Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Unicorn Killer” Ira Einhorn Pt. 2

Episode Date: April 13, 2023

Philadelphia’s first Earth Day celebration made him a minor celebrity. When he met 25-year-old Holly Maddux, he knew he had to be with her. They lived together for a few years before Holly started to see the real Ira Einhorn. Just days after she told others she was leaving him, she disappeared. If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, Parcast listeners. I'm Vanessa. And I'm Greg. Welcome back to dark green, earth crimes and conspiracies. For this event, Parcast is investigating the shadowy corners where crime and the environment meet. And telling those stories. Because climate change affects all parts of society, including crimes and conspiracies. If you're enjoying our Earth Day episodes and would like to learn more or take action on the climate, visit www. dot Spotify.com slash dark green resources.

Due to the graphic nature of this episode, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, assault, domestic violence, and self-harm. Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen. To get help on mental health and domestic violence, visit Spotify.com slash resources. In early 1978, residents in the Palatin Village apartment complex in Philadelphia began complaining of a noxious smell. According to them, it smelled like something died. For months, the stench got worse, causing countless problems for those living in the building. After doing everything they could on their own, residents finally called maintenance,

who came to inspect the problem. They found a foul, brown liquid seeping down from an upstairs unit. The apartment belonged to Ira Einhorn, a hippie leftover from the 1960s. But when they asked Ira if they could look around and see where it was coming from, he refused. There was nothing they could do but let the odor fester. It would be a whole year before they discovered the smell's horrifying source. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're diving into the crimes of Ira Einhorn, also known as the Unicorn Killer.

I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. In our previous episode, we explored Ira's early life as a pugnacious, free-spirited hippie guru, who influenced thousands of people in Philadelphia in the 1960s and 70s. After decades of giving counterculture lectures and rubbing elbows with every minor celebrity he could track down, Ira forced his way into the limelight by storming the stage, at the very first Earth Day.

Today, we'll uncover Ira's fraud and the darkness that lay beneath his affable facade. After the most important woman in his life realized who he was, Ira snapped and became a fugitive for decades. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by

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Watch only on Prime. By the summer of 1970, Ira Einhorn was at the top of his game. He was just coming off one of the biggest moments of his life when he commandeered the stage during the very first Earth Day in Philadelphia. His electric performance caught the eye of some very important people in the city. It started with John Brennan, a VP of General Electric who worked the Earth Day Committee and had seen Ira that day. Brennan immediately took a liking to Ira and introduced him to an executive from the Bell Telephone Company. He thought meeting with an established member of the counterculture movement would be good for their corporate image.

Now, it's not like they paraded Ira around like a corporate mascot. Instead, they used him more like a celebrity motivational speaker for some of the company. higher-ups. Ira wasn't paid, but he still found the meetings rather productive. He didn't give them any secret code to success, but he opened their eyes to what many young people were thinking and experiencing at the time. As he put it, the chairman of the board of AT&T has a million workers under him, and if he's a little more human, a million people live a little better, simple as that. Ira also found these meetings useful to him, too. Once he had his foot in the door, his influence spread quickly. He soon had a newsletter that he sent to a group of influential figures in Philadelphia

that included businessmen and politicians. Not all subscribers hung on Ira's every word, but they were intrigued by what he said. It could be anything from a new book suggestion to a study about theoretical physics or an article about sociology or game theory. Ira had successfully transitioned from a new age hippie into a well-known pseudo-intellectual, which was great for Ira because he felt most comfortable when he was looking into the next big thing. And even as he entrenched himself in the power structure of Philadelphia, he tried latching on to some unconventional fads. In some of his newsletters, he told his elite readers about paranormal research or his own views of Cold War era psychic warfare. For the most part, his readers shrugged it all off as Ira being Ira.

They still liked him. For all the prestige Ira's newsletter gave him, it wasn't the most important thing in his life. That was 25-year-old Holly Maddox. He met Holly in the fall of 1972 at a restaurant in Philadelphia. The pair hit it off immediately, and within a few weeks they were living together. From the outside, it didn't seem like the two would be a likely pair. Holly had come from a conservative Texas background where she was a cheerleader, pageant winner, and one of the brightest students in her senior class. However, her time at Brinmar College in Pennsylvania had changed. everything. Away from her family, she found comfort in counterculture and enjoyed a different way of living.

She realized she didn't have to live up to expectations or follow the rules just because things had been a certain way for generations. But by the time the 70s rolled around, Holly, for the most part, had become lost. She didn't know what she wanted to do with her life or where to turn. She still loved her family and talked with them regularly, but she didn't feel like moving back to Texas. When she found Ira, it was perfect timing. He was a man who always seemed to have a plan. Because of this, she seemed to follow his lead. Her family and friends back home said Holly was often meek around Ira and let him take control of most situations.

