Convicted Terrorist Accidentally Set Free Due to Clerical Error

A few weeks ago Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) member Sara Jane Olson was freed on parole due to a clerical error made three years ago.

The SLA terrorized California between 1973 and 1975 through a series of high profile robberies and attempted bombings. They rose to international notoriety when they kidnapped 19-year-old Patti Hearst.

Sara Jane Olson aka Kathleen Soliah, took part in a bank robbery in Carmichael CA on April 21, 1975. During the robbery, Myrna Opsahl, a mother of four, was shot and killed while depositing money for her church. In 1976 Soliah was indicted for planting pipe bombs under two Los Angeles police cars.

Following the indictment, Kathleen Soliah fled from CA and adopted a new identity, Sara Jane Olson in St. Paul Minnesota where she remained for 23 years. It was only when she was profiled on America’s Most Wanted that she was finally captured on June 16, 1999. At the time of her arrest she had married a doctor and together they had had three daughters.

She pled guilty to both crimes. Read More »