| Ira Samuel Einhorn | |
|---|---|
1979 mugshot and a 2001 mugshot taken upon his return to the U.S. |
|
| Born | May 15, 1940 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Charge(s) | Murder |
| Penalty | Life imprisonment |
| Status | In prison |
Ira Samuel Einhorn, known as "the Unicorn Killer" (born May 15, 1940), is a convicted murderer who savagely beat his ex-girlfriend, Holly Maddux, to death and then stored her body in a locker in his apartment for more than a year before it was discovered by the police. He fled to Europe and was finally convicted 25 years later for her murder in 2002 and is currently serving a life sentence.[1]
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Born into a middle-class Jewish family, Einhorn studied at the University of Pennsylvania.[1] He was part of the counterculture, anti-establishment and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Although untrue, he claimed to have been instrumental in creating Earth Day in 1970, and claimed that during the first Earth Day event, he was on stage as master of ceremonies. Event organizers dispute his account in a sworn statement, including a rebuttal during testimony in Einhorn's murder trial.[2] He called himself "the Unicorn," because the name Einhorn (a German-Jewish name) means Unicorn, since both literally translate as "One Horn".[3]
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. After learning about this turn of events, Einhorn called Maddux and told her to come back to Philadelphia to retrieve her belongings. She did so and was never seen again.
When questioned, Einhorn told police that Maddux had left to go to the store but never came back. Eighteen months later on March 28, 1979, the same date as the accident at Three Mile Island, Maddux's decomposing corpse was found by police in a trunk stored in a closet in Einhorn's apartment. Upon being confronted by police with this discovery, 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 bail was paid, not by Einhorn, but by Barbara Bronfman, a Montreal socialite and a member of the family that owned the Seagram liquor company at the time.
In 1981, just days before his murder trial was to begin, Einhorn skipped bail and fled to Europe. 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 him in absentia in 1993 for the murder of Maddux. Einhorn was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 1997, Einhorn was tracked down and arrested in Champagne-Mouton, France, where he had been living under the name "Eugene Mallon." The extradition 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 and the Human Rights League (LDH), argued that Einhorn would face the death penalty if returned to the United States. France, like many countries which have abolished the death penalty, does not extradite defendants to jurisdictions which retain the death penalty without assurance that the death penalty will be neither sought nor applied. Pennsylvania authorities pointed out that at the date of the murder, Pennsylvania did not have the death penalty and therefore Einhorn could not be executed, due to provisions in the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions regarding ex post facto law. However, a second issue soon arose: French law and the European 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 of Bordeaux rejected the extradition request.
Following the court's decision, thirty-five members of the United States Congress sent a letter to President Jacques Chirac of France, asking 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.
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 "unable"[4] 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. The French Green Party, in particular, complained that Einhorn should not have been extradited until the issues concerning his case were fully settled.[5] 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; 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 extradition decree. Jospin was then criticized by some on the right wing of French politics as having caved in to political pressure from U.S. President Bill Clinton. Einhorn litigated against the decree before the Conseil d'État, which ruled against him; again, the Council declined to review the constitutionality of foreign law.[6] He then attempted to slit his throat [1], 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.
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". However, after only two hours of deliberation, the jury did not find his testimony credible and affirmed his conviction on October 17, 2002.[7]
Einhorn, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections #ES6859, is currently serving his sentence in the State Correctional Institution in Houtzdale.[8]