All language subtitles for The.Crimes.That.Changed.Us.S01E07.Patty.Hearst.720p.ID.WEB-DL.AAC2.0

♪♪

Reporter: She commutes 20 miles
to court each trial day

And remains a puzzle
to the last.

She tells the jury of
the horrors of kidnapping,

Of being terrified, brainwashed.
Her lawyer says, by the sla

Is that the truth,
or is she lying?

Woodruff: It sent shock waves
around the world,

And the repercussions are
certain to be felt

For years to come.

[ indistinct radio chatter ]

Man: When the children started
talking about robes and candles,

You could see that
it had to be satanic.

Tubbs: We are continuing
to examine evidence

Following up on a substantial...
-Wanted by the fbi

As a criminal
instead of a victim.

Reporter: The shocker.
It was stunning.

Reporter #2:
I have seen ambulances.

I cannot tell you if
there have been any injuries.

Clinton:
It's an evil act of terror.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

I was 15 years old.

My dad was a surgeon

And my mom was trained
and worked as a nurse,

But was a homemaker.

We attended carmichael
seventh-day adventist church.

My mom was actually a volunteer
clerk for the church.

That day, my mom had been
called from the church,

Saying that one of the other
volunteers that was scheduled

To do the bank deposit
wasn't able to make it,

So if my mom would fill in
for her, that'd be great.

She went to the church, met
two other volunteers there

To prepare the deposit,
and made their way to

Crocker national bank
in carmichael.

I was about 19, and I was
a loan officer assistant.

I was extremely conservative.

You know, I liked
the beach boys,

I liked the carpenters.

I didn't have aspirations
to do much more

Than be a secretary assistant
and just live my life

And have the white picket
fence and have my kids.

I was standing at
the back counter,

Fairly close to the back door.

They opened the door
for mrs. Opsahl.

She came in.

I knew her as a customer.

I just remember her as a
very quiet, nice, older lady.

And then a woman came
through the back door

And several other people
in black ski masks

With military jackets on,
with a 12-gauge shotgun.

The woman wielded
the shotgun around,

And it went off...
[ gunshot ]

...And shot mrs. Opsahl.

She was about five feet from me.

And then the violence started,

So I dropped, and I laid
there with my eyes shut.

They literally were saying,

"we're going to blow your
mother[bleep] heads off.

You need to get down,

Or we're going to kill
you all right now."

They were clicking shotguns
on the back of your head,

To make it sound like you were
gonna get your head blown off.

And then they were gone,
and they told us

To keep our heads down
and count to 60.

Mrs. Opsahl was moaning
on the ground next to us.

We went to the kitchen
and got a bunch of towels

To try to stop the bleeding.

A 12-gauge shotgun
at fairly close range...

[ voice breaking ] will take
out most of the person.

When we got the towels
to put on the wounds,

They just went through her.

♪♪

We were the first bank
in the state of california

That someone was
actually murdered at.

They didn't even have
cameras in the bank.

They didn't have guards
in the bank,

So they got away with it.

No, now we have no
identification of anybody.

We do not have a
suspect at this time.

We're receiving
a lot of information

That's being sorted through,

But as of this moment,
we have no suspects.

The only people robbing
banks in those days

Was automatic weapons
were the sla

The sla was formed by a group
of people who were very upset

About the way the government
in the country was being run.

They wanted to start
a revolution.

Harp: We thought that it
might have been the sla,

But again, because
we were so remote,

We thought, "there's no way
that this terrorist group

Is going to come all
the way to carmichael."

The sla came
from white people

Who wanted to help
people in prison.

They were an odd mix of people,
but very typical of the left.

It was post-vietnam,

So a lot of people my
age were pretty despondent

Because the revolution
had not come.

You know, we expected to
change the world in 1968,

And it didn't happen.

We were very despondent
with the country.

There were people who
believed in armed struggle.

[ bang ]

Every other day, it seemed
like bombs were being set off.

It was a crazy, crazy time.

[ indistinct shouting ]

The sla became totally isolated
and only heard

Their own rhetoric, and that's
a deadly, deadly combination.

♪♪

The father of 19-year-old
patricia hearst said today

That he hopes that his
daughter still is alive.

19-year-old patricia hearst
lived in this apartment.

