patricia campbell hearst (san francisco, 1954), now known as patricia hearst shaw, is the heiress to the hearst newspaper fortune (made by her grandfather william randolph hearst).she became famous on February 4, 1974, when she was abducted by the Symbionese Liberation Army (S.

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A.), an American group that considered itself a revolutionary vanguard army and was a proponent of radical leftist ideology, much like the german baader-meinhof group.the sla demanded ransom from the hearst family, which resulted in a donation of 6 million us dollars worth of food to the poor in the san francisco bay area. but even after this donation, hearst was not released.shortly after this, hearst herself joined the S.

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A.; she shocked the country when she was found robbing a bank on April 15. she adopted the pseudonym tanya and declared in her communications that she was now commited to the goals of the s.l.a. in september of 1975, she was arrested along with other s.l.a. members and put on trial on january 15, 1976.in her trial, hearst stated that her actions should be attributed to a severe case of stockholm syndrom, a psychological response to extreme danger, in which captives become friendly with their captors. during her abduction, hearst had been locked blindfolded in a closet and had been physically and sexually abused. she also stated that she was coerced into taking part in the bank robbery.the trial was lost and hearst was convicted of bank robbery, but released from prison in 1979, when she was commuted by president jimmy carter.shortly after being released, hearst married her former bodyguard bernard shaw. she now lives in connecticut.because of her notoriety, hearst was casted in several films. in 1988 a movie about the hearst case was made, directed by paul schrader. this was followed by a 2004 documentary on the s.l.a., directed by robert stone.