Last update: April 14, 2007 – 9:49 AM

June 17, 1999: '70s revolutionary arrested in St. Paul

A Minnesota native joined the Symbionese Liberation Army after it drew the nation's attention by kidnapping Patty Hearst, and the fugitive's been back for years, officials say.

By Heron Marquez Estrada, Chuck Haga, Andrew Tellijohn, Star Tribune

It seems almost brazen now how the woman known as Sara Jane Olson blended into life in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood: wife and mother, churchgoer, actress, worker for peace and justice, runner.

In local theaters, she had a flair for eccentric roles. In conversation and once in a letter to the editor, she spoke out against apartheid. She was bright and socially engaged, acquaintances said. "Intense," but not frighteningly so.

Neighbor Pat Kramer knew her slightly through block parties. "She'd bring a casserole like the rest of us did," Kramer said. "There was nothing unusual about her at all."

But a 25-year anniversary and her picture on TV last month - on "America's Most Wanted" - changed everything.

Police and FBI agents arrested Olson Wednesday morning a few blocks from her home and identified her as Kathleen Ann Soliah, one of the last at-large members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), the 1970s revolutionary group that kidnapped and temporarily "turned" newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst into "Tanya."

In a way, Soliah, 52, had come home. She spent the first eight years of her life in the northwestern Minnesota town of Barnesville, where her father was a teacher and coach.

Her brother, Steven, was Hearst's lover during part of the time Hearst spent underground after her kidnapping, and he was arrested with her in 1975.

Kathleen Soliah has been married for a number of years to a St. Paul doctor, and they have three children. Records and statements by acquaintances indicate that she's lived in the Twin Cities for at least 15 years.

A federal fugitive for a quarter-century, she is accused of bombing, bank robbery and conspiracy to murder police officers in California.

She was driving a minivan when she was stopped at 8:21 a.m. Wednesday near her home by St. Paul police, members of the Minnesota Fugitive Task Force and officers from the Los Angeles Police Department. She was on her way to a school to give some kind of lesson, Los Angeles detective Tom King said.

"She was very cooperative," said James Burrus Jr., special agent in charge of the Minneapolis FBI office.

Soliah, who in 1975 was described by federal authorities as a former teacher, housepainter and waitress, is being held in the Ramsey County jail pending extradition to Los Angeles. She is expected to be arraigned today. On May 17, 1974, six other SLA members - including Camilla Hall, a Minnesota native - were killed in a shootout with Los Angeles police. The shootout and subsequent house fire were on live TV across the nation.

Authorities provided little information on where Soliah has been hiding for the past 23 years or how she ended up in St. Paul.

"She wasn't a stranger to this area," Burrus said.

Los Angeles police indicated that Soliah had left the United States at some point and lived in Africa for nine years.

Soliah's husband, Gerald F. Peterson, is an emergency-medicine physician reported to practice at St. Paul's United Hospital.

"We do have someone by that name on our staff in our emergency room and he was not in today," said Bronwyn Pope, media manager at the hospital.

In a telephone interview with the Los Angeles Times, Peterson said neither he nor his children had any inkling of his wife's double life.

"I know nothing about that," he said. "I'll tell you the truth, I'm totally shocked."

Peterson said he and his children were confused and frightened by the arrest, which came without warning.

But Soliah's parents said Peterson knew his wife was a fugitive.

"She told him about her situation when they got serious," Elsie Soliah told the Times. "He understood."

Authorities say that Soliah joined the SLA after the Hearst kidnapping and, in August 1975, helped blow up three San Francisco squad cars and placed homemade bombs under Los Angeles police vehicles in retaliation for the shootout deaths. No officers were hurt in either case.

It was the 25th anniversary last month of the shootout that prompted the TV program "America's Most Wanted" to profile Soliah and James Kilgore, her former boyfriend and SLA colleague, who is still wanted.

A federal warrant for Soliah for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was issued in Los Angeles in March. Last month, the FBI offered a $20,000 reward.

Soliah was indicted on Feb. 26, 1976, in Los Angeles. Although authorities have been looking for her since then, there were indications that she was preparing to turn herself in last month, according to her brother-in-law.

The deal, which possibly would have led to her being on parole instead of facing jail time, apparently fell apart when the TV show aired, angering Soliah, according to a San Francisco newspaper reporter who was serving as intermediary.

Burrus said tips from viewers of "America's Most Wanted" eventually led investigators to St. Paul, where authorities began tracking Soliah on Sunday. On Tuesday, authorities followed her around the clock.

"This arrest demonstrates the resolve of law enforcement," Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks said Wednesday.

Added Burrus: "We simply aren't going to give up on fugitives, no matter how long."

He said that there is no statute of limitations on Soliah's alleged crimes because she took flight.

No one answered the door at Hearst's home in Connecticut Wednesday, and she did not return calls. She did tell WCBS-AM in New York: "This is all so old. I don't want to be drawn into all of this."

Peterson and Olson bought the two-story, ivy-covered stone house on Hillcrest Avenue in 1989 or 1990, records indicate.

Aside from a gathering swarm of reporters and photographers, there was sparse activity around the house Wednesday.

Some friends and neighbors stopped to offer support. Neighbor Mary Kay Kennedy said she was shocked by the allegations against a woman she has known for a couple of years. Olson was active in the community, she said, and a good mother. "My only reaction right now is to offer anything I can do to help the family get through this," she said.

Kathleen Soliah's father, Martin (Marty) Soliah, was a teacher for 10 years in Barnesville, just southeast of Moorhead. The family left Barnesville in 1956 when Kathleen was 8, moving to Lompoc, Calif., and later to Palmdale, where Martin taught English.

Kathleen's parents still live in Palmdale.

Martin Soliah, 82, told the Times that he hoped his oldest daughter would not be judged too harshly. "She has led a decent life. She's a mom. She's a person who works in her community, someone who cares about others," he said.

Barnesville farmer Ralph Mathew, a family friend, described the Soliahs in 1975 as a close family, conservative and strong in their Lutheran faith.

Kathleen's brother, Steven, was living with Patricia Hearst when she was arrested in September 1975. He was arrested and charged with hiding a fugitive. Steven and Kathleen and a younger sister, Josephine, all were linked to the April 21, 1975, holdup of a Crocker National Bank branch in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael.

During the robbery, one of four ski-masked robbers killed customer Myrna Ophasi with a shotgun. The robbers then stomped on the heads of others in the bank, authorities said.

A fifth person - Hearst - waited outside in a getaway car.

Hearst was granted immunity from prosecution. In exchange, she told authorities that Kathleen and Steven Soliah took part in the holdup with other SLA members.

Steven Soliah was the only one who stood trial. He had an alibi witness and was acquitted.

Kathleen began her run.