Patty Hearst was Kidnapped (February 4, 1974)

This week (January 30 – February 5) in crime history – Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated (January 30, 1948); Andrew Jackson narrowly escaped assassination (January 30, 1835); Prosecutors announce intention to retry Ray Buckey in the McMartin Preschool molestation case (January 31, 1990); Guy Fawkes kills himself moments before his execution (January 31, 1606); Ted Bundy murdered University of Washington student (February 1, 1974); King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir were assassinated (February 1, 1908); Murder of Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor February 2, 1922); Barnett Davenport committed mass murder in rural Connecticut (February 3, 1780); Patty Hearst was kidnapped (February 4, 1974); Medger Evers assassin was convicted (February 5, 1994)

Highlighted Crime Story of the Week -

On February 4, 1974, Patricia Hearst, granddaughter daughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from her Berkeley, California, apartment. Stephen Weed, Hearst’s fiancé, was beaten unconscious by the two abductors. Soon, a ransom demand came from the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a radical activist group led by Donald DeFreeze.

DeFreeze had formed the SLA in 1973 after he escaped from prison. About two years before Hearst’s kidnapping, an SLA bomb-making factory had been discovered by the police. On November 6, 1973, the SLA shot and killed Marcus Foster, Oakland’s superintendent of schools, with bullets laced with cyanide.

The SLA instructed Hearst’s father to distribute $70 in food for ever poor person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. Hearst agreed to give away $2 million to the poor in Oakland. The Black Muslims, Malcolm X’s former organization, were chosen to manage the food distribution, which turned into a riot when more than 10,000 people showed up and fought for the food. Afterwards, the SLA demanded an additional $6 million giveaway. Hearst refused and they did not release Patty.

The Hearst story took a strange and unexpected turn two months after the abduction, when the SLA robbed the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco. The surveillance cameras clearly showed that Patty Hearst was one of the machine gun-toting robbers. Soon after followed a taped message from the SLA in which Hearst claimed that she had voluntarily joined the SLA and was now to be known as “Tania.”

On May 17, 1974, police were tipped that the SLA leaders were at a Los Angeles home. With 400 police and FBI agents outside the house, a tremendous gun battle broke out. The police threw gas canisters into the house and then shot at them, sparking a fire in which DeFreeze and five other SLA members died. However, Hearst was not inside the house. She was not found until September 1975.

Patty Hearst was put on trial for armed robbery and convicted, despite her claim that she had been coerced, through repeated rape, isolation, and brainwashing, into joining the SLA. Prosecutors believed that she actually orchestrated her own kidnapping because of her prior involvement with one of the SLA members. Despite any real proof of this theory, she was convicted and sent to prison. President Carter commuted Hearst’s sentence after she had served almost two years. Hearst was pardoned by President Clinton in January 2001.

Check back every Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the award winning author of seven nonfiction books that includes In the Company of Evil: Thirty Years of California Crime, 1950-1980. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information. His book can be purchased from Amazon through the following link:

https://www.amazon.com/Company-Thirty-Years-California-1950-1980/dp/076435003X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485795666&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+thomas+barry

Heiress Patty Hearst was Kidnapped (February 4, 1974)

This week (February 1 – 7) in crime history – Serial killer Ted Bundy claimed his second victim (February 1, 1974); King Carlos I of Portugal was assassinated (February 1, 1908); Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor was found shot to death (February 2, 1922); Barnett Davenport committed mass murder in Connecticut (February 3, 1780); Old West outlaw Belle Star was murdered (February 3, 1889); Heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped (February 4, 1974); Byron de la Beckwith was convicted in the murder of Medger Evers (February 5, 1974); Mary Kay Letourneau was sent back to prison for parole violations (February 6, 1998); French writer Emile Zola was brought to trial for libel (February 7, 1898)

Highlighted Crime Story of the Week -

On February 4, 1974, 19 year-old Patty Hearst, the granddaughter of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California. Her boyfriend, Stephen Weed, was beaten and tied up along with a neighbor who tried to help. Witnesses reported seeing a struggling Hearst being carried away blindfolded, and she was put in the trunk of a car. Neighbors who came out into the street were forced to take cover after the kidnappers fired their guns to cover their escape.

