Son's Fight Ends in SLA Arrests

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Son's Fight Ends in SLA Arrests

By JIM WASSERMAN
Associated Press Writer

January 16, 2002, 9:59 PM EST

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Jon Opsahl was 15 and had argued with his mother the day she was slain in a bank robbery. He spent the next 27 years pressuring authorities to bring her killers to justice.

On Wednesday, he got his wish. Police announced they had charged five former members of the Symbionese Liberation Army * including former fugitive Sara Jane Olson * in the 1975 slaying.

"Our family has waited for 26 years for this day," Opsahl said. "I'm very happy that my mother's murder is getting the attention it deserves and I trust that justice will be served."

A physician at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Opsahl kept up the vigil to bring his mother's killers to justice even when his three siblings, all doctors, suggested he let it go.

In the Opsahl family, he said, members dealt with their tragedy with "a stiff upper lip."

His mother, Myrna Opsahl, was 42 when she died. As the years passed without arrests, Opsahl started a Web site in her honor and posted letters to authorities.

He wrote to Gov. Gray Davis, saying, "I am angry that her murder has gone almost unnoticed by the authorities and that the known perpetrators have not been held accountable."

He also wrote to Olson, who pleaded guilty in Los Angeles last year in a separate case with ties to the SLA: "I know what you did and I know who you really are."

Opsahl asked people to send letters to Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully, urging her to prosecute the case.

On Wednesday, four suspects, including Olson, were taken into custody; the fifth suspect remained at large.

"This is kind of 'mission accomplished' as far as I'm concerned," Opsahl said.

Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas praised the "tenacity and dedication" of Opsahl and his family.

"He's been a force to be reckoned with in the last 25 years trying to bring justice where justice is due," Blanas said.

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On the Net:

Opsahl's site: www.smartlivingassociation.org

[js1138]

While everyone is admiring the movie "A Beautiful Mind" we should take note that game theory predicts that "an eye for and eye" is the most nearly perfect ethic for producing a stable society.