00:00:00
Hey weirdos. I am Ash. And I am Elena. >> And this amorbid. This ambid. >> This is morbid.
00:00:20
>> We are going to be a little loosey goosey crazy cuckoo cuz I think we're just running off of very little sleep.
00:00:29
Yeah, I think the listener tale comes out after this episode. God only knows. Jot only knows. Um, but if you haven't
00:00:37
seen the listener tale yet, we're just like dealing with some family stuff right now.
00:00:40
>> Yeah. >> Ma's in the hospital. >> Yeah, >> she's doing all right. But, you know,
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>> but there's a lot going on. >> We're running back and forth and here and everywhere.
00:00:48
>> Yeah. >> Lack of sleep. Elena's fire alarm went off. Fire. Why did I just say fire?
00:00:54
>> Fire. >> Alena's fire. It's I don't Ash literally said, "What ancient deity did you piss
00:00:59
off?" Cuz my week started off with the dental emergency. Y >> which went into luckily rolled into cuz
00:01:07
I was like, "I'm not canceling the unlikely story event." >> Yeah. >> Um >> like the book event.
00:01:11
>> Yeah. The book event. So I was like So that rolled into a really great night of
00:01:16
that really took my mind off of the fact that my whole [ __ ] mouth was a [ __ ] flame.
00:01:23
And but that sucked like the getting the actual dental stuff. >> And then right after that,
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>> uh we had ma ended up in the hospital. Y >> um and it was like very scary at first.
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Still is. It's still not great. Yeah. >> Um but you know, we're getting through it. And so we've been going through
00:01:42
that. And then last night, so I haven't had sleep cuz like with the dental stuff, I wasn't sleeping.
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>> No, cuz your mouth is in pain. >> Yeah. And then with the m stuff, I wasn't sleeping. God, the two of us were
00:01:51
up until like 4:00 a.m. like went got home went home, got 2 hours of sleep, went back to get [ __ ] done, like
00:01:59
>> Yeah. showered at like 4:00 a.m. >> Literally. >> And cuz I was like, I got to get out of
00:02:04
4 a.m. lately. I really that when the alarm start alarm went off because we've been doing that cuz like you know we've
00:02:12
just been making sure that Peppa's okay and we want to make sure he's being fed and hydrated
00:02:17
>> not just McDonald's >> that he's sleeping cuz he will want to just eat McDonald's
00:02:22
>> which don't blame him. Yeah, >> but >> but we just want to make sure he's okay
00:02:27
too. And then so I finally get I'm like full night sleep last night because like
00:02:34
we everything settled a little bit and like we were able to come home at a decent time and I got woken up
00:02:40
>> out of REM sleep according to >> sleep according to my aura ring. I was in godamn REM sleep
00:02:46
>> and my fire alarm in my house went off and it's literally every fire alarm going fire.
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I'm running down the hallway grabbing the kids. The kids are all like, "What is going on?" And we're like flipping
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out. John's running around. >> Luckily, >> my house was not on fire. >> No. Thank goodness.
00:03:04
>> Just happened to be like a a glitch in one of the alarms, but we had a fire department.
00:03:10
>> Hello. >> So, at 4:00 a.m., we're just like, "Hey, us." And they were so sweet. Luckily,
00:03:16
like we've had great luck with everybody we've had to that we've dealt with this
00:03:20
week. >> I know. >> Funny thing is it was like the same >> um firefighters. were at my mom's the
00:03:27
other night. >> Hi. Say, "Hi, I'm having a really great week." >> You're like, "Damn, bitch."
00:03:32
>> Even they're like, "What ancient deity did you put in?" >> You're like, "I said that, too." God
00:03:37
damn it. >> So, it's been like a literal [ __ ] show over here. >> Yeah, it really has.
00:03:44
>> But you know what? We're getting through it. >> We're getting through it. Everybody is
00:03:49
is in a place of at least being like baseline okay right now. and we're going to get there. We're
00:03:57
going to see the end of the tunnel. And you know, we are recording right now um the last episode that's going to be on
00:04:05
Wondery Plus >> because we're making our way to serious. >> So after this episode and after the
00:04:12
listener tales episode >> I do think that comes out after. >> I think it does, >> guys. We don't know. You know that. But
00:04:18
you know what? >> We will. This is the very last episode we're recording that we're going to say
00:04:23
that super duper crazy ahead of time and we're not knowing >> going to know when it comes out.
00:04:27
>> Yeah, cuz >> Yeah. So, this is the last time you're going to hear us say I don't [ __ ]
00:04:31
know when this comes out. >> Oh my god. We I literally me and Elena have been listening to so much Jack's
00:04:37
Mannequin and so much something corporate. >> Oh my god. >> And I know it's this is the last straw,
00:04:41
but I literally was just like this is the last time >> in my head. I love it. Yeah. For some
00:04:49
reason, something corporate is a real [ __ ] comfort. >> Yeah. Something corporate and then
00:04:54
weirdly taking back Sunday. >> Yes. >> When you >> taking back Sunday get you in like a
00:05:01
>> aggression out. >> Like you can't be sad anymore. So you just have to be angry even though like
00:05:07
you're like I don't even know why I'm angry right now. Like mad at mad at life. >> Yeah.
00:05:11
>> I've been yelling Taken Back Sunday on my car. >> Hell yeah. It's like that scene of um is
00:05:16
it Christina Applegate or am I absolutely losing my mind? >> I don't know. >> From from Married with Children.
00:05:21
>> Oh yeah, >> Christina Applegate. That sounded so completely wrong to me. Got it.
00:05:25
>> But she's in that other show um like death something with someone. >> You know what I'm talking about.
00:05:31
>> Something with someone, you know. >> Yeah. >> Like her her husband gets killed by like
00:05:35
a drunk driver or something like that and you know it's a whole thing. Anyway, there's a scene in that show that I
00:05:40
can't think of the name right now where Christina Applegate is just like screaming screamer lyrics in her car.
00:05:46
>> Yeah. >> And that's me right now. >> Yeah, pretty much. >> Yep. >> Honestly, like um like early as pop punk
00:05:53
is really getting us through this right now. >> Yeah. Like the MySpace playlist.
00:05:57
>> Yeah. I don't I never knew it was going to be such a comfort in times as such as
00:06:01
these, but >> it is. >> Um thanks to that. >> Thanks to that. I was listening to the
00:06:06
phone. >> Thanks, Andrew, for being Andrew. Postal service. I'm We're Oh, yeah. >> I'm in Hollister right now.
00:06:12
>> Hell yeah. That's I'm literally in Hollister >> in the shower. I'm just in Hollister
00:06:18
right now. >> Hollister is having a [ __ ] comeback. Have you seen >> I know. And that's like really like
00:06:25
close to my heart. >> Yeah, of course it is >> because I [ __ ] love To Hollister.
00:06:30
>> I love Tollister. >> Um Yeah, that [ __ ] >> I can smell it right now. Oh yeah, you
00:06:34
can smell it down the mall. >> Yeah, you can. My parents would never come in with me. They're like, "Fuck
00:06:38
that." And I'm sure no one else is dead either. >> No. >> Um, according to the youths, it's going to
00:06:44
be a 2009 summer. >> You know what? We need that. >> I'm ready. I think >> I'm ready.
00:06:48
>> Like, I'm ready for that. >> Yeah. I want I want those Henley tops. >> Oh my god.
00:06:53
>> The baby doll tops that you'd wear the lace cami under. I'm ready. >> Oh, I'm always ready.
00:06:57
>> I should have kept my [ __ ] >> Let's go, girls. >> All right. Well, >> so that's that's our dumpster fire over
00:07:04
here. But you know what? Again, perspective. >> Perspective can always everyone's going
00:07:08
to get through it. Things could be worse. >> You are going through worse. Could get
00:07:12
kidnapped. >> You could. >> And that's what this story is about. >> Yeah, that's that's worse.
00:07:16
>> It's called transition. Look it up. >> Yeah. It's called Segue. >> It's called Sigu.
00:07:20
>> There you go. >> If you're M from And that's Why We Drink Us because we love them.
00:07:25
>> Yeah. >> So, I'm lost. But anyway, uh we're going to be talking about Patty Hurst and the symbion liberation army
00:07:34
today. >> Liberation Army. This is like I obviously I know who Patty Hurst is. Yeah.
00:07:41
>> But I never knew all the details of this story. You don't really learn about it
00:07:45
in school. That's the thing. I think a lot of um a lot of people know the name. Like me, too. Like I I know the name. I
00:07:54
know the general idea of what happened. >> I knew like she got kidnapped obviously
00:07:58
and then like with them, >> but um >> I don't think a lot of people know the details, me included.