Three days later, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small U.S. leftist group, announced in a letter to a Berkeley radio station that it was holding Hearst as a “prisoner of war.” Four days later, the SLA demanded that the Hearst family give $70 in foodstuffs to every needy person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. This done, said the SLA, negotiation would begin for the return of Hearst. Patty’s father, Randolph Hearst hesitantly gave away some $2 million worth of food. The SLA then called this inadequate and asked for $6 million more. The Hearst Corporation said it would donate the additional sum if the girl was released unharmed.

In April, however, the situation changed dramatically when a surveillance camera took a photo of Hearst participating in an armed robbery of a San Francisco bank, and she was also spotted during a robbery of a Los Angeles store. She later declared, in a tape sent to the authorities, that she had joined the SLA of her own free will.

On May 17, Los Angeles police raided the SLA’s secret headquarters, killing six of the group’s nine known members. Among the dead was the SLA’s leader, Donald DeFreeze, an African American ex-convict who called himself General Field Marshal Cinque. Patty Hearst and two other SLA members wanted for the April bank robbery were not on the premises.

Finally, on September 18, 1975, after crisscrossing the country for more than a year, Hearst, or “Tania” as she called herself, was captured in a San Francisco apartment and arrested for armed robbery. Despite her claim that she had been brainwashed by the SLA, she was convicted on March 20, 1976, and sentenced to seven years in prison. She served 21 months before her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. After leaving prison, she returned to a more routine existence and later married her bodyguard. She was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in January 2001.

Check back every Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of seven nonfiction books that includes the soon to be released In the Company of Evil Thirty Years of California Crime, 1950-1980 and the award winning Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information. His books can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:

http://www.amazon.com/Company-Thirty-Years-California-1950-1980/dp/076435003X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454351670&sr=8-2&keywords=michael+thomas+barry

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mayhem-Shocked-California-1849-1949/dp/0764339680/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454351670&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+thomas+barry

The Vampire of Sacramento Claimed his Final Victims (January 27, 1978)

This week (January 25-31) in crime history – The BTK Killer sent message to Kansas TV station (January 25, 2005); Charles Manson and three followers were convicted of murder (January 25, 1971); The Mad Butcher of Cleveland claimed his third victim (January 26, 1936); Richard Chase, The Vampire of Sacramento claimed his final victims (January 27, 1978); Spree killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate murdered three victims in Nebraska (January 28, 1958); Teenager Brenda Spencer opened fire at San Diego school killing two and injuring dozens (January 29, 1979); Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated (January 30, 1948); The McMartin Preschool molestation trial began (January 31, 1990)

Highlighted Crime Story of the Week -

On January 27, 1978, serial killer Richard Chase, murdered his final victims Evelyn Miroth, Daniel Meredith, as well as Miroth’s 6-year-old nephew in Sacramento, California. Chase who would be nicknamed “The Vampire of Sacramento “sexually assaulted Miroth with a knife before killing her and mutilating her body. He removed some of the organs of the body and filled them with blood before taking them with him. Meredith was found shot in the head.

The previous year, the 28-year-old Chase had been found in a Nevada field, naked and covered in cow’s blood. His behavior did not come as a complete surprise to those who knew him. As a child, he had been known to kill animals. He had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for most of his life. A year prior to the killings, Chase was released because his psychiatrist found that Chase had a handle on his problems.

