- Ira Einhorn
Infobox Criminal
subject_name = Ira Samuel Einhorn
image_size = 150px
image_caption = 1979 mugshot and a 2001 mugshot taken upon his return to the U.S.
date_of_birth = Birth date and age|1940|5|15|mf=y
place_of_birth =Philadelphia, PA , U.S.
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
charge =murder
penalty =life imprisonment
status = in prison
occupation =antiwar activist,environmentalist
spouse =
parents =
children =Ira Samuel Einhorn, a.k.a. "The Unicorn Killer" (born
May 15 ,1940 ), is a former American activist of the 1960s and 1970s who is now serving a life sentence for the murder ofHolly Maddux in 1977.Background
Einhorn was active in ecological and antiwar groups in the 1960s. At one time, he was a friend and contemporary of
Jerry Rubin andAbbie Hoffman . He also claimed to have been instrumental in creating " because the name Einhorn (a German-Jewish name) means "unicorn".Born into a middle-class
Jewish family, Einhorn studied at theUniversity of Pennsylvania and had a five-year relationship with Holly Maddux, a graduate ofBryn Mawr College who was originally fromTyler, Texas . In 1977, Maddux broke up with Einhorn. She went toNew York City and became involved with Saul Lapidus. When Einhorn found out about this, he angrily called Maddux to come back to Philadelphia to retrieve her belongings. She went back to Philadelphia, but was never seen in public again.When questioned, Einhorn told police that Maddux had left to go to the store but never came back. His alibi began to crack, however, when neighbors began to complain about a foul odor coming from Einhorn's
Powelton Village apartment. Eighteen months later, Maddux's decomposing corpse was found bypolice in a trunk stored in a closet in Einhorn's apartment. Einhorn's bail was set at $40,000 at the request of his attorney,Arlen Specter ; Einhorn was released from custody in advance of his trial by paying 10% of the bond's value, or $4,000. This bail was paid, not by Einhorn, but by Barbara Bronfman, aMontreal socialite and a member of the family that owns theSeagram liquor company. In 1981, just days before his murder trial was to begin, Einhorn skippedbail and escaped toEurope . Einhorn traveled in Europe for the next 16 years, along the way marrying a Swedish woman named Annika Flodin. Back in Pennsylvania, as Einhorn had already been arraigned, the state convicted himin absentia in 1993 for the murder of Maddux. Einhorn was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.Extradition
In 1997, Einhorn was tracked down and arrested in
Champagne-Mouton ,France , where he had been living under the name "Eugene Mallon." Theextradition process, however, proved more complex than it was initially envisioned, and contrasted the different interpretations that France and the U.S. have of the concept of the "right to a fair trial ". Under the extradition treaty between France and the United States, either country may refuse extradition if it finds that the defendant may not get a fair trial.Einhorn's defense attorneys, including
Dominique Tricaud (also whom were theHuman Rights League , LDH) argued that Einhorn would face thedeath penalty if returned to the U.S. France, having abolished the death penalty, does not extradite defendants without assurance that the death penalty will not be sought and will not be applied, but Pennsylvania authorities pointed out that at the date of the murder, Pennsylvania did not have the death penalty. A second issue soon arose: French law and theEuropean Court of Human Rights require a new trial when the defendant was tried in absentia, hence was unable to present his defense. On this basis, the court of appeals ofBordeaux rejected the extradition request.The court's decision infuriated many in the U.S., where it was ascribed by somewho as political posturing from France's government, even though the decision was taken by an independent court. Thirty-five members of Congress sent a letter to President
Jacques Chirac of France, asking for Einhorn's extradition. However, under France's doctrine ofseparation of powers , the President cannot give orders to courts and does not intervene in extradition affairs.As a consequence of this refusal, in order to secure the extradition of Ira Einhorn, the Pennsylvania legislature passed in 1998 a bill (nicknamed the "Einhorn Law") allowing defendants convicted in absentia to request another trial. The bill was, however, criticized as being unconstitutional (as it was argued that the legislature cannot overrule a final judgment handed down by a court), and Einhorn's attorneys tried to use this to get French courts to deny the extradition again, on the grounds that the law would be inapplicable. However, the French court ruled itself incompetent to evaluate the constitutionality of foreign laws. Another point of friction with the U.S. was that the court freed Ira Einhorn under police supervision — French laws put restrictions on
