Ex-Fugitive Einhorn, ‘Deadly Guru’

Court TV’s documentary “Mugshots: The Deadly Guru” recounts the fascinating story of former fugitive Ira Einhorn, a leader of the 1960s counterculture movement in Philadelphia who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend Holly Maddux.

Maddux, a native of Texas and Bryn Mawr graduate whose unlikely romance with Einhorn, at one time Philadelphia’s most outspoken pacifist, reportedly had come to an end when Maddux disappeared in the fall of 1977 after the couple returned from a trip to Europe.

Maddux’s relatives pursued their own investigation, which led police to Einhorn’s apartment in 1979, where they found her decomposed body in his steamer trunk and arrested him.

In early 1981, shortly before his pretrial hearing was about to begin, the charismatic Einhorn stunned friends and authorities by fleeing the country and living in Europe under a series of false names.

The one-hour program includes interviews with Einhorn’s former friends, who initially thought he might have been the victim of a government conspiracy. Producers also spoke with relatives of Maddux, the oldest of five siblings who had been raised by conservative parents.

After leading investigators on a manhunt through Europe, Einhorn in 1993 was found guilty in absentia of murder. Then four years ago, he was arrested in France but avoided extradition because of a longstanding dispute over the death penalty between that country and the United States. The latest twist came in July when the former New Age guru was returned to the City of Brotherly Love to finally stand trial for the crime. (The Pennsylvania Legislature passed a law in 1998 permitting a new trial if Einhorn were returned.) To this day, Einhorn insists he did not kill Maddux. Viewers tuning into tonight’s telecast are almost certain to have a different opinion.

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“Mugshots: The Deadly Guru” can be seen tonight at 10 on Court TV. The network has rated it TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14).