Bill Harris, One of Patty Hearst's Kidnappers, Dead at 81

Patty Hearst Kidnapper Bill Harris Dead at 81 Published October 6, 2026 6:40 PM PDT One of Patty Hearst's kidnappers, Bill Harris, has died. Harris passed away September 10 in San Francisco ... according to The New York Times. Harris became infamous in 1974 as a top lieutenant of the Symbionese Liberation Army, a radical left wing group that kidnapped Patty from her Berkeley, CA apartment. While in captivity, Patty was forced to record a message denouncing her family and later appeared to embrace the SLA's ideology. She ultimately participated in the group's robbery of a San Francisco bank. Patty was arrested in 1975 and later convicted of bank robbery. She was sentenced to seven years in prison but served about two years before President Jimmy Carter commuted what remained of her sentence. President Bill Clinton later granted Patty a full pardon in 2001. Bill was 81. Related articles Jimmy Carter RIP Kidnapping Crime News