Police say about
9:00 last night,

A young woman
knocked on her door

Saying her car had
been in an accident.

When she opened the door,
two armed men burst in.

Well, I heard a scream,
and then I heard

What were gunshots.
[ gunshots ]

Well, I heard her pleading,
"please, no. Not me."

We had visited hearst castle
not too long before then,

And we learned about
the publishing empire

That patty hearst's
grandfather had built.

I understood that
the person kidnapped was

The granddaughter of
the builder of that empire.

I couldn't imagine
something so bizarre

Happening so suddenly,

And what would I do
in that situation?

It wasn't until Thursday
that communique was received

From the
symbionese liberation army.

It said they are holding
ms. Hearst a prisoner of war.

Reporter: The letter said
ms. Hearst was unharmed,

But would be killed if
authorities tried to rescue her.

The media's response was
the most sensational response

We've ever seen, I think,
at least in the bay area.

Everything they did was major,
major news all the time,

And I've never seen a media
response to anything like that.

And the sla, at least,

Knew that they were
getting media attention

And had the floor
with these communiques

That would be played
to the country.

Reporter: Finally,
the sla demands arrived,

And along with them, a document

Containing the
symbionese liberation program.

It's a declaration
of revolutionary war

That states their agenda
to fight and die

To win the freedom of
oppressed poor people.

It rallies them to unite
as a fighting force

That will destroy the capitalist
state and all it stands for.

The manifesto says
they will help women

Find new and better roles
and live as free people.

The prison system
should be destroyed

And the prisoners
welcomed home with love.

The sla also calls for
all state lands and buildings

Of the capitalist class
to be returned to the people

And for
the rent system to end.

In a letter to randolph hearst,
the symbionese liberation army

Said it would hold his
daughter until he provided

Each of the nearly two million
poor people in california

With $70 worth of free food.

The letter was accompanied by

A tape recording from
patricia hearst.

[ crying ] we love you, patty,
and we're all praying for you.

I'm sorry I'm crying,
but I'm happy you're safe.

Mr. Hearst said he
took the recording as proof

That his daughter is alive,

And he said he would try
to meet the demands.

Hanlon: It was good
to feed people

And have the hearst
family do that,

But again, the way it was done,
by kidnapping his daughter,

Was kind of not good, obviously.

She clearly moved
towards the group

As the communiques progressed.

8th grade history class,
we would have a current events,

And over that course of the
year, I just gravitated towards

The story of patty hearst
and the sla

When I first was reporting
on the story, I sympathized,

And then the sympathy
quickly turned to anger

And just bewilderment -- like,
how could someone make

That kind of change
in their world view?

I had no idea that
I was going to

Soon become part of
that story, tragically.

I think even the left that
didn't support the sla

Thought it was a triumph,

Because the hearsts represented
the essence of capitalism

And then many of
the things we thought

That were wrong in the world,

And the fact that one of
their own could change sides --

There was a sense of
romanticism in this,

Of her joining her captors.

Looking now, I think
that's ludicrous,

But I think many of us,
including me,

Felt it was a good
thing that she joined.

I'd say she was a member
of the sla, in my opinion.

Voluntarily? No.

I think they turned her into
somebody else by torturing her.

We were pretty sure that
she had stockholm syndrome,

Where a victim identifies

With the perpetrators
of the kidnapping.

♪♪

♪♪

Hanlon: Hibernia bank robbery.
That was a publicity stunt.

It was a big deal,
in the sense that

Patty was put front and center
with a submachine gun

As their poster girl
for the revolution.

♪♪

Reporter: You absolutely saw the
hand ready to pull the trigger?

I would say the stance
would say that she did

Have her hands
on the trigger

And ready to shoot anything
you got in her way.

Reporter 2:
Eyewitnesses say the girl
identified as patricia hearst

Stood right about here,
with her gun pointed so,

Her right hand either

Near the trigger of
the gun or in her pocket,

And they say her gun
was aimed at

Between five and eight
bank employees and customers,

Who were ordered face down
on the floor of the bank

Behind these counters.

When patricia hearst
got kidnapped,

I felt like that was
a horrible thing,

So I didn't understand
why patty hearst

Was in that bank
holding a weapon

And pointing it at people
and threatening them.

It angered me, because it
was such a terrible thing,

And yet here she was,
doing that.

