Home / Crime and Justice / Hearst Kidnapper Bill Harris Dies at 71
Hearst Kidnapper Bill Harris Dies at 71
7 Oct
Summary
- Bill Harris, a Symbionese Liberation Army figure, died September 10.
- He was a lieutenant in the SLA group that kidnapped Patty Hearst.
- Hearst participated in a bank robbery with the group after her abduction.
Bill Harris, an infamous figure from the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) and a lieutenant involved in Patty Hearst's 1974 kidnapping, died on September 10 in San Francisco. Harris's association with the radical left-wing group became widely known following the abduction of Hearst from her Berkeley, California apartment.
During her period of captivity, Patty Hearst was compelled to record a message that denounced her family. Subsequently, she appeared to adopt the SLA's ideology and participated in a bank robbery orchestrated by the group in San Francisco. Hearst was apprehended by authorities in 1975.
Following her conviction for bank robbery, Patty Hearst received a seven-year prison sentence. She ultimately served approximately two years before her remaining sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. Later, in 2001, President Bill Clinton granted her a full pardon.
