Sara Jane Olson Denies SLA Ties

March 1, 2001 -- Sara Jane Olson was on her way to teach a citizenship class to recent immigrants in St. Paul, Minn., when she was pulled over by police on June 16, 1999. The doctor's wife and mother of three says she thought it was a routine traffic stop, although she could not imagine what she'd done wrong.

"I couldn't think of anything I had done," she recalls.

The officer told her that her minivan's tinted windows violated state law. But when she glanced in her rear-view mirror, she noticed that a swarm of police cars was arriving on the scene.

In fact, Olson had been stopped because authorities believed she had been involved in a plot to blow up police cars in Los Angeles back in 1975. Law enforcement officials had been looking for her for more than two decades.

Recently, her photo had appeared on national TV in a story on America's Most Wanted about the 25th anniversary of a deadly shootout involving the infamous 1970s terrorist group called the Symbionese Liberation Army. And just months before that, PrimeTime reports, Olson had attempted to negotiate her surrender to the LAPD, but negotiations had broken down.

Olson's arrest leaves only one alleged SLA-fugitive still at large: James Kilgore, who authorities believe was Olson's boyfriend in the mid-1970s.

'Just an Average American Woman'

In a case that is once again making headlines, re-igniting old emotions and raising new questions about illegal activities during the Vietnam War era, Olson now awaits trial on charges of conspiracy to commit murder.

In her first sit-down interview, Olson — formerly Kathleen Soliah — tells ABCNEWS she was never a member of the SLA. Olson says she is "just an average American woman" who was not involved in criminal activity.

"I did not do this thing," she says, referring to the allegation that she helped plant bombs under two police cruisers in Los Angeles in August 1975. The attempted bombing was allegedly linked to the SLA, possibly as revenge for the death of six of the group's members in a 1974 Los Angeles shootout with police.

The bombs did not explode, but before Olson was indicted in 1976, she left California, changed her name and started a new life.

"I didn't live for 25 years knowing I was eluding law enforcement," she says — although she did cut off contact with family members and had traveled under a false passport.

"I just lived my life" says Olson. "My life became the mundane life of everybody's life."

Allegations and Denials

Olson moved to St. Paul, Minn., where she married a Harvard-educated physician and had three daughters. She became active as a church volunteer, actress in local theatrical productions and volunteer for the blind.

"She's a pacifist," says Lynn Mus grave, who worked with Olson in local theater. "She's gentle and she's kind."

The FBI, however, calls Olson "armed and dangerous." Prosecutors seek to link her to the SLA and a 1975 bank robbery in a Sacramento suburb in which Myrna Opsahl, a 42-year-old mother of four, was killed, allegedly by another SLA member.

"She can change her name and she can pretend to be a model citizen," says Jon Opsahl, whose mother was depositing her church's collection plate money when she was killed in the robbery. "But I just want her and everyone else to know that she really can't earn that status, because 25 years ago she helped murder a true model citizen: my mother."

Olson's brother went on trial for the crime, but was acquitted. "I was not involved in that," says Olson.

Patty Hearst to Testify

Patricia Hearst Shaw — the newspaper heiress who was kidnapped by the SLA in 1974 and then became part of the group — is expected to testify against Olson.

Hearst says she was driving a getaway car on the day of the robbery, and says Olson was one of the four masked robbers inside. She has also said that Olson and two other SLA members were involved in planting the bombs under police cars.

Tavis Smiley of Black Entertainment Television, who conducted PrimeTime's interview, says Olson "did not have a single bad thing to say about Hearst," who could be the chief witness against her.

Because of her upcoming trial, Olson can't answer certain questions — such as whether or not her husband or kids knew about her past. But she does say that the case against her is weak.

"It's just part of this gigantic conspiracy case that they're trying to use to improve a weak case in Los Angeles," says Olson. "And it's sensational. It's a terrible crime."

After several delays, her trial is now set for April.

"I'm going to win," says Olson.