'They are prepared to commit murder for their cause': The shocking kidnap of a teenage newspaper heiress

Patty Hearst was abducted by a revolutionary group in 1974, as reported by the BBC. But 50 years ago, on 20 March 1976, she was found guilty of siding with her captors.

"Mom, Dad, I'm with a combat unit that's armed with automatic weapons." Patty Hearst, a 19-year-old undergraduate and newspaper heiress, was kidnapped in February 1974 from her off-campus flat in Berkeley, California. Just over a week later, a tape recording of her voice let her family know that she was still alive. It was the sort of scenario often described as every parent's nightmare, but the peculiar details were unique.

With the ingredients of high society, psychological trauma and radical violence, Hearst's ordeal gripped the US and rivalled the unfolding Watergate scandal in terms of television coverage. When she was captured on CCTV during a bank robbery brandishing a machine-gun two months after the kidnapping, it was a staggering development. Had she been brainwashed or was she a willing accomplice?

Her kidnappers were in the obscure far-left Symbionese Liberation Army, or SLA, one of many small radical groups of the era. Reporting for the BBC, US correspondent John Humphrys said that little was known about the group "except what they have written about themselves in their various pronouncements. That and the fact that members of the SLA are prepared to commit murder for their cause."

The group's first victim was Marcus Foster, an Oakland school superintendent whose supposed crime was trying to introduce security guards to local high schools. He was shot dead with cyanide-tipped bullets in November 1973. "In the case of Patty Hearst, its second victim," said Humphrys, "her crime was quite simply the fact that she was born into the Hearst family, immensely rich, and through its control of the news media, immensely powerful: a family which must have symbolised for the SLA the very capitalist society which it says it intends to destroy."  

Hearst's father Randolph was editor of the San Francisco Examiner and head of the family's media dynasty. Her grandfather William Randolph Hearst was the newspaper tycoon whose life and times were used by film-maker Orson Welles as the loose basis of Citizen Kane. The bold headlines and breathless storytelling upon which Hearst built his empire resurfaced decades later in the blanket television coverage of his granddaughter's abduction.

Within days of the kidnap, the SLA began delivering cassette recordings to media outlets demanding that the Hearst family fund a massive food distribution programme for the poor in California. SLA leader Donald "Cinque" DeFreeze said in a message to the Hearsts that he was "quite willing to carry out the execution of [their] daughter to save the life of starving men, women and children of every race". Also on the tape was the voice of Hearst herself telling her parents that she was with an armed group. "And these people aren't just a bunch of nuts. They've been really honest with me but they're perfectly willing to die for what they're doing." In a second tape recording four days later, she said: "It's really depressing to hear people talk about me like I'm dead."

The Hearsts agreed to the SLA's $2m food handout demand, which was dubbed the most bizarre ransom ever paid. The BBC's John Humphrys noted how "the original William Randolph Hearst, an arrogant reactionary who once said that only rich people are interesting, would find this situation probably unbelievable". Distribution points were set up in poor areas throughout Los Angeles and San Francisco, with long queues forming to collect bags containing turkey, bread, milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables.

'I have chosen to stay and fight'

At some food banks, there were chaotic scenes. In Oakland, the 5,000-strong crowd grew angry when organisers threw provisions down from a window. One policeman was stabbed and one crowd member was knocked unconscious as people began throwing cans of food back again. Many of those who were meant to benefit turned down the aid, saying that they were appalled by the SLA's tactics. One Los Angeles resident said: "I just value human life a little higher than a bag of groceries."

Hearst, who after a month of enduring intense psychological pressure while hidden in the group's cramped safe houses, was heard on another tape describing the aid programme as "a real disaster", with most of the food being poor quality. "It certainly didn't sound like the kind of food our family is used to eating," she said. Was she still speaking under duress?