♪♪

Hanlon: They escaped. The
fbi was looking for them.

The fbi and the lapd
figured out

Through this parking ticket
where the sla was in l.A.

And people in the neighborhood,

The african-american,
poor neighborhood,

Told the police that
there was this group

Of weird white people there.

Reporter: Everything happened
in a frantic two hours

Just before sundown last night.

500 policemen and fbi agents.

It was a massive operation.

And then the shooting began.

[ gunfire ]

Man: We need all the ammo
that we've got in the safe.

We're taking automatic fire

Front and back from
this location.

They're much
better-armed than we are.

These people had a veritable
arsenal inside that home.

That was probably
the most rounds

Fired in a firefight
[ gunfire ]

In the united states,
in its history.

Reporter: Seven barrages of tear
gas, and still no surrender.

Then the house burst
into flames,

Perhaps from a tear gas grenade.

It was no effort
to put out the fire.

The gun battle continued.

Reporter 2: It looks like
the los angeles police have

Indeed found the hideout of
the symbionese liberation army,

And there's not much
left of it now.

Apparently, they
haven't been able

To get any of the suspects
out of the house.

Hanlon: I watched the shootout.

I think almost
everybody I knew did.

It was surreal.

It was really sad that this
was gonna be the ending of...

We didn't know
who was in the house.

[ fire crackles ]

Reporter: One white woman still
has not been identified.

Moulton: The big concern was,

Was patty hearst killed
in the firefight?

♪♪

Anchor: Tonight, may 18th,
reported by tom brokaw.

Good evening.

Patricia hearst was not
killed in a police raid

On a symbionese liberation army

Hideout in los angeles
last night.

The fact remains that
patricia hearst

Has been missing
now for 104 days,

And her whereabouts
are still unknown.

Reporter: Patty hearst is now
listed by the fbi as a fugitive,

Armed and dangerous.

She is believed still in
or around los angeles.

Police, for the last
couple of days,

Have been moving from stakeout
to stakeout,

Following one lead then
another, trying to find her

And the few other sla
members who remain.

Two of the remaining
fugitive members

Of the
symbionese liberation army

Are william harris
and his wife, emily.

Hanlon: Bill harris
was a marine,

And emily was a schoolteacher
from indiana.

Bill and emily and patty
came back to the bay area,

Hooked up to a group of people

Who were the second
organization of the sla.

Kathy soliah,
her brother steven,

Her boyfriend, jim kilgore,
and michael bortin.

The new group of people
that came in had

A very clear pattern
of behavior to steal from

The corporate infrastructure
that they despised so much

And use that stolen money
to afford weaponry,

And then to eventually
build bombs and set them off

To send the messages
that they wanted to set.

Hanlon: There was a lot
of tension in the group,

From what I understand.

People wanted different things,

Yet the decision was made
to rob a bank in carmichael.

How'd this group of regular
people do these horrendous acts?

How did people of my
generation kidnap a girl

And murder a wonderful
woman and mother in a bank?

How did that happen?

The police identified who
the person was on the floor

In a pool of blood, called
my dad at the hospital.

So he drove to the bank,
but by that time,

My mom had already been taken
away by the ambulance,

And he just saw a pool of blood

And then turned around,
went back to the hospital.

And he was one of
three or four doctors

That was actually working
there in the e.R.,

Trying to regain a
blood pressure and pulse.

These were other doctors
that knew my dad,

Of course, very well,
knew my mom --

And the others,
one by one, gave up,

And didn't know how to --
[ sniffles ]

You know, get my dad
to realize that

She was brought
in dead on arrival.

One of them intervened

And just had to pull
my dad away.

♪♪

Then I show up at
the principal's office,

And my older sister sonia
and my younger brother roy

Was pulled in, and they were
as bewildered as I was.

So we go to
american river hospital

And we're escorted up
into the emergency room,

And in there, you know, my dad's
all red-faced and puffy-eyed.

And then my dad just
kind of mutters out,

"it's mom, and she's --"
and he says she's been shot.

We go, "oh, no. What? Shot?
Who would shoot mom?"

And my dad says, "she's dead."

And then, yeah,

That just shatters every
neuron in your brain.

So my dad came home
later that day

And turned on the news
to find out,

You know, what's being reported,
or have they found out anything?

