> 00:30:28,525
is that there's many other victims.
531
00:30:28,627 --> 00:30:30,828
It's not just the person that got killed.
532
00:30:30,930 --> 00:30:33,197
God forbid, that family is destroyed,
533
00:30:33,299 --> 00:30:35,432
but there's a lot of other people
534
00:30:35,534 --> 00:30:40,838
that'll never be the same,
and some people don't recover.
535
00:30:40,940 --> 00:30:44,975
They put it to bed.
Myrna was a victim of the sla.
536
00:30:45,077 --> 00:30:49,413
She was a victim of politics,
and unfortunately,
537
00:30:49,515 --> 00:30:53,116
she was a victim of some
very bad decision -making.
538
00:30:56,856 --> 00:31:00,157
So the years passed,
you know, one after another.
539
00:31:00,259 --> 00:31:04,194
Finished high school and went on
to college and medical school
540
00:31:04,296 --> 00:31:05,662
and, you know, life just went on.
541
00:31:05,764 --> 00:31:07,998
I got married, had three kids.
542
00:31:08,100 --> 00:31:10,000
I thought, eventually they'll be caught
543
00:31:10,102 --> 00:31:13,670
and be punished for what they
did, but that never happened --
544
00:31:13,772 --> 00:31:19,243
not for a long time.
545
00:31:19,345 --> 00:31:21,712
President Carter commuted
Patty Hearst's sentence,
546
00:31:21,814 --> 00:31:24,414
then Patty Hearst's book came out.
547
00:31:24,516 --> 00:31:27,951
It was tough to get through,
but we learned who did it.
548
00:31:28,053 --> 00:31:30,621
She identified Emily Harris as the person
549
00:31:30,723 --> 00:31:35,025
that pulled the trigger
that caused my mom's death.
550
00:31:35,127 --> 00:31:37,027
When they got back to the safe house
551
00:31:37,129 --> 00:31:42,165
and several of them voiced
objection to Emily Harris
552
00:31:42,268 --> 00:31:44,801
saying, you know,
"why did you fire your gun?"
553
00:31:46,639 --> 00:31:49,640
...she tried to blame it,
I think, on a hair trigger.
554
00:31:49,742 --> 00:31:53,577
She didn't mean to, but it doesn't matter --
555
00:31:53,679 --> 00:31:58,248
"she was a bourgeois pig
and her life doesn't matter."
556
00:31:58,350 --> 00:32:00,450
Saying that a woman like Mrs. Opsahl
557
00:32:00,552 --> 00:32:05,255
was collateral damage is
insanity, and it's not true.
558
00:32:05,357 --> 00:32:08,692
So I think, at that point, it was really --
559
00:32:08,794 --> 00:32:11,361
it was looked at by everybody I knew
560
00:32:11,463 --> 00:32:14,498
as a really cowardly, horrendous act.
561
00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,334
All of a sudden,
because Patty Hearst said so,
562
00:32:17,436 --> 00:32:22,272
I was credible, and that
irritated me, too, really.
563
00:32:22,374 --> 00:32:25,175
I was thankful and grateful to Patty Hearst,
564
00:32:25,277 --> 00:32:29,112
that she was courageous enough
to explain what happened.
565
00:32:29,214 --> 00:32:33,050
I thought, "now they're gonna
be punished for their crimes."
566
00:32:33,152 --> 00:32:37,020
The district attorney
didn't seem to want to hold
567
00:32:37,122 --> 00:32:40,791
the sla members responsible,
and when we even asked,
568
00:32:40,893 --> 00:32:42,492
they said, "well, we know who did it,
569
00:32:42,594 --> 00:32:44,494
but we just can't prove it in court."
570
00:32:44,596 --> 00:32:46,163
And so it was like their hands were tied.
571
00:32:46,265 --> 00:32:48,565
They couldn't do anything about it.
572
00:32:48,634 --> 00:32:49,766
Why aren't they being punished?
573
00:32:49,868 --> 00:32:52,436
Why isn't somebody doing something?