00:08:05
>> Yeah. Well, guess what? You're about to. >> Also, if you hear we're I apologize in
00:08:10
advance and this won't be a thing that happens a lot, so don't fear. But um if you hear like a message sound
00:08:18
I'm sure Mikey will try to edit as much as he can out. We're just leaving our phones on like sound for obvious
00:08:25
reasons. So, um I just didn't want you to be like, "What the [ __ ] is going on?"
00:08:29
I was like, "Wow, you guys are really popular and also inconsiderate." >> I was going to say also inconsiderate.
00:08:36
>> All right. So, let's get into it. We're going to start at the very top, very beginning.
00:08:41
>> That's a great place to start. >> Yeah. Patricia Campbell her. She was born and that's where it all starts.
00:08:45
>> She was born. >> She was on February 20th, 1954, making her a Pisces. Okay. >> Right on the cusp, though. Uh, she was
00:08:52
born in San Francisco, California. One of five daughters. Five girls. >> Five gals. Born to Katherine Campbell,
00:08:59
which is a sick ass name. And Randolph Hurst. >> Randolph is just like such a That's a
00:09:05
name. That's a town in Massachusetts. >> That's a town in Massachusetts. Exactly.
00:09:08
And a sick ass name. >> Yeah. Really cool name. >> So, well, he was a he was a big big
00:09:15
important guy. >> He has to be. >> He was he was the son of publishing magnet William Hurst. So that made him
00:09:20
heir to one of the nation's largest fortunes and like the nation but also probably the world.
00:09:26
>> Damn. >> And it also meant that he would eventually become the chairman of the
00:09:30
board of the Hurst Corporation which was a huge media conglomerate that owned tons and tons of very popular nationally
00:09:38
recognized media outlets. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Think Succession. >> Succession. Yeah.
00:09:42
>> Literally wrote very succession coded. So, as one of the most famous families
00:09:47
in the world, the Hursts were extremely aware of their reputation. And Catherine, the mother, went to great
00:09:53
lengths to make sure that her daughters had, you know, a sense of discipline, a sense of decorum. They they were going
00:09:59
to be in the public eye a lot, so they needed to act right. >> Yeah. >> While most of the girls appreciated the
00:10:04
importance of this, keeping up the appearances, Patty constantly struggled against her parents will.
00:10:11
>> That's got to be that's got to be hard. That's a lot of pressure sticking immediately.
00:10:15
>> The kids didn't ask for that. You know what I mean? So, it's tough. >> That is hard. And Patty, she she just
00:10:20
didn't like any of this. She defied them over pretty much everything she could. They were devout Catholics and she
00:10:26
didn't give a [ __ ] about that. >> They wanted obviously the highest education standards, which I understand,
00:10:32
but she didn't give a [ __ ] about that. Yeah. When she was just 10 years old, they ended up sending her away to the
00:10:38
Convent of Sacred Heart, which was a private Catholic boarding school in San Francisco.
00:10:42
>> Damn. >> Patty didn't give a [ __ ] about that either. >> No, she didn't give a [ __ ]
00:10:46
>> She said, "You're just not going to make me act right." >> Yeah. She was like, "No,
00:10:48
>> I'm going to do the damn thing." >> Yeah. >> It was pretty clear that the point of
00:10:52
sending her off to boarding school was to break her of these defiant tendencies.
00:10:55
>> Yeah. >> Um and at the same time, it was also clear that it wasn't going to be that
00:10:59
simple. >> No. A lot of the other girls at school were very afraid of the nuns obviously
00:11:03
who ran the place. Like I mean nuns are intense, especially at Catholic schools in the like late 50s.
00:11:10
>> Oh yeah. >> Early 60s. Uh Patty though wasn't afraid of them at all. >> Her favorite thing to do was to provoke
00:11:16
them and try to get laughter from her peers. >> She sounds like a hot chick. >> She does. Later she told a reporter that
00:11:22
she remembered one nun would get directly in the faces of students and yell at them.
00:11:27
>> Oh, I hate that. >> And she said, "Don't do that. It's insane. That's a wild way to make
00:11:31
children do anything against you except for cry. >> But Patty said, "When she did this to me
00:11:37
one day, the idea flashed in my mind that I could make her stop by shocking her." So when she paused for a breath, I
00:11:43
very deliberately said, "Oh, go to hell. It It worked." She goes, "It worked. Stopped her cold. Stopped her cold."
00:11:50
Imagine telling a nun to go to hell. As like a 10y old >> as like a 10-year-old girl at a Catholic
00:11:55
school. >> Like, I'm sorry. That's pretty That's pretty iconic. >> Yeah. So, that was pretty much how how
00:12:02
her elementary school days went and middle school days went. >> When she started high school, Patty
00:12:07
transferred to the Santa Catalina School, which was another boarding school. This one was about 100 miles
00:12:13
away from home >> and she wasn't any happier there. She missed her family. >> Yeah.
00:12:17
>> The, you know, there were still the nuns that were yelling at everybody. And even
00:12:21
though she was sitting there trying to make them laugh and make the best of it, it she missed her family and it wasn't
00:12:26
where she wanted to be. >> No, of course not. >> And that environment sucks. >> So, she was generally pretty miserable
00:12:31
during the school year. But it sounds like she really came alive during the summertime. A lot of the summer was
00:12:38
spent with her family in some of California's most exclusive, super ritzy locations.
00:12:43
>> Oh, yeah. >> It really wasn't like the luxuriousness of it all that thrilled Patty. It was
00:12:47
really more just getting to spend time with her family and particularly her dad and the family dogs.
00:12:53
>> Oh, I love that. >> She just loved anytime she could be with her dad. >> Yeah.
00:12:56
>> They'd go hunting, they'd hike, they'd play sports, and she was just thriving.
00:13:01
Obviously, she had her rebellious streak, but like a lot of kids, all she really wanted was the approval of her
00:13:07
parents and the privilege of spend spending quality time with them. >> Yeah. Absolutely.
00:13:12
>> Even if it was just for that little bit of time in the summer. >> Yeah. So, while she rarely missed an
00:13:17
opportunity to provoke the adults in her life, that became a lot easier when she
00:13:21
became a teenager. >> Oh, I'm sure. >> As we all know. >> Yeah. >> And that was when she started to take an
00:13:25
interest in boys. >> When she was still in high school, she turned her romantic attention to a
00:13:30
young, handsome teacher. >> Oh. >> named Steven Weed. >> Now, this is inappropriate.
00:13:36
>> It is right off the bat. >> Yeah. >> We do have to know he was four years older than her.
00:13:41
>> Okay. So, it's not absolutely insane, but he's a person in a position of power.
00:13:47
>> Well, absolutely. And that's the thing. It's not inappropriate that she has a
00:13:50
crush on a teacher. No. >> Because like that happens all the time. Oh, hell yeah.
00:13:54
>> Like that's you there should be no acting upon that in any way, shape, or form from either side.
00:14:00
>> Especially the teacher side. >> Exactly. >> That's not the case here. >> So Patty said he was everything a high
00:14:06
school girl could want. He was a college graduate, an older man, so mature, so experienced, so sophisticated. I suppose
00:14:13
I threw myself at him, but I hope not in any obvious way. Um, unfortunately, he did welcome the attention.
00:14:20
>> A >> he didn't just like Patty as a student. He felt he shared the same feelings.
00:14:24
>> Yeah. >> Eventually, they became a couple. Um, and really didn't pay a lot of attention
00:14:29
to keeping their relationship private. >> Jesus. It's hard to say whether it was
00:14:33
the age difference or just the fact of the relationship itself, but everything about it distressed Patty's mom,
00:14:39
Catherine. >> Yeah. But as author Jeffrey Tubin pointed out, and we're going to link his
00:14:44
uh book in the show notes. It's called American Aerys. He said, or he wrote, "In light of the Hurst family tradition
00:14:50
of older men courting teenage girls, they were hardly in a position to complain."
00:14:55
>> Oh, yeah. Okay, got it. I don't think it was really the fact that he was older that bothered anybody.
00:15:03
I think it was the fact that he was her teacher and like, you know, media outlets might recognize that and there's
00:15:09
a lot of implications there. >> Uh, yeah, I'd say so. >> Yeah. So, the relationship quickly
00:15:14
became a serious point of contention between Patty and her mother. Catherine wanted a future for Patty, much like the
00:15:19
one that she had, like her own life. She wanted her to be this perfect debutant.
