U.S. Fugitive Extradited From France

C H A M P A G N E - M O U T O N , France, July 20, 2001 -- After two decades on the run, convicted murderer Ira Einhorn was finally extradited from France early today and put on a plane to Pennsylvania, where he faces a new trial in the gruesome bludgeoning death of his girlfriend.

Einhorn was handed over to U.S. authorities at Paris' Charles deGaulle airport shortly before the flight took off for Philadelphiaat 1:25 a.m. today (7:25 p.m. ET).

Linda Vizi, an FBI spokeswoman in Philadelphia, confirmedtonight that the plane carrying Einhorn had taken off fromParis.

"He will be turned over to the Philadelphia police and theywill transport him to his new home," Vizi said. The JusticeDepartment in Washington also confirmed the handover.

In Washington, Justice Department spokeswoman Chris Watney saidEinhorn was in the air, accompanied by U.S. marshals. He wasexpected to arrive after midnight. A SWAT team was to accompanyEinhorn to Graterford state prison, a maximum-security prison about30 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

On Thursday, French police took Einhorn from his home inthe southwestern village of Champagne-Mouton and sped him away toParis.

"He gathered together his belongings," said lawyer DominiqueDelthil, standing outside Einhorn's converted-windmill home. "Ithink in some way he expected it. On the other hand, I think hestill had hope."

Einhorn was led outside, one officer holding each arm. Seated inthe back of the car, he waved to his tearful wife, Annika, wholeaned on a defense lawyer for support.

It was an end to two decades of flight for the former antiwaractivist and counter-culture guru, convicted in absentia for thebludgeoning death of his girlfriend, Holly Maddux, in 1977.

Einhorn's legal arsenal ran dry earlier Thursday, when theEuropean Court of Human Rights dropped a request it made a weekearlier for a delay in the extradition.

In what appeared to many as a stall tactic, Einhorn had slit histhroat when he lost his last French appeal. But he was notseriously injured, and the European court said Thursday in itsdecision that Einhorn was fit to travel. It also said U.S.officials had provided sufficient guarantees that he would not facethe death penalty.

France quickly decided to go ahead with the extradition.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement shortly before Einhorn'sflight left, saying the government decided to extradite him becauseU.S. authorities had agreed to grant him a second trial. Francedoes not extradite foreign nationals based on trials in absentia.

The European court in Strasbourg, in a move that confusedlawyers, said it would consider Einhorn's case in September — butalso said that did not affect the extradition.

Einhorn now faces a new trial at home for Maddux's murder. Headamantly denies the killing, and has maintained he was framed bythe CIA.

Family Ready to Welcome Einhorn Home

Reaction from the victim's family was swift.

"When we see him in handcuffs in the custody of an Americancitizen, we will be really happy," said Holly Maddux's sister MegWakeman, a Seattle-based nurse who was in Washington, D.C., for theintroduction of a proposed extradition enforcement bill.

Moments after the European court's decision, Einhorn emergedfrom his home. "I'm innocent," he declared. "I will be happy togo to the U.S. if the court gives me a new trial."

He contended that guarantees of a new trial from Philadelphia'sdistrict attorney were insufficient, and said he wanted a guaranteefrom the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Einhorn fled the United States in 1981, soon before he was tostand trial for the slaying. Maddux's battered corpse was foundstuffed in a trunk inside a closet of the Philadelphia apartmentthe couple shared.

He lived in England, Ireland and Sweden under pseudonyms beforehe was arrested in France in 1997.

A 1998 Pennsylvania law provided for a retrial, and U.S.officials promised that Einhorn would not be eligible for the deathpenalty because capital punishment was not legal in that state atthe time of the crime. European Union countries generally refuse toextradite suspects who face the death penalty.