In this episode, we unravel the perplexing case of Ira Einhorn, better known as the “Unicorn Killer.” Ira Einhorn was a charismatic and enigmatic figure, emerging as a countercultural icon during the 1960s and 1970s. Join us as we unravel the disturbing details of the tragic fate of his ex-girlfriend, Helen “Holly” Maddux. We examine the impact of Einhorn’s flight from justice and eventual capture after living as a fugitive for decades.
Our story primarily takes place in Philadelphia, the most populous city in the state of Pennsylvania. It is considered one of the most historic cities in the northeast of the United States. Founded in 1862 by William Penn, an English Quaker who believed in religious freedom, Philadelphia would play a central role in the founding of the United States of America after the Revolutionary War and the adoption of The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776. Famous citizens from Philadelphia include actor/music artist Will Smith, basketball legend Kobe Bryant, comedian Kevin Hart, actress Grace Kelly, and singer Patti LaBelle.
Counter Culture
We’re going to start by looking at the vibrant counter-culture environment that defined Philadelphia in the 1960s and 1970s. Philadelphia, at that time, was a hotbed of cultural and political upheaval. The city became a thriving center for the counterculture movement, from the bustling streets of South Street to the bohemian enclaves of University City. Philadelphia became a crucible for change, attracting a diverse array of artists, activists, and free spirits.
Let’s start our journey on South Street, a vibrant and eclectic hub that epitomized the spirit of the era. Picture a colorful tapestry of head shops, record stores, coffeehouses, and street vendors. Here, the counterculture movement thrived, drawing people seeking alternative lifestyles, artistic expression, and a sense of community. South Street became a haven for hippies, beatniks, and those yearning for a break from mainstream society. But the counterculture movement in Philadelphia was not confined to South Street alone. Across the Schuylkill River, University City emerged as a center for intellectual and social activism. The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University campuses became breeding grounds for progressive ideas, fueling debates on civil rights, anti-war sentiment, and environmental concerns.
Activism played a significant role in shaping the cultural landscape of Philadelphia during this time. The city was no stranger to passionate protests and demonstrations. From marches against racial inequality to anti-war rallies in front of Independence Hall, Philadelphia’s streets echoed with the cries for social justice and change. This was the environment in which Ira Einhorn emerged as a counterculture figure that attracted many and terrorized others.
The Unicorn
Ira Einhorn was born on May 15, 1940, in Philadelphia and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in the Wynnefield neighborhood of the city. Einhorn had the look of a tough kid about him with his over six-foot height and burly exterior. His mother doted on him while his father is to have thought him a bit wishy-washy. In 1957, Einhorn graduated from Central High School and then attended the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin and is one of eight universities in the Ivy League. At Penn, Einhorn pursued studies in physics. He excelled academically and demonstrated a keen interest in various subjects. His intellectual prowess set him apart from his peers and earned him recognition among faculty members.
Penn Years
During his college years, Einhorn became deeply involved in the counterculture movement that was sweeping across the United States in the 1960s. He rarely attended class but is said to have studied beyond his requirements. He embraced the ideologies of peace, love, and environmentalism that were central to the counterculture movement. Einhorn’s passion for environmental causes would later become a significant part of his public persona, especially after traveling to counter-culture movements in other states such as Haight Ashbury in California.
Einhorn’s academic success and charisma allowed him to captivate others and earn a reputation as an engaging speaker and social activist. He became a prominent figure in the counterculture scene in Philadelphia, using his platform to advocate for civil rights, anti-war sentiment, and ecological sustainability. He would give free lectures at the student union building to get his message out.
Harry Katz, an acquaintance of Einhorns, met him through the underground paper he started at Penn. Katz described Einhorn at the time as a “man before his time.” Einhorn was also known as the man who smelled. As I described earlier, Einhorn was a burly man who now sported scraggly hair and beard. He also had terrible body odor from wearing unwashed clothes. This is how he stood out and made himself unique but friends knew that Einhorn would spend time bathing and keeping himself clean. He would even work from his bathtub. The smell and ratty clothing seemed to be his persona that used to shock and draw attention to himself. In short, he was a performer who used his intellect and charisma in an ego-maniacal way.