00:15:23
She wanted her to be a socialite. But Patty didn't give a [ __ ] about any of that. She had other ideas. Yeah, her
00:15:29
parents hoped that when she was done with school, she would enroll at Stanford and start on the path of
00:15:33
becoming a very well-educated philanthropist like everybody else had, >> which is al it's like it's an admirable
00:15:40
goal for your child. Like there's nothing wrong with that. >> No, like wanting your kid to go to
00:15:43
college and everything. >> But Patty was like, "Nah, I'm good." >> Instead, she did she did go to school.
00:15:50
She followed Steve to the University of California, Berkeley, and he enrolled in
00:15:54
grad courses there and she started undergrad. I have to imagine that he probably lost his teaching job when they
00:15:59
started dating. >> I was going to say I feel like Yeah, >> I don't know. >> You should probably take those graduate
00:16:04
courses, buddy, cuz you're going to need them. >> You're going to need them. >> So, part of Patty's decision-m for sure
00:16:09
had something to do with rebelling against what was expected of her at the time. But also, she really just wanted
00:16:15
to separate herself from her family and the pressure that came from being involved in it.
00:16:19
>> Yeah. And just become her own person. >> Yeah. In a publicly recognized family.
00:16:22
Exactly. >> Yeah. She wanted to see what life was like if she wasn't a hurst. Yeah. You
00:16:28
know, >> so in between high school graduation and starting at UC Berkeley, she got a
00:16:32
summer job to kill the time. And she was working as a clerk at Campwell's department store in Oakland. It was
00:16:39
there that she really kind of started to see the other side of life that she hadn't been exposed to. She saw people
00:16:45
struggling to get by on minimum wage. She saw how they were getting exploited by their boss and you know how they had
00:16:51
to work overtime and they didn't always get paid to do that. >> Yeah. >> So >> that was where the civil and political
00:16:58
movements that were going on in the 60s and 70s and at that time would kind of have some context for her finally.
00:17:04
>> Yeah. She could finally see it with her own eyes. >> Exactly. And relate to it
00:17:07
>> and experience it. >> Exactly. So let's talk about that a little bit. >> Let's go. Throughout the mid to late
00:17:13
1960s, the US was really going through a cultural shift, a very significant cultural shift when it came to politics
00:17:20
and social priorities, especially >> a lot of young people were growing up. They were going out into the world and
00:17:26
they wanted to do something different than what their parents' generation had. >> Yeah.
00:17:30
>> People were becoming a lot more progressive. They wanted to change the way that things were working, especially
00:17:34
when it came to politics and human's rights. And for the most part, activists at that time were, you know, doing
00:17:41
sitins, protests, rallies. Yeah. A lot of these things weren't violent at the time because people wanted to try to get
00:17:48
attention to these different causes. And in the beginning at least, they were like, "Let's do this nonviolently
00:17:54
because that's a good way to get our message across." >> Yeah. Let's try to spread peace here.
00:17:58
>> Exactly. But by the end of the 60s, a lot more new radicalized groups were starting to form and those groups were
00:18:06
choosing to do it the violent way. Yeah. You know, they thought that that was the
00:18:10
way to get their message across. Throughout the late 60s and early 70s, these kinds of underground groups were
00:18:17
engaging in armed robberies, jailbreaks, bombings, all those kind of things. And
00:18:22
they were all done in the name of reshaping America to address different needs of marginalized communities.
00:18:28
>> Yeah, absolutely. >> Ultimately, they didn't really get an overwhelming amount of support from the
00:18:33
public because they were doing things violently. >> But even if they didn't get support,
00:18:38
they were getting attention. Yeah. >> And for them, that was good. >> That was what we're looking for. So
00:18:42
unfortunately while a lot of these underground you know groups did have just causes because of the violent
00:18:49
nature of their tactics they would attract a lot of people on the fringes of society.
00:18:54
>> Yeah. Who saw it as an opportunity >> to just be violent. Exactly. Uh among these people were Donald Defreeze, a
00:19:01
multiple convicted criminal and a group of young activists that included Michael
00:19:07
Borton, Steve Sallaya, Jim Kilgore, and Kathy Sallayia. Together with Donald, they ended up forming their own radical
00:19:15
activist group and eventually they became one of the most notorious domestic terrorist organizations in
00:19:22
American history. >> Damn. >> And that is the Symbion Liberation Army or SLA. Okay,
00:19:27
>> I'm going to say that because it's so much easier to say. >> Yeah. >> And they ended up being a very uh
00:19:33
far-left militant group. >> So, Donald Def was the founder and the leader of the SLA.
00:19:40
>> And let's get into a little bit about who he was. He spent most of the 1960s kind of just buming around his hometown
00:19:47
of Cleveland, then Southern California, and uh there he worked off and on as a house painter, but a lot of time he was
00:19:54
just unemployed. Yeah, >> he was absolutely enamored with these revolutionary movements that were rising
00:20:00
up around the world. And of course, he was particularly drawn to the violence and the disruptive actions of these
00:20:06
groups. >> Oh boy. >> But something that wasn't working for him was the fact that if he was adept at
00:20:11
anything, it was getting busted by the police. He was really good at that. >> Yeah.
00:20:15
>> Since he had been a teen, he was in and out of juvie and prisons for kind of just like petty, but also at the same
00:20:21
time violent crimes. So in September of 1972, while he was still incarcerated, he organized a black inmate self-help
00:20:30
group called Unicite with help from Russell Little and William Wolf. They were two Berkeley grad students and
00:20:37
prison tutors who were former members of um Vinceramos, which was another militant activist group. Like I said,
00:20:45
there was a lot of activist groups going on. >> We all splintered off into different
00:20:48
things. Exactly. Factions. >> Exactly. So it was through these two that Donald Dreeze learned more about
00:20:54
communist ideologies that were driving a lot of these movements. >> Okay. So after being transferred to
00:21:00
Soulad prison in 1973, he managed Donald Defreeze managed to escape from prison and he was directed by Wolf and Little
00:21:09
to an activist safe house in San Francisco because these people really did work together and they had these
00:21:15
like safe houses set up around around the city so that they could support one another.
00:21:21
>> Yeah. >> So it was there that he started making connections with other activists and
00:21:25
eventually that was when SLA was founded. Building on what he learned about organizing in prison, SLA was
00:21:32
founded basically with the objective of sparking a revolt in black America that they believed in time would overthrow
00:21:38
systems that had oppressed black and brown people. Yeah. >> So kind of started >> with a good message in mind and a good
00:21:46
cause in mind. Exactly. Um, in the months after his escape, he started recruiting young people to the
00:21:52
group like Michael Borton, Steve Sallayya, Jim Kilgore, Kathy Sallaya. Unlike some of the other naive,
00:21:59
well-meaning members of revolutionary groups, these four already had a certain amount of uh notoriety at that time
00:22:08
because they had been arrested for bombing UC Berkeley uh their naval naval architecture building in 1972.
00:22:15
>> Oh, damn. in the name of social revolution. >> Okay. >> Like I said, while some people were
00:22:20
joining SLA with good intentions, >> it all splintered off. Yeah. >> Because you can't
00:22:26
>> when people are coming in who have already committed bombings, it's like, okay,
00:22:29
>> like that's problem >> not the way to go about this. >> Red alert. Red alert. Red alert. So,
00:22:34
with the help of his new recruits, Donald DeFreeze started reaching out to various inmates across California
00:22:39
prisons in hopes of setting up a bigger network cuz, you know, he wants to get his message out there.
00:22:44
Eventually, the SLA, unfortunately, did become very successful in committing acts of domestic terrorism, but their
00:22:52
networking process is kind of among some of the more compelling evidence of how unorganized they really were and how
00:22:59
inexperienced most of the members were. >> The inmates that Defreeze and others contacted were mostly serving life
00:23:06
sentences and didn't have any chance of parole. >> So, like, so they weren't really going
00:23:11
to be of much help on the outside. Yeah. >> And in addition to that, not a lot of
00:23:16
them really understood what it was that they were joining in the first place. >> Yeah.
00:23:20
>> One inmate, Clifford Death Row Jefferson. Death Row is his nickname. >> Uh I'm sorry.
00:23:26
>> No, it's wild. >> How do you get to be the one with that that as your nickname?
00:23:32
>> I assume you're on death row. >> Yeah, >> probably. >> But like is there other death rows? Like
00:23:37
>> you're the death rowest of the death row. >> Death row of death row. I he Clifford
00:23:42
seems like he was he apparently he got the nickname. The fun fact I actually don't know much about him but
00:23:47
>> damn except that he was on death row >> but at the same time I know everything
00:23:50
about him. >> Yeah, I was gonna say >> you know what I mean? >> I feel like I don't need to know
00:23:54
anything else. >> That's all death row. >> So he thought he was being asked to lead
00:23:59
the group. >> So that just goes to show you like mistake they weren't being clear with
00:24:03
their messaging at all. He thought he was being asked to lead it from death row. Death Death Row Jefferson thought
00:24:10
he was being asked like inside the prison. >> Another inmate who was contacted to, you
00:24:17
know, help join the Revolutionary Movement. He thought he was joining the Lebanese Liberation Army.
