William Taylor Harris

AKA: Bill Harris
Released
Date of birth:22. 01. 1945
Age:81
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1970s
State:California
Time Imprisoned:
35 Years 5 Months 20 Days
Support
Marxism Anti-Racism Anti-Imperialism Symbionese Liberation Army
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Biography

Former U.S. Marine Vietnam-era veteran (enlisted 1965) who, after returning to Indiana University and earning a master's degree in urban education in 1972, became radicalized and joined the Symbionese Liberation Army around 1973-74. Self-proclaimed leader of the SLA after Donald DeFreeze's death in the May 1974 LAPD shootout and participated in the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst in February 1974. Captured with his wife Emily, Patty Hearst, and Wendy Yoshimura in San Francisco on September 18, 1975, he served roughly seven years for the Hearst kidnapping. In 2003 he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the 1975 Crocker National Bank/Myrna Opsahl killing, serving an additional seven years.

Cases

Charges: California state kidnapping (1978 Patty Hearst conviction); 2003 second-degree murder plea on the April 1975 SLA Carmichael bank robbery
Arrested: Sep 17, 1975
Incarcerated: Sep 17, 1975
Released: Mar 9, 2011
Sentence: 11 years (1978) + 7 years (2003) consecutive Verdict as recorded: Yes - 1978 California state kidnapping conviction; 2003 California state second-degree murder plea
Convicted: Yes
California state and federal courts
Charges: Kidnapping; murder; bank robbery; weapons and explosives possession (Symbionese Liberation Army prosecutions, 1973–2003)
Arrested: Sep 17, 1975
Incarcerated: Sep 17, 1975
Released: Apr 25, 1983
Sentence: Up to 11 years (kidnapping); 7 additional years for the 2003 Opsahl plea
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: California

Related Cases

Wendy Yoshimura Wendy Yoshimura Emily Harris Emily Harris Steven Soliah Joseph Remiro Russell Little James Kilgore James Kilgore