U.S. fugitive in France loses extradition appeal

PHILADELPHIA- Ira Einhorn’s attempt to slit his own throat after losing a last-ditch effort to avoid extradition to Philadelphia in the killing of his girlfriend is a “ruse” to delay his return, the man who arrested him 24 years ago said Thursday.

“This guy has been a con man his whole life,” said Michael Chitwood, who discovered the mummified body of Helen “Holly” Maddux in a locked steamer trunk in Einhorn’s apartment in 1977. “This attempt at theatrics is further proof of what a slimebag he really is. It’s just the latest chapter in his ongoing con.”

Chitwood, now chief of police in Portland, Maine, said he is “cautiously optimistic” that Einhorn, convicted in absentia of Maddux’s bludgeoning death in 1993, will ever set foot on American soil to face trial.

“This has been part of my life for 20-plus years,” he said. “It ain’t over till it’s over, and this isn’t over until he’s back here in a jail cell.”

The Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, on Thursday cleared the way for Einhorn’s return. But French officials later agreed to a one-week postponement at the request of the European Court of Human Rights, the Justice Ministry said.

Maddux’s sister Elizabeth “Buffy” Hall, 41, of Fort Worth, Texas, said she was “frustrated and angry” by the delay, which she said the court had no jurisdiction to authorize.

“The European Court of Human Rights was set up to give monetary compensation to victims of human rights abuses, so they should not be sticking their nose in this,” she said. “Einhorn is not a victim of human rights abuses; if anyone was, it was my sister.”

“If France caves in and refuses to turn him over to us, the State Department should consider it an international incident and do something,” Hall added.

Einhorn, 61, fled the United States in 1981 shortly before he was to stand trial. An influential 1960s counterculture guru, anti-war campaigner and self-described “planetary enzyme,” Einhorn has maintained that the CIA or KGB framed him for the murder after he uncovered classified mind-control experiments.

He was convicted in absentia of first-degree murder in 1993 and lived under an alias near Bordeaux, France, until his June 1997 capture. Since then, his appeals have been tied up in French courts.

“It’s been four long years,” said Joel Rosen, the lead prosecutor in 1993 who likely will serve the same role upon Einhorn’s return. He said the case won’t necessarily be an easy one to win.

Rosen also questioned whether Einhorn’s alleged suicide attempt – two hours after his appeal was denied – was an attempt to delay extradition.

Einhorn broke skin but suffered no major injury, his Philadelphia-based lawyer said.

“He walked to the ambulance, and he’s OK,” said Norris E. Gelman, Einhorn’s lawyer since 1980 and an adviser on American law to the fugitive’s French attorneys.

Chitwood said Einhorn’s case taught him a sobering lesson: “There is truly a double justice system: one for the rich and affluent, one for the poor and downtrodden.”

At Einhorn’s 1979 bail hearing, a group of high-profile Philadelphia business and community leaders testified as character witnesses. Prosecutors asked the judge to hold him on $100,000 bail pending trial. The judge set bail at just $40,000 and Einhorn was released.

“That’s unheard of in a murder case,” Chitwood said.