remand (the imprisonment of suspects awaiting trial). Einhorn was then the focus of intense surveillance by the French police.The matter then went before Prime Minister
Lionel Jospin , since extraditions, after having been approved by courts, must be ordered by the executive. Meanwhile, Einhorn's supporters alleged that he had been unfairly treated by American criminal justice and that he would not receive a fair trial. TheFrench Green Party , in particular, complained that Einhorn should not have been extradited until the issues concerning his case were fully settled. [ [http://www.les-verts.org/article.php3?id_article=224 Les Verts - Ira Einhorn extradé ] ] In some respects, the debate took on a political character, with discussion going beyond the particular case of Einhorn and widening into criticism of American justice and its perceived unfairness for some categories of defendants;Who|date=July 2007 there were also concerns that the case against Einhorn was politically motivated. Because of the sensitive nature of the case, Jospin took some time to reach a decision, but eventually issued an extraditiondecree . Jospin was then criticized by somewho as having caved in to political pressure from U.S. PresidentBill Clinton . Einhorn litigated against the decree before the "Conseil d'État ", which ruled against him. He then attempted to slit his throat, and eventually litigated his case before theEuropean Court of Human Rights , which also ruled against him.On
July 20 ,2001 , Einhorn was extradited to theUnited States .Trial and penalty
Taking the stand in his own defense, Einhorn claimed that Maddux was murdered by
CIA agents who attempted to frame Einhorn for the crime, due to Einhorn's investigations on theCold War and "psychotronics." However, after only two hours of deliberation, the jury did not find his testimony credible and affirmed his conviction onOctober 17 ,2002 .Einhorn is currently incarcerated in the state prison at Houtzdale in central
Pennsylvania .In popular culture
*Einhorn and his crime were the topic of a made-for-TV
film in 1999. Entitled "The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer ", it featuredNaomi Watts as Holly Maddux and Kevin Anderson as Einhorn.
*The 13th-season "Law & Order " episode, "Absentia", was based on this case withMandy Patinkin appearing as Levi March, alias "The Griffin."
*In the 5th-season "South Park " episode, "", a machete-wielding Earth Day activist chops off Kenny's arms and legs. This has been acknowledged as a reference to Einhorn by "South Park" co-creatorsMatt Stone andTrey Parker .
*Einhorn's case was featured on the television series "Unsolved Mysteries ", "America's Most Wanted ", "Interpol Investigates ", and "The Investigators (TruTV Series) ".References
Further reading
*Ira Einhorn, "78-187880" (1972) ISBN 0-385-06387-3 Its title is its Library of Congress number.
*Ira Einhorn, "Prelude to Intimacy", August 2005, "is Ira Einhorn's account of his life underground from the time he fled the United States in early January of 1981 until he met his Swedish wife, Annika, in November of 1987." ISBN 1-4116-4911-7.
*Steven Levy , "The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius", 1988 ISBN 0-13-937830-8 This book was published while Einhorn's whereabouts were unknown.
* Russ Baker on Ira Einhorn's French Odyssey in the Philadelphia Inquirer's "Sunday Magazine" [http://www.russbaker.com/Ira's%20tour%20de%20France.htm]
* Russ Baker's visit with Einhorn in France, for "Esquire": [http://www.russbaker.com/Esquire%20-%20a%20touch%20of%20eden%20-%20december%201999/Esquire%20-%20a%20touch%20of%20eden%20-%20december%201999.htm]
* Dave Lindorff's 2002 article on the Einhorn trial in "Salon": [http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/10/18/einhorn/index.html]External links
* [http://www.paranoiamagazine.com/spookaroonie.html Paranoia Magazine interview]
* [http://www.amgot.org/einhorn/lkl8d2.htm Excerpt from Larry King Live] about Einhorn's attempts at denying extradition
* [http://www.apologeticsindex.org/news1/an010715-17.html Timeline]
*http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/einhorn/index_1.html
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