One of the men who kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst over 50 years ago has passed away.
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William "Bill" Harris died Sept. 10 at a hospital in San Francisco, his wife Rebecca Young confirmed to The New York Times, which reported the news on Oct. 6. Young told the newspaper that the 81-year-old's cause of death was a heart attack.
Harris was a chief member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), which managed to abduct Patty Hearst from her Berkeley, California, apartment on Feb. 4, 1974.
Harris, along with two other "soldiers" of the SLA, kidnapped Hearst, the daughter of publishing magnate (and Citizen Kane inspiration) William Randolph Hearst from the apartment the then 19 year old shared with shared with her boyfriend, Steven Weed.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, after a brief struggle, Harris shoved the University of California sophomore into the trunk of his Chevrolet Impala and sped away.
"Patricia Hearst was a symbolic target," Harris later explained. "Her family was in control of a media empire that we viewed as an arm of propaganda for the United States government."
However, what followed became an infamously bizarre series of events.
The Patty Hearst Kidnapping Caper Takes a Few Unexpected Turns
Per the New York Times, Harris and the SLA seemed content at first to simply claim Patty Hearst as a "prisoner of war." Later, the extremist group reportedly commanded her family to make a donation to a California food bank.
Then, the SLA upped the stakes by dropping a photo of Hearst sporting a sawed-off M1 carbine while posing in front of the SLA flag on April 3, 1974. According to the New York Times, an audio recording alongside the snapshot claimed Patty Hearst was a full-fledged SLA member, redubbed "Tania."
About two weeks later, Hearst, rocking a beret and carrying a semiautomatic weapon, helped the SLA rob a Hibernia Bank branch in San Francisco. The crew reportedly swiped $11,000 from the bank.
In the years that followed, Hearst would reportedly claim the SLA forced her into the acts, and she feared for her life. Harris, a U.S. Marine veteran, disputed her story.
On April 21, 1975, the SLA botched a robbery in suburban Sacramento at a Crocker National Bank branch when Emily Harris reportedly accidentally discharged her firearm. She ended up fatally shooting Myrna Opsahl, a mother of 4.
In September 1975, Hearst, along with the Harrises, were arrested in San Fransico. The Harrises managed to avoid life sentences following a plea deal. They ultimately served 8 years in prison.
Meanwhile, after being convicted of armed bank robbery, Patty Hearst only served about 22 months in prison after President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence in 1979.
After he served his time, William "Bill" Harris found work as a private investigator for San Francisco attorney Stuart Hanlon. He had two sons with his second wife, Rebecca Young.
