Alumni connected to crime

Two former IU students were arrested Wednesday in connection with the murder of a woman in an attempted bank robbery that occurred almost 27 years ago.\nBill and Emily Harris, both IU graduates, are among five former members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a radical revolutionary anti-war group of the 1970s, charged with the slaying of a woman outside a bank in Carmichael, Calif., a suburb of Sacramento.\nAmong the others charged in the case include Mike Bortin and former fugitives Sara Jane Olson and James Kilgore. All five will face first-degree murder charges in connection with the crime. Arrests were made Wednesday after Olson apparently turned herself over to authorities.\nBloomington attorney Guy Loftman said he speculates Olson struck a deal with authorities prior to the arrests of Bortin and the Harrises.\nNo evidence supports Loftman's estimation.\nEmily Harris and ex-husband Bill are best known for their involvement with the 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst. Hearst, then 19, joined the radical group shortly thereafter and was later tried, convicted and sentenced for her role in the Carmichael bank robbery.\nThe Harrises were at one time Bloomington residents, who some viewed as being upstanding citizens. Emily Harris earned an English degree from IUB in 1969. She later taught at Bloomington's Binford Junior High School in the early 1970s. Her then-husband Bill attended IU but deferred the completion of his degree until after serving a tour in Vietnam.\nIU Alumni Magazine Editor Judith Schroeder remembers Harris being employed at Binford Junior High when her children attended the school.\n"Those who knew her said she was a responsible citizen," Schroeder said. "Some would have even characterized her as mousy...and would not have expected her to be involved in something like this."\nBoth Harrises had since relocated outside of Bloomington after serving eight years in prison for kidnapping Hearst.\nHearst, who was pardoned by President Clinton in 2000, is noted as saying she waited in the getaway car during the robberies, and has targeted Emily Harris as the person who pulled the trigger that day, killing mother of four Myrna Opsahl, nearly three decades ago. \nSome believe Hearst may be asked to serve as the star-witness in the trial of the five former SLA members.\nNow the married mother of three is known as Patricia Hearst Shaw, and is estimated to be the only former SLA member still living who would be able to possibly indict the other members in connection with the attempted robbery that resulted in the Opsahl death.\nThe arrests Wednesday came after the long-awaited efforts of Jon Opsahl, a California doctor, to re-open the case of his mother's death.\nMary Ann Wynkoop, associate director of American Studies at the University of Missouri--Kansas City and author of book based on the 1960s anti-war movement on the college campus, said the Harrises and those involved with the SLA were not part of the mainstream of the anti-war movement of the 1960s.\n"Most of the anti-war movement at IU is characterized by non-violence," Wynkoop said. "I don't know where the Harrises could have picked up their radical ideas. From what I know, Bill seemed to be a very intelligent man, committed to the early education of young children. I'm mystified by all this."\nWynkoop also said she could not speculate on the specifics of what in the new evidence sparked the arrests, but said she finds the timing of it all interesting.\n"I'm surprised that (this case) is being brought up in this climate of terrorism, when terrorism itself is being redefined," she said. "This might be an easier time to prosecute, given the sensitivity of the people these days. Everything has changed since 9/11. It is a much different situation."\n IU Professor of History James Madison added that Bloomington was a much different place in the late 1960s and early 1970s than it is now.\n"In those days, Dunn Meadow rocked," Madison said, referring to the various protests that occurred in the front of campus. "There were lots of issues surrounding women's liberation, race equality and others...\n"Most notable among these include the Little 500 sit-in and the Ballantine Hall lock-in," he said, referencing the sit-in of African-American students at Little 500 and the "locking-in" of IU administrators in a room in Ballantine Hall.\nAt the time, the University struggled with this, but they were able to resolve their problems with the students reasonably, and vice-versa, Madison said.\nMadison was adamant about his feelings regarding the University as a place of academic freedom and learning, but said he believes the recent arrests of former SLA members would not tarnish the University's reputation more than anything else.\n"I think it's an interesting story," Madison said. "I think current students will raise an eyebrow when they see IU connected with this"