Son of SLA victim angered by Sara Jane Olson's release

The release of former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson from prison has angered Jon Opsahl, whose mother was gunned down in a Carmichael bank by the SLA.

Myrna Opsahl was shot to death in the lobby of a Carmichael bank during an April 21, 1975, SLA bank robbery.

After serving six years in prison for his mother's death and for trying to bomb police cars, Olson is now free. She was released Monday from the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.

"She's out of prison too soon by far," Jon Opsahl said Friday. "It's another in a series of slaps in the face of victims by the justice system."

On Friday morning, when Opsahl's daughter turned on the family TV in Southern California, he found out about Olson's release.

"There it was on TV: 'Sara Jane Olson has been released from prison,' " Opsahl said. "That's a good four years before when I thought she would be released."

Her release came as a shock, he said. "It was a surprise."

He said he plans to call the Sacramento district attorney for more information.

Bill Sessa, state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman, said Olson's sentence was administered in exactly the same way as any other inmate.

In 2001, Olson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the attempted bombings of Los Angeles police cars in 1975 for the SLA, the terrorist group that also kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.

Olson also pleaded guilty in 2003 to second-degree murder in connection with the 1975 shooting death of Opsahl. She was serving a concurrent, six-year sentence in that case.

Jon Opsahl, 48, who led the quest for justice in his mother's killing, recounted his understanding of Olson's jail time:

"Initially, Sara Jane Olson, known as Kathleen Soliah, was sentenced to a combined 20 years – 14 years for the attempted murders of the police officers in Los Angeles and six years for my mom's murder in Sacramento.

"Somewhere along the line, she evidently got the 14 years reduced to 12 and then somewhere along the line she got the six years to be served concurrently with the L.A. crime. And now to get time off for good behavior is just crazy. I count that she just served six years in prison."

Olson changed her name, married a doctor and had three children during her time in hiding. She was arrested in 1999 by the FBI.

Jon Opsahl was 15 years old when his mother was killed. His father, Trygve, an emergency room physician, was on duty when she was brought to the hospital. He tried to save her, but the mother of four died on the operating table.

Jon Opsahl lobbied prosecutors and detectives throughout the state to go forward with the SLA cases. Repeatedly, prosecutors in Sacramento told him there wasn't enough evidence to link the SLA to Myrna Opsahl's death.

But Jon Opsahl wouldn't quit, and eventually Olson and other Symbionese Liberation Army members pleaded guilty to the Carmichael slaying and bank robbery.

Opsahl said it was important to remember Olson's crimes.

"This is a woman who was involved in multiple bombings, my mom's murder and then was a fugitive for over 23 years," he said.

He believes that the court system is too lenient.

"My mother being killed at 42 is not justice and yet they want to bend over backward for these criminals and render the police impotent," he said.

The union representing Los Angeles police officers is also protesting her early release.

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