Ex-SLA member gets early release
Kathleen Soliah, a former member of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army, was released on parole this week from a California women’s prison after serving about six years for her role in a plot to kill Los Angeles police officers by blowing up their patrol cars.
Soliah, 61, had been sentenced to 12 years in prison but served half that time. Like most California inmates, Soliah earned credit against her sentence for working in prison.
Released Monday from the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Soliah must be on parole for three years, although prison officials declined to provide the conditions of her release.
Reached at her family’s home in Palmdale, Soliah refused to comment. Her husband, Dr. Gerald Peterson, said only that he was “relieved.”
Soliah’s attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, said, “We’re thrilled she’s out and can return to her family. For someone who was not a danger or a threat to society, it was six years too long.”
Such words brought a strong and immediate rebuke from Los Angeles police. She “attempted to murder LAPD officers by bombing two police cars. She needs to serve her full time in prison for these crimes and does not deserve time off for working in prison,” said Tim Sands, president of the Police Protective League.
The child of a middle-class Palmdale family, Soliah joined the violent band of radicals best known for kidnapping newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in the mid-1970s. She was charged for taking part in a 1975 plan to plant pipe bombs beneath police cars in retaliation for a shootout with Los Angeles police that left six SLA members dead.
The nail-packed bombs never detonated when the triggering device on one malfunctioned. Soliah didn’t wait around to make her case in court and disappeared.
She changed her name to Sara Jane Olson, left California and married Peterson, an emergency room physician. The couple lived in Zimbabwe before settling in St. Paul, Minn. Soliah, mother of three daughters, lived in a Tudor-style home in an upscale neighborhood near the Mississippi River and performed roles in a theater’s Shakespeare productions.
Soliah’s decision to flee inadvertently led authorities to discover Hearst, who joined the SLA after being kidnapped. Shortly after Soliah disappeared, Los Angeles detectives tracked her to two San Francisco apartments. When they raided them, agents found Hearst; Soliah’s brother, Steven; and three other SLA members.
Soliah’s second life ended abruptly in 1999, when she was apprehended soon after being featured on TV’s “America’s Most Wanted.” Her case was still moving toward trial on Sept. 11, 2001. After the terrorist attacks, Soliah decided to strike a plea deal in the failed bombing attempt, saying she feared she would not get a fair trial in such an atmosphere. Prosecutors scoffed at her reasoning, pointing to reams of documents, fingerprints and other evidence they had amassed.