One unexpected consequence of asking a poll question is you may learn something you never knew about. Thank you to whomever added that answer to the poll…
Ira’s story is recounted in the Wikipedia Article. Ira was a hard core lefist radical in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the master of ceremonies on the stage at the first Earth Day, and claims to have created the idea (other people dispute that account). He had a long history of involvement in the anti war movement, the green movement and the other lefist causes of the day.
In 1977, he broke up with his girlfriend of 5 years, one Holly Maddox. When she came back to Philadelphia to pick up her stuff and leave, he killed her, stuffed her body in a trunk, and put the trunk in the closet. Being a white guy, of course the police didn’t search his house for 18 months. He’s now sitting in jail.
But that’s not the “hook” to the story, as interesting as it is. After he was arrested for the murder, a Philadelphia attorney by the name of Arlen Spector argued for his bail to be reduced to $40,000, and he was released on bail – and immediately fled to Europe, where he evaded capture until 1997.
I wonder why I never saw this story on 60 minutes.
I happened to live in the apartment next to Einhorn’s when he committed the crime. We all knew he did it. In fact I told a private investigator (retired FBI agent) hired by the Maddox family that Ira did it and Holly was in the closet. The investigator discounted the rumor because he said the decomposing body would be too odorous.
The cops though did not have probably cause with which to secure a search warrant. Finally, some guys living in the unit below Einhorn’s reported a strange odor in their closet giving the police the probable cause. They searched the apartment and found poor Holly in trunk in a closet. The body had been covered with lime to fend off the odor but the trunk started to leak.
At his hearing Ira claimed that he was being framed by the FBI and CIA. He was represented by Spector but other other prominent Philadelphians also testified on his behalf at his bail hearing. He had this Svengali thing going on, especially with women. I could never get it because he was such a slovenly slob. Go figure…
BTW, Philly cops were tough nuts. They wouldn’t give a guy like Einhorn a pass because he was white and prominent.