Patty Hearst Kidnapper Bill Harris Dies at 81

William “Bill” Harris, a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army who helped kidnap newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in one of the most notorious American crimes of the 1970s, has died. He was 81.

Harris died of a heart attack at a San Francisco hospital on Sept. 10, 2026, according to his wife, Rebecca Young, who confirmed his death to The New York Times.

His death comes more than five decades after the kidnapping that transformed him and the radical group he belonged to into national figures.

The 1974 Kidnapping

On Feb. 4, 1974, Harris and two other members of the Symbionese Liberation Army, or SLA, broke into the Berkeley, California, apartment where 19-year-old Patricia “Patty” Hearst was living with her fiancé.

During the confrontation, Harris helped force Hearst into the trunk of a Chevrolet Impala before she was taken away.

Hearst, the granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, was held captive by the SLA for several weeks. The group initially described her as a “prisoner of war” and later demanded that her wealthy family help fund a massive food giveaway.

The kidnapping quickly became a national story.

Hearst’s Transformation Became the Mystery at the Center of the Case

Two months after her abduction, the SLA released a photograph showing Hearst holding a firearm and identifying herself as “Tania.”

Soon afterward, she appeared alongside SLA members during the robbery of a Hibernia Bank branch in San Francisco.

Hearst was later arrested and convicted of armed bank robbery. She maintained that she had been forced to cooperate with the group because she feared she would be killed if she refused.

The FBI records that Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison, but President Jimmy Carter later commuted her sentence after she had served about two years. President Bill Clinton eventually granted her a full pardon in 2001.

Harris disputed Hearst’s account for decades, maintaining his own interpretation of what happened during her captivity.

Harris’ Life After the SLA

Harris was a Vietnam veteran who had served in the Marines before becoming involved in political activism and eventually joining the SLA.

He and his then-wife, Emily Harris, became prominent members of the organization.

After their arrest, the couple reached a plea agreement related to the Hearst kidnapping and spent roughly eight years in prison before being released on parole in 1983.

Harris later built a very different life.

He worked as a private investigator in the San Francisco Bay Area and eventually married Rebecca Young, a defense attorney. The couple had two sons.

But his criminal past returned to the headlines years later.

Another Deadly Crime

In 1975, during a bank robbery near Sacramento, Harris’ former wife, Emily, accidentally fired a shotgun, killing Myrna Opsahl, a mother of four who was at the bank to deposit church collections.

Harris and several former SLA members were eventually charged in connection with the robbery.

In 2002, Harris pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and served another four years in prison.

The case added another serious chapter to a criminal history that had already begun with the Hearst kidnapping.

A Controversial Legacy

Even decades after the kidnapping, Harris remained outspoken about his role in the SLA and his interpretation of the events surrounding Hearst.

He continued to challenge Hearst’s description of her captivity and remained unapologetic about some aspects of his political beliefs.

The 1974 kidnapping, meanwhile, became one of the most unusual criminal sagas in American history, combining a wealthy American family, a radical militant group, a high-profile kidnapping and the transformation of a teenage heiress into an apparent participant in the group’s activities.

Harris leaves behind his wife, Rebecca Young, their two sons, Cody and Shane, and two sisters, according to reports.

More than 50 years after the kidnapping that made his name infamous, Bill Harris has died — closing another chapter in one of America’s most closely followed crime stories of the 1970s.

SOURCES

1. PEOPLE
   Bill Harris, the man who helped kidnap Patty Hearst in 1974, dies at 81.
2. San Francisco Chronicle
   Reporting on Harris’ death and his history with the Symbionese Liberation Army.
3. FBI
   Historical records and background on the Patty Hearst kidnapping.