Weeks later on 3 April 1974 came Hearst's bombshell recording: "I have been given the choice of, one, being released in a safe area, or two, joining the forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army, and fighting for my freedom and the freedom of all oppressed people. I have chosen to stay and fight." She revealed that the SLA had renamed her Tania, after a German-Jewish guerrilla who fought alongside the Marxist revolutionary leader Che Guevara in Bolivia. Accompanying the tape was a poster depicting her in full combat clothing, brandishing an automatic weapon in front of the SLA's insignia, a seven‑headed cobra.

A disbelieving Randolph Hearst told reporters, "We've had her 20 years, they've had her 60 days, and I don't believe that she's going to change her philosophies that quickly or that permanently." Her mother Catherine agreed. "I know my girl very well, and I know she'd never join any organisation like that without being coerced," she said.

In History is a series which uses the BBC's unique audio and video archive to explore historical events that still resonate today. Sign up to the accompanying weekly newsletter. 

On 15 April 1974, Patty Hearst turned from victim to fugitive when CCTV footage of a bank robbery showed her carrying an assault weapon. To the public, it was dizzying: had she really embraced extremism, or had she been brainwashed? The media and law enforcement were equally divided. On a tape released a week later, she was unrepentant: "For those people who still believe that I'm brainwashed or dead, I see no reason to further defend my position… I am a soldier in the People's Army." A few days later she denounced her fiancé Steven Weed, who was with her when she was abducted, as a "sexist, ageist pig".

With so much heat on the SLA, the group moved from San Francisco to Compton in south central Los Angeles. The FBI surrounded its hideout on 17 May 1974 after receiving a tip-off that some armed people had been seen transporting heavy weapons. Television crews got wind of the unfolding siege and raced to the scene. After the police launched tear gas grenades into the building, and gunfire was exchanged, the house caught fire. Six SLA members died in the blaze, including some of Hearst's captors.

The entire gunfight went out live on national television, the first shootout to be broadcast as rolling news. Neither viewers nor police realised that Hearst was nowhere near the scene but was instead watching the broadcast from a motel room near Disneyland. For several agonising hours, her parents did not know if she was dead or alive. 

A seven-year sentence

In her final tape recording on 7 June 1974, she eulogised those killed in the shootout. "I want to talk about the way I knew our six murdered comrades because the fascist pig media have of course been painting a typically distorted picture of these beautiful sisters and brothers," she said. After that, she went silent. For over a year, she was on the run until, on 18 September 1975, she was arrested in San Francisco. When officers asked her for her occupation, she replied, "Urban guerrilla." 

By the time of her trial for armed bank robbery, she had changed her tune. Her defence argued she had been threatened with death, sexually assaulted, and brainwashed through "coercive persuasion". She was depicted as a traumatised victim who had gone along with the SLA's activities through survival instinct. Her lawyers claimed she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome – a controversial term that had been recently coined to explain the apparently irrational warm feelings of some captives for their captors.

• The policeman who inspired Al Pacino's Serpico

• The heist to reclaim the ancient Stone of Destiny

• How the killing of Malcolm X shook the US

The prosecution countered with the recordings and photos showing her participating in crimes, speaking fluently in SLA rhetoric and refusing opportunities to escape. They insisted that she had acted voluntarily, or at least knowingly. Throughout the trial, Hearst sat rigidly, often appearing numb or detached. The defence said that this demeanour was a result of trauma. The prosecution said that it reflected her indifference.

Fifty years ago, on 20 March 1976, the jury found her guilty after a seven-week trial. She was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, though President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence after 22 months. In 2001, President Bill Clinton issued a full pardon. Hearst had settled into a quieter life, marrying her bodyguard two months after her release from prison. She had first met him in 1976 while out on bail pending an appeal. She pursued writing and acting and was later portrayed by Natasha Richardson in a 1988 biopic based on her autobiography. She appeared in several films by John Waters, the provocative writer-director, having met him during a promotional trip to the Cannes Film Festival. 