Ira Was His Job
Einhorn didn’t really have a job on paper; he dabbled in everything and anything that held his interest. His anti-government protest work led Einhorn to act as a bridge between the establishment and protesters working on quelling rioting. From his environmental work, he was invited to help organize the first Earth Day activities in Philadelphia. However, that didn’t seem to last as Einhorn was dismissed by the Earth Day Committee due to the disruptions he caused at their planning meetings.
The first Earth Day celebrations were held in 1970 across the United States. The purpose was to draw attention to the environmental concerns of the time. Although Einhorn has been credited with being the founder of Earth Day he was not. That distinction goes to Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin Senator who in 1969 made a casual statement to the press that went viral. He said that Americans should set aside April 22nd as a day for discussion on how to address environmental issues of concern.
To not cut Einhorn totally out of the proceedings that were held in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, Einhorn was given five minutes on stage to introduce the keynote speaker, Senator Edmund Muskie the author of the first Clean Air Act of 1970. Einhorn had other ideas and instead took the stage for thirty minutes refusing to give up the microphone. Upon leaving the stage Einhorn kissed Senator Muskie on the lips with what some have said was his “signature flamboyance.” Shock and Awe. According to one Earth Day organizer, Austin Librach, Einhorn was “interested in the publicity, how to make Ira better. He was going to play it for all it was worth.” Einhorn was also an opportunist on top of an attention seeker.
That doesn’t mean that it didn’t work for Einhorn being his own public relations manager. Einhorn excelled at being extremely knowledgeable about current events and how those events will impact the future. He also talked about how important he was in bringing about this new age of thinking. Einhorn even referred to himself as The Unicorn since his name Einhorn meant one horn in German. His bigger-than-life promotion of himself worked as people, especially those in the business and political world thought Einhorn had the value they needed, and that led him to work as a consultant for large corporations such as Bell Telephone.
La Terrasse Bistro
Most days one could find Einhorn holding court at La Terrasse Bistro where he sat center stage and conducted his business. This is where in October 1972, twenty-five-year-old Helen “Holly” Maddux walked in the door and Einhorn was immediately captivated.
Holly grew up in Tyler Texas the oldest of five children to a Texas Highway Department engineer and stay-at-home mom. Holly and her siblings were brought up in a strict conservative lifestyle similar to most homes in the 1950s. Holly was a devoted older sister to her younger siblings whom she taught to swim and learn all the lyrics to the Beatle’s songs.
Holly, nicknamed Doodlebug by her parents, was a quiet introspective intelligent girl. She excelled in academics while also participating in extracurricular activities such as cheerleading. In her senior year of high school, she was voted as most likely to succeed by her class. Holly had what others describe as mesmerizing elegance and fragile beauty. She was beautiful, trim with honey-blond hair and an infectious smile. Holly’s only difficulty seemed to be in dating. As her sister Buffy explained in an interview for the show Mugshots, in the 1950s you could be smart or pretty, but not both when it came to dating. Hence the dilemma for Holly, she was both.
After graduation, Holly attended Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia in 1965. Bryn Mawr is a distinguished women’s liberal arts school academically equivalent to those attending an Ivy League institution. For example, to get into Bryn Mawr one needs a GPA of 3.94.
The Beginning
When Einhorn sees Holly enter La Terrasse he immediately took a liking to her and zeroed in on her. As a friend would later recount when Einhorn “wanted something he just went over and got it.” That’s just what he did and within two weeks Holly moved into Ira’s second floor apartment at 3411 Race Street. I mentioned earlier that Einhorn referred to himself as The Unicorn. Perhaps looking beyond the translated definition of what a unicorn actually identified as gives us a glimpse into what type of personality Einhorn possessed. A unicorn is an animal of fables who possesses a dual personality. One personality is exceptionally gentle the other is fiercely violent especially when cornered. Unfortunately, Holly would come to know both.
In the fall of 1973, Holly would call home to tell her family she was bringing her boyfriend home to meet the them. Before hanging up, she told her dad he wasn’t going to like him. She was right. Holly’s sister Buffy reported years later that Einhorn had a “punky attitude” and was disrespectful to both her family and to Holly. Upon arrival, the family sat down for dinner and even before all the family had been served Einhorn had finished his first plate and went for seconds. After he was done he leaned back in his chair on two legs and put his feet up on the table. According to Buffy, that was paramount to a criminal offense in Texas.