Who were the bank robbers?
Had they caught them?

But they just reported a woman
in the bank was shot and killed,

And then the news anchor
saying that she was taken

To the hospital where
her husband worked,

And then they said, "but his
efforts to save her failed."

And I remember taking that
wording of the report like,

"what, are you trying to blame
my dad for my mom's death?"

The sla worked on these
things constantly.

It was their entire
life's mission.

It's not like they haphazardly
showed up at a bank

And ran in to steal money.

These things were
extremely well-planned,

And so was the escape route,
and that's why they got away.

It's an avenue, an extensive
avenue of investigation

That we have to consider.

But this is not to imply
that it's the sla, no --

But we have to consider
that it might be

A group type of activity.

Because it was a bank,

The fbi took over
the investigation.

They took prints
from inside the bank.

They took witness statements.

Sacramento sheriff's department
was responsible

For investigating
the murder of mrs. Opsahl.

They collected her dress.

They did forensics
on the bullets,

But I don't think they
could get specific

Into batches or trace metal
analysis of the actual pellets.

Back in the days when
this happened,

There was no dna evidence.

Opsahl: My dad went through
a long period of grief.

He essentially cried himself
to sleep every night for a year.

I mean, the rest of us just were
encouraged to get on with life

And trust that the justice
system would do its job.

So, with patty hearst
now officially wanted

By both the fbi
and los angeles county

As a criminal
instead of a victim,

Southern california's
largest manhunt continues.

The fbi is definitely
looking for them

In every post office
across the united states.

The pictures of
bill and emily harris

Are there, along with
the pictures of patty hearst.

I remember thinking, "jeez,
why can't you get them?"

There was an sla wanted
poster for all of them,

So I made about
a dozen of those posters

And would take it out and
practice shooting my pistol

And then skeet shoot, and
it helped me get through it,

Because I did have
frustration about it,

And I'll admit it,
I was angry.

As a result of that bank
robbery, the sla got money.

That money allowed them
to buy bomb supplies.

Very shortly afterwards was
they came down to los angeles

And built these bombs
to murder police officers.

The two bombs in los angeles
were both discovered

Before they were triggered.

If the officers had gotten
in the cars and driven

And the bombs were detonated,

Many people would
have been killed.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ upbeat music plays ]

The running is over
for patricia hearst.

Who's in the hands of
federal authorities tonight

In san francisco, california.

On her way to jail in a t-shirt
and reddish shag haircut.

She smiled for photographers
and appeared at ease.

Reporter: Mrs. Hearst, you
must be greatly relieved.

Oh, yes, all our prayers
are answered.

We can hardly believe it.

Held on half
a million dollars bail.

$500,000 bail.

Accused of bank robbery,
unlawful possession of weapons,

And those are only
federal charges.

Reporter 2:
Mr. And mrs. Randolph hearst
visited patty in her jail cell,

And then said, "she was happy.
She really wants to come home."

Asked if he would put up
the money to free her,

Mr. Hearst said, "I think so."

I do remember being
relieved that,

"oh, good. Maybe this crazy
saga is gonna be over" --

That the truth would come out,
that we'd learn the facts,

Get the evidence, and hold
the people responsible

In a court of law,
and we'd have justice.

♪♪

♪♪

Reporter: She commutes 20 miles
to court each trial day,

And remains a puzzle
to the last.

She tells the jury of
the horrors of kidnapping,

Of being terrified, brainwashed,
her lawyer says, by the sla.

Is that the truth,
or is she lying?

Reporter 2: Judge orrick
admonished the 22-year-old,

"ms. Hearst, the nature of
your conduct cannot be condoned.

You are committed
to seven years."

She should have won that trial,
for the hibernia bank robbery.

I felt that she deserved
to be acquitted.

At the time of the bank
robbery, she was innocent.

It's really hard to describe her
in any way other than a victim.

I mean, at some
point she joined,

Overtly involved
herself in acts --

That doesn't make
her responsible.

I mean, she never
asked to be kidnapped,

And being kept in a closet
50 days can make you change.

Latin: There are techniques that
are used to brainwash people

And to turn them to
your side, and the sla

Had people aboveground
that knew those techniques

And got training from
them. I know that.

There's no way that she wanted
to go underground with the sla

For the hibernia bank robbery.

