Recently, I finished a good book – ‘American Heiress’ by
Jeffrey Toobin. I recommend it.
“The wild saga of the
kidnapping, crimes and trial of Patty Hearst.”
Of course, as Toobin points out, Patty Hearst preferred to
be called Patricia by anyone other than her immediate family. We, in the FBI’s San Francisco Division,
called her ‘Patty.’ We got to know her
pretty well.
I actually lived part of this story, but wasn’t mentioned –
nor did I expect to be. I was just one
of the many FBI Agents who worked 12 to 14 hour days, six or seven days a week
for quite a few months on this case. It
was demanding, tedious and often disorganized.
Actually, Mr. Toobin gave me new insights on the investigation that I
was not previously aware of – some of which seemed to explain why, at times,
the investigation was disorganized.
However, other things he said in his book (petty perhaps) were kind of
silly. Such as…
Toobin: “At this point, the Bureau was populated
almost entirely by white** male agents who wore white shirts and black shoes
and had crew cuts…”
February 4, 1974: I
was assigned to the Berkeley Resident Agency when Patty was kidnapped and don’t
recall any Agents dressing as he described.
Oh, some of the older guys headquartered in San Francisco, desk jockeys
mostly, might have occasionally worn white shirts and black shoes – but a “crew
cut,” not hardly, unless they were attempting to conceal the fact that they were
prematurely going bald. This was San
Francisco and Berkeley during the early 70s.
Agents working the streets dressed in accord with the venue so as not be
too conspicuous. Maybe, Toobin is talking
about old photos of Charles Bates, Tom Padden or Monte Hall – prominent players
in his story. I will discuss them
further in subsequent posts.
Toobin: “They (referring to the FBI) knew little
about the radical underground and had no chance of infiltrating those
circles. Who were the SLA? Where were they? Who were their friends and allies?”
Well, yes, that’s true in part. However, we actually knew quite a bit,
generally speaking, about the ‘radical underground,’ the Weather Underground
and the Black Panthers. However, the SLA,
the Symbionese Liberation Army, was an instance of ‘spontaneous
combustion.’ They were suddenly on the
scene. The SLA was closely knit and had
no formal structure. Infiltrating them
would be like infiltrating a socially dysfunctional, psychotic family. What was there, initially at least, to
infiltrate? The first question needing
resolution was: ‘Who are they?’
We knew, of course, that the SLA had already murdered the Oakland
City Superintendent, Marcus Foster – a particularly cold blooded murder; shooting
Foster with cyanide-laced bullets as he exited a school board meeting. It was, at the time, a local crime being
investigated by the Oakland PD.
Soon, there was a break in the case when a Concord
Police Officer, conducting a routine FI or field interrogation, got in a
shootout with Russ Little and Joe Remiro – who were members (later determined)
of the SLA. At that point, the nature of
the SLA and who its members were began to come into focus.
The night Patty was kidnapped, I was one of the first Agents
to respond to the scene. I still remember
how chaotic it was. The confusion factor
was almost overwhelming.
FBI Agents, including myself, began interviewing anyone in the area
they could find. Often times individuals
contacted had already been interviewed by the Berkeley Police Department – and said
individuals were understandably irritated by the FBI’s duplication of efforts. One couple slammed the door in my face. I made a note to return the next day when,
perhaps, they would be in a better mood.
The FBI was not popular in those neighborhoods. Ultimately, we spread out doing neighbor
inquiries, noting license plates, taking photographs, mapping the neighborhood,
and coordinating pertinent information that might lead to a quick locate of
Patty Hearst. As the violence involved
became better known and the prominence of the victim became increasingly clear,
we began preparing for the big push the following morning.
Berkeley PD was initially in charge of the investigation for
the first 24 hours. After that, the FBI
was the lead agency. Federal statute
states that the victim, if not recovered within the first 24 hours, will create
the presumption that the victim had been transported interstate or foreign
commerce. After 24 hours, with certain
exceptions, kidnapping becomes a Federal crime (The Lindbergh Law).
February 4th turned into a long night; and the
beginning of many long nights and days to come.
To be continued…
**A point needing a little clarification is concerning J.
Edgar Hoover. It is often stated and
inferred that he had a bias against Blacks and did not allow Blacks to become
Agents. I entered the Bureau under
Hoover’s watch. There were two Black
Agents in my New Agents’ Class. Both
great guys.
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