Emily Harris
Encyclopedia
Emily Harris was, along with her husband William Harris (1945-), a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army
(SLA), a leftist United States
group involved in bank robberies, kidnapping and murder. In the 1970s, she was convicted of kidnapping Patty Hearst
. In 2003, she was convicted of murder in the second degree for being the shooter in a 1975 slaying that occurred while she and other SLA members were robbing a bank in California. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for the murder.
with a BA in language arts, having earned straight A's. She was briefly a junior high school English teacher.
in 1973 from Bloomington, Indiana
. They came with their friends Gary Atwood and Angela Atwood
. They soon joined a leftwing group, one of whose activities was visiting prisoners in northern California. The Harrises made the acquaintance of an escaped prisoner, Donald DeFreeze
. They joined the SLA, created by Mizmoon Soltysik
, Nancy Perry, Joseph Remiro, Russ Little, Willie Wolfe, Angela Atwood, Theo Wheeler, and Camilla Hall. Emily Harris's nom de guerre was Yolanda. On November 6, the SLA committed its first public act, the assassination of popular Oakland, California
school superintendent Marcus Foster
. The SLA mistakenly thought that Foster was behind a plan to require student identification cards in Oakland high schools. Subsequently, they kidnapped Patty Hearst
, the college student heir to the Hearst newspaper chain.
shootout with police and the house fire it triggered. After the fire, the Harrises spent over a year on the run with their victim, Patty Hearst and new members Kathleen Soliah
, Josephine Soliah, Steven Soliah, Mike Bortin, Jim Kilgore, and Wendy Yoshimura
. Hearst had since become an active participant in SLA crimes herself. Yoshimura, Patty's closest friend while underground, was a fugitive for her involvement with explosives that were stored in a garage she rented. During that year the SLA committed a string of crimes, including an April 21, 1975 robbery of Crocker National Bank
in Carmichael, California
. During the robbery, 42-year old Myrna Opsahl was shotgunned to death. Opsahl was depositing a church collection at the time. Patty Hearst stated in her 1982 autobiography Every Secret Thing that Emily was the shooter. Hearst also stated that Harris said "Oh, she's dead, but it doesn't really matter. She was a bourgeois pig anyway. Her husband is a doctor." Other SLA members had urged Harris not to bring the shotgun to the robbery, as it had accidentally gone off twice during preparations.
The Harrises were eventually arrested and served eight years in prison for the Hearst kidnapping.
Imprisoned at the California Institution for Women
at Frontera, California, Emily Harris spent the first half of her term in solitary confinement. Emily learned computer programming in prison.
. Together they purchased a two-bedroom home in Altadena, California
.
Three former SLA members who had been granted immunity - Hearst, Steven Soliah, and Wendy Yoshimura
- were set to testify for the prosecution in the Opsahl case.
Facing a possible conviction, Harris and the others pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Harris was sentenced to eight additional years in prison; Bill Harris was sentenced to seven years and Kathleen Soliah
and Michael Bortin were each sentenced to six years for their roles.
Symbionese Liberation Army
The Symbionese Liberation Army was an American self-styled left-wing urban militant group active between 1973 and 1975 that considered itself a revolutionary vanguard army...
(SLA), a leftist United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
group involved in bank robberies, kidnapping and murder. In the 1970s, she was convicted of kidnapping Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
. In 2003, she was convicted of murder in the second degree for being the shooter in a 1975 slaying that occurred while she and other SLA members were robbing a bank in California. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for the murder.
Early life
Harris was the daughter of Frederick Schwarz, an engineer, and had a middle-class upbringing. She graduated from Indiana UniversityIndiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
with a BA in language arts, having earned straight A's. She was briefly a junior high school English teacher.
Founding the Symbionese Liberation Army
Emily and Bill Harris arrived in Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
in 1973 from Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
. They came with their friends Gary Atwood and Angela Atwood
Angela Atwood
Angela DeAngelis "General Gelina" Atwood was a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army , a domestic terrorist group of the 1970s.-Background:...
. They soon joined a leftwing group, one of whose activities was visiting prisoners in northern California. The Harrises made the acquaintance of an escaped prisoner, Donald DeFreeze
Donald DeFreeze
Donald David DeFreeze , also known as Cinque Mtume, was the leader of the American guerilla group Symbionese Liberation Army, a group operating in the mid-1970s, under the nom de guerre "Field Marshal Cinque."...
. They joined the SLA, created by Mizmoon Soltysik
Patricia Soltysik
Patricia "Mizmoon" Monique Soltysik was one of the founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army.-Early life:She was the daughter of a pharmacist, the third of seven children, the oldest of five girls...