Patty hearst did more time
than any of her kidnapers,

Which is a crazy fact,
and just tells you

Of how topsy-turvy
the entire saga of the sla was.

It still baffles me today,

But I think a lot of it had
to do with public opinion.

She was just a spoiled, rich
kid that turned her nose up

At everybody that was worried
about her for all that time.

The hibernia bank robbery --

I was angry that she didn't
get more than a couple years.

I was very, very
frustrated about it.

When patricia was in custody

And while she's going through
the hibernia bank robbery trial,

She is being interviewed
by agents from the fbi

About crocker, and patricia
hearst told them factually

The information about
who pulled the trigger,

Who was a participant in the
crocker national bank robbery.

Forster: It didn't benefit us,

Because the investigators
didn't trust her.

Latin: The fbi was so set
against ever believing

Anything that patty hearst said,

Because they were
prosecuting her

And discrediting her
on the stand.

♪♪

♪♪

Moulton:
Murder is a separate crime.

They didn't have the information
to charge the murders.

All they had was
the uncorroborated word

Of a co-defendant, what
patricia hearst told them.

I remember asking my dad
the questions like,

"how is bank robbery
more important than murder?

Why wouldn't they
charge him with murder?"

And my dad just explained that

These are federal
bank robbery charges,

And they don't have jurisdiction
to try people for murder.

That's a state jurisdiction,

And that our local
district attorney just

Wasn't ready to file charges
of murder on any of them yet.

I was very hopeful that
the truth would come out,

That we'd hold the people
responsible in a court of law,

And we'd have justice
for my mom's murder.

When I testified
at steven's trial,

I did not think
I would get justice,

That was the whole
frustration for me,

Because nobody believed
me but the defense,

And they were only using me.

The police did come right
away and interview us.

I was adamant to
describe to them

That it was a woman
that did the shooting,

And they said, you know,
"how could you possibly know?"

I knew it was
a woman that did it,

But I didn't know
who the woman was.

I was subpoenaed by the defense,

Then had to go to court
to testify for steven,

And then there were
three other tellers

That were brought to contradict
me by the prosecution.

The steven soliah trial
was a debacle.

They tried to prove
that steven soliah

Was one of the people
inside the bank.

He wasn't, and patty hearst
had told the fbi that

When they interviewed her.

They chose not to believe her.

When the sla was coming
into the bank,

There was an individual
that was right there

At the same place that
the perpetrators were,

And that person, by coincidence,

Was the spitting image
of steven soliah.

So the case was prosecuted,

And who does the defense
call as their first witness?

They call that guy.

Steven soliah was acquitted
today of helping

The symbionese liberation army
rob a sacramento bank.

Latin: So the case was lost.

It was lost because they tried
to make patty hearst out

To be a liar, and she wasn't,

So they proceeded
with a theory which

They had information
was not true.

It was simply bungled.

We were driving in the car
when some news came up.

I remember my dad turning
up the radio and saying,

"oh, this is the verdict that
they're going to announce,"

That maybe justice in
some way could be done now,

And then it just said that
steven soliah is acquitted

Of the bank robbery at
the carmichael national bank

In which a woman was killed.

And my dad's just
shaking his head,

And I remember having
to ask my dad,

"what does acquitted mean?"

He just said, "it means
they got away with murder."

Latin:
If steven had been convicted,
then the sacramento d.A.

Would have figured that proves
the sla committed the murder,

And then they would have
gone ahead and prosecuted

All the other
sla members for the murder.

But when steven soliah
was not convicted,

I think the sacramento d.A.
Wanted no part of it.

This office has completed
its investigation

Of the bank robbery
and murder which occurred

At the crocker bank
located in carmichael.

We are satisfied at
this time that there is

Insufficient evidence to prove
the identity of the person

Who actually fired the shotgun
that killed mrs. Opsahl.

Opsahl: It's like my
mom's life didn't matter.

Harp: It was so
frustrating and so sad,

Because you felt like
there was no -- [ sighs ]

Nobody paid for what they did.

When someone is killed in a
bank robbery or any violence,

What some people don't
really realize, maybe,

Is that there's
many other victims.

It's not just the person
that got killed.

God forbid, that
family is destroyed,

But there's a lot
of other people

That'll never be the same,
and some people don't recover.

