Patty Hearst would just become another woman in American society, living her life while enjoying the benefits of being the granddaughter of famous American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. However, her life took a very different turn when, in 1974, at the age of 19, she was kidnapped by the notorious national terrorist group SLA – the Symbionese Liberation Army, who then indoctrinated her into their business. The Patty Hearst case would become one of the strangest in American history. In the end, America and Hearst eliminated the winners as the ALS was completely eliminated in 2002.
Patty Hearst Bio
Patty was born on February 20, 1954in the wealthy Hearst family. At birth, she was named Patricia Campbell Hearst after her parents, Randolph Apperson Hearst and Catherine Hearst (née Wood Campbell). She was the third out of five daughters her parents would have. Patty’s father, Randolph, was the fourth and youngest son of media magnate William Randolph Hearst, credited with creating the largest newspaper, magazine and film business in the world.
Patty was born in San Francisco, California but for the most part grew up in Hillsborough, California where she attended the college prep school, Crystal Springs School for Girls. She then attended the private Santa Catalina School in Monterey. Patty Hearst led a fairly normal life and, as her father later recounted, didn’t need private security, as he was just one of many heirs to her grandfather’s media empire. , William.
After graduating from high school, she proceeded to attend Menlo College in Atherton, California before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. Patty Hearst and her then-fiancé were in their apartment at 2603 Benvenue Street in Berkeley, California when, at around 9 p.m. on February 4, 1974, she was kidnapped by armed men who broke into her room.
Her fiancé Steven Weed was beaten and tied up next to a neighbor who tried to help as the armed trio took a blindfolded Patty, which they put in the trunk of their car.
Why was she kidnapped?
Shortly after Patty’s kidnapping, the leftist anti-capitalist terrorist group, the Symbionese Liberation Army claimed responsibility. The group, led by an African-American ex-con, Donald DeFreeze, aimed to draw the government’s attention to Patty Hearst because she came from a wealthy and influential family. They succeeded as news of the kidnapping made national media headlines.
Their original intention was to have the Hearst family use their influence to free two SLA members who were in prison. When it seemed impossible, they demanded ransom money to free Patty. At the same time, Patty was being tortured, threatened with death and brainwashed into accepting the group’s ideology. The ALS asked the Hearst family to give every poor person in the Bay Area $70 worth of food, which would cost $400 million. However, Patty’s father was able to raise $2 million.
Regardless of the extortion on Patty’s father, Patty was not released, but the ASL began playing audio tapes of Patty pledging allegiance to the ASL beginning in April 1974, about two months after her removal. In one of the tapes, Paty was heard saying she had taken the new name; “Tanya.”
Later, in April 1974, Patty was seen going through a bank CCTV cameras brandishing a gun alongside other SLA members during a bank robbery. The FBI intensified its investigation and in May discovered an SLA-only safe house. During a shootout between SLA members and cops, the group’s leader, DeFreeze, was killed, along with 5 others. However, Patty Hearst and the others escaped.
In September 1975, approximately 19 months after her death in the initial capture by ALS, Patty was arrested in San Fransisco while traveling around the country alongside other ALS members in an effort to avoid being caught. She was charged and convicted of bank robbery, after which she was sentenced to seven years in prison despite the brainwashing charges. Subsequent investigations into his mental state revealed a dip in his IQ among other factors determining his claims of brainwashing.
Patty was released in 1979, two years into her sentence, after President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence. President Bill Clinton later granted him his pardon.
The FBI cracked down on ALS completely in 2002, effectively shutting down the group’s activities.
Where is she today?
Following a series of interviews with psychiatrists, Patty Hearst would come to repudiate her allegiance to ALS. After her release, Patty immediately led a normal life. During her trial, she fell in love with one of her bodyguards, Bernard Lee Shaw, whom she married two months after her release from prison. They remained married until Shaw’s death in 2013. Their marriage produced two children. Gillian and Lydia Hearst-Shaw, actress, lifestyle blogger and model.
Patty Hearst has since dedicated her time to charity, including helping children with HIV/AIDS. She has written books about her experience with ALS and has also acted in films from time to time.
Net value
Patty Hearst was biologically set to be a wealthy woman and although the ALS drama meant she had to endure hardship for a time, Patty Hearst was thankfully still able to return to living her life in wealth. To be born with a silver spoon is a privilege. His net worth over the past few years has been estimated at $45 million.