00:24:23
>> Oops. >> So So like, yikes. >> What's going on here, guys? >> Like, are you not being clear? Like,
00:24:30
what is >> No. No. You're like, oh, you're not being clear. You don't even have to ask.
00:24:34
>> Like, what? So, yeah. Disorganization and lack of exper experience aside, the
00:24:38
members of the SLA, they did manage to gather a large number of guns and bombs, and they did establish their own safe
00:24:45
house and conquered California. So, they might not have been great at messaging,
00:24:48
but they were great at amassing scary scary things. >> Great at getting bombs and guns.
00:24:53
>> And guns. Yeah. And safe houses. >> Yeah. >> In November of 1973, they did commit
00:24:58
their first what they saw as a revolutionary act, and it was a very violent one. They ambushed and murdered
00:25:06
Oakland school superintendent Marcus Foster. Wow. And also at the same time critically injured his deputy, Robert
00:25:12
Blackburn. It's >> awful. >> They had targeted Marcus Foster because they thought he was advocating for a
00:25:17
student ID system at the school which they felt was racist. But in all reality, Marcus Foster had never
00:25:24
advocated for that system. The local press mistakenly reported that he had. >> So they're not even doing their [ __ ]
00:25:31
research here. >> No. Like they're committing wild heinous acts of violence right now without even
00:25:37
bothering to look into it and make sure they have the facts. Not that committing
00:25:41
heinous acts of violence is ever like a good thing. >> No. >> But like they're not even doing that.
00:25:45
>> They're not even like I think they're reading a couple articles and not really
00:25:50
doing deep dives. >> Yeah. >> Cuz it's like >> that's [ __ ] up. >> That's the life of somebody and you were
00:25:55
completely wrong. He never even advocated for that in the first place. >> And even if he had, you can't murder him
00:26:01
about it. brutally murder someone. But >> you can protest by all means. Absolutely. That's your right. But
00:26:06
>> speak out. >> Yeah. >> So, >> a few months after Marcus Foster was murdered, Russ Little and another SLA
00:26:14
member, Joe Romero, they were arrested after they got pulled over for a traffic violation and police found several
00:26:20
weapons in the car and a ton of SLA paraphernalia. When word of their arrest got to the rest of the group, that group
00:26:28
set fire to the conquered safe house and went on the run because now they knew that police were on to them. So, they
00:26:34
needed to spread out. >> Now, the house might have been burned, but fortunately for investigators, there
00:26:39
was still a solid amount of evidence left behind so that they could track down the SLA members,
00:26:44
>> but by the time that happened, they would have already moved on to committing their next big act of what
00:26:50
they saw as revolution. >> Yeah. So, now let's go back to Patty's timeline for a minute.
00:26:55
>> Let's go. >> Once they got settled in Berkeley, Patty and Steve, you know, her former teacher
00:26:59
>> were living on his $650 a month stipend and her $300 allowance from her parents.
00:27:05
So, that was a good amount of money at that time for two like young kids out on their own.
00:27:10
>> Absolutely. >> But even without the financial stressors that a lot of young couples have, it did
00:27:15
not take long for the cracks in their relationship to to start showing. The problem was that, you know, maybe they
00:27:22
were attracted to each other, but they were fundamentally very different people.
00:27:26
>> Steve was very orderly. He was very logical. He wanted to plan for everything. Sounds like he might have
00:27:32
been an earth sign. Patty uh is a Pisces, so she's a dreamy gal. >> Oh, yeah. >> You know, like floating along.
00:27:39
>> She's Yeah, she's floating along. She's in those waters, those Piscarian waters,
00:27:43
and she's an art student. Oh. >> So, that just tells you everything you need to know. She was a lot less rigid
00:27:47
in the way that she think that she thought and she wanted to deal with things as they popped up rather than
00:27:53
make a plan for them long term. Yeah. >> She's also a teenager. She's 19 years old.
00:27:57
>> I was going to say, >> so yeah, that's pretty standard. >> Yeah. >> So, there were definitely growing
00:28:02
feelings that things in the relationship weren't really going as well as they had
00:28:05
in the beginning, but neither of them seemed interested or willing to address the problem. They kind of just kept
00:28:11
going. According to Jeffrey Tubin, he said their relationship moved forward on kind of automatic pilot and by the end
00:28:18
of 1973, they got engaged. >> Oh, >> it seemed it didn't really >> problems, >> right? It didn't really seem like they
00:28:25
were like, oh, like, you know, when you get engaged, it's because you're like, I
00:28:29
want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have maybe children with you. I want to travel the world with
00:28:33
you. Like, you have intentions of of committing your life to this person. For them, it just seemed like it was what
00:28:40
they thought they were supposed to do next. >> Yeah. >> It's like when you see that couple that
00:28:43
you're like, "Oh my god, you're never gonna last." And they get like a dog and you're like,
00:28:47
>> "Why' you gonna happen to that dog?" >> Exactly. >> When when you guys inevitably break up,
00:28:50
>> you guys definitely break up. >> And even the announcement of their marriage, uh, excuse me, their
00:28:56
engagement to their parents was pretty nonchalant. They were just like, "We got engaged." You know, that's what that's
00:29:01
what you do. >> And like Patty, remember, Patty's a hearse. She's essentially shiv from
00:29:05
succession. >> Yeah. like like it's not this is supposed to be big. >> Exactly. It seemed to everybody that
00:29:11
they were just casually informing them about some minor experience. It was like, "Oh, I got my ears pierced today."
00:29:16
>> Yeah. You know, >> wow. >> So, even though things were strange, the wedding date was set for June 29th,
00:29:21
1974. And of course, Catherine, Patty's mom, got to work informing the press of the engagement. Journalists,
00:29:28
photographers from all the national press outlets, and of course, obviously, the Hurst outlets Yeah.
00:29:33
>> were assigned to cover the story. Patty and Steve, you know, maybe they uh announced their engagement in a chill
00:29:40
manner, but the coverage in all the newspapers like San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco
00:29:47
Chronicle, like these big newspapers that a lot of people read, they were very enthusiastic with the announcement,
00:29:53
very extravagant. And they all concluded their reporting by saying, "Patty, quote, is a junior in art history at UC
00:30:01
Berkeley. That's private information. >> That's not great. Like it's like obviously they wanted to say like she's
00:30:08
going to college and this is what she's studying. >> It's like you don't need to tell her,
00:30:13
especially this kid of this wildly >> you're giving away her location. >> Exactly.
00:30:17
>> So the note about Patty attending UC Berkeley was among what people thought was um people originally thought was an
00:30:24
innocuous detail in the announcement. It was the kind of thing that a lot of young couples would put in a marriage
00:30:30
announcement. But like we just said, she's not any young person. She's an ays to one of the largest fortunes in the
00:30:37
universe. In the Well, I don't know about the universe, but the world. >> Yeah. In the in the universe.
00:30:42
>> There's some other aliens that might have a bigger. I don't know. >> But she was the kind of person who if
00:30:47
kidnapped, their parents would definitely pay a large sum of money to get back unharmed.
00:30:52
>> Yeah. And that's exactly what was running through the head of Donald Dreeze as he flipped through the pages
00:30:58
of the paper in early winter of 1974. >> So Patty and Steve were home on the night of February 4th, 1974 when a
00:31:08
little past 9:00 at night, there was a knock at the sliding glass door of uh that led out to their patio. They looked
00:31:15
over and they saw this young white woman standing outside. It looked like she was
00:31:19
in some kind of distress. And the girl said she had some car trouble and asked if she could use their phone. But before
00:31:25
either of them could answer, she barged her way into the apartment and two male accompllices also entered the apartment.
00:31:34
>> Oh god. >> Like completely the scariest thing I've ever heard. >> Yeah. It reminds It's like the
00:31:39
strangers. >> Yeah. >> Like similar. You know what I mean? >> They set up a decoy.
00:31:42
>> So neither Patty or Steve had any time to react before one of the men hit Steve
00:31:47
over the head with a bottle which knocked him to the ground. So later, Steve told a reporter, "In
00:31:52
seconds, they had me face down on the floor in the hallway. They kept kicking me in the face and forcing me to keep my
00:31:58
face down. Obviously, he didn't they didn't want him to see their faces." >> No.
