Daily News Staff Writer
After they found his girlfriend's decomposed body in a steamer trunk, it was little surprise to those who knew Ira Einhorn that he chose freedom over the prospect of life in jail.
For Ira was a generation's symbol of freedom, a "free-thinker" who clung to his 1960s image as Philadelphia's most celebrated counterculture leader.
Those caught unprepared by Einhorn's disappearance in December 1981 - a month before he faced a court hearing for the 1977 murder of Helen "Holly" Maddux - were members of the legal system that allowed him to run free after posting $40,000 bail, along with a host of agencies that have been trying to find him ever since.
The 47-year-old Einhorn has outsmarted the Philadelphia district attorney's office, the FBI, the International Police Agency (Interpol) and law enforcement agents from a dozen countries who have chased his cold, confusing trail.
And now Steven Levy, a free-lance writer who grew up in Philadelphia, joins the search for the elusive Einhorn. Levy has reconstructed the crime and portrayed Einhorn as a troubled, violence-prone man in a new book called "The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius," to be published this month by Prentice-Hall.
Many well-known Philadelphians are mentioned in this painful tale about the self-styled New Age guru, including Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who represented Einhorn at his bail hearing.
Einhorn originally thought he would use Bernard Segal, an expert criminal lawyer who, before he moved to California, was one of Philadelphia's best- known attorneys. However, by the time of the hearing, Einhorn had hired Specter, then a private citizen, who had served two terms as Philadelphia's district attorney. Specter was eventually replaced by Philadelphia attorney Norris Gelman because, writes Levy, Einhorn could not afford Specter's high fees.
Specter refused to comment to the Daily News on Einhorn until he saw a copy of Levy's book.
Nevertheless, here is what other prominent Philadelphians remember about accused murderer Ira Einhorn.
MICHAEL CHITWOOD. A former homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, he was the first to arrive at Einhorn's Powelton Village apartment with a search warrant. Chitwood is now chief of police in Portland, Maine.
"There's no doubt in my mind that Ira did it. It's unfortunate that the city's court system let him out on bail. You knew there was no way in the world that he was going to jail . . . Look, once you read the probable cause that was contained in the search warrant, there was no doubt in your mind that he did it. God, the warrant read like an Alfred Hitchcock story."
NORRIS GELMAN. A former assistant district attorney, he became Einhorn's lawyer. Gelman recently defended Cyril "Tony" Brown, the man accused of helping "House of Horrors" slayer Gary Michael Heidnik.
"The last time I saw Ira was a couple of weeks before he was due to go to trial. This is not an open-and-shut case. There's real doubt here . . . If Ira returned to the United States, I think he would retain me in the case."
BARBARA CHRISTIE. An assistant district attorney, she was assigned to the Einhorn case. Levy describes her as "the most aggressive prosecutor in the district attorney's office, a workaholic bantamweight black woman . . ." Although Christie is not black, the rest of the description is accurate.
"When was the last time I saw Ira? Well, he hasn't sent me a Christmas card - nothing. He just doesn't keep in touch anymore. But I have every hope and expectation that he will be caught and brought to trial very soon."
WILLIAM MARUTANI. A respected former Philadelphia judge, he now practices law. He presided over Einhorn's bail hearing.
"I don't think it would have made any difference if the bail was $40,000 or $400,000. As I remember, his mother put up her house for security. So a man like that is not going to worry whether there's an extra zero behind it . . .
"Is he guilty? You wonder how many people have bodies lying in a trunk in their homes. I said to him at the hearing that it's not as though someone else committed the offense. It's not akin to someone coming to your apartment and dropping a glove. We have a body in the trunk . . .
"I have very little doubt that one of these days he will be caught. The odds are overwhelming against him. People will not give up. And by his fleeing, he has admitted his guilt. I dare say that Mr. Einhorn is not living peacefully. He is always looking over his shoulder. In a real way, he is already in jail."
JUDY WICKS. Waitress at and later manager of La Terrasse, the former University City restaurant where Einhorn spent much of his time, she now owns the White Dog Cafe.
"I feel fairly certain that he did murder Holly. He destroyed Holly, a wonderful person and, in turn, himself. There's no way you can forgive someone for that. I think Ira was deeply in love with Holly so he couldn't stand to lose her. His relationship was simply one of possessing her. He couldn't stand the idea that she would be free from him. He didn't want her to live if he couldn't possess her. Look at the fact that he kept the body right there in the house . . .
"The last time I saw him was at his bail hearing. I testified in his defense that he had always paid his bills on time . . . The thought of running into him now petrifies me. I would just be horrified."
STEPHEN J. HARMELIN. A partner in the law firm of Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish and Kauffman, he had known Einhorn since high school.
"I'm hurt that he didn't stand trial. By leaving, he not only disappointed his friends, he hurt his family. A lot of people had vested a lot of confidence in him and he didn't repay that . . .
"He never espoused violence. He was quite to the contrary. There was no reason to feel that he was doing anything other than following a different style of life. If he walked into my office now, I'd ask him to sit down, and then I'd call the district attorney's office. I'd have him arrested because he's a felon. And then I hope he'd get a fair trial."
HARRY J. KATZ. Now the owner of Hesch's restaurant, he hired Einhorn to write book reviews for Katz's weekly alternative newspaper, "Electricity."
"I feel badly for his mother, who is really a wonderful lady. I miss Ira. I liked him.
"The last time I saw Ira was two days before he left. I told him to leave the country. There was a computer show at the Civic Center and Ira went with me to look at them.
"We ate dinner outdoors because he smelled so badly. I refused to let him eat inside. I knew he was leaving because he was scared to death. He had cut his hair fairly short. And I said to him, why did you do that? Norris (Gelman, Einhorn's lawyer) suggested it . . .
"I'm glad that he left. Maybe he was guilty. I don't know."
ABBIE HOFFMAN. One of the '60s counterculture stars Einhorn cultivated, he now lives in the Philadelphia area.
"I briefly knew him. He arranged a talk for me at Rittenhouse Square - I can't remember the date - but it was an anti-war rally. That was probably the last time I saw him."
THACHER LONGSTRETH. Now a Republican city councilman, as head of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce he helped convince local businesses to cooperate with Einhorn's Earth Week project.
"I saw quite a lot of Ira during the Earth Week period and at the time I was so struck how stimulating, interesting and intelligent he was. In fact, I continued to see him regularly after that because I enjoyed talking to him. He was very articulate."
FRANK RIZZO, the former mayor and police chief.
"I saw Ira around. He was a bit of a flake. You never paid too much attention to him. He was one of those radicals who never struck me as being particularly dangerous."
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