THe End of the S.L.A.
On September 18th, 1975, after a long and highly publicized search, Patty Hearst was captured, along with Wendy Yoshimura. Even though she claimed that she was forced to do much of what she did, she was still convicted for her role in the Hibernia Bank Robbery. Many believed that she truly did begin to support her kidnappers, because it seemed that there had been many opportunities for her to escape, none of which she took advantage of. Despite this doubt, she only served 22 months of her 34 year sentence, as it was commuted by President Carter and later pardoned by President Clinton.
On August 21st, 1975 Kathleen Soliah, one of the only members of the SLA left, attempted and failed to kill LAPD officers by placing pipe bombs under a police car. The bomb did not detonate, and she became a fugitive. She remained a fugitive for over 20 years, changing her name and starting a family. In 1999, after America’s Most Wanted aired an episode about her, a tip came in leading the police to her. She was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of 10 years to life, but took a plea bargain allowing her to only serve 8 years. In addition, in 2002, first-degree murder charges were drawn for the killing of Myrna Opsahl against Kathleen Soliah, Emily and William Harris, Bortin, and Kilgore. All were immediately arrested except for Kilgore who was at large for another year. Emily Harris was sentenced to eight years, William Harris to Seven years, Bortin to six years, Soliah added six to the 14 year sentence she was already serving (she only ended up serving 7 years), and Kilgore, when found was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for passport fraud and explosives found in his home in 1975. |
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Image 1:http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Judge-disturbed-by-slow-going-of-SLA-case-2834853.php
Image 2:http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1985306_1985308_1985178,00.html
Image 2:http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1985306_1985308_1985178,00.html