Ira Einhorn, Earth Day's Dirty Secret
by Ken Anderson Apr 22, 2006 Magic City Morning Star
UPDATE: Ira Einhorn dies in prison April 3, 2020
On this, the 36th anniversary of Earth Day, it is only fitting to speak of one of its founders, Ira Einhorn.
You won't find Ira Einhorn's name listed in any of the Earth Day promotional literature, as the organizers have taken great pains to distance themselves from this man, at least since he became better known for composting his girlfriend in a trunk in his closet for a couple of years in the late 1970s.
Earth Day organizers and publicists don't want to have anything to do with Ira these days. Since he was convicted of murder, he hasn't been very useful to them. But that wasn't always the case. In 1970, during the first Earth Day event, which was televised throughout the globe, Ira Einhorn was on stage as master of ceremonies.
Or so he claims, and it seems likely that he was.
A friend and contemporary of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, and acquaintance of authors Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsburg, Timothy Leary, Alvin Toffler, and Isaac Asimov, Einhorn held the floor for a half hour, during the first Earth Day celebration, in Philadelphia, kissing Edmund Muskie on the lips before surrendering the microphone to the Senator from Maine. There is no evidence that Muskie rejected his advances, or that anyone associated with the event had ever voiced any disagreement with Einhorn's place as a key organizer until after his arrest for the murder of Holly Maddux.
Holly Maddux
Ira Einhorn knew all of the right people. Executives from Sun Oil and AT&T showered him with support, financial and otherwise. Ira Einhorn was the man who could make Earth Day happen as, it seems, he did, denials notwithstanding.
Due in large part to his influence, Einhorn escaped punishment for his crime for a quarter of a century.
After bludgeoning his girlfriend of five years to death, fracturing her skull in a dozen places, Ira stuffed her body into a trunk, which he packed into a closet where it remained until discovered by the police nearly two years later.
Police photo of Maddux’ remains.
When Holly Maddux disappeared in the fall of 1977, Einhorn was named as a suspect by the girl's parents, who knew that Einhorn had threatened their daughter with violence. Yet, after briefly questioning him, while the body of his murdered girlfriend lie decomposing in a trunk stored in a closet of his apartment, police accepted his denial of any knowledge of her whereabouts.
When she failed to reappear, the murdered girl's parents hired an investigator who very quickly came up with sufficient evidence for a warrant to search Einhorn's apartment. A downstairs neighbor told of a liquid leaking from Einhorn's apartment into the kitchen below, describing it as being dark in color and smelling of putrefaction. He also testified to hearing a scream, as well as "several sharp thuds", at the time of Holly's disappearance.
When the private investigator presented this evidence to the police, they finally obtained a search warrant, which was served on March 29, 1978.
The battered and partly mummified body of Holly Maddux was found in a trunk in a bedroom closet, packed in styrofoam, newspaper, and air fresheners.
Arrested, Einhorn's attorney was considering a run for the Senate. His name was Arlen Spector, of Pennsylvania. The darling of New Age society, politicians, Ivy League professors, and corporate executives alike, Einhorn had no shortage of friends during his bail hearing. With his great love for the earth, surely Ira would not have murdered anyone. Released on a mere $40,000 bail, of which he had to pay only ten percent, Einhorn fled to Sweden, remaining as a fugitive in Europe until 1997, when he was found living in France under another name.
While a fugitive, Einhorn was convicted in absentia in 1993, and sentenced to life in prison. The government of France, however, refused to extradite Einhorn unless the death penalty was taken off the table and he was promised a new trial. Eventually, this was agreed upon. Ira Einhorn, the founder of Earth Day, was once again convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Today, we celebrate Earth Day, sacrosanct, proclaimed by none other than our Republican President George Bush, and every president since 1975, when President Ford first proclaimed and urged observance of Earth Day on the March equinox.
We're living in a time where wacky is in, and life doesn't mean very much.
While it is likely that Einhorn's violent history is not shared by other Earth Day founders, the observance is nevertheless bizarre.
Underlying the themes of Earth Day is a call for mankind to align itself with nature, and against itself, enlisting human beings to take part in a battle that seeks to place humanity under the control of an enlightened elite, one that values the interests of nature above that of people.
The process of our destruction is termed sustainable development, a destructive scheme that is in direct opposition to Christianity, which holds that man is to have dominion over nature, which is given to us for our use.
Ira Einhorn took the life of one woman, while the movement that he had a hand in founding seeks to steal the life from all of us.
Ira Einhorn, Master of Ceremonies, Earth Day Rally on Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park, Apr. 22, 1970. Maicher, Michael J., photographer.
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