Editing Ira Einhorn (section)

==Murder of Holly Maddux==
Einhorn had a five-year relationship with Holly Maddux, a graduate of [[Bryn Mawr College]] who was 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 [[Powelton Village, Philadelphia|Powelton Village]] apartment<ref name="Geringer">{{Cite news |last=Geringer |first=Joseph |title=Ira Einhorn: The Unicorn Killer |url=https://www.crimelibrary.org/notorious_murders/famous/einhorn/index_1.html |publisher=crimelibrary.org}}</ref> 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 Department|Philadelphia police]] questioned Einhorn about her disappearance. He claimed that Maddux had gone out to the [[Food cooperative|neighborhood co-op]] to buy some [[tofu]] and [[Bean sprouts|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. During this time, Einhorn was dating filmmaker [[Cecelia Condit]], who could not smell the body due to medication she was on affecting her sense of smell. Condit would later go on to make the short film ''[[Beneath the Skin (film)|Beneath the Skin]]'' about this experience.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Breda |first=Alix |date=2017-11-29 |title=Cecelia Condit's Body of Becoming: Women and the Dark Forest of Dreams |url=https://www.anothergaze.com/cecelia-condits-body-of-becoming-women-and-the-dark-forest-of-dreams/ |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=Another Gaze: A Feminist Film Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> Eighteen months later, on March 28, 1979, Maddux's [[human decomposition|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 (née Baerwald), a [[Montreal]] socialite who married into the wealthy [[Bronfman family]] and met Einhorn through a shared interest in the [[paranormal]].<ref name="Time" /> 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''.<ref name="Time" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 11, 1999 |title=He was a guru like there never have been gurus |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/apr/12/features11.g24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116142755/http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/apr/12/features11.g24 |archive-date=November 16, 2013 |access-date=April 2, 2020 |language=en |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

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 [[Sweden|Swedish]] woman named Annika Flodin. In [[Pennsylvania]], as Einhorn had already been [[arraignment|arraigned]], the state convicted him ''[[trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' of Maddux's murder in 1996. Einhorn was sentenced to [[life imprisonment|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" and incarcerated for about six months at the local Gradignan jail before he was placed under a loose form of house arrest. The [[extradition]] process 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 [[death penalty|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 (law)|defense]]. On this basis, the court of appeals of [[Bordeaux]] rejected the extradition request.

Following the court's decision, thirty-five members of [[United States Congress|Congress]] sent a letter to [[President of France|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 [[detention of suspects|remand]], the imprisonment of suspects awaiting trial. Einhorn then became the focus of intense surveillance by French police.

The matter went before [[Prime Minister of France|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.<ref name="LesVerts"><!-- this site no longer exists: {{Cite web |title=Les Verts – Ira Einhorn extradé |url=http://www.les-verts.org/article.php3?id_article=224}}--> {{Cite web |date=July 20, 2001 |title=Ira Einhorn extradé |url=http://www.lesverts.fr/spip.php?page=imprimir_articulo&id_article=224 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026202806/http://www.lesverts.fr/spip.php?page=imprimir_articulo&id_article=224 |archive-date=October 26, 2013 |access-date=October 26, 2013 |publisher=Les Verts |language=fr}}</ref> Jospin rejected the claims and issued an extradition [[decree]]. Einhorn then litigated against the decree before the ''[[Council of State (France)|Conseil d'État]]'', which ruled against him; again, the Council declined to review the constitutionality of foreign law.<ref name="Council of State Ruling">{{Cite web |date=July 12, 2001 |title=Council of State Ruling |url=http://www.rajf.org/imprimer.php3?id_article=144 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020929175822/http://www.rajf.org/imprimer.php3?id_article=144 |archive-date=September 29, 2002 |access-date=April 4, 2020 |publisher=Revue de l'actualité juridique française |language=fr}}</ref> He then attempted to slit his own throat to avoid imprisonment<ref name="NYTimes2001">{{Cite news |date=July 13, 2001 |title=France Agrees to Extradition Of Culprit in Killing in U.S. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/13/us/france-agrees-to-extradition-of-culprit-in-killing-in-us.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516012138/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/13/us/france-agrees-to-extradition-of-culprit-in-killing-in-us.html |archive-date=May 16, 2013 |access-date=February 19, 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 18, 2002 |title=Ex-Fugitive Convicted in 25-Year-Old Murder |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/18/us/ex-fugitive-convicted-in-25-year-old-murder.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409214050/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/18/us/ex-fugitive-convicted-in-25-year-old-murder.html |archive-date=April 9, 2020 |access-date=February 19, 2017 |website=AP |via=The New York Times}}</ref>

===Trial and sentencing===
Taking the stand in his own defense, Einhorn claimed that Maddux was murdered by [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] agents, who attempted to frame him due to his investigations into the [[Cold War]] and [[Psionics|psychotronics]].<ref name="Salon">{{Cite web |date=October 18, 2002 |title=For Ira Einhorn, a fate worse than death |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/10/18/einhorn/index.html |work=Salon |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831230541/http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/10/18/einhorn/index.html |archive-date=August 31, 2010 |access-date=March 31, 2010}}</ref>

After two hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Einhorn on October 17, 2002, concluding the month-long trial.<ref name=NYTimes/> The following day, he was sentenced to a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Steward |first=Stephanie |date=October 18, 2002 |title=Einhorn sentenced to life in prison |url=http://thedp.com/index.php/article/2002/10/einhorn_sentenced_to_life_in_prison |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810091615/http://www.thedp.com/index.php/article/2002/10/einhorn_sentenced_to_life_in_prison |archive-date=August 10, 2017 |access-date=May 12, 2012 |work=The Daily Pennsylvanian}}</ref> Einhorn began serving his sentence at [[State Correctional Institution – Houtzdale|Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution (SCI) Houtzdale]]. In November 2006, Einhorn's sentence was unanimously affirmed by the [[Superior Court of Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Commonwealth v. Einhorn |vol=911 |reporter=A.2d |opinion=960 |court=Pa. Super. Ct. |date=2006 | url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13219247451018789695}}</ref>