Mad Patty: why a girl from high society joined the terrorists

The rich heiress Patricia Hurst, brought up in the best traditions of high society, entered the annals of forensic medical examination and criminology. 45 years ago, her abduction by terrorists led to unpredictable consequences. The best American minds are still studying the phenomenon of this "girl with the syndrome".

A girl from high society

The granddaughter of the richest publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst was born in 1954. After graduating from high school in Crystal Spring, she entered the University of California, where she studied art. At the age of 19, Patricia was a second-year student and lived with her fiance Stephen Weed, who was studying in graduate school and worked as a teacher. Most of Patricia Campbell Hearst's friends were the children of billionaires, famous politicians.

At a time when radical sentiments were bubbling in the country, Patty was completely uninterested in politics. The girl's parents fully trusted their daughter, who adhered to strict moral principles. Despite the wealth of the family, the parents did not consider it necessary to keep bodyguards. Patricia lived the ordinary life of a girl of rich parents and nothing foreshadowed trouble. Until February 1974, when her photo hit the front pages of all newspapers.

Perhaps Patricia Campbell Hurst could have become famous at a more mature age, but fate decreed otherwise. On that day, almost every American saw a photo of a 19-year-old student, the daughter of rich parents, the granddaughter of a major media magnate. Further events unfolded rapidly. The case of the abduction took an unexpected turn.

The abduction of a rich heiress

Patricia Campbell Hurst disappeared in broad daylight. She was abducted right from the crowded Berkeley (California) campus. A left-wing terrorist group called the Symbionist Liberation Army (hereinafter CAO) claimed responsibility for the abduction. The terrorists planned to exchange the rich heiress for two associates who were serving time in prison. Later, the plans changed.

19-year-old Patricia with her fiance Stephen

Almost two months (57 days) Patricia was locked up. The kidnappers kept the victim in an old closet. The first two weeks the girl spent in pitch darkness because of the blindfold. It is worth adding that the first days she was deprived of access to the toilet.

Negotiations with the "liberation Army"

The terrorist group SAO declared itself as fighters for the rights of the poor and disadvantaged. Behind the high-sounding words, there were cruel extremists who propagated class hatred. By and large, the Symbionist Liberation Army was a mediocre left-wing radical group that existed for only two years.

Fighters of the Symbionist Liberation Army

The Liberation Army would have sunk into oblivion, if not for the granddaughter of a media magnate. The group became widely known due to the abduction of Patricia Hurst and the subsequent events. The terrorists contacted the girl's family. They demanded the release from prison of Joseph Remiro and Russell Little, who were serving sentences for political murder. The demands turned out to be impossible, the negotiations reached an impasse.

The terrorists have changed the requirements. Now the relatives of the hostage had to feed all the hungry and homeless people of the state, release a mass circulation of propaganda literature. In total, the expenses for meeting the requirements amounted to $ 400 million, which was not affordable for a rich family. Relatives of Patricia Hurst put forward a counter-offer: six million dollars in three tranches of two million dollars.

Distribution of food as part of the implementation of the requirements of the SLA, San Francisco, March 26, 1974. On the door you can see the SLA symbol — a seven-headed cobra

The parties came to an agreement and the relatives began to realize their part of the obligations. They managed to buy and distribute food packages worth a total of four million dollars, when they received a surprise…

Patricia Campbell Hurst declared herself a fighter of the CAO, and called her captors her associates. The girl took a pseudonym - "partisan Tanya". By the way, she called her relatives and other wealthy US citizens "rich pigs". The case of the abduction has reached a dead end.

The adventures of a girl from high society

Randolph Hearst continued to press all available levers to find his granddaughter. He did not stop acting even after the robbery of a large bank in San Francisco. CCTV cameras captured the robbers, among whom was Patricia Hurst. Militant partisan Tanya stood on the edge with a machine gun, threatening the lives of civilians. The relatives sadly identified the girl as sweet Patty.

Patricia Campbell Hurst during a bank robbery

Everyone was asking the same question: how could the" right to the core " Patricia Campbell Hurst become a terrorist? Rich parents tried to explain the radical changes in their daughter's personality by suggestion, "zombification" and the Stockholm syndrome. The inexplicable and audacious behavior of the granddaughter of one of the most influential people in the United States cast a shadow not only on the family, but also on high society as a whole.

The remains of weapons that were seized from the CAO fighters

Meanwhile, the partisan Tanya was not bored. Hiding behind loud slogans about equality, she continued to rob banks. Each time the group acted more fiercely. They soon descended to premeditated murder. In San Francisco, the CAO fighters literally riddled one of the school trustees, Marcus Foster. The victim had no chance to survive, because the killers poisoned the bullets with cyanide.

Arrest of a rich hostage

But the FBI interfered with the plans of the newly minted terrorist. The rich heiress was tracked down and arrested. The trial lasted more than one month. Grandpa, a media mogul, hired the best lawyers. The forensic examination rejected the version about the zombie of the defendant, since there were no toxic or narcotic things in her blood.

The defense stated about the possible hypnotic influence on Patricia. The court considered the arguments of the defense not sufficiently weighty to justify all the crimes of the partisan. The daring hostage was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

A rich heiress and psychiatrists

The story of Patricia Campbell Hurst has opened a new page in psychiatry and criminology. It is worth mentioning that the FBI has shown great interest in the transformation of the personality that the former hostage has undergone. The study of Patricia helped to finally formulate the phenomenon of Stockholm syndrome.

Patricia is brought to court

Before that, there was a hypothesis in psychiatry about the connection that arises between the victim and the rapist. This was first discussed after the incident in the Swedish capital, when Jan-Erik Ohlsson held hostages during a bank robbery for three days. After the operation to free the bank, it was discovered that the victims (mostly women) did not want to press charges against the robbers. On the contrary, they sympathized with the offenders. Moreover, some of the victims regularly visited Jan-Erik Wilsson in prison, and many Swedish women wrote letters to him every day.

Patricia in a T-shirt with the inscription: "I'm sorry"

The case of Patricia Hurst finally established the term Stockholm syndrome. The heiress of a multibillion-dollar fortune survived thanks to an adaptation that transformed the personality of the "good girl" into a partisan Tanya. A special commission of psychiatrists investigated the case of Patricia Campbell Hurst and came to the conclusion that she suffers from post-traumatic mental disorder.

Life after or the future of a girl with the syndrome

The case of Patricia Hearst made a lot of noise and seriously excited the American public. It is not known whether sweet Patty was a favorite of the rich grandfather, but he did everything to achieve her pardon. It is also unknown what Randolph Hearst believed more: in the power of connections and capital or the innocence of his granddaughter.

He addressed many high-ranking officials and even reached President Carter. The guarantor had to use his powers and cancel the court order. Patricia Hurst was released after serving just over two years. The pardon was of a compromise nature. The girl was charged with a number of obligations. Namely: to regularly visit the attending psychiatrist, to give up a number of civil rights. Patricia Campbell Hurst has once again turned into an ordinary girl from high society.

She received an education in sociology, worked with the FBI, starred in films and played in the theater. She married her own bodyguard and settled in the suburbs of New York and gave birth to two daughters. In 2001, President Bill Clinton issued a separate decree granting a full pardon to Patricia Hearst. A girl from high society has gone down in history as a classic example of the Stockholm syndrome.