Upon his arrest, several days after the triple homicide, police found that Chase’s apartment was filled with human blood that suggested he had been drinking it for some time. His other murder victims included Ambrose Griffin (December 29, 1977) and Terry Wallin (January 23, 1978). In 1979, Chase’s trial began and his defense attorney argued insanity but the jury found him to be sane and convicted him of six counts of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death in the gas chamber. On December 26, 1980, Chase killed himself in his cell at San Quentin with an over dose of prescription medications.

Check back every Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of seven nonfiction books that includes the soon to be released In the Company of Evil Thirty Years of California Crime, 1950-1980 and the award winning Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information. His books can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:

http://www.amazon.com/Company-Thirty-Years-California-1950-1980/dp/076435003X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453742117&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+thomas+barry

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mayhem-Shocked-California-1849-1949/dp/0764339680/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453742117&sr=8-2&keywords=michael+thomas+barry

Hillside Strangler - Angelo Buono was Sentenced (January 9, 1984)

This week (January 4-10) in crime history – The Boston Strangler claimed his final victim (January 4, 1964), United Mine Workers Union leader Jock Yablonski and his family were found murdered (January 5, 1970), Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked (January 6, 1994), Six-year-old Suzanne Degnan was kidnapped from her home in Chicago (January 7, 1946), Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others were shot at a rally in Tucson (January 8, 2011), Hillside Strangler – Angelo Buono was sentenced to life in prison (January 9, 1984), Old West outlaw Frank James was born

Highlighted Crime Story of the Week -

On January 9, 1984, Angelo Buono, one of the Hillside Stranglers, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the rape, torture, and murder of 10 young women in Los Angeles. Buono’s cousin and partner in crime, Kenneth Bianchi, testified against Buono to escape the death penalty.

Buono, a successful auto upholsterer, and Bianchi began their serial crime spree in 1977 when Bianchi moved from New York to live with his cousin. They started talking about how the prostitutes that Buono often brought home would hardly be missed by anyone if they disappeared. Idle speculation quickly led to action and the pair raped and strangled their first victim, Yolanda Washington, on October 17.

Within a month Buono and Bianchi had attacked three other women and developed a trademark method of operation. They picked up the women in their van, drove them back to Buono’s house where they were sexually assaulted in all manners, tortured, and strangled to death. The duo then dumped the bodies along freeways and hillsides in the Los Angeles area. Thus, they earned the nickname the “Hillside Strangler.” The press erroneously assumed that the murders were the work of one man.

Following the death of the 10th victim in February 1978, the murders suddenly stopped. Buono and Bianchi were no longer getting along, even with their common hobby. Bianchi moved to Washington and applied for a job at the Bellingham Police Department. He didn’t get the job, but became a security guard instead. However, he couldn’t keep his murderous impulses in check and killed two college students. A witness who had seen the two girls with Bianchi came forward and the case was solved.

Bianchi, who had seen the movies Sybil and The Three Faces of Eve many times, suddenly claimed to have multiple personalities. He blamed the murders on “Steve,” one of his alternate personalities. Psychiatrists examining Bianchi quickly dismissed his ruse and Bianchi then confessed to the Hillside Strangler murders, testifying against Buono to avoid the death penalty in Washington.

During his trial, Buono fiercely insisted on his innocence, pointing to the fact that there was no physical evidence tying him to the crimes. Buono’s house was so clean that investigators couldn’t even find Buono’s own fingerprints in the home. But after more than 400 witnesses testified, Buono was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Angelo Buono died from a heart attack on Sept. 21, 2002 at the age of 67. Kenneth Bianchi was denied parole in September 2005 and remains in prison in Washington state.

Check back every Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of seven nonfiction books that includes In the Company of Evil Thirty Years of California Crime, 1950-1980 and the award winning Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California. 1849-1949. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information. His books can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:

http://www.amazon.com/Company-Thirty-Years-California-1950-1980/dp/076435003X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451926329&sr=8-2&keywords=michael+thomas+barry

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mayhem-Shocked-California-1849-1949/dp/0764339680/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451926329&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+thomas+barry