Editing Ira Einhorn

{{Short description|American murderer  (1940–2020)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Ira Einhorn
| image_name        = Ira Einhorn.png
| image_caption     = Einhorn's 1979 mugshot and a 2001 mugshot taken upon his return to the U.S.
| birth_name        = Ira Samuel Einhorn
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1940|05|15}}
| birth_place       = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|2020|04|03|1940|05|15}}
| death_place       = [[State Correctional Institution – Laurel Highlands]], [[Somerset Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania|Somerset Township, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| other_names       = The Unicorn Killer <br> The Unicorn <br> Eugène Mallon
| conviction_penalty = [[Life imprisonment]]
| conviction_status = Deceased
| occupation        = Environmental activist
| education         = [[University of Pennsylvania]] {{small|(B.A., 1961)}}
| spouse            = Annika (Flodin) Einhorn
| parents           = 
| children          = 
| conviction        = [[First degree murder]]
}}

'''Ira Samuel Einhorn''' (May 15, 1940&nbsp;– April 3, 2020), known as '''"The Unicorn Killer"''', was an American [[Environmental movement|environmental activist]] and murderer. His [[Nickname|moniker]], "the [[Unicorn]]", was derived from his surname; Einhorn means "unicorn" in [[German language|German]]. As an environmental activist, Einhorn was a speaker at the first [[Earth Day]] event in [[Philadelphia]] in 1970.<ref name=":0" /> On September 9, 1977, Einhorn's ex-girlfriend Holly 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 decomposed body in a trunk in Einhorn's closet.<ref name=compost>{{cite news|last=Melina|first=Remy|title=Earth Day co-founder killed, composted girlfriend|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42711922|agency=NBC News|date=2011-04-21|access-date=August 25, 2014|archive-date=December 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210213605/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42711922/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/earth-day-co-founder-killed-composted-girlfriend/#.U_qrdvboct4|url-status=live}}</ref>

After his arrest, Einhorn fled the country and spent twenty-two years in [[Europe]] before being [[extradition|extradited]] to the United States. He took the stand in his own defense, claiming his ex-girlfriend had been killed by [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] agents who had framed him for the crime because he knew too much about the agency's paranormal military research. He was convicted of murdering Holly Maddux and served a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]] until his death in prison on April 3, 2020.<ref name=compost/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.6abc.com/amp/ira-einhorn-case-murder-who-was-holly-maddux/6074265/|title="Unicorn Killer" Ira Einhorn Dies in Prison|work=6abc.com|date=3 April 2020|access-date=3 April 2020|archive-date=April 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408124004/https://6abc.com/amp/ira-einhorn-case-murder-who-was-holly-maddux/6074265/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Ira Einhorn was born in [[Philadelphia]] into a middle-class [[Jews|Jewish]] family.<ref name=compost/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://forward.com/schmooze/306565/jewish-earth-day-co-founder-killed-composted-girlfriend/|title=When Jewish Earth Day Co-Founder Killed, Composted Girlfriend|publisher=The Schmooze|date=April 22, 2015|last=Cohen|first=Anne|access-date=April 4, 2020|archive-date=April 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422150203/https://forward.com/schmooze/306565/jewish-earth-day-co-founder-killed-composted-girlfriend/|url-status=live}}</ref> As a student at the [[University of Pennsylvania]], where he received his undergraduate degree in English in 1961 before returning to complete some graduate work in the discipline in 1963,<ref name="NYTimes">{{Citation | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/18/us/ex-fugitive-convicted-in-25-year-old-murder.html?ref=iraeinhorn | title = Ex-Fugitive Convicted in 25-Year-Old Murder | newspaper = The New York Times | date = October 18, 2002 | access-date = February 19, 2017 | archive-date = August 31, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180831105851/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/18/us/ex-fugitive-convicted-in-25-year-old-murder.html?ref=iraeinhorn | url-status = live }}.</ref><ref name="Time">{{Cite news |last1=Lopez |first1=Steve |url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,168382,00.html |title=The Ira Einhorn Case |magazine=Time |date=July 20, 2001 |access-date=April 6, 2020 |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110224092300/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,168382,00.html |archive-date=February 24, 2011 |quote=Einhorn won a teaching fellowship at Harvard |url-status=live }}</ref> he became active in [[Green politics|ecological]] groups and was part of the [[counterculture]], [[anti-establishment]], and [[Opposition to the Vietnam War|anti-war]] movements of the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name="compost" />

