Moore, Sara Jane (1930–)

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Moore, Sara Jane (1930–)

American would-be assassin. Born Sara Jane Kahn (Moore is her mother's maiden name), Feb 15, 1930, in Charleston, WV; married 4 men (one of them twice), including John Aalberg; children: 4, including (with Aalberg) Frederick.

Was a nursing school dropout, Women's Army Corps recruit, and accountant; turned to revolutionary politics in her 40s; recruited by FBI to collect information about Patty Hearst kidnapping (1974), but cover was blown; to reestablish radical credentials, stood outside a San Francisco hotel and fired a .38 revolver at President Gerald Ford, missing her target when a bystander, Oliver Sipple, grabbed her arm (Sept 22, 1975); escaped from Alderson Federal Prison for Women, where she was serving a life sentence, but was apprehended 25 miles away (1979); transferred to federal prison in Pleasanton, CA. Moore's attempt on Ford's life came just 17 days after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme had tried to assassinate him; like Moore, Fromme also made a prison break from Alderson, before being apprehended 2 days later (1987).