He also treated Holly horribly and she acted more like a personal servant to him than a girlfriend. Their relationship is described as rocky and stormy with the couple breaking up several times, but always coming back together. Einhorn was not one who apparently believed in monogamy and would often hook up with other women right in front of Holly.
Final Break-Up
In the summer of 1977, Holly and Einhorn took a trip to Europe where Einhorn had several speaking engagements and meetings lined up. It’s been reported that this trip was paid for from Holly’s savings. Elisabeth Maddux, Holly’s younger sister, flew to Europe after graduating high school and met up with Holly and Einhorn. Holly shared with her that she was over Ira and the way he treated her. She planned on leaving him for good once she returned to the United States and started up her own business.
Holly flew home on her own leaving Einhorn in Europe to finish up his meetings. Holly relocated to Fire Island, New York, and began a new relationship. She was free but still confessed concerns that Einhorn would not let her go, telling her new boyfriend and another friend that she was afraid of him. At thirty, she was reclaiming her independence and starting over.
She had a right to be concerned given Einhorn’s history with women who broke off relationships with him in the past. In 1962, Einhorn was dating Rita R. When she attempted to end her relationship with Einhorn he strangled her to the point she needed to seek medical attention.
Then in 1966, Einhorn struck his girlfriend of four months Judith S. over the head with a Coke bottle and attempted to strangle her when she told him they were through. Judith had been a sophomore at Penn when she met Einhorn who was now twenty-six-years-old. Judith would testify years later that she felt that Einhorn was domineering and manipulative. Einhorn attempted to isolate her from her family, wanting her to break off contact with them. In March 1966, after several attempts by Einhorn to get back with Judith she agreed to meet him for coffee at a friend’s place. As she was walking back from a corner store with cream she purchased for their coffees she was attacked.
Einhorn had been laying in wait behind a door and smashed a Coke bottle over her head. He hit her several more times as she crawled across the floor to get away from him. He then dropped the bottle and put his hands around her neck with his thumbs on her windpipe and pressed down. He stopped and Judith sought medical help. She needed several stitches to close her head wounds.
Demands
In early September 1977, Einhorn tracked Holly down and contacted her demanding that she come back to Philadelphia. He threatened to throw all her belongings in the street if she didn’t do so. Holly tried to reach out to people she knew to see if they could go and get her stuff but was unable to make any arrangements. By now Holly had begun to see a new man Saul Lapidus. Lapidus asked Holly if she wanted him to go with her. Holly refused saying that she could handle Einhorn and she would go and calm him down. On Friday, September 9, 1977, Holly reluctantly returned to Philadelphia to retrieve her belongings. That evening, Einhorn and Holly went to the movies with friends and that would be the last time anyone saw or spoke to Holly Maddux.
Holly never went a few weeks without checking in with her parents and when they hadn’t heard from her by the Christmas they contacted retired FBI Agent now private investigator Bob Stevens with their concerns. Stevens partnered with another retired FBI agent, J.R. Pearce who also worked in private investigations in Philadelphia. For the next year, both investigators interviewed neighbors and friends of Holly piecing together what had happened to her.
Holly’s parents also reached out to the Philadelphia police about her disappearance early on. They had conducted cursory inquiries but could not find any wrongdoing and since she was an adult she was free to go where she wanted. According to Einhorn when questioned by police he stated that Holly had gone to the grocery store one evening to pick up tofu and bean sprouts and hadn’t returned. She contacted him a week later and told him she was alright and that she would be in touch with him weekly. He never received another call.
Search Warrant
Stevens and Pearce met with Philadelphia Detective Michael Chitwood in March 1979 and handed over all of their investigative information that pointed to Einhorn being responsible for Holly’s disappearance and possible murder. Included in their documents was an interview with a Drexel University student who had lived in the apartment below Einhorn. He reported that in early September 1977, he had heard a “bloodcurdling scream and heavy banging” coming from Einhorn’s apartment. He did not notify the police as he lived in a neighborhood of frat houses and parties and believed it was related to one of them.
However, a few weeks later he couldn’t ignore the putrid, dark-brown liquid that began oozing down the wall from Einhorn’s apartment. When he could not clean it up he contacted the landlord who in turn called a plumber. When the plumber asked Einhorn for access to the area that was behind a padlocked door, Einhorn refused.
