Ira Einhorn

Ira Samuel Einhorn (May 15, 1940 – April 3, 2020), known as "The Unicorn Killer", was a convicted murderer and American environmental activist. He was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Holly Maddux. On September 9, 1977, Maddux disappeared following a trip to collect her belongings from the apartment she and Einhorn had shared in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Eighteen months later, police found her partially mummified body in a trunk in Einhorn's closet.[1]

Ira Einhorn
Einhorn's 1979 mugshot and a 2001 mugshot taken upon his return to the U.S.
Born
Ira Samuel Einhorn

(1940-05-15)May 15, 1940
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedApril 3, 2020(2020-04-03) (aged 79)
Somerset, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other namesThe Unicorn Killer, The Unicorn
Criminal statusDeceased
Criminal chargeMurder
PenaltyLife imprisonment

After his arrest, Einhorn fled the country and spent twenty-three years in Europe before being extradited to the United States. He took the stand in his own defense, claiming his ex-girlfriend had been killed by CIA agents who framed him for the crime because he knew too much about the agency's paranormal military research. He was convicted and served a life sentence until his death in prison in April 2020.[1][2]

His nickname, "the Unicorn", comes from the surname Einhorn, which means "unicorn" in German.

On 3 April 2020, Einhorn, aged 79, died in the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands.

Early life and activism

Ira Einhorn was born into a middle-class Jewish family.[1][3] As a student at the University of Pennsylvania,[4][5] he became active in ecological groups and was part of the counterculture, anti-establishment, and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s.[1] Einhorn was a co-founder and speaker at the first Earth Day event in Philadelphia in 1970[6], and later claimed to have been instrumental in creating and launching the event,[1] but other event organizers dispute his account.[7][8]

Einhorn was a teaching fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, at Harvard University.[5][9]

Murder of Holly Maddux

Einhorn had a five-year relationship with Holly Maddux, a graduate of Bryn Mawr College who was originally from Tyler, Texas. In 1977, Maddux broke up with Einhorn and went to New York City, where she became involved with Saul Lapidus. On September 9, 1977, Maddux returned to the Philadelphia apartment she had previously shared with Einhorn to collect her belongings (which Einhorn had reportedly threatened to throw out into the street as trash) and was never seen again. Several weeks later, the Philadelphia police questioned Einhorn about her disappearance. He claimed that Maddux had gone out to the neighborhood co-op to buy some tofu and sprouts, and never returned.

Einhorn's initial alibi came into question when his neighbors began complaining about a foul smell coming from his apartment, which in turn aroused the suspicion of authorities. Eighteen months later, on March 28, 1979, Maddux's decomposing corpse was found by police in a trunk stored in Einhorn's closet. After finding the body, a police officer reportedly said to Einhorn, "It looks like we found Holly," to which he reportedly replied, "You found what you found." Einhorn's lawyer, Arlen Specter, negotiated bail of $40,000; he was released from custody after posting a bond of $4,000, or 10% of the $40,000. This was paid by Barbara Bronfman, a Montreal socialite who married into the wealthy Bronfman family and met Einhorn through a shared interest in the paranormal.[5] During Einhorn's flight he was again aided by Bronfman, who continued to support him financially until 1988, when she read Steven Levy's damning book on Einhorn, The Unicorn's Secret.[5][10]

In 1981, just days before his murder trial was to begin, Einhorn skipped bail and fled to Europe. He lived there for the next seventeen years and married a Swedish woman named Annika Flodin. In Pennsylvania, as Einhorn had already been arraigned, the state convicted him in absentia of Maddux's murder in 1996. Einhorn was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Extradition

In 1997, Einhorn was arrested in Champagne-Mouton, France, where he had been living under the name "Eugène Mallon". The extradition process, however, proved more complex than initially envisioned. Under the extradition treaty between France and the United States, either country may refuse extradition under certain circumstances, and Einhorn used multiple avenues to avoid extradition.

Although Einhorn was not sentenced to death, his defense attorneys argued that he would face the death penalty if he were returned to the United States. France, like many countries that have abolished the death penalty, does not extradite defendants to jurisdictions that retain the death penalty without assurance that it will be neither sought nor applied. Pennsylvania authorities pointed out that when the murder occurred, the state did not practice the death penalty and so Einhorn could not be executed because the state and federal constitutions forbid ex post facto law. Einhorn's next strategy involved French law and the European Court of Human Rights, which require a new trial when the defendant was tried in absentia and unable to present his defense. On this basis, the court of appeals of Bordeaux rejected the extradition request.