This was a shift, considering she'd been so confident and self-assured back in high school. Many of her family and friends wondered if Holly actually had an inferiority complex. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. As a reminder, she's not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but we have to take over. I've done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. While not an official scientific diagnosis, it's possible that Holly had an inferiority complex.

Often mislabeled and seldom used today, this idea was first conceptualized by early psychoanalyst Alfred Adler as an overcompensation for feelings of inferiority. Typical signs of an inferiority complex include low self-esteem, insomnia, depression, and the inability to complete basic tasks because of feelings of uncertainty.

While not uncommon, given that most people experience these moments from time to time, those with inferiority complexes can be more likely to sacrifice their own needs. And Ira would have had no problem taking advantage of that. From the beginning, it was clear there was a power imbalance between the two. Ira was always in charge, and Holly was too full of self-doubt to assert herself and being equal to Ira. For Holly, the entire whirlwind of their relationship was exciting and confusing. She couldn't understand what this notable man saw in her and why he wanted to be with her. She felt unworthy of Ira, which made her cling even tighter to him.

Ira's friends saw them as a good match. They didn't think Holly held a candle to Ira intellectually, but they felt she complimented him. What they meant by that is unclear, but one of Ira's friends said she was his dream girl. Ira loved her. Two of his previous relationships had flamed out when he wanted to commit. Now he was finally with a woman who seemed dedicated to him. But it's possible he didn't feel the need to reciprocate that dedication. In the early weeks of their relationship, Holly spent a lot of time alone in the apartment

while Ira went out to attend meetings or host events with his important friends. And when he came home, he was exhausted. So he requested that Holly always cooked dinner for him and, clean the apartment. On a typical day when she wasn't tending to Ira, Holly went thrift shopping, looking for items to dress up the sparse apartment with. She also had a green thumb and turned their place into a beautiful space full of vibrant houseplants. For as much as Ira claimed to love Holly, their relationship was messy. The two constantly argued, and Holly spent plenty of nights sleeping at friends' houses. On top of that, though it's unclear if Holly knew this initially,

Ira had other sexual partners. Holly didn't. But Holly stuck by Ira and the two of them always reconciled. Or as much as she thought about leaving him, she just couldn't seem to do it. Their troubles reached a peak in the summer of 1973 when Holly decided to introduce Ira to her parents in Tyler, Texas. The experience was just as fraud as you might expect. True to Ira's contentious nature, it was his way or the highway, even in the Maddox household. Holly's family had heard about Ira for years, and now they got to see how poorly he treated her. On one occasion, while they were all sitting around looking at old photo albums,

Ira stated he wasn't interested and commanded that Holly brush his hair. She complied without any hesitation. They were shocked. This wasn't the Holly they knew. The Holly they knew had been a confident young woman before she left for college. Now she bent to Ira's every whim. Holly's oldest sister said He had her so convinced she was nothing, she was just stupid,

and she really didn't have sense enough to go around the block unless he was nice enough to lead the way. A few days in, the trip was cut short when Ira decided it was time to go. Holly didn't want to leave, but Ira seemingly didn't give her a choice. With that, they headed back east.

In the years that followed, the two continued getting into spats and separations before returning to each other as passionately as ever. But as the years passed, something changed. By 1975, Holly started rediscovering her voice, and over the next two years, she stuck up for herself more and more. This made Ira realize something. He needed her just as much as she had needed him.

At 30, Holly was now increasingly independent, and Ira grew jealous of anyone she spent time with. He berated her, criticizing her friends. It didn't help his case that Holly began seeing a therapist who further encouraged her to stand up for herself. After that, when Ira talked down to her or said something chauvinistic, Holly called it out. She wasn't content to keep dealing with his nonsense. And soon, she realized she no longer needed him. He'd served his purpose when she was lost and directionless in her early 20s.

But now, she didn't want to sit back and have Ira control everything anymore. She wanted to take charge of her life. In 1977, after yet another big fight, she took action. That year, she told Ira she was ending things. Ira, of course, didn't take it well. But he also couldn't tell if she was serious. They'd had so many fights and separations over the years. This time might be like the others.

He didn't know until it was too late, but Holly intended for this to be their final breakup. That summer, Holly wrote to her family in Texas, telling them that she was getting her own place, in Philadelphia and inviting them to visit. It would only be a few blocks from where she'd live with Ira, and there'd be plenty of room for them to stay with her. Unfortunately, they'd never see her new place.

They wouldn't see Holly again either, because when Ira realized she was serious about leaving him, he decided something. If he couldn't have her, no one could. Coming up, Ira takes a life. Listeners, we hope you're enjoying our Earth Day special, dark green earth crimes and conspiracies on other podcast series all month long. Unexplained mysteries kicked off this special with a captivating look at what happens if taps run dry and cities around the world reach day zero.