In 1981, while publicising her autobiography, she was interviewed by Barbara Walters of ABC News. She said that during her time with the SLA she did not believe that she had been brainwashed, but that she had since changed her mind. "I have a pretty strong personality," she said. "I don't like to think of myself as being able to be broken or being weak enough to have others control me, and yet they could and they did."

For more stories and never-before-published radio scripts to your inbox, sign up to the In History newsletter, while The Essential List delivers a handpicked selection of features and insights twice a week.

For more Culture stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Why ancient Roman buildings last for millennia

The ancient concrete made by the Romans is teaching modern construction some new tricks.

The secret childhood of Princess Diana

Princess Diana’s cousin shares unseen photos of their private childhood.

Rare footage of the WW2 Nazi Hindenburg airship crash

Rare footage from 1937 captures the last moments of the Nazi Hindenburg airship before it erupted in flames.

What happened at Hiroshima?

Eighty years ago, the US dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, the only nuclear weapon ever used in warfare.

Pope Joan: the woman who fooled the church

A woman who allegedly was the head of the Catholic Church became one of the most controversial Middle Ages tales.

The secret WW2 magazine ridiculing Hitler's mother

Hiding in an attic, Jewish man Curt Bloch found inspiration through crafting anti-Nazi parody.

How the first 'sensational' picture of Lady Diana came about

It starts nearly 40 years ago, when a teenage girl is pulled out of obscurity and thrust into the spotlight.

The insulting 'Vinegar Valentine' of Victorian England

Valentine’s Day is thought to celebrate romance but rude cards soured the holiday for its recipients.

The WW2 experiment to make pigeon-guided missiles

An unexpected WW2 experiment by behaviourist B F Skinner proved that pigeons could be used for missile guidance.

Mary Mallon: 'The most dangerous woman in America'

How Mary Mallon, an Irish cook for New York's elite, became known as the 'most dangerous woman in America'.

World War One relics live on in the fields of Europe

The battlegrounds of World War One are still giving up their revealing evidence of bitter fighting.

A look inside Michelangelo's 'secret room'

The BBC gets access to Michelangelo's 'secret hiding room' under the Medici Chapel in Florence.

The picture that tells a lesser-known chapter of US history

How a 1892 photo from Rougeville, Michigan, became the most iconic image of the bison massacre in America.

The history of swing states in the US

The US Presidential elections did not always depend on just these seven states.

Why tonnes of mummified cats ended up in England

In 1890 an estimated cargo of 180,000 ancient felines, weighing 19.5 tonnes, were auctioned off in Liverpool.

Inside the ancient royal tomb found by accident

The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak was accidentally discovered by Bulgarian soldiers digging up shelters in 1944.

Varna Necropolis: World's oldest gold treasure

The Varna treasure is considered the world's oldest human processed gold, dating back 6,500 years.

The giant 350-year-old model of St Paul's Cathedral

Hiding in a London cathedral is an intricate wooden mock-up of Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece.

Uncovering the sunken relics of an ancient city

Bettany Hughes goes underwater in search of ancient archaeological finds in historic Sozopol, Bulgaria.

Texas fever: The lesser-known history of the US border

In 1911, a fence was constructed on the US-Mexico border. But its purpose was not to stop humans.

Are we close to a hay fever cure?

Is it possible to train the body to resist seasonal allergies? That’s the hope promised by a new line of immunotherapy.

Community service 'keeps us off the streets'

Some of those convicted of crimes are pleased not to be sent to prison and are instead carrying out community service.

An walk through the story of St Patrick

Following quiet lanes, mountains and coastal paths, St Patrick's Way offers a slow journey into Ireland's most famous legend.

Archives cut opening hours to boost online service

The building in Nottingham will open fewer days to free extra resources to meet digital demand.

This baffling syndrome makes fathers feel pregnant

Couvade syndrome is changing how scientists think about the role of men in childbearing.

© BBC