Ira Einhorn

Early life and activism

Born into a middle-class Jewish family, Einhorn studied at the University of Pennsylvania. He became active in ecological groups and was part of the counterculture, anti-establishment, and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s. He called himself "the Unicorn," because Einhorn is German for Unicorn.

Einhorn participated in the first Earth Day event in Philadelphia in 1970. He later claimed to have been instrumental in the creation of Earth Day and launching the event, but other event organizers dispute his account. Einhorn actually did little to no organising of the event but ended up as MC for the live broadcast of Philadelphia's Earth Day.

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. She went to New York City and became involved with Saul Lapidus. On Sept. 9, 1977, Maddux returned to the apartment she had once shared with Einhorn to collect her things (Einhorn had reportedly threatened to throw her things 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.

Eventually, 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 a closet, in Einhorn's apartment. After finding Maddux the police reportedly said to Einhorn, "It looks like we found Holly," to which Einhorn reportedly replied, "You found what you found". Einhorn's bail was reduced to $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 amount was paid by Phyllis Lambert, the Montreal architect-philanthropist, prominent member of the Bronfman family, force behind the Seagram Building, and one of the many people Einhorn had convinced to support him financially.

In 1981, just days before his murder trial was to begin, Einhorn skipped bail and fled to Europe. He traveled in Europe for the next 17 years and married a Swedish woman named Annika Flodin. Back in Pennsylvania, as Einhorn had already been arraigned, the state convicted him in absentia in 1993, for Maddux's murder. Einhorn was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Long battle to extradition

In 1997, Einhorn was tracked down and 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 his sentence was not the death penalty, Einhorn's defense attorneys argued that Einhorn would face the death penalty if he was 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 the death penalty will be neither sought nor applied. Pennsylvania authorities pointed out that when the murder occurred, Pennsylvania did not have the death penalty and so Einhorn could not be executed because the US and the Pennsylvania 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, 35 members of the US Congress sent a letter to French President Jacques Chirac of France 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, to secure the extradition of Einhorn and to ensure that he was imprisoned for the murder, the Pennsylvania legislature passed in 1998 a bill, nicknamed the "Einhorn Law", allowing defendants convicted in absentia to request another trial. In another delay tactic, the bill was criticized by Einhorn's attorneys as unconstitutional. They tried to get the French courts to deny the extradition again 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 U.SllS 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 the French police.

The matter then 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 the issues concerning his case were fully settled. 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. He then attempted to slit his throat to avoid imprisonment for the murder 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.

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 the Cold War and "psychotronics". After two hours of deliberation, the jury convicted him on 17 October 2002, concluding the month-long trial. The following day, he was sentenced to a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole. Einhorn began serving his sentence at SCI Houtzdale. In April 2016, Einhorn was transferred to SCI Laurel Highlands, a minimum security prison that provides care for inmates with health needs.