Einhorn on trial again for 1977 murder

Ira Einhorn, the man once convicted in absentia for the brutal murder of his one-time girlfriend, went to court yesterday to try to prove his innocence in a second trial.

Einhorn, a Penn graduate, is being re-tried for the 1977 murder of Holly Maddux. A re-trial of this nature is unprecedented in Philadelphia courts.

Einhorn had skipped bail and fled to Europe in 1981. Missing for the next 12 years, he was tried in absentia, convicted of the crime and sentenced to life in prison.

Einhorn was discovered in Bordeaux, France, in 1997, but complications did not allow an extradition to the United States until July 2001.

Opening statements began yesterday, when defense attorney William Cannon announced that Einhorn would testify in his own defense, and could explain his missing years in Europe.

"We're already presumed innocent," Cannon said. "We don't have to do anything. But you will hear the testimony of [Einhorn]."

Cannon added that he believes there "are only two reasons to flee when charged with a crime -- guilt or fear."

"There is clear evidence that Ira Einhorn, in January 1981, was plain scared," Cannon said. "Scared of the prospect of injustice, the kind of injustice that takes place when the prosecution is not playing with a fair deck."

While Assistant District Attorney Joel Rosen will present many other pieces of evidence, he said that Einhorn's flight provides proof of his guilt.

He noted the particular evils of the 25-year-old case.

"The unfortunate truth about the case is that it is all too common," Rosen explained. "It's about physical abuse. It's about domestic violence. That's what this case is about."

"This is not someone who went to the store and never came back" as Einhorn alleges, Rosen added. "This is about a woman who was murdered."

Rosen continued to describe the circumstances preceding Maddux's death and the focal points he believed would convict Einhorn.

Maddux disappeared in September of 1977. Eighteen months later, Philadelphia Police found her mummified remains in the Powelton Village apartment that she and Einhorn had shared during their five-year relationship.

The Maddux family, of Tyler, Tx., hired a series of private investigators to discover the whereabouts of their daughter.

The investigators brought evidence against Einhorn to the police, when then-Municipal Court Judge and current District Attorney Lynne Abraham presided.

Following the discovery of Maddux's remains at Einhorn's home, Einhorn was arrested for the murder, and subsequently paid bail and left the country.

Norris Gelman, Einhorn's attorney at the time of his arrest, was left to try the 1993 trial from his own expenses.

Cannon, a public defense attorney, was not Einhorn's counsel at the time of the arrest or the first trial in absentia. However, Cannon noted that there were many inconsistencies in the case.

"Scrupulous care... did not happen in this case," Cannon said. "The fingerprints, the clothing, the stuffing [of Maddox's body] in the trunk -- they've all disappeared."

He added that although Maddux was beaten to death with a blunt object, the Philadelphia Police had found no evidence of blood in Einhorn's 3411 Race Street apartment.

"Whoever killed Holly did so by striking her with a blunt object in and around the face," Cannon said. "Whatever took place, it was a bloody scene. But there was no blood [found] in the apartment."

As a leader in the Philadelphia counterculture community, Einhorn was able to post his bail. In January 1981, he fled the country, where he remained for nearly 20 years.

Annika Einhorn, who followed Ira to Europe and married him in 1987, has refused to sell the couple's Bordeaux property to pay for legal bills which would amount during the second trial. Thus far, she has also not agreed to testify on behalf of her husband.

Other witnesses will include Philadelphia Police officers, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, friends of Maddux and Einhorn, and neighbors to their Powelton Village home.

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