574
00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:59,209
It was 1999, and I was assigned
to the major crimes division,
575
00:32:59,311 --> 00:33:01,878
and the head of the unit
had this very thin file
576
00:33:01,981 --> 00:33:03,814
and dropped it on my desk and said,
577
00:33:03,916 --> 00:33:06,016
"this is gonna be your case."
578
00:33:06,118 --> 00:33:10,253
And I looked at it,
and I saw "Kathleen Soliah."
579
00:33:10,356 --> 00:33:12,489
It was related to two attempted bombings
580
00:33:12,591 --> 00:33:15,392
in Los Angeles in 1974.
581
00:33:15,494 --> 00:33:17,527
I got the case because I was a rookie.
582
00:33:17,629 --> 00:33:20,197
I was the only one polite
enough not to say,
583
00:33:20,299 --> 00:33:22,632
"hell, no, I'm not gonna take that case."
584
00:33:22,735 --> 00:33:27,571
I did nothing with it, until
one day my pager went off.
585
00:33:27,673 --> 00:33:30,974
Kathleen Soliah had been
arrested in Minnesota.
586
00:33:31,076 --> 00:33:34,378
A woman who was on the run
from police for nearly 25 years
587
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:36,513
is being held on
one million dollars bond.
588
00:33:36,615 --> 00:33:39,182
Tonight, the FBI caught up with longtime
589
00:33:39,284 --> 00:33:43,553
symbionese liberation army
fugitive Kathleen Soliah.
590
00:33:43,655 --> 00:33:47,491
Following an airing
of "america's most wanted,"
591
00:33:47,593 --> 00:33:51,795
they ran a special on some of
the fugitives that had escaped
592
00:33:51,897 --> 00:33:57,567
when the FBI did the raids
on the sla safe houses in 1975.
593
00:33:57,703 --> 00:33:59,803
As a result of the airing of that show,
594
00:33:59,905 --> 00:34:02,439
somebody told police where she was.
595
00:34:02,541 --> 00:34:05,442
Kathleen Soliah was living
in St. Paul, Minnesota.
596
00:34:05,544 --> 00:34:08,478
She lived here with her husband,
an emergency room doctor,
597
00:34:08,580 --> 00:34:10,347
and three teenage daughters.
598
00:34:10,449 --> 00:34:13,050
She now goes by the name "Sarah Olsen."
599
00:34:13,152 --> 00:34:14,651
She was a middle-aged soccer mom.
600
00:34:14,753 --> 00:34:18,221
She had been a fugitive for
approximately 25 years.
601
00:34:18,323 --> 00:34:20,123
Soliah is alleged to have committed
602
00:34:20,225 --> 00:34:22,059
bombings and bank robberies
603
00:34:22,161 --> 00:34:25,362
with other members of
the symbionese liberation army.
604
00:34:25,464 --> 00:34:28,265
In reviewing the case,
I saw that there truly
605
00:34:28,367 --> 00:34:30,600
was plenty of evidence,
an abundance of evidence
606
00:34:30,702 --> 00:34:31,902
from the very beginning
607
00:34:32,004 --> 00:34:34,805
that tied the sla to
the Carmichael bank robbery --
608
00:34:34,907 --> 00:34:38,175
fingerprints at the safe houses
they had rented in Sacramento.
609
00:34:38,277 --> 00:34:41,578
Stephen Soliah and James Kilgore
stole license plates
610
00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:43,613
and switched them on to the getaway cars.
611
00:34:43,715 --> 00:34:45,515
Those license plates were recovered.
612
00:34:45,617 --> 00:34:47,617
Their fingerprints were found on book.
613
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:50,120
Most significantly, when banks are robbed,
614
00:34:50,222 --> 00:34:51,354
there are certain bills
615
00:34:51,457 --> 00:34:54,257
that have prerecorded serial numbers on them.