Such a great episode and one you do not want to miss. You can also hear Earth Day episodes on conspiracy theories, unsolved murders and solved murders all month long. And if you'd like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in dark, Green, Earth Crimes and Conspiracies, visit Spotify.com slash dark green resources. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptitide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off.

Zepbound is approved as a 2.5. 5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Zepound contains terseptide and should not be used with other terseptide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it, or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems.

Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia if you're nursing pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepound with a sulfonelioria or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-99-9 or visit zepbounds.lily.com. Now back to the story. In September 1977, 30-year-old Holly Maddox was ready to start a new chapter of her life. But to do that, she needed to end her previous one.

First, she had to gather her belongings from her and Ira's apartment in Philadelphia. She needed to do that quickly because Ira had called that day, saying he'd throw them out if she didn't come soon. Even with Ira's aggression, it must have been an exciting time for Holly, full of hope and promise for a better future, one she could truly be in charge of. Ira, though, likely had a different view on things. He was furious that Holly had decided to leave him and felt desperate to reclaim his control over her. So he wasn't in a good headspace when she knocked on his door. What happened next isn't clear. Ira later claimed that after an argument, Holly said she was going to the store to get a few things. However, after hours of waiting, she never returned.

Ira did little to look for her in the following days and weeks. As he told his friends, she chose to leave. The heartbreak was real, but in time, he'd be okay. However, what likely happened to Holly in that September day is much more gruesome. What we're about to tell you next is based on evidence later presented in court. While the details are vague, authorities believe that Holly and Ira argued that day. Given the couple's rocky past and Ira's previous abuse of his girlfriends, Rita and Judy, it's not hard to see how things got out of hand. Maybe Holly reiterated her

intention to leave him for good, or perhaps she said something else to bruise Ira's ego. Either way, we know Ira's reaction. He seized Holly and hit her several times in the head with a blunt object, fracturing her skull. His rage must have been far beyond what he'd experienced in the past, because this time he showed zero restraint. He beat Holly until she stopped breathing. After he caught his breath, he looked down to see Holly dead on the ground, her blonde hair soaking in the pool of blood beneath her. We don't know what he was thinking at the moment,

but if he felt any kind of remorse, it wasn't enough to turn himself in. Instead, he mulled over what to do with her body. Sure, he wanted to get it out of the apartment, but that meant walking down the hallway, passed all his neighbor's doors. He also knew he couldn't just leave it inside. The smell would be too much. In the end, he decided to put Holly in a closet on his patio.

Over the next several hours, Ira got to work. After clearing out the closet, he grabbed a large storage trunk. Then he carefully picked up her body and placed it inside. Ira then stuffed the trunk with balled-up newspaper and other packing material, including styrofoam and plastic sheets to help insulate the case and keep any noxious smells hidden. After that, he slid the container back into the patio closet and put more of his belongings on top. Finally, he closed the door with a solemn sigh and placed a lock on it. If he mourned, he did it in private.

Ira didn't betray the story he told everyone in the days and weeks that followed her death that Polly had simply walked out on him. After this, Ira dove into his work, spending countless hours meeting with people in his inner circle and flying across the country to various new age type events. Attention seeking behavior like this can be an indicator of any number of things. For one, many of those with narcissistic personality disorders are known to constantly seek the approval of others as an indicator of self-worth. While Ira was never diagnosed, it's easy to see how he would fit into this category. He'd spent his entire life trying to be the center of attention. He always wanted people to be impressed or focus on him.

Now he found himself craving attention at the highest level from some of the most important people around. But while Ira continued to foster his connections with those in the Philadelphia power structure and wealthy people all over the country, Holly's parents began worrying. Sure, they'd gone weeks or months without talking to her before, but this was different.

she usually told them when she'd be away for a while. That October, they called Ira's apartment looking for Holly. When Ira answered the phone, he told them the same story he'd told everyone else. He hadn't seen her in weeks, and he'd appreciated it they stopped sending mail to his address. By this point, Holly's parents were beyond worried and contacted their local FBI Bureau. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the Bureau's purview, so the Maddox family talked with a friend in Philadelphia who called the police. The friend spoke to Detective Dennis Lane with the Philly PD who said he'd take a look. Lane called around asking if anyone in Holly's circle knew anything.

He even talked with her therapist, who said Holly had been in good health the last time they'd spoken. Eventually, Lane made his way to Ira's home. Inside, things looked sparse. There was little to indicate Holly had lived there. Ira said he'd recently gotten rid of her belongings. When asked if he knew what had happened to her, Iber repeated his story and said she decided to leave. He even claimed he received a call from her two days later. She said she was okay and didn't want him looking for her. With that, Lane thanked I before his time and left.