Following the court's decision, thirty-five members of Congress sent a letter to French President Jacques Chirac to ask for Einhorn's extradition. However, under France's doctrine of the separation of powers, which was invoked in this case, the President cannot give orders to courts and does not intervene in extradition affairs. Therefore, in 1998, to secure Einhorn's extradition, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill, nicknamed the "Einhorn Law", allowing defendants convicted in absentia to request another trial. In another delay tactic, Einhorn's attorneys criticized the bill as unconstitutional and tried to get the French courts to once again deny the extradition on the grounds that the law would be inapplicable. However, the French court ruled itself unable to evaluate the constitutionality of foreign laws. Another point of friction with the United States was that the court freed Einhorn under police supervision, as French laws put restrictions on remand, the imprisonment of suspects awaiting trial. Einhorn then became the focus of intense surveillance by French police.

The matter went before Prime Minister Lionel Jospin; extraditions, after having been approved by courts, must be ordered by the executive. The French Green Party stated that Einhorn should not be extradited until it was certain that the "Einhorn Law" could not be reversed.[11] Jospin rejected the claims and issued an extradition decree. Einhorn then litigated against the decree before the Conseil d'État, which ruled against him; again, the Council declined to review the constitutionality of foreign law.[12] He then attempted to slit his own throat to avoid imprisonment[13] and eventually litigated his case before the European Court of Human Rights, which also ruled against him. On July 20, 2001, Einhorn was extradited to the United States.[14]

Trial and penalty

Taking the stand in his own defense, Einhorn claimed that Maddux was murdered by CIA agents who attempted to frame him due to his "investigations" into the Cold War and "psychotronics".[15] After two hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Einhorn on October 17, 2002, concluding the month-long trial.[4] The following day, he was sentenced to a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole.[16] Einhorn began serving his sentence at SCI Houtzdale. In November 2006, Einhorn's sentence was unanimously affirmed by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.[17]

In April 2016, he was transferred to SCI Laurel Highlands, a minimum security prison that provides care for inmates with health needs.[18]

Death in prison

On 3 April 2020, Einhorn, aged 79, died in the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands.[19] His death was reported to be of natural causes, and not related to COVID-19[20]

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See also

References
  1. Melina, Remy (April 21, 2011). "Earth Day co-founder killed, composted girlfriend". NBC News.
  2. ""Unicorn Killer" Ira Einhorn Dies in Prison". 6abc.com. April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  3. Cohen, Anne (April 22, 2015). "When Jewish Earth Day Co-Founder Killed, Composted Girlfriend". The Schmooze. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  4. "Ex-Fugitive Convicted in 25-Year-Old Murder", The New York Times, October 18, 2002.
  5. Lopez, Steve (July 20, 2001). "The Ira Einhorn Case". Time. Archived from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2020. Einhorn won a teaching fellowship at Harvard
  7. Earth Week Committee of Philadelphia. "Einhorn" (Letter). AMGOT. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
  8. "No, Ira Einhorn Didn't Found Earth Day". phillymag.com. April 22, 2015.
  9. Drucker, Linda S. (November 4, 1978). "Institute Fellow Einhorn: Yippie Turned Teacher". The Crimson. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020. He is a fellow at the Institute of Politics and sleeps in a sleeping bag on the floor of his room in North House. He is Ira Einhorn
  10. "He was a guru like there never have been gurus". The Guardian. April 11, 1999. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  11. "Ira Einhorn extradé" (in French). Les Verts. July 20, 2001. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  12. "Council of State Ruling" (in French). Revue de l'actualité juridique française. July 12, 2001. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  13. "France Agrees to Extradition Of Culprit in Killing in U.S." The New York Times. July 13, 2001.
  14. "Ex-Fugitive Convicted in 25-Year-Old Murder". AP. October 18, 2002 – via The New York Times.
  15. "Dave Lindorff's 2002 article on the Einhorn trial in Salon". October 18, 2002. Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  16. Steward, Stephanie (October 18, 2002). "Einhorn sentenced to life in prison". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  17. Commonwealth v. Einhorn, 911 A.2d 960 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2006).
  18. "Inmate Locator".
  19. Seelye, Katharine Q. (April 7, 2020). "Ira Einhorn, Counterculture Guru and Murderer, Dies in Prison at 79". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  20. CBS3 Staff (April 3, 2020). "'Unicorn Killer' Ira Einhorn Dies In Prison At 79". CBSN Philly.

Sources
  • Einhorn, Ira. 78-187880. (1972) ISBN 0385063873 The title is the book's Library of Congress Control Number.[1]
  • Einhorn, Ira. (August 2005). Prelude to Intimacy. ISBN 1411649117. Einhorn's account of his life underground from the time he fled the United States in early January 1981 until he met his Swedish wife, Annika, in November 1987.
  • Levy, Steven. (1988). The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius ISBN 0451401662. Published while Einhorn's whereabouts were unknown.
  1. ""78-187880"". Library of Congress Catalog. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
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