Here is an update email I recieved from the Maddox family http://www.ourholly.org on Ira Einhorns trial. It should synce up well with the Soliah/Olson trial.
Hi, All -
With all the difficulties that many Americans are facing right now, I almost hesitate to send this out because the case is somewhat resolved - IE is at least on the correct side of the Atlantic. The only reason that I am sending it is to keep your information on Holly's story up to date, but I certainly understand if this does not seem as important to you at this time as it did before September 11.
It is our wish that none of our supporters have had to face recent loss due to any of the tragedies that our country has faced.
It appears that unless something unusual in the legal field occurs this next week, the trial might start early next year.
Thank you for your continued support and interest, and as always, please let us know if you'd rather not receive any updates. I do try to keep the list updated but a few might have slipped through - I apologize in advance.
Meg, one of Holly's sisters
NOVEMBER 14, 12:00 EST
Judge Grants New Trial for Fugitive
By JOANN LOVIGLIO
Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A judge granted a new trial Wednesday for Ira Einhorn, a onetime hippie guru and longtime fugitive convicted in absentia in the 1977 murder of his girlfriend.
Einhorn, 61, jumped bail and fled the United States in 1981, shortly before he was scheduled for trial in Pennsylvania. He was convicted in absentia in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Holly Maddux, whose mummified remains were found stuffed in a steamer trunk in the couple's Philadelphia apartment 18 months after Einhorn said she went to the store and never returned.
In 1998, Pennsylvania passed a law providing for a retrial upon his request. The unprecedented move was made to satisfy a French requirement that foreign nationals not be extradited based on trials in absentia.
Einhorn was returned to the United States in July after a European court refused to halt his extradition from France, effectively ending two decades of flight for the former anti-war activist, one-time mayoral candidate and self-described ``planetary enzyme.''
Einhorn maintains he was framed for the murder by the CIA after he uncovered secret mind-control weapon experiments.
In issuing his decision, Common Pleas Judge D. Webster Keogh said he would wait to address other issues raised in court filings by Einhorn's attorneys, including the constitutionality of the 1998 law.
If the law were overturned, Einhorn could argue in federal court that the conditions of extradition have not been met and that he is entitled under international law to return to France.
U.S. officials also had to assure French authorities that Einhorn would not be eligible for the death penalty in his new trial because capital punishment was not legal in Pennsylvania when Maddux was killed. European Union countries generally refuse to extradite suspects who face the death penalty.
The state Supreme Court on Nov. 9 refused to seize control of Einhorn's case, a move that made it possible for him to get a new trial in municipal court. Einhorn is being held at Houtzdale prison in central Pennsylvania.