==Career and activism==
Einhorn was a speaker at the first [[Earth Day]] event in [[Philadelphia]] in 1970<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|title=Behind the Photo That Made People Think Earth Day Was Founded by a Convicted Killer|url=https://time.com/5242190/earth-day-founder/|access-date=2020-12-06|magazine=Time|archive-date=November 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125025157/https://time.com/5242190/earth-day-founder/|url-status=live}}</ref> and later claimed to have been instrumental in creating and launching the event,<ref name=compost/> but event organizers dispute his account.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = AMGOT | url = http://www.amgot.org/einhorn/eday.htm | type = Letter | author = Earth Week Committee of Philadelphia | title = Einhorn | access-date = 2010-04-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131017152905/http://www.amgot.org/einhorn/eday.htm | archive-date = 2013-10-17 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/04/22/ira-einhorn-not-founder-earth-day/|title=No, Ira Einhorn Didn't Found Earth Day|date=22 April 2015|publisher=phillymag.com|access-date=May 2, 2016|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111202340/https://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/04/22/ira-einhorn-not-founder-earth-day/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Einhorn served as an instructor of English at [[Temple University]] during the 1964–1965 academic year, although his contract was not renewed after he conceded his "contempt for the academic world" and boasted of proffering "straight answers about the delights and dangers" of [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] and [[LSD]] to students in an interview.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Levy|first=Steven|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YEVIDQAAQBAJ&q=temple|title=The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius|date=2016-11-08|publisher=Open Road Media|isbn=978-1-5040-4213-0|language=en|access-date=December 20, 2021|archive-date=April 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425010343/https://books.google.com/books?id=YEVIDQAAQBAJ&q=temple|url-status=live}}</ref> He also was a resident fellow at the [[Harvard University|Harvard]] [[Harvard Institute of Politics|Institute of Politics]] during the autumn 1978 semester.<ref name="Time"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Drucker |first1=Linda S. |title=Institute Fellow Einhorn: Yippie Turned Teacher |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1978/11/4/institute-fellow-einhorn-yippie-turned-teacher/ |access-date=6 April 2020 |work=[[The Crimson]] |date=4 November 1978 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200406110221/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1978/11/4/institute-fellow-einhorn-yippie-turned-teacher/ |archive-date=6 April 2020 |language=en |quote=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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ira Einhorn|url=https://iop.harvard.edu/fellows/ira-einhorn|access-date=2021-04-06|website=The Institute of Politics at Harvard University|language=en|archive-date=October 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014022138/https://iop.harvard.edu/fellows/ira-einhorn|url-status=live}}</ref>

==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>

==Death==
On April 3, 2020, Einhorn died in the [[State Correctional Institution – Laurel Highlands|Pennsylvania SCI Laurel Highlands]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Seelye |first1=Katharine Q. |title=Ira Einhorn, Counterculture Guru and Murderer, Dies in Prison at 79 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/us/ira-einhorn-dead.html |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 April 2020 |archive-date=July 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703164357/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/us/ira-einhorn-dead.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  His death was reported to be of natural causes.<ref>{{Cite web|agency=Associated Press|date=2020-04-04|title=Ira Einhorn, 1970s Pa. killer who fled to Europe for decades, dies in prison|url=https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/04/ira-einhorn-pa-killer-who-fled-to-europe-dies-in-prison.html|access-date=2021-04-06|website=pennlive|language=en|archive-date=April 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413193224/https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/04/ira-einhorn-pa-killer-who-fled-to-europe-dies-in-prison.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Philadelphia|Biography}}
* [[Crime in Philadelphia]]
* [[Earth Day]]
* ''[[The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer]]''
* ''[[Beneath the Skin (film)|Beneath the Skin]]''

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== General and cited references ==
* {{Cite book |last=Einhorn |first=Ira |year=1972 |title=78-187880 |location=Garden City, N.Y. |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=9780385063876 |oclc=417964}} The title is the book's Library of Congress Control Number.
* 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.
* [[Steven Levy|Levy, Steven]]. (1988). ''The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius'' {{ISBN|0451401662}}. Published while Einhorn's whereabouts were unknown.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120217203506/http://www.amgot.org/einhorn/lkl8d2.htm Excerpt from Larry King Live] about Einhorn's attempts at denying extradition
* [http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/art/history_philadelphia_crime.html?next=3&index=32#photo News Photo of the box containing the victim being removed from the house.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131123191422/http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/art/history_philadelphia_crime.html?next=3&index=32#photo |date=November 23, 2013 }} (See photographs #35÷37.)
* [http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1299-DEC_IRA_EINHORN "A touch of Eden"] by [[Russ Baker]], ''Esquire'' December 1, 1999. A series of interviews of Einhorn in France just prior to his extradition.
* {{IMDb name|1527575}}
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0189593/ The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer] 1999 Movie about Ira Einhorn
* Documentary series from Court TV (now TruTV) [https://web.archive.org/web/20171006212244/http://filmrise.com/mugshots-ira-einhorn-the-unicorn/ "MUGSHOTS: Ira Einhorn - The Unicorn"] episode at ''[[FilmRise]]''

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American murderers]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:American people of German-Jewish descent]]
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[[Category:Activists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American anti-war activists]]
[[Category:Jews from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Male murderers]]
[[Category:Violence against women in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Crimes adapted into films]]
[[Category:Hoaxers]]
[[Category:American people who died in prison custody]]
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[[Category:Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni]]
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[[Category:People convicted in absentia]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People extradited from France]]
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[[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Institute of Politics]]
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[[Category:Jewish American academics]]