Latin: They put it to bed.
Myrna was a victim of the sla.

She was a victim of politics,
and unfortunately,

She was a victim of some
very bad decision -making.

Opsahl: So the years passed,
you know, one after another.

Finished high school and went on
to college and medical school

And, you know,
life just went on.

I got married, had three kids.

I thought, eventually
they'll be caught

And be punished for what they
did, but that never happened --

Not for a long time.

President carter commuted
patty hearst's sentence,

Then patty hearst's
book came out.

It was tough to get through,
but we learned who did it.

She identified emily harris
as the person

That pulled the trigger
that caused my mom's death.

When they got back
to the safe house

And several of them voiced
objection to emily harris

Saying, you know,
"why did you fire your gun?"

[ gunshot ]

...She tried to blame it,
I think, on a hair trigger.

She didn't mean to,
but it doesn't matter --

"she was a bourgeois pig
and her life doesn't matter."

Saying that a woman
like mrs. Opsahl

Was collateral damage is
insanity, and it's not true.

So I think, at that
point, it was really --

It was looked at
by everybody I knew

As a really cowardly,
horrendous act.

Harp: All of a sudden,
because patty hearst said so,

I was credible, and that
irritated me, too, really.

Opsahl: I was thankful and
grateful to patty hearst,

That she was courageous enough
to explain what happened.

I thought, "now they're gonna
be punished for their crimes."

The district attorney
didn't seem to want to hold

The sla members responsible,
and when we even asked,

They said,
"well, we know who did it,

But we just can't
prove it in court."

And so it was like
their hands were tied.

They couldn't do
anything about it.

Harp:
Why aren't they being punished?

Why isn't somebody
doing something?

It was 1999, and I was assigned
to the major crimes division,

And the head of the unit
had this very thin file

And dropped it on
my desk and said,

"this is gonna be your case."

And I looked at it,
and I saw "kathleen soliah."

It was related to
two attempted bombings

In los angeles in 1974.

I got the case
because I was a rookie.

I was the only one polite
enough not to say,

"hell, no, I'm not
gonna take that case."

I did nothing with it, until
one day my pager went off.

Kathleen soliah had been
arrested in minnesota.

A woman who was on the run
from police for nearly 25 years

Is being held on
one million dollars bond.

Tonight, the fbi
caught up with longtime

Symbionese liberation army
fugitive kathleen soliah.

Latin: Following an airing
of "america's most wanted,"

They ran a special on some of
the fugitives that had escaped

When the fbi did the raids
on the sla safe houses in 1975.

As a result of the airing
of that show,

Somebody told police
where she was.

Kathleen soliah was living
in st. Paul, minnesota.

Reporter:
She lived here with her husband,
an emergency room doctor,

And three teenage daughters.

She now goes by
the name "sarah olsen."

Latin: She was a
middle-aged soccer mom.

She had been a fugitive for
approximately 25 years.

Soliah is alleged
to have committed

Bombings and bank robberies

With other members of
the symbionese liberation army.

In reviewing the case,
I saw that there truly

Was plenty of evidence,
an abundance of evidence

From the very beginning

That tied the sla to
the carmichael bank robbery --

Fingerprints at the safe houses
they had rented in sacramento.

Stephen soliah and james kilgore
stole license plates

And switched them on
to the getaway cars.

Those license plates
were recovered.

Their fingerprints
were found on book.

Most significantly,
when banks are robbed,

There are certain bills

That have prerecorded
serial numbers on them.

The money that was stolen
in the bank robbery

Was kept in one
of the sla safe houses,

In a freezer,
wrapped in tin foil.

The bait bill from
that bank robbery

Was found in
the precita street address

When the fbi made the raid
on that location.

I realized the fbi
have techniques available

That they didn't have
back in those days.

We had them compare pellets

That were removed
from mrs. Opsahl body

To pellets that were stored

In the precita street
and morse street closets,

And they were a complete match.

Every single thing
that patricia hearst

Says in that book checks out.

There was just
a mountain of evidence.

There was no doubt
that this robbery

Was committed by the sla.

It was almost laughable that
they hadn't been prosecuted.

We wanted word to get out

That there was this
horrible injustice,

So we reached out to jon opsahl,

And we showed him the evidence
that we had put together,

And I remember jon
shedding a tear.