00:32:02
>> Later, Patty said that she felt very uh betrayed by Steve in that moment because
00:32:07
she felt like he wasn't doing anything to stop the people from abducting her. But I'm like,
00:32:12
>> he was getting kicked in the face. >> I understand that like you were you're upset that you got abducted. That's
00:32:16
super duper valid. >> Very valid. But like also Steve is he got first knocked to the ground when
00:32:23
they smashed a bottle over his head and now they're kicking him in the face. >> Yeah.ough and it's also twoonone.
00:32:29
>> Yeah. >> Like you know >> it's not easy for anybody here. >> Complicated situation though. I get it.
00:32:33
>> Absolutely. >> Next door neighbor Sandy Golden could hear the commotion coming from the
00:32:37
apartment and she later said, "We heard a scream and three shots. We could see two men carrying a girl. She was
00:32:44
struggling and she was half naked. She was screaming, please let me go. She seemed to be blindfolded.
00:32:50
Oh, yeah. Another neighbor, Donald Yamagashi, also heard the abduction as it happened, and he told police he knew
00:32:57
what was happening right away when he heard gunshots and the sound of shat the shattering glass patio door when it
00:33:03
exploded. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Yeah. So, >> I hope people are calling people. >> Yeah, the police were called.
00:33:10
>> I was like, are we just saying this after the fact? Like, yeah, it's crazy. I watched
00:33:13
>> all the police were called. It was just unfortunately this all happened so fast.
00:33:17
>> I was going to say this is happening fast. >> Yeah, they were they might not have been
00:33:21
great at like organizing members in who were, you know, on death row and in prison. Yeah.
00:33:26
>> But what this plan to abduct Patty at least unfortunately went very smoothly >> for the most part.
00:33:34
>> Yeah. >> So the two men threw Patty in the trunk of a convertible and they sped out of
00:33:38
the parking lot with one of them just shooting at bystanders as they got out of there. So, they're making sure that
00:33:44
people are >> staying away, >> staying away, and people are shocked and scared and all of the above.
00:33:50
>> The third kidnapper followed behind in a light colored station wagon. So, they
00:33:53
had two getaway cars, too, which is also going to throw people off. >> Yeah, of course, cuz they don't know
00:33:58
which one she's in. They don't if they're even both involved, like, >> which unfortunately was kind of smart to
00:34:03
have two. >> No, it was. So, when they were about 5 miles away from the apartment complex,
00:34:08
uh, complex, excuse me, Patty felt the car come to a stop and the engine cut off, she felt the trunk open and she
00:34:14
could hear the three kidnappers talking amongst themselves. And then one of them
00:34:18
instructed her to get out of the trunk. Unfortunately, she wasn't out of the trunk for long before she was being
00:34:23
handled by another of the men who forced her into the back of the station wagon.
00:34:27
And then they threw a blanket over her face and closed her in there. >> Oh. >> So, they got away in two cars, but they
00:34:33
knew what they were doing. Yeah, >> they got her into the other one from underneath the blanket. She couldn't see
00:34:38
where they were going. She tried to ask who they were, what they wanted, where they were going to get any any
00:34:44
information whatsoever. But one of the men who she would later recognize as Donald Dreeze just screamed at her,
00:34:49
"Shut up or we'll kill you." >> Holy [ __ ] >> And he was sitting in the front passenger seat. The orders that were
00:34:55
barked from the front seat obviously were very jarring and obviously they were supposed to scare Patty, but that
00:35:00
intent was immediately undermined when moments later somebody reached back and stuck their hand under the blanket. And
00:35:08
Patty at first was very confused and obviously scared, but then whoever that was took her hand to comfort her.
00:35:15
>> What the [ __ ] >> That would honestly [ __ ] me up. >> It did [ __ ] her up.
00:35:20
>> Like that's scary. And >> cuz you're like, >> I don't like it. >> What's going on?
00:35:25
>> Cuz like what do you why? >> No, >> you just kidnapped me and shoved me in a car. Like what?
00:35:30
>> Like what the [ __ ] >> She said in that moment she understood that it was meant as a gesture of
00:35:34
kindness to comfort her. And later she would find out that the man who held her hand was Bill Harris. And she said
00:35:41
later, she was like it was threatening and reassuring all at the same time. >> Cuz you're like, okay, this is [ __ ] up
00:35:48
in this situation. kind of feels very [ __ ] up, but also like is this a human that's involved and maybe has human
00:35:55
empathy and can >> I can possibly be the person I can count on to get me >> or are you just like this or even [ __ ]
00:36:02
up in the head and trying to confuse me. >> That's the thing like that's >> or like give me false hope kind of
00:36:07
thing. >> I hate that a lot. >> It's a lot. It's I can't imagine being in this situation.
00:36:13
>> Yeah. So in his book that we mentioned before, American Ays, Jeffrey Tubin noted that the strange like
00:36:20
juxtaposition between Donald Dreza's attempt at commanding fear and Bill Harris's gesture of kindness was pretty
00:36:27
typical of what Patty would eventually eventually become her time in captivity. >> Okay.
00:36:32
>> He said the SLA lacked the skills or even the inclination to attempt anything
00:36:36
as ambitious as a brainwashing. Literally and figuratively, the comrades didn't know what they were doing. Yeah.
00:36:43
So anyway, when the car finally came to a stop after about an hour of driving, Patty was taken out of the back of the
00:36:49
station wagon and she was led inside a house. Once inside, she heard another door open and she inhaled deeply, which
00:36:57
was smart. She's like trying to get She can't see. Remember, she's blindfolded, so she's relying on other senses.
00:37:02
>> Yeah. >> So, she smelled like an earthy and musty smell that she figured was old wood.
00:37:09
>> Okay. Uh, and in that instant, her mind flashed back to a case that we covered
00:37:15
in episode 597, the kidnapping of Barbara Gene Mel. >> That had already happened.
00:37:22
>> And if you haven't listened to that episode, you should definitely go listen to it. It's fascinating. But, uh, she
00:37:27
was a young woman in Georgia who was kidnapped and buried alive just six years earlier. So, she's like, "Oh,
00:37:33
[ __ ] Is that what's about to happen to me?" >> Oh my god. >> So, she starts panicking. She's
00:37:38
screaming. She's kicking. She's trying to get away, but she's blindfolded and being held. And one of the men just told
00:37:45
her, "Relax. It's just a closet." And guided her inside and closed the door. >> Oh my god.
00:37:50
>> Yeah. The fear and panic must have been outrageous. >> Cuz remember like uh if again if you
00:37:58
haven't listened to that episode, go listen. If you did remember Barbara Gene Mel was kidnapped for ransom,
00:38:03
>> but then it turned into this whole strange case where they buried her alive in the middle of the woods and she
00:38:07
survived for like days like like >> I forget how long it was like 72 hours or something like that, right?
00:38:14
>> Scary one. >> Yeah. And Patty knows all the details of that. >> So she's sitting there being like,
00:38:18
"Cool. That's literally about to happen to me." Like >> oh, everyone's worst nightmare.
00:38:23
>> And she knows who she is. She knows that's got to be that's got to be top of mind when you're an AIS.
00:38:28
>> Absolutely. She's an ays. She's sitting there being like, "This is why >> you're an Aerys who just got kidnapped."
00:38:33
Exactly. >> So later when her blindfold was removed, she would be surprised to find that they
00:38:38
weren't in the middle of some scary wooded area or some kind of bunker in like a remote location. They were still
00:38:44
in San Francisco and they were only about 45 miles away from her apartment in Berkeley. She knew she knew where
00:38:51
they were. Holy [ __ ] >> She knew the neighborhood. that that there's something about that
00:38:56
being so close >> is almost scarier >> that you can't but you can't do anything about it.
00:39:00
>> Yeah. >> So, this was the location of the SLA's new safe house cuz remember they burned
00:39:05
the old one down and this was where she was going to be held for weeks as the group negotiated with her family for her
00:39:11
release. So, like you said, did anybody [ __ ] call the police in the middle of this?
00:39:16
Yes. >> Yes. Okay. But they arrived at the apartment about 10 minutes after those
00:39:21
two cars sped away from the house. >> That's a really long response time. >> It is. Yeah.
00:39:26
>> Like, damn. >> Oh, damn. 10 minutes. >> Yeah. It's like, holy [ __ ] >> But, you know, there's a lot going on in
00:39:31
California. >> You're like, hey, kidnapping and process is is pretty quick. You should
00:39:35
>> Can you hear like three minutes? >> Throw that one into priority, maybe. I don't know.