616
00:34:54,359 --> 00:34:56,893
The money that was stolen in the bank robbery
617
00:34:56,995 --> 00:34:59,262
was kept in one of the sla safe houses,
618
00:34:59,364 --> 00:35:01,364
in a freezer, wrapped in tin foil.
619
00:35:01,467 --> 00:35:03,533
The bait bill from that bank robbery
620
00:35:03,635 --> 00:35:06,436
was found in the precita street address
621
00:35:06,538 --> 00:35:11,675
when the FBI made the raid on that location.
622
00:35:11,777 --> 00:35:14,411
I realized the FBI have techniques available
623
00:35:14,513 --> 00:35:16,446
that they didn't have back in those days.
624
00:35:16,548 --> 00:35:18,348
We had them compare pellets
625
00:35:18,450 --> 00:35:21,118
that were removed from Mrs. Opsahl body
626
00:35:21,220 --> 00:35:22,919
to pellets that were stored
627
00:35:23,021 --> 00:35:26,056
in the precita street
and morse street closets,
628
00:35:26,158 --> 00:35:28,725
and they were a complete match.
629
00:35:28,827 --> 00:35:30,360
Every single thing that Patricia Hearst
630
00:35:30,462 --> 00:35:32,028
says in that book checks out.
631
00:35:32,131 --> 00:35:34,664
There was just a mountain of evidence.
632
00:35:34,766 --> 00:35:36,333
There was no doubt that this robbery
633
00:35:36,435 --> 00:35:38,401
was committed by the sla.
634
00:35:38,504 --> 00:35:41,571
It was almost laughable that
they hadn't been prosecuted.
635
00:35:41,673 --> 00:35:42,873
We wanted word to get out
636
00:35:42,975 --> 00:35:44,774
that there was this horrible injustice,
637
00:35:44,877 --> 00:35:46,943
so we reached out to Jon opsahl,
638
00:35:47,045 --> 00:35:49,446
and we showed him the evidence
that we had put together,
639
00:35:49,548 --> 00:35:53,984
and I remember Jon shedding a tear.
640
00:35:54,086 --> 00:35:55,285
I was just -- shocked.
641
00:35:55,387 --> 00:35:57,988
Now we learned there was evidence
642
00:35:58,090 --> 00:36:02,359
to corroborate Patty Hearst's story,
643
00:36:02,461 --> 00:36:06,396
and justice could have been
done a long time ago,
644
00:36:06,498 --> 00:36:08,798
which was disappointing to learn --
645
00:36:08,867 --> 00:36:11,868
that somebody dropped the ball.
646
00:36:11,970 --> 00:36:16,139
Her death really didn't matter
to anybody there in Sacramento?
647
00:36:18,310 --> 00:36:22,279
We were determined to do whatever it took
648
00:36:22,381 --> 00:36:24,481
to make sure that she got justice.
649
00:36:26,785 --> 00:36:30,120
Jon Opsahl became a voice for his mother.
650
00:36:30,222 --> 00:36:31,788
It became his life's mission
651
00:36:31,890 --> 00:36:35,759
to put public pressure on the Sacramento D.A.
652
00:36:35,861 --> 00:36:39,496
To make sure that they prosecuted the case.
653
00:36:39,598 --> 00:36:41,464
We put together a little campaign
654
00:36:41,567 --> 00:36:44,534
called "justice for Myrna Opsahl."
655
00:36:44,636 --> 00:36:46,770
There's a tremendous amount
of compelling evidence
656
00:36:46,872 --> 00:36:49,139
supporting Patricia Hearst's accounts,
657
00:36:49,241 --> 00:36:50,840
and felt strongly that
658
00:36:50,943 --> 00:36:53,710
they should be charged
and tried as soon as possible.
659
00:36:53,812 --> 00:36:57,380
Public pressure was
mounting on the Sacramento D.A.
660
00:36:57,482 --> 00:36:59,282
To file that murder case.
661
00:36:59,384 --> 00:37:02,786
The public knew that the case
was prosecutable and winnable.