, Nancy Perry, Joseph Remiro, Russ Little, Willie Wolfe, Angela Atwood, Theo Wheeler, and Camilla Hall. Emily Harris's nom de guerre was Yolanda. On November 6, the SLA committed its first public act, the assassination of popular Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
school superintendent Marcus Foster
Marcus Foster
Marcus Albert Foster was a respected African-American educator who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while serving as principal of Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as Associate Superintendent of Schools in Philadelphia, and as the first black...
. The SLA mistakenly thought that Foster was behind a plan to require student identification cards in Oakland high schools. Subsequently, they kidnapped Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
, the college student heir to the Hearst newspaper chain.
Later SLA and Opsahl murder
Emily and Bill Harris took over the leadership of the SLA after six other SLA members died in a Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
shootout with police and the house fire it triggered. After the fire, the Harrises spent over a year on the run with their victim, Patty Hearst and new members Kathleen Soliah
Kathleen Soliah
Sara Jane Olson, formerly Kathleen Ann Soliah , was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Palmdale High School teacher and coach Martin Soliah. She has lived much of her life under the alias Sara Jane Olson, which is now her...
, Josephine Soliah, Steven Soliah, Mike Bortin, Jim Kilgore, and Wendy Yoshimura
Wendy Yoshimura
Wendy Masako Yoshimura is an American still life watercolor painter better known for her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was born in a World War II-era California internment camp, and raised in Japan and the Central Valley...
. Hearst had since become an active participant in SLA crimes herself. Yoshimura, Patty's closest friend while underground, was a fugitive for her involvement with explosives that were stored in a garage she rented. During that year the SLA committed a string of crimes, including an April 21, 1975 robbery of Crocker National Bank
Crocker National Bank
Crocker National Bank was a United States bank headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was acquired by and merged into Wells Fargo Bank in 1986.-History:The bank traces its history to the Woolworth National Bank in San Francisco...
in Carmichael, California
Carmichael, California
Carmichael is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 61,762 at the 2010 census, up from 49,742 at the 2000 census.-Geography and geology:Carmichael...
. During the robbery, 42-year old Myrna Opsahl was shotgunned to death. Opsahl was depositing a church collection at the time. Patty Hearst stated in her 1982 autobiography Every Secret Thing that Emily was the shooter. Hearst also stated that Harris said "Oh, she's dead, but it doesn't really matter. She was a bourgeois pig anyway. Her husband is a doctor." Other SLA members had urged Harris not to bring the shotgun to the robbery, as it had accidentally gone off twice during preparations.
The Harrises were eventually arrested and served eight years in prison for the Hearst kidnapping.
Imprisoned at the California Institution for Women
California Institution for Women
California Institution for Women is a female-only state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California.-Facilities:...
at Frontera, California, Emily Harris spent the first half of her term in solitary confinement. Emily learned computer programming in prison.
Life after first prison term
After her release from prison, Harris became a computer programmer and began a successful computer consulting company. She worked at MGM Studios until her second conviction. She divorced her husband and lived with another woman for many years in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Together they purchased a two-bedroom home in Altadena, California
Altadena, California
Altadena is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center, and directly north of the city of Pasadena, California...
.
Opsahl murder charges
For over 25 years no one was charged in the Opsahl murder. The SLA wore wigs and masks during the Crocker Bank robbery, and left little evidence behind. However, with new forensics techniques, the FBI was eventually able to link shotgun pellets removed from Opsahl's body to shotgun shells found in an SLA hideout. Additional evidence mounted, and in 2002 Harris and three other SLA members were charged with the Opsahl murder. Harris's bail was set at one million US dollars, which her supporters quickly gathered.Three former SLA members who had been granted immunity - Hearst, Steven Soliah, and Wendy Yoshimura
Wendy Yoshimura
Wendy Masako Yoshimura is an American still life watercolor painter better known for her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was born in a World War II-era California internment camp, and raised in Japan and the Central Valley...
- were set to testify for the prosecution in the Opsahl case.
Facing a possible conviction, Harris and the others pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Harris was sentenced to eight additional years in prison; Bill Harris was sentenced to seven years and Kathleen Soliah
Kathleen Soliah
Sara Jane Olson, formerly Kathleen Ann Soliah , was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She grew up in Palmdale, California, the daughter of Palmdale High School teacher and coach Martin Soliah. She has lived much of her life under the alias Sara Jane Olson, which is now her...
and Michael Bortin were each sentenced to six years for their roles.