00:39:38
>> Perhaps. >> But aside from Steve and the neighbor statements, there wasn't a lot to be
00:39:43
gleaned from this crime scene. There was one very strange thing left behind though on the floor by the kidnappers. A
00:39:50
box of cyanide filled 38 caliber bullets. >> Cyanide filled. Yeah. >> Interesting.
00:39:57
>> According to the others, this was Donald Defrieza's idea. He wanted it to kind of
00:40:02
be a calling card like like so that the authorities would recognize that this was the SLA. But at that time, you know,
00:40:10
they hadn't done that a ton. Yeah. >> They hadn't this was the their early days.
00:40:14
>> Yeah. So it's like there's no pattern to go by. >> Exactly. So the detectives were just
00:40:18
like, "What the [ __ ] is this strange thing? Like why did you leave this here? Like what does this mean?"
00:40:22
>> Weird. >> A short time later, they did find the convertible car that Sandy Golden saw uh
00:40:28
Patty being pushed into. It was found a few miles away from the apartment complex.
00:40:33
>> They ran the plates and they traced it to 31-year-old Peter um Benninsson, a mathematician and somebody who did not
00:40:40
even remotely fit the profile of a kidnapper. >> Oh my god. So they were like, "Okay,
00:40:45
this is weird, but they do suspect that he's involved cuz this is his car." But it turned out that he wasn't a
00:40:51
kidnapper. He was another SLA victim. He explained to the detectives that a few hours earlier, he was just leaving the
00:40:58
grocery store. >> This poor mathematician, >> this poor mathematician is just doing
00:41:03
crunching some numbers in his head at the grocery store. >> He's trying to stand budget.
00:41:06
>> I bet he gave them exact change, >> you know. >> And he left and he's approached by a
00:41:11
young woman in the parking lot. She hold it hold it up. >> Well, she holded them up. She held up a
00:41:17
revolver to him and said, "Give me the keys. We want your car, not you." >> I mean, honestly, that's best case
00:41:23
scenario if someone's going to um do something awful to you is we want your car, not you. Take it.
00:41:30
>> That's like absolutely enjoy. >> But he has my response. Freeze. >> Not not fight or flight. Just [ __ ]
00:41:39
>> Freeze. >> Yeah. There's There's fight. There's flight. And there's [ __ ] And [ __ ] is
00:41:44
mixed up in >> just like enjoy yourself. Have a great day. >> He was just stunned by the demand.
00:41:50
>> I mean, yeah, the strangeness. So, he hesitated. I feel like anybody would do
00:41:55
that. Anybody. But because he didn't act immediately, three other SLA members, Angela Atwood and Bill and Emily Harris,
00:42:04
jumped on him, tied him up, and shoved him into the backseat of his own car and covered him with a blanket.
00:42:12
Guys, just give him a minute. >> So, now he's been abducted. >> Guys, just give him a minute.
00:42:16
>> They did not have a minute. I guess >> it's weird when someone puts a gun to you and says, "We want your car."
00:42:22
>> It is weird. >> It's weird. Don't keep it that weird. >> It's a unique experience for most people
00:42:26
and it's like, give somebody a minute to really take that in. >> Imagine if that's not a unique
00:42:30
experience for someone. >> Like they're like, "Fuck, this happened last shit." >> Well, that wasn't the case for our
00:42:37
Peter. >> That sucks. Poor Peter. >> I know. Now, after they transferred Patty to the station wagon, the
00:42:43
kidnappers abandoned Peter's car by the side of the road, which was why it was found, but with him still tied up on the
00:42:49
floor in the back seat. >> So, he's just like, "Hello." >> Yeah. But before they left, one of the
00:42:54
woman women told him if he went to the police, they'd find him and kill him. So, eventually, he was able to untie
00:42:59
himself and he got out of the car. But he was so traumatized and scared that he didn't report it to the police. He just
00:43:04
went home. >> I don't blame him at all. >> And I love that he just like left. It's
00:43:08
not funny. I'm just like, "Oh, this poor man like just left his car." He's like,
00:43:12
"Bye." It's just a strange experience. >> Yeah. I'm like, "What do you do when you
00:43:16
get home after that?" Cuz you really do probably want to just be like, "I don't want that car anymore."
00:43:20
>> No, >> I don't want anything to do with that car. >> To have it. >> Yeah. >> I I walk now.
00:43:24
>> Yeah. I'm a walker now. >> I'm a train guy. I'll take the bus. >> Like, [ __ ] that.
00:43:28
>> So, to the Hurst family, the fact that Peter Beninsson had been released, it did give them a small little bit of
00:43:34
hope. >> Yeah. Because it doesn't it seems like now you know this isn't kidnapping for
00:43:40
murder's sake. >> Exactly. >> You know like this is there's a reason here. >> There's a plot. If the kidnappers had
00:43:46
released him so quickly and didn't harm him. Randph Hurst said it showed they had quote a measure of compassion and
00:43:51
are not senseless and brutal. He's like they clearly have a plan here. >> Yeah. There's a there's a reason
00:43:56
motivation >> and I'm sure he's you know the chairman of this whole organization. He knows
00:44:00
what's going on right now which is probably >> he's being exploited. >> His worst nightmare has come to
00:44:04
fruition. Yeah. One of this poor guy has five daughters. >> Yeah. >> Like he was like you every time he had a
00:44:12
child, he was probably like, "Fuck." >> Yeah. Literally so happy, but was also like, "Oh, god damn it."
00:44:16
>> Like another I have to protect this person. >> Yeah. >> From like so much more than the average
00:44:22
>> than the average parent. Now, while investigators might not have identified that box of 38 caliber bullets with, you
00:44:28
know, the cyanide fil filling them, >> that whole thing, >> uh, they didn't identify that as a
00:44:32
specific calling card, but they still suspected that the kidnapping might have been the work of the SLA. This was
00:44:39
because after they had murdered Marcus Foster, the SLA wrote letters to take credit for the murder. And in those
00:44:46
letters, they indicated their plan to kidnap a prominent person and raise money for their political cause. Oh,
00:44:52
well that'll do it. >> So, in their statement to the press that night, the hearse asked the kidnappers
00:44:56
to get in touch with them immediately, and they promised. They said, "If she is released, we will not seek to imprison
00:45:02
her abductors." And Randolph Hurst also noted that Patty might not have seen their faces, but Steve and some of the
00:45:09
neighbors had, which meant that they could be easily identified if caught. >> Damn. Meanwhile, Steve is probably like,
00:45:14
"Fuck, dude." He's like, "I didn't see them. I didn't see shit." >> I know. I was like, "You should just say
00:45:19
you won't seek to imprison." Don't ever say that you saw their faces. >> What was that movie that we just
00:45:24
watched? The Mike Flanigan one when she's like, "I didn't see your face." And he's literally like, he just takes
00:45:28
off his mask. That was the scariest part of that whole [ __ ] movie. Yeah, cuz he's like, "Well, now you have."
00:45:32
>> Yeah. So, the next day, the station manager of uh KPFA radio got a letter in the mail from the kidnappers. Inside was
00:45:41
a mobile oil credit card that was Patty's and a strange note that kind of read like a business memo. It said
00:45:48
communique 13 subject prisoners of war. Target: Patricia Campbell Hurst, daughter of Randph Hurst, corporate
00:45:55
enemy of the people. Warrant issued by court of the people. On the aforestated date, combat elements of the United
00:46:02
Federated Force of the Symbion, a liberation army, armed with cyanide loaded weapons, served an arrest warrant
00:46:08
on Patricia Campbell. >> I'm already annoyed by this. >> Yeah, me too. >> I'm irritated.
00:46:12
>> I'm also terrified of it. >> I'm just irritated. I'm like, stop it. >> That's who we are as people. Write a
00:46:17
memo. Like, write a letter. >> It I don't know why I'm making this correlation in my brain cuz it's not the
00:46:23
same thing, but it reminds me of the mock trial that they do in yellow jackets and you're just irritated by it.
00:46:28
>> Yeah. Like just [ __ ] speak. You don't We know you're not a judge. Like, let's
00:46:32
not a court of people. You're just >> I don't even know what you want. >> Shut up.
00:46:37
>> So, they said should any attempt be made by authorities to rescue the prisoner or
00:46:40
to arrest or harm SLA elements, the prisoner is to be executed. All communications from this court must be
00:46:47
published in full in all newspapers and all other forms of media. Failure to do so will endanger the safety of the
00:46:53
prisoner. Symbion Liberation Army ND. And they simply signed the letter SLA. And included a footnote that said in all
00:47:02
capital letters, death to the fascist insect that prays upon the life of the people.