662
00:37:02,888 --> 00:37:04,287
The FBI went out
663
00:37:04,389 --> 00:37:06,623
at the direction of
the Sacramento county D.A.
664
00:37:06,725 --> 00:37:08,725
And arrested all of those involved
665
00:37:08,827 --> 00:37:11,261
in the Carmichael bank robbery.
666
00:37:24,109 --> 00:37:26,643
I'm very happy that my mother's murder
667
00:37:26,712 --> 00:37:29,980
is getting the attention that it deserves,
668
00:37:30,082 --> 00:37:32,682
and I trust that justice will be served.
669
00:37:32,784 --> 00:37:34,284
Mike Bortin was arrested,
670
00:37:34,386 --> 00:37:38,455
along with Bill Harris,
of Oakland, and Emily Harris.
671
00:37:38,557 --> 00:37:40,657
Emily Harris was quoted in Patty Hearst's book
672
00:37:40,759 --> 00:37:44,261
as saying that "her death
doesn't matter anyways.
673
00:37:44,363 --> 00:37:46,763
She was a bourgeois pig."
674
00:37:46,865 --> 00:37:49,766
Those words have always kind of haunted us.
675
00:37:49,868 --> 00:37:52,102
They didn't seem to have much concern over
676
00:37:52,204 --> 00:37:55,472
what their actions cost.
677
00:37:55,540 --> 00:37:57,874
The things of such immense value,
678
00:37:57,976 --> 00:37:59,776
things that can't be replaced.
679
00:37:59,878 --> 00:38:04,114
They had no idea the destruction
that followed their actions
680
00:38:04,216 --> 00:38:06,516
for years and years, and to this day.
681
00:38:06,618 --> 00:38:10,654
Feld there they were, in two
separate courtrooms in L.A. --
682
00:38:10,756 --> 00:38:14,257
Sara Jane Olsen in
Sacramento, California.
683
00:38:14,359 --> 00:38:17,894
Bill and Emily Harris, no
longer married to each other,
684
00:38:17,996 --> 00:38:20,397
but now bound by their past.
685
00:38:20,499 --> 00:38:23,233
And in Portland, Oregon, Michael Bortin,
686
00:38:23,335 --> 00:38:28,571
all charged with the shotgun
murder of Myrna Opsahl.
687
00:38:28,674 --> 00:38:32,842
We were getting ready to
enter pleas, and Emily said
688
00:38:32,944 --> 00:38:35,078
this is really an important day for her,
689
00:38:35,180 --> 00:38:38,882
because she's been living with the guilt
690
00:38:38,984 --> 00:38:42,619
of what she had done all her
life, since it happened,
691
00:38:42,721 --> 00:38:44,054
and somehow pleading guilty
692
00:38:44,156 --> 00:38:47,691
and taking responsibility could lessen that,
693
00:38:47,793 --> 00:38:51,661
and it's something that
she really wanted to do.
694
00:38:51,763 --> 00:38:54,264
It certainly reflects her feelings,
695
00:38:54,366 --> 00:38:57,834
and I think the feeling of
many of the people involved,
696
00:38:57,936 --> 00:39:01,438
that gets lost sometimes
as we talk about the sla,
697
00:39:01,540 --> 00:39:04,240
because they did such up things
698
00:39:04,343 --> 00:39:06,276
and hurt people who shouldn't have been hurt,
699
00:39:06,378 --> 00:39:09,245
the essence being Mrs. Opsahl.
700
00:39:09,348 --> 00:39:11,848
But it wasn't that these were just
701
00:39:11,950 --> 00:39:15,251
cold-hearted, ruthless people --
702
00:39:15,354 --> 00:39:16,686
there were people we could have all known,
703
00:39:16,788 --> 00:39:20,824
who went to colleges and went
to Vietnam and came back.
704
00:39:20,926 --> 00:39:26,062
And somehow, by their isolation,
705
00:39:26,164 --> 00:39:29,165
they got caught up in
something that took over.