I was just -- shocked.

Now we learned
there was evidence

To corroborate
patty hearst's story,

And justice could have been
done a long time ago,

Which was
disappointing to learn --

That somebody
dropped the ball.

Her death really didn't matter
to anybody there in sacramento?

Latin: We were determined
to do whatever it took

To make sure that
she got justice.

Jon opsahl became
a voice for his mother.

It became his life's mission

To put public pressure
on the sacramento d.A.

To make sure that
they prosecuted the case.

We put together
a little campaign

Called "justice
for myrna opsahl."

There's a tremendous amount
of compelling evidence

Supporting patricia hearst's
accounts,

And felt strongly that

They should be charged
and tried as soon as possible.

Latin: Public pressure was
mounting on the sacramento d.A.

To file that murder case.

The public knew that the case
was prosecutable and winnable.

The fbi went out

At the direction of
the sacramento county d.A.

And arrested
all of those involved

In the carmichael bank robbery.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm very happy that
my mother's murder

Is getting the attention
that it deserves,

And I trust that
justice will be served.

Reporter:
Mike bortin was arrested,

Along with bill harris,
of oakland, and emily harris.

Emily harris was quoted
in patty hearst's book

As saying that "her death
doesn't matter anyways.

She was a bourgeois pig."

Those words have always
kind of haunted us.

Opsahl: They didn't seem
to have much concern over

What their actions cost.

The things of such
immense value,

Things that can't be replaced.

They had no idea the destruction
that followed their actions

For years and years,
and to this day.

Feldman: There they were, in two
separate courtrooms in l.A. --

Sara jane olsen in
sacramento, california.

Bill and emily harris, no
longer married to each other,

But now bound by their past.

And in portland, oregon,
michael bortin,

All charged with the shotgun
murder of myrna opsahl.

We were getting ready to
enter pleas, and emily said

This is really an
important day for her,

Because she's been
living with the guilt

Of what she had done all her
life, since it happened,

And somehow pleading guilty

And taking responsibility
could lessen that,

And it's something that
she really wanted to do.

It certainly reflects
her feelings,

And I think the feeling of
many of the people involved,

That gets lost sometimes
as we talk about the sla,

Because they did such
[bleep]-up things

And hurt people who
shouldn't have been hurt,

The essence being mrs. Opsahl.

But it wasn't that
these were just

Cold-hearted, ruthless people --

There were people we
could have all known,

Who went to colleges and went
to vietnam and came back.

And somehow, by their isolation,

They got caught up in
something that took over.

And not that they're
not responsible,

But they weren't these
poster child for evil.

They did something terrible
and it lived with them,

And it ate people like
emily up for a long time.

Emily: The rest of my
life, I will continue

To feel a deep sense
of remorse and sadness

For my doing in
the death of mrs. Opsahl

And the suffering that
that caused her family.

My heartfelt sympathy and
apologies go out to you.

Hopefully, today will bring
an end to the legal proceedings

And finally bring resolution
for the opsahl family.

Finally, everybody knew
that I was right

About it being a woman.

When they were sentenced,
and I stood there

And looked at them all
sitting in the gallery --

And the second I said
my piece, I was done,

'cause now, finally,
someone listened to me.

Latin: To their credit,
they all took responsibility

For the murder of myrna opsahl.

Kathleen soliah,
bill harris, emily harris,

Jim kilgore and michael bortin.

They all pled guilty.

The sentences that
they got were absurd.

It was the functional equivalent
of what what somebody gets

For having a couple of rocks
of cocaine on the street.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Opsahl: For nearly 28 years,

I have lived with the fact
that monsters do exist,

That homegrown
terrorism is real,

That the incomprehensible
happened,

And that beyond our
family and church,

No one else seemed to care,

Including and especially
the defendants.

In trying to imagine
what she went through --

Being shot and bleeding out.

You know, she was a nurse,
I think she knew right off

That she's likely
to die right there,

On that floor of the bank,

[ voice breaking ] and
not ever see us again,

And not be there to help us
like she would have wanted to.

She was robbed of all that.

She would have wanted us
to continue on with school

And get married and have kids
and have that wonderful life

That she was no longer
allowed to enjoy.

And so in honor of her memory,

You know, we've all
tried to make that happen.

♪♪