00:47:06
>> Okay. >> A very like political Yeah, for sure. You know, move. >> Yeah. So the manager of KPFA immediately
00:47:13
turned the letter and the credit card over to the FBI. He said, "Hello, FBI. I have something and they brought the card
00:47:20
and the letter to the Hurst family in San Francisco." At the same time, the Hurst got their own ransom letter from
00:47:26
the kidnappers, but it was a lot less orderly and formal than the typed letter that had been sent to the radio station.
00:47:33
This one was handwritten in a mix of like uppercase and lowercase block printing. And um shout out to Dave. He
00:47:40
kind of had to like decode this because it didn't really make a lot of sense. Yeah. So, we're gonna read what Dave
00:47:46
got. >> It says, "We're" and it's all spelled wrong. It says, "We are holding your
00:47:51
daughter, Patricia Hurst, and we are never going to give her back unless you pigs let Romero and Little out of prison
00:47:57
because remember two SLA members had been arrested." They said, "We're uh giving you 10 days,
00:48:04
and when those 10 days are up, and don't hear from Russell and Little. We're going to kill her the same way we killed
00:48:10
those four persons. My friend killed those three in that funeral home. And we're going to keep on killing if you
00:48:15
don't let them out free." >> Damn, that's scary. >> It's terrifying. >> That one's scary.
00:48:20
>> No, that one's genuinely scary. And picture that written in upper and lower case,
00:48:25
>> just like a wreck. >> There's no sentence structure at all. Like that was Dave putting it in order.
00:48:30
Yeah. So, like the letter sent to KPFA, the ransom letter to the Hurst also demanded that the contents be shown to
00:48:36
the police and published in the press. >> Yeah. >> Based on the postmark, the letters to
00:48:40
the Hurst was, they found out was mailed from San Jose, but there was no way to identify the sender other than that,
00:48:47
>> meaning that they were just going to have to wait until the kidnappers reached out again,
00:48:51
>> which is >> that's horrifying. >> Exactly. Horrifying. >> Yeah. So FBI agents and local
00:48:56
investigators were also confused by the reference to the murder in a funeral home.
00:49:01
>> They knew that the SLA had murdered Marcus Foster, but they weren't aware of any other murders.
00:49:07
>> So this detail would actually never be explained. >> Huh. >> Yeah. So who knows if it happened or if
00:49:14
they were just bluffing to >> just trying to make it seem >> to be more scary, right? But it was I
00:49:19
mean this was a big deal. Their intent was clear. Everybody involved was supposed to cooperate or Patty would be
00:49:24
killed. So, in their statement to the press, uh, an FBI spokesperson told reporters, "It will be up to the family
00:49:30
whether the agency pursues the kidnappers. If they stay away, we stay away. Our first consideration is the
00:49:36
safety of the girl. After the girl is saved, then we will find them." >> Which is like, cool.
00:49:41
>> That should be it. Yeah. >> Yeah. Everybody's working together here so far. >> In the days that followed, investigators
00:49:46
and the family just had to sit around and wait to hear from the kidnappers. >> Oh my god.
00:49:51
days passed and there was no communication. >> So Randph Hurst told a reporter, "The
00:49:56
only thing we can do is wait and hope to hear from them soon." >> I can't imagine that.
00:50:00
>> Yeah. But obviously everybody, you know, had an idea of what was happening here.
00:50:04
The expectation was that they wanted the SLA wanted to exchange Patty for the release of their imprisoned members, but
00:50:11
knew nobody knew what the demands were going to be. Aside from that, >> it didn't really matter, though.
00:50:17
Randolph said, "We'll do anything we can to get Patricia back." I just hope they
00:50:20
don't make demands that are impossible to meet because that must be a fear. Yeah. Is you're sitting here being like,
00:50:25
I'm willing to do anything. Yeah. >> Literally anything within my power or within this earthly realm to get my
00:50:31
daughter back. >> But I'm hoping they don't do something that is literally just not
00:50:37
>> possible. That's always a an thing that could happen. >> Right. And here's the thing. This family
00:50:42
obviously has a lot of money, but I think I don't think people always realize like they don't have that in
00:50:47
their bank account. they own companies that total that amount of money and that's put into their net worth and they
00:50:54
>> and that there's probably like processes to get that money or like you know what
00:50:58
I mean like it I'm assuming they don't just like have it at their disposal right now.
00:51:02
>> They have a lot at their disposal but they're sitting here being like these people probably think that we could
00:51:07
easily just go get like $100 million and we can't just do that overnight. But we
00:51:12
would if we could. >> We would if we could. But that's what he's saying where it's like I hope they
00:51:15
don't say that because that's going to be more complicated >> than just giving you like a couple
00:51:19
million, you know, for them. >> So finally, after days and days, a new communi uh communication was sent from
00:51:26
the SLA, not to the Hursts or the FBI, but again to KPFA radio, this time in the form of an audio recording.
00:51:35
>> The tape contained a message that was read by Patty herself. She started out by establishing that she was unharmed
00:51:42
and then quickly pivoted into what most people believed was a statement that one
00:51:46
of the SLA members had written out for her. >> She said, "Mom, Dad, I'm okay. I had a
00:51:50
few scrapes and stuff, but they washed them up and they're getting okay. I'm not being starved or beaten or
00:51:56
unnecessarily frightened. I've heard some press reports and so I know that Steve and the neighbors are okay and
00:52:01
that no one was really hurt. And I also know that the SLA members here are very upset about press distortions about
00:52:07
what's been happening. They have not been shooting helicopters or shooting down innocent people in the streets. I
00:52:12
think you can tell that I'm not really terrified of anything. I'm okay. I was very upset though to hear about the
00:52:17
police rushing on that house in Oakland. These people aren't just a bunch of nuts. They've been really honest with
00:52:22
me. They're perfectly willing to die for what they're doing. >> That's really scary.
00:52:28
>> It is scary. That immediately >> That's a scary message. >> Who knows if Cuz that's the thing. They
00:52:33
assumed it was written for her when she read it. But who knew if it was already >> starting to sink in,
00:52:39
>> starting to sink in that maybe she kind of understood what was happening here.
00:52:44
Do you know what I mean? >> Understand their message here. >> Yeah. Their message. Exactly.
00:52:48
>> So eventually the message turned to the motive for kid uh for the kidnapping and
00:52:53
finally the demands of the group were stated as a quote symbolic gesture of good faith from the Hursts. And this is
00:53:02
insane. The SLA demanded that every person in California who was receiving federal food assistance be given $70
00:53:12
worth of food to be picked up at designated grocery stores around the state. They also, how would they ever be
00:53:18
able to tell that that happened? >> I don't even know. >> Like they couldn't confirm that they did
00:53:23
that or didn't. >> That's the thing. >> Yeah, it's that's a dumb demand. >> It's a wild It's exactly what Randolph
00:53:28
Hurst was like. I hope they don't meet demands that are completely impossible to make because we'll also get into the
00:53:33
semantics here >> because that's something you can't confirm actually happened even if they
00:53:37
tried to do it. >> No, >> like they just I guess are you just going to drive around the state of
00:53:40
California and like >> stop at grocery stores and it's like how do you know every person got it? Just
00:53:46
that doesn't make sense. And that wasn't it. The group also stipulated that the stores be clearly designated within each
00:53:52
community I think so they could drive around and make sure it was happening. that there be five stores within each
00:53:58
community. The food had to be of high quality. That's people had to be given the opportunity to voice their
00:54:05
discontent if they weren't being treated well. And other revolutionary groups were supposed to be on hand to observe
00:54:12
and coordinate the distribution process. >> Yeah. See, this is this is that impossible demand that he was fearing.
00:54:17
>> It is. Now, after receiving the tape, Randph Hurst, he said yes, that was his
00:54:22
daughter's voice. And he said, "If they are taking good care of her, then I believe it."
00:54:26
>> Because you have to. >> Yeah. >> And when he was asked if Patty if he was worried that Patty might be hurt, he
00:54:30
said, "I think it's unlikely. I would be worried if I thought they would do it, but I have assurances that they won't."
00:54:36
>> Yeah. And honestly, I hope he was able to put himself in that place of actually
00:54:41
believing that. >> I know. The release of the tape transcript and the demands of the SLA
00:54:45
prompted an outpouring of support from the public and groups around the country. and actually rather than
00:54:51
endorse the actions of the SLA and agree to assist in the distribution of food like they were also demanded to like
00:54:57
these groups these militant groups around the world or around California. >> Uh a ton of groups like the American
00:55:03
Indian Movement, Black Teachers Caucus, and the United Prisoners Union released a joint statement to emphatically state
00:55:10
that they do not condone terrorist activity whether it is carried out by either the SLA or the establishment.