On Wednesday, March 28, 1979, Detective Chitwood along with six other officers, three from the Philadelphia Mobile Crime Detection Unit, two police chemists, and a captain from the homicide division range the bell at 8:50 am outside Einhorn’s apartment at 3411 Race Street in the Powelton Village section of the city. Einhorn answered the door in his bathroom, which he left open, and was handed a thirty-five-page warrant to search for any and all evidence regarding Holly’s disappearance.
Padlock
When Detective Chitwood entered the apartment he walked through the narrow hallway that held a small kitchen off to the left past a bathroom then onto the main room that served as both the living room and bedroom areas. He then walked through French doors leading to a non-heated screened-in porch. On the east wall of the porch was a 4 ½ by 8-foot high closet that was padlocked. Chitwood asked Einhorn if he had a key he said he did not. Chitwood then told Einhorn that he would have to break the lock to which Einhorn replied “Do what you have to do.”
Detective Chitwood then had photographs taken of the locked closet before he pried the lock plate off the wall so as not to destroy the lock itself. Upon opening the closet Detective Chitwood again had photographs taken that showed the closet crammed full of boxes, some of them in Holly’s name. He also noted a faint unpleasant odor. On the floor of the closet was a green suitcase with a handle tag in Holly’s name. Inside the suitcase were several items of clothing and four letters that were more than two years old.
After clearing out the boxes a purse was found lying on top of a black steamer trunk. Inside the purse was Holly’s driver’s license and social security card. While removing these items Einhorn stood by silently watching.
Final Resting Place
The last item in the closet was the black steamer trunk which was resting on top of an old folded-up carpet. Again, there was a lock that Einhorn claimed he did not have a key for. Once photographs were taken the lock was pried open and the foul odor Detective Chitwood had smelled earlier was now much stronger. On top of the packed trunk were newspapers from the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin dated September 15, 1977, and the New York Times Book Review dated August 7, 1977. Below them was a layer of styrofoam packing material.
Detective Chitwood then proceeded to scrape the styrofoam aside starting on the left-hand side. After three scoops Detective Chitwood uncovered a mummified hand still attached to an arm still clothed in a flannel shirt. Detective Chitwood then turned to Einhorn and said, “It looks like we found Holly” to which Einhorn replied, “You found what you found.”
The medical examiner’s office was notified and Detective Chitwood went to the kitchen to wash his hands. While standing at the sink he noticed a set of keys hanging on the wall and asked Einhorn what they went to. Einhorn replied, “The locks you just broke.” Einhorn was read his Miranda rights and taken into custody.
Bail Hearing
When Holly disappeared in the fall of 1997, Einhorn went on to live his life as usual. He continued to consult for major corporations and in 1978 he spent a semester at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government lecturing. He also started to meet up with other individuals interested in how psychic abilities could be used to influence others or even be used as a weapon. Einhorn claimed that Russia and the CIA were conducting paranormal experiments which he was privy to and that was the reason that he had been framed for Holly’s murder.
On Tuesday, April 3, 1979, a bail hearing was held (the day after Holly’s funeral). Einhorn was charged with first-degree murder. Einhorn had hired former two-term Philadelphia District Attorney and future Senator to Pennsylvania Arlene Specter. Spector lined up an array of individuals that testified to Einhorn’s reputation as a kind and energizing spirit. A priest, reverend, the vice-president to Bell Telephone, college professors, and various friends testified that Einhorn, now thirty-eight years old, was a “generous, peace-loving paragon” who would never harm anyone let alone someone he loved.
The judge never having heard such positive statements about a defendant in all his years on the bench granted Einhorn’s bail set at $40,000. Einhorn only needed to pay $4,000 which was put up by Barbara Bronfman, a Canadian socialite who Einhorn met through their paranormal interests. If the name Bronfman sounds familiar it should. Barbara Bronfman was married to Charles Bronfman who ran along with other family members Seagram’s Distillery empire. His niece, Clare Bronfman was a major financial backer and member of the infamous NXIVM organization/cult.
Einhorn announced to friends and supporters after the hearing that he was looking forward to his trial in order to clear his name. At this point, Arlene Spector stepped aside and Norris Gelman took over as Einhorn’s attorney. His trial was scheduled for the winter of 1981.
Disappeared
Einhorn had been residing in Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia before his trial and seemed to be keeping a low profile. So low that no one could get a hold of him including his attorney in the days leading up to his trial. When authorities went to find out what was going on they discovered that Einhorn had disappeared. Einhorn was now a fugitive from justice.
