People celebrate Earth Day every April 22 — without knowing that they’re also honoring the legacy of homicidal hippie Ira Einhorn, a beloved environmental activist who almost got away with murder…
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People celebrate Earth Day every April 22 — without knowing that they're also honoring the legacy of homicidal hippie Ira Einhorn, a beloved environmental activist who almost got away with murder...
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Ira Einhorn was a popular figure in Philadelphia throughout the 1960s. Socialites were drawn to the eccentric college professor who called himself "The Unicorn" — and he drew a big crowd while hosting the city's first Earth Day event in 1970. But in 1977, the local hero became a worldwide fugitive after killing his girlfriend in one of the city's most horrific crime cases.
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Helen "Holly" Maddux had been dating Einhorn for several years, before announcing that she was returning to an old boyfriend in New York City. On Sept. 9, 1977, she returned to Einhorn's apartment after being told that he was going to throw out anything there that belonged to her. She was never seen again — although a student who lived below later told of hearing a "blood-curdling scream" that night.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
Helen "Holly" Maddux had been dating Einhorn for several years, before announcing that she was returning to an old boyfriend in New York City. On Sept. 9, 1977, she returned to Einhorn's apartment after being told that he was going to throw out anything there that belonged to her. She was never seen again — although a student who lived below later told of hearing a "blood-curdling scream" that night.
Einhorn later told friends that Maddux had never returned from a trip to the grocery store to pick up tofu and sprouts. Weeks later, the same student who heard a scream later complained about a disgusting substance dripping from the residence above. The landlord brought in a plumber, but Einhorn wouldn't allow anyone into the apartment. But that was before homicide detective Michael Chitwood came to his door with a search warrant. [GRAPHIC PHOTOS FOLLOW...]
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As the bearded psycho waited in the living room, Chitwood looked around the apartment, later testifying that he noticed a "faint decaying smell, like a dead animal." He pried open a padlocked closet down the hall and looked in a steamer trunk. It would take a moment to grasp that he was looking at Holly's mummified remains!
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Photo credit: Getty/Files
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Holly's final fatal beating was so severe that pieces of her skull were embedded in her brain. A coroner later declared that the she died from "cranio-cerebral injuries to the brain and skull [with] at least 10 or 12 fractures" — and revealed that Holly was still alive when Einhorn crammed her into the trunk!
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The activist had earlier been bailed out by one of the local wealthy benefactors who had supported his ecological movement. That generosity was rewarded by Ira quickly jumping bail and fleeing the country. He soon met a wealthy Swedish woman named Annika Flodin while traveling through Europe. She'd take on an alias and settle down with Einhorn at this five-acre property in France.
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Photo credit: Getty/Files
Back home, Einhorn was convicted of murder in absentia. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Police in France arrested him on his five-acre property in 1997 — but it would still be four years before he was brought back to justice in America. His attorneys insisted that extradition would still put their client at risk of the death penalty, and Einhorn even slit his own throat in protest!
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Photo credit: Getty Images
The former "hippie guru" was finally sent back to America with guarantees of a new trial and being spared the death penalty. The killer would later testify that Holly was murdered by CIA agents who wanted to frame Einhorn and harm the environmental movement. Instead, Einhorn continues to see Earth Day celebrated every year — now from a minimum security prison built for senior-citizen inmates.
People celebrate Earth Day every April 22 — without knowing that they're also honoring the legacy of homicidal hippie Ira Einhorn, a beloved environmental activist who almost got away with murder...
Photo credit: Getty/Files
Ira Einhorn was a popular figure in Philadelphia throughout the 1960s. Socialites were drawn to the eccentric college professor who called himself "The Unicorn" — and he drew a big crowd while hosting the city's first Earth Day event in 1970. But in 1977, the local hero became a worldwide fugitive after killing his girlfriend in one of the city's most horrific crime cases.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Helen "Holly" Maddux had been dating Einhorn for several years, before announcing that she was returning to an old boyfriend in New York City. On Sept. 9, 1977, she returned to Einhorn's apartment after being told that he was going to throw out anything there that belonged to her. She was never seen again — although a student who lived below later told of hearing a "blood-curdling scream" that night.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Einhorn later told friends that Maddux had never returned from a trip to the grocery store to pick up tofu and sprouts. Weeks later, the same student who heard a scream later complained about a disgusting substance dripping from the residence above. The landlord brought in a plumber, but Einhorn wouldn't allow anyone into the apartment. But that was before homicide detective Michael Chitwood came to his door with a search warrant. [GRAPHIC PHOTOS FOLLOW...]
As the bearded psycho waited in the living room, Chitwood looked around the apartment, later testifying that he noticed a "faint decaying smell, like a dead animal." He pried open a padlocked closet down the hall and looked in a steamer trunk. It would take a moment to grasp that he was looking at Holly's mummified remains!
Photo credit: Getty/Files
Photo credit: Getty/Files
Holly's final fatal beating was so severe that pieces of her skull were embedded in her brain. A coroner later declared that the she died from "cranio-cerebral injuries to the brain and skull [with] at least 10 or 12 fractures" — and revealed that Holly was still alive when Einhorn crammed her into the trunk!
Photo credit: Getty Images
The activist had earlier been bailed out by one of the local wealthy benefactors who had supported his ecological movement. That generosity was rewarded by Ira quickly jumping bail and fleeing the country. He soon met a wealthy Swedish woman named Annika Flodin while traveling through Europe. She'd take on an alias and settle down with Einhorn at this five-acre property in France.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Back home, Einhorn was convicted of murder in absentia. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Police in France arrested him on his five-acre property in 1997 — but it would still be four years before he was brought back to justice in America. His attorneys insisted that extradition would still put their client at risk of the death penalty, and Einhorn even slit his own throat in protest!
Photo credit: Getty/Files
The former "hippie guru" was finally sent back to America with guarantees of a new trial and being spared the death penalty. The killer would later testify that Holly was murdered by CIA agents who wanted to frame Einhorn and harm the environmental movement. Instead, Einhorn continues to see Earth Day celebrated every year — now from a minimum security prison built for senior-citizen inmates.
Photo credit: Getty Images