00:55:16
Wow. >> They were like, "We don't support violence." >> They were like, "No, this isn't it."
00:55:19
They were like this is actually everything that we are fighting against. >> Yeah. It's like this doesn't work
00:55:23
>> in a nonviolent manner. Residents of California also wrote letter letters of support and even offers of assistance to
00:55:30
help Patty. >> Wow. >> One letter writer said, "If this is the only way to save your daughter, I want
00:55:35
to help you meet with such a high demand. I feel sick in my heart to think that money or the lack of it would take
00:55:40
such a lovely treasure from you." >> A >> calling your child a lovely treasure. >> Oh my god, that gave me chills.
00:55:46
>> I know >> that statement. So, like you were just saying, you're like, I hope Randolph
00:55:51
believed that. >> Yeah. >> He seemed confident in front of the cameras. But behind the scenes, he was
00:55:57
in an absolute panic >> because there's no way you can convince yourself that, you know, I mean, like
00:56:02
that this would this is every parent's worst nightmare. >> There's no way that you can convince
00:56:07
yourself that your daughter's not in danger. But also, the demands were entirely, like we were just saying,
00:56:13
unreasonable and essentially impossible. >> Yeah. just totally impossible to quantify. That's the thing or qualify
00:56:20
because the members of the SLA, they either completely underestimated or they just had no idea how many people in
00:56:25
California at that time got food assistance from the state. >> An exact number is almost impossible to
00:56:31
come by, but there were hundreds of millions of people getting food assistance, which put the total amount
00:56:38
in the hundreds of millions of dollars. >> It's just not possible to quantify. So, as an alternative to the impossibly
00:56:47
high number, on February 19th, the day before Patty's 20th birthday, she's literally spending her 20th birthday in
00:56:53
captivity. >> Oh my god. >> But to to try to figure this out here and kind of almost compromise a little,
00:56:59
Randph Hurst announced the establishment of a new organization that he was going
00:57:03
to put together. And remember, his daughter's life is in danger and he has to figure out setting up an organization
00:57:10
to somewhat meet their demands, >> which I couldn't even do under not duress. >> I No. So, he set up People in Need or
00:57:17
PIN, which he was launching with over $500,000 of his own money and $1.5 million from the William Randph Hurst
00:57:25
Foundation. Wow. >> Which is a prime example of the fact that like >> his money was tied up in other things
00:57:30
and he needed to get different signoffs everywhere. >> Yep. So PIN was to be a food
00:57:35
distribution program to provide food to families in need around California with help from other activist groups as
00:57:41
coordinators. So he really did like he did everything in his power to do exactly what they were asking.
00:57:47
>> It's honestly incredibly impressive. >> It is. In a press conference to announce
00:57:51
the organization, he said it was a goodwill gesture and he said it's up to the SLA to believe me and hopefully make
00:57:57
a gesture of their own, meaning like return my [ __ ] daughter. The announcement was met with another
00:58:03
communication from Donald DeFreeze and the SLA which the family got on Patty's 20th birthday. They acknowledged the
00:58:09
effort, but they said the Hurst contribution should reflect the family's capabilities and the needs of the
00:58:14
people. And Donald Dere demanded that the amount of money be increased from 2 million to 6 million.
00:58:21
He said, "Nope, not enough." Yeah, nope. We're greedy. So despite the complexity
00:58:26
of launching a program like PIN, they were able to get the project up and running in a few days.
00:58:31
>> That's unbelievable. >> This is literally an organization that is providing millions of dollars of food
00:58:37
to almost every single person receiving this. >> And he got it up and running in a matter
00:58:42
of days. >> In a matter of days. Like it's like it's like the mom that will lift a car off,
00:58:48
you know what I mean? To save their kid. It's like he he just went he would do to
00:58:52
the walls. Um, so and they started distributing food on February 22nd. >> Holy [ __ ]
00:58:57
>> Like truly a couple of days. That morning, February 22nd, countless people flocked to the distribution centers to
00:59:04
pick up food. But what started as an orderly maybe slow process by the end of the day had devolved into a mess.
00:59:12
>> As a lot of things when human beings are involved does, you know, like always
00:59:18
does. frustration. There was chaos there. It turned out to be, you know, there were violent situations. By the
00:59:24
time the distribution locations were shut down, 35 people had been arrested and the entire process had broken down
00:59:30
completely. >> In an interview, when asked why the process had fallen apart, one person
00:59:35
said who was waiting in line, "Nothing's organized. They threw food at us like we're animals." They really that really
00:59:40
brought the whole thing down. >> Yeah. >> But it's like that wasn't on the Hursts.
00:59:44
The hear sat there and tried to make this happen. >> Yeah. that's on these distribution
00:59:48
centers. >> You have to keep like you there's so many people to keep an order here.
00:59:52
>> Yeah. >> It it was never going to go well. >> That just sucks. >> It does. So, in the days that followed,
00:59:58
the administrators of Pin would luckily become a better organized uh process or organization and the distribution
01:00:05
process did become more orderly at all the sites around California. I also want you all for a second to picture
01:00:11
California. >> Yeah, it's a huge state. >> [ __ ] massive. >> Massive. But Randph Hurst was still concerned
01:00:19
that the botched rollout put Patty's life in danger. >> So he made another plea to the SLA and a
01:00:26
counter offer to their previous demand of $6 million uh of an investment. In a statement released by PIN, he said the
01:00:32
Horse Corporation is prepared to contribute to people in need a total of $4 million for a food distribution
01:00:38
program for the poor and needy. Now with that counter offer made, there was nothing else they could do but sit and
01:00:44
wait back. Wait to hear back from the kidnappers. >> Holy [ __ ] >> And that is where we're going to end
01:00:51
part one. >> God, I felt like I just threw like so much at you with >> who Patty Hurst was, what the SLA was,
01:00:58
the kidnapping, the organization, who Donald Freeze is. Yeah. >> So much [ __ ] >> So, you know what their demands are. You
01:01:06
know what they're trying to do. >> And now, >> damn. >> You know, we're going to learn a lot
01:01:11
more in part two about Patty's time with them. I'm very interested in this. >> This I again like I I knew who Patty
01:01:17
Hurst was. I knew she was kidnapped and spoiler alert she ends up staying with the kidnappers.
01:01:22
>> She's referenced in Gilmore Girls. >> Is she? >> Um I think when uh >> you always know that stuff.
01:01:28
>> I do. I always know the I think when Rory ends up like staying with Emily and
01:01:33
Richard. She uh Lauraai says she's Patty Hurst and they're the SLA. >> Oh god. >> I think I think that's literally what
01:01:41
she said. When you have Richard and Emily Gilmore as the SLA, I'm like, not so much.
01:01:44
>> I'm like, damn, >> man. They're more like the Hursts, really. >> Yeah, honestly,
01:01:48
>> that's funny. >> But yeah, that's that's all I could think of when this started. I was like,
01:01:52
oh [ __ ] more >> alignment. This is a big case of uh a case for debate of whether she was a
01:01:58
victim of brainwashing and Stockholm syndrome. >> I was going to say, yeah, >> or
01:02:02
>> just >> just understood the message, the message, you know, >> got into it. So, there's a lot to unpack
01:02:09
here. I like I said, I think this is probably gonna end up being three parts, but
01:02:12
>> yeah, >> we'll we'll see you for part two. >> We sure will. And um that will be on
01:02:20
SiriusXM. >> Yeah, but every you can get it everywhere. Just the only place, the
01:02:26
literal only place you can't get it is Wondery Plus. >> Yeah. >> Anywhere else. Just listen anywhere
01:02:32
else. >> Yep. >> Just cuz I know that's still a question of like, can do I have to have Sirius
01:02:36
XM? No. >> No, it's true. >> You do not. You can listen to it anywhere. >> And also September 1st is Labor Day, so
01:02:42
hopefully you're off of work and you can listen to part two. >> There you go. >> Yeah. And you all get to listen to it at
01:02:46
the same time. There's no more early release. >> Exactly. So everybody can just be
01:02:50
together. >> All morbid weirders are created equal. >> Hell yeah. >> And we love you. And we love you.
01:02:54
>> And we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it. Weird. But not so weird that you don't um that not so
01:03:02
weird that you do a kidnapping. >> Yeah. Don't >> not so weird that you, you know, like go
01:03:06
to the grocery store and then you walk out and you're getting held up. >> Don't do any of that. Don't Don't do a
01:03:12
kidnapping. Don't support a kidnapping. Don't >> stay away from kidnappings in general.
01:03:16
>> Stay away from it, you know. >> So, yeah. We love you. Bye. >> Bye. [Music] [Music]