Press release: Criminal Proceedings begin for the 1975 murder of Myrna Opsahl

On April 21, 1975, at about 9:00 a.m., the Crocker National Bank in Carmichael, California, was taken over by four armed and masked individuals. Two other people waited outside as lookouts, armed with a shotgun and a fully automatic weapon, prepared to open fire should Sheriff's deputies respond to the bank. And, two more accomplices waited a short distance away in switch vehicles to aid the others in a safe escape once the robbery was complete.
Inside the bank, weapons were pointed at customers and employees and threats and demands were made. One of the bank's regular patrons was Myrna Lee Opsahl, a 42 year-old mother of four young children who was married to a local doctor. She had come to the bank that morning with two friends to deposit the collections from her church.

Early in the robbery, apparently when she turned to look at the robbers as they shouted commands, Myrna Opsahl was shot in her left side with a single blast from a shotgun. While she lay dying, the robbers stole cash from the tellers' drawers and fled from the bank with about $15,000 in cash. Mrs. Opsahl died later that day as a result of her gunshot wound.

This case remained unsolved as far as the identity of the perpetrators, until the arrest of alleged members of the Symbionese Liberation Army, including Patty Hearst, in September 1975.

After her arrest, Patricia Hearst gave investigators detailed statements about the Crocker National Bank robbery, admitted her participation and named her seven accomplices and the roles they played. In summary, she stated that the four individuals who entered the bank were Emily Harris, Kathleen Soliah, Michael Bortin and James Kilgore. According to Hearst, it was Emily Harris who fired the fatal shot into Mrs. Opsahl. She identified the two armed lookouts as William Harris and Steven Soliah, Kathleen Soliah's brother. Hearst indicated that she was one of the two switch car drivers with Wendy Yoshimura being the other.

As you all probably know, Steven Soliah was later tried in federal court for his involvement in the Crocker National Bank robbery. He was subsequently acquitted in April 1976. Shortly after the jury's verdict was reached, it was discovered that Soliah's alibi was in fact false.
As you also know, over the years this case has been reviewed by prior District Attorney administrations but criminal charges were not brought for various legal reasons.

When Kathleen Soliah, aka Sara Jane Olson, was arrested in June 1999, my office began another review of this case. I personally have had the opportunity to meet with several members of the Opsahl family. Both the Opsahl family and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office have strongly urged me to review the case. We all agree that after almost 27 years, justice has not been served.

Following Soliah's guilty plea in October of 2001, to an SLA-related crime in Los Angeles County, I assigned two veteran homicide prosecutors, Rob Gold and Mark Curry, to finalize the review of the evidence. The overall review has been a lengthy and time consuming process given the voluminous materials collected through the years by the many agencies involved in the investigation of this case. There has also been additional investigation conducted in this case and we have determined what witnesses and evidence remain available to us.

There has been some new evidence that has surfaced recently which we believe establishes additional corroborating evidence linking those named by Patty Hearst to the Crocker bank robbery and murder. For example, using forensic testing procedures not available until recently, the FBI laboratory linked the lead pellets that killed Mrs. Opsahl to shotgun shells found in an SLA hideout in San Francisco.

Based upon the review of both old and new materials, I believe that there is both direct and circumstantial evidence sufficient to file charges and begin criminal proceedings for the murder of Myrna Opsahl.

Accordingly, my office has filed murder charges against Emily Montague Harris, William Taylor Harris, Kathleen Ann Soliah, Michael Alexander Bortin and James William Kilgore. My office has also approved arrest warrants for these same individuals and the Sacramento Sheriff's Department, accompanied by District Attorney Investigators and others, made arrests this morning. Sheriff Lou Blanas will discuss those arrests with you in a minute.

If convicted of the murder charge, each defendant faces the penalty for murder which existed at the time of the crimes: an indeterminate life term.

Steven Soliah, Wendy Yoshimura and Patricia Hearst cannot legally be prosecuted because, years ago in past grand jury proceedings, they each were given immunity.

I also want to tell you today that, as prosecutors, we have rules of professional responsibility that limit what we can say outside of the courtroom. This afternoon I have attempted to provide you with the information I am allowed to discuss and my printed comments will be made available to you. While I appreciate the media and the public's interest in the progress of this case, we are keenly aware of our ethical obligations to ensure that the defendants' rights to a fair trial and the people's rights to a fair trial are not prejudiced by pre-trial publicity. At this point, all defendants are presumed to be innocent. We are bound by the ethical standards of the State Bar of California, which, at this time, prohibit us from stating anything more than the facts that I have outlined in this statement. Except for what you hear in court, neither I, nor the prosecutors assigned to this case, nor anyone else from my office, will discuss the facts and circumstances of the crimes charged or information related to the defendants. I will also not take any questions at the end of this press conference.

This seems an appropriate time to thank Sheriff Lou Blanas for his support and for the cooperation of his department. I particularly want to recognize Bob Bell. Bob first began working on this case as a Homicide detective at the Sheriff's department and continued his hard work in my office where he has been working as a criminal investigator in our Homicide section. I also want to acknowledge the Opsahl family who is here today to show their support for our efforts.

Let me close by offering one more comment to the question "WHY NOW?" Fortunately, the law has long recognized that there is no statute of limitations for murder. Our community, the Opsahl family, as well as the accused, deserve their day in court to finally resolve this matter. The state of the evidence today has convinced me now is the time to seek justice for Myrna Opsahl.