Richard DiBenedetto was in charge of extraditions department of Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s Office. He immediately contacted the US Marshall office and Interpol as to Einhorn’s elopement. It would be three months before the first break came in as to where Einhorn may be. That came from Denis Weaire, a professor from Ireland who while on holiday in the United States discovered just who Ira Einhorn was. Wearie reported to authorities in April 1981 that Einhorn had been renting a granny flat from him for several weeks when Wearie told Einhorn he and the family would be traveling to Chicago. Einhorn became agitated according to Wearie and told Wearie not to talk about him or he may be extradited. When Wearie arrived in the US he contacted a Philadelphia newspaper who informed him why Einhorn was wanted in the US.
Get Out
When Wearie returned to Ireland he told Einhorn he had 20 minutes to pack up and leave. At the time, Ireland did not have an extradition treaty with the United States so the authorities would not intercede if they had been contacted. Einhorn left and was in the wind again. The next tip as to Einhorn’s whereabouts would occur five years later in May 1986. Again, Denis Wearie, now working at Trinity College in Dublin, reported that he ran into Einhorn on campus one day. Einhorn had changed his name to Ben Mallon and claimed he was visiting friends on campus.
In the preceding five years, the United States and Ireland had signed an extradition agreement. DiBenedetto contacted the Garda through Interpol as to the sighting but they were unable to locate Einhorn in time and he had disappeared once again.
In Absentia
In September 1993, Philadelphia Assistant District Joel Rosen decided to try Einhorn in absentia. The concern after fourteen years was witness memories and wanting to get their testimony on the record not knowing if Einhorn would ever be found. Testimony given at Einhorn’s trial included testimony from Einhorn’s downstairs neighbor, and forensic testing that identified the body fluids that had leaked into the downstairs apartment was Hollys’.
There was also testimony from two young women that Einhorn had asked them for help getting rid of the steamer trunk. He told them that the trunk’s contents held Russian documents. The young women refused. The trunk was brought into the courtroom for the jury to see. The medical examiner testified that Holly had died from six blows to her head from a blunt instrument that fractured her skull.
Gelman, Einhorn’s attorney, objected to him being tried in absentia and did his best to get the trial dismissed. That didn’t occur and after two hours of deliberation, the jury found Einhorn guilty of murder and sentenced him to life without parole on September 29, 1993.
Prior to Einhorn’s trial in absentia, Barbara Bronfman contacted DiBenedetto in 1988. She had been questioned a number of times over the years if she knew of his whereabouts. She said she did not. However, this time she admitted to DiBenedetto that she had been helping support Einhorn while he was on the run but after reading The Unicorn Secret Murder in the Age of Aquarius by Steven Levy she cut Einhorn off. She told DiBenedetto that Einhorn had been living in Sweden with Annika Flodin, a Swedish citizen who came from a family of considerable means. By the time Interpol was able to track down Flodin and potentially Einhorn, he was gone. Flodin reported she was just his landlady and didn’t know his whereabouts. Flodin would also soon disappear.
Driver’s License
In 1997, twenty years after Holly’s murder, a Swedish woman living in California had watched an episode of Unsolved Mysteries featuring Einhorn. She contacted DiBenedetto and had him contact relatives in the Stockholm Police Department who were able to track Flodin’s identification number. When they ran that number through motor vehicle registration in Sweden they got a break. In 1994, Flodin applied for a French driver’s license under the name Annika Flodin Mallon.
On Friday, June 13, 1997, French police officers posing as tourists and fishermen conducted surveillance on a quaint farmhouse in a small village of Champagne-Mouton in the Bordeaux region. Two days later, on Sunday after confirming Einhorn’s identification they moved in. At 7:30 am Annika, now forty-six years old answered the door. Einhorn, age 57, was lying in bed naked when police arrested him.
Einhorn insisted his name was Eugene Mallon, not Ira Einhorn. Einhorn had changed his appearance over the years. He lost fifty pounds and trimmed his now white beard and hair. Still, he may have altered his appearance but he couldn’t alter his fingerprints. The Unicorn had been caught.