706
00:39:29,267 --> 00:39:31,368
And not that they're not responsible,
707
00:39:31,470 --> 00:39:35,538
but they weren't these poster child for evil.
708
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:38,108
They did something terrible
and it lived with them,
709
00:39:38,210 --> 00:39:42,212
and it ate people like
Emily up for a long time.
710
00:39:42,314 --> 00:39:44,581
Emily: The rest of my
life, I will continue
711
00:39:44,683 --> 00:39:47,050
to feel a deep sense
of remorse and sadness
712
00:39:47,152 --> 00:39:50,053
for my doing in the death of Mrs. Opsahl
713
00:39:50,155 --> 00:39:53,456
and the suffering that that caused her family.
714
00:39:53,558 --> 00:39:57,794
My heartfelt sympathy and
apologies go out to you.
715
00:39:59,331 --> 00:40:04,534
Hopefully, today will bring
an end to the legal proceedings
716
00:40:04,636 --> 00:40:08,671
and finally bring resolution
for the Opsahl family.
717
00:40:08,774 --> 00:40:11,574
Finally, everybody knew that I was right
718
00:40:11,676 --> 00:40:13,610
about it being a woman.
719
00:40:13,712 --> 00:40:16,179
When they were sentenced, and I stood there
720
00:40:16,281 --> 00:40:20,083
and looked at them all
sitting in the gallery --
721
00:40:20,185 --> 00:40:23,787
and the second I said
my piece, I was done,
722
00:40:23,889 --> 00:40:28,358
'cause now, finally, someone listened to me.
723
00:40:28,460 --> 00:40:30,927
To their credit,
they all took responsibility
724
00:40:31,029 --> 00:40:32,562
for the murder of Myrna opsahl.
725
00:40:32,664 --> 00:40:36,866
Kathleen Soliah, Bill Harris, Emily Harris,
726
00:40:36,968 --> 00:40:39,436
Jim Kilgore and Michael Bortin.
727
00:40:39,538 --> 00:40:42,272
They all pled guilty.
728
00:40:42,374 --> 00:40:45,108
The sentences that they got were absurd.
729
00:40:45,210 --> 00:40:48,344
It was the functional equivalent
of what what somebody gets
730
00:40:48,447 --> 00:40:51,448
for having a couple of rocks
of cocaine on the street.
731
00:41:27,018 --> 00:41:28,318
For nearly 28 years,
732
00:41:28,386 --> 00:41:31,521
I have lived with the fact
that monsters do exist,
733
00:41:31,623 --> 00:41:33,490
that homegrown terrorism is real,
734
00:41:33,592 --> 00:41:36,659
that the incomprehensible happened,
735
00:41:36,728 --> 00:41:40,263
and that beyond our family and church,
736
00:41:40,365 --> 00:41:41,698
no one else seemed to care,
737
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:44,968
including and especially the defendants.
738
00:41:45,070 --> 00:41:48,938
In trying to imagine what she went through --
739
00:41:49,007 --> 00:41:52,141
being shot and bleeding out.
740
00:41:52,244 --> 00:41:54,444
You know, she was a nurse,
I think she knew right off
741
00:41:54,546 --> 00:41:57,046
that she's likely to die right there,
742
00:41:57,148 --> 00:41:59,749
on that floor of the bank,
743
00:41:59,851 --> 00:42:03,820
and not ever see us again,
744
00:42:03,922 --> 00:42:08,157
and not be there to help us
like she would have wanted to.
745
00:42:08,260 --> 00:42:11,728
She was robbed of all that.
746
00:42:11,830 --> 00:42:15,164
She would have wanted us
to continue on with school
747
00:42:15,267 --> 00:42:20,136
and get married and have kids
and have that wonderful life
748
00:42:20,238 --> 00:42:27,243
that she was no longer allowed to enjoy.
749
00:42:27,345 --> 00:42:30,346
And so in honor of her memory,
750
00:42:30,448 --> 00:42:34,751
you know, we've all
tried to make that happen.
61170
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