Extradition Delay
In November 1997, Einhorn attended an extradition hearing. This hearing was to determine if he would be sent back to the United States to stand trial. What should have been a simple judicial hearing, was not. Remember how Einhorn had been tried in absentia in 1993 well the French authorities didn’t agree that Einhorn should be sent back to Philadelphia without having a new trial with the absentia verdict set aside. The problem arose when Einhorn’s attorney pointed out that based on the Pennsylvania Constitution Einhorn would not be guaranteed a new trial as the statute of limitation had already expired to do so. So based on PA’s current law the French court denied Einhorn’s extradition and set him free.
Holly’s siblings were devastated. After so many years waiting to bring Einhorn to justice there was another roadblock. Holly’s parents didn’t have to see Einhorns latest attempt to avoid justice. Holly’s father had committed suicide in 1988 after falling into a deep depression over health issues. Holly’s mother passed away in 1990 due to emphysema. Holly’s siblings always hoped he would stand trial and looking forward to that day they also were forward thinking in not wanting Einhorn to benefit financially from his life story. They sued Einhorn and won a $907 million wrongful death settlement.
New Law
The Philadelphia District Attorney, Lynne Abraham got to work on changing the law so Einhorn’s extradition could go through. In 1998, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed Einhorn’s Law that provided a new trial for defendants tried in absentia at their request and in February 1999, extradition was granted clearing the way for Einhorn to be extradited back to Philadelphia. However, Einhorn appealed once again to the French high court, the Council of State, in December 2000. In July 2001, his appeal was denied and after four years of delays Einhorn was on his way back to the United States.
Einhorn did try one more tactic to put off his extradition and that was by slitting his own throat. He refused medical attention when a doctor arrived having been contacted by Annika. Einhorn was able to speak and walk on his own to the back of the waiting ambulance. Einhorn didn’t cut deep enough to do any lasting damage and his delay was brief. On July 20, 2001, Ira Einhorn was extradited by US Marshall back to Philadelphia twenty-three years and ten months after Holly’s murder.
Finally
In September 2002, jury selection began on Einhorn’s first-degree murder trial. Evidence presented at trial included testimony again from Einhorn’s downstairs neighbor at the time of Holly’s murder and the screams and putrid substance coming from his apartment. Testimony from the two women Einhorn asked to help throw the steamer trunk into the Schuylkill River. They testified that Einhorn had told them that the KGB was out to get him because of what he knew about their psychic warfare experiments. There was also testimony from a South Street book dealer that testified that Einhorn was looking for a book on mummification months before he was arrested in 1979.
Some of the most powerful testimony came from Einhorn’s two prior girlfriends who knew just how violent he could be. To back up their testimony Einhorn’s own diary entries were read into testimony. One passage read, “To kill what you love when you can’t have it seems so natural that strangling Rita last night seemed so right.” Another passage present was, “Where am I now after having hit Judy over the head with a . . . bottle — blood on my jacket and pants — then making some feeble attempts to choke her. She wanted to live. That has been established. Now she will leave Phila. for good. I’ll be able, if she does not have me arrested, to go back to living a normal life. Violence always marks the end of a relationship — It is the final barrier over or through which no communication is possible”.
The defense put Einhorn on the stand hoping to offer an alternative theory as to how Holly was murdered and ended up in the steamer trunk. Einhorn’s defense was that Holly was killed elsewhere and placed in the closet sometime before the March 1979 search warrant. Einhorn took the stand in his own defense, possibly hoping that his charismatic charm would work in convincing the jury he was innocent. However, he came off as arrogant and putting on show blaming either the KGB, CIA or FBI for setting him up. He stuck to his version of events in September 1977, that Holly had gone out to a local co-op to buy sprouts and tofu and never returned. He denied having killed her.
On October 17, 2002 a little over twenty-five years after Holly was murdered Einhorn was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. After the trial one of the jurors interviewed stated that Einhorn came off as having a GOD complex. The judge called him “an intellectual dilettante that prayed on people.” In the end the peace and love persona Einhorn displayed in public could not mask the monster he was in private.
Laurel Highlands
On April 3, 2020, news broke that seventy-nine-year-old Ira Einhorn, Philadelphia’s Hippie Guru of the 60s and 70s died at Pennsylvania’s state correctional institute Laurel Highlands from long-standing cardiac issues unrelated to covid. Holly’s sister Elizabeth has been quoted in the media as saying, “The chapter is finally, for real, closed. I think a lot of people were waiting to hear that he had died. He became part of the city’s consciousness in an ugly way.”