Lane's investigation didn't amount to much. Since Holly was an adult, no one could file a missing person's report, at least back then. She had the right to disappear, and Lane had no evidence to indicate she could be in danger. With that, he ended his limited investigation. That gave little solace to Holly's family back home. But luckily for them, the chief of the FBI Bureau in Tyler, Texas, R.J. Stevens, had just retired and opened up his own PI business. Soon they all got in touch, Stevens interviewed the family, who painted a worrying picture of Holly's life with Ira. Stevens' interest was piqued, and he agreed to take on the case. In March 1978, Stevens flew to Philadelphia and set up an office where he contacted another PI, named

J. Robert Pierce to partner on the case. They both knew finding out what happened to Holly could be tricky. There were dozens of people to talk to, but none were more important than Ira Einhorn. But when Stevenson Pierce called him up, Ira said he didn't have any time to chat. He was desperately working on organizing an environmental fundraiser, and he needed to raise $50,000 by the end of the week. He couldn't help them right now. Not exactly the response you'd expect to hear after asking someone about their missing X.

Ira did end up speaking to them, and at that point he mentioned something intriguing. He said he didn't know anyone still in touch with Holly, not even her closest friends. To the private investigators, this was proof that Holly hadn't just vanished. If she'd left town on her own, she would have told someone. As they continued their interviews, the PIs grew more certain that Holly had been the victim of foul play, and Ira became their prime suspect. They interviewed Ira and Holly's neighbors in the Powlton Village Complex, in December of 1978.

They told the P.I.s about a horrid smell, and then the investigators learned Ira had kept maintenance workers away from an outdoor closet on his patio. By now, Stevenson Pierce, her confidence, something had gone horribly wrong. As retired law enforcement, they couldn't arrest Ira. They had to find someone who could.

In March 1979, their files landed on the desk of Philadelphia PD detective Michael Chitwood. As Chitwood read the report, his eyes went wide. In the weeks after first coming across the documents, he verified everything in the report by re-interviewing many of the same witnesses. One of them, Ira's downstairs neighbor, recalled something he hadn't told the PIs. He remembered one moment of the fall of 1977 when he heard a loud thump upstairs, followed by a short scream.

At the time, he hadn't thought anything of it. But now, with everyone asking him about Ira and Holly, He shuddered to think about what he'd heard. With that, Chitwood felt he had all he needed. Later that month, he went before a judge who granted him a warrant to enter the apartment. He knew he'd find Holly's body in the one place Ira didn't want anyone looking. Coming up, Ira flees. Transport your senses with Sol Dijanato's limited edition perfume mist collection.

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They turned over everything, looking for clues that could point them to Holly. Then they went out to Ira's patio, where there was a thick, rancid odor in the air. It seemed to be coming from the locked gardening closet. Officers asked Ira for the key, but he said he didn't have it. So they used a crowbar to open it up. The punch and stench became overwhelming. They covered their noses to prevent gagging and began pulling out items that had been stuffed into the closet. Eventually, they uncovered the trunk. Slowly they opened it. The intensity of the smell increased. Inside the trunk they saw packing peanuts and balled up newspapers. When they brushed those aside, they saw a leathery hand.

They knew it was Holly. She'd been dead for two years, but her body had been incredibly well preserved. When the detective told Ira what they'd found, he shrugged it off, like he didn't understand the gravity of the situation. He said, you found what you found. Ira didn't end up spending much time behind bars. In his years of getting to know important people, he'd become. friendly with a few high-priced lawyers. One of them was Arlen Spector, who later became the longest

serving senator in Pennsylvania's history. Spector represented Ira and worked to secure his bail. He called forward character witnesses to convince the judge that Ira was an honorable individual who wasn't dangerous. Most of those who took the stand were influential community members, who had known Ira since he made a name for himself. Some of them were on the mailing list for Ira's newsletter. All of them spoke highly of his character and said that they didn't believe Ira was a violent man. With a cavalcade of people singing Ira's praises, the judge set his bail at $40,000. Of that sum, Ira only had to pay $4,000 and he was free to go. Even then, one of Ira's friends, Barbara Bronfman, a Canadian heiress to a liquor company, paid it.

Despite Ira's initial good fortune, those in the media, the ones responsible for building him into a local sensation, were quick to tear him down. The story of one of Philadelphia's most eccentric sons, a peace-loving hippie, killing his partner, was simply too much to ignore, and soon everyone in the city knew Ira's story and the murder charges against him. The evidence was damning. The police had found Holly's body in his apartment. Some outlets even noted that Ira had tried to compost her.

To much of the public, he was guilty. Apparently, Ira didn't want to wait and find out at the court agreed, because weeks Before the case went to trial, in 1981, Ira fled. It's unclear how, but some have asserted that Ira made his way across the Canadian border with the help of some of his close allies before boarding a flight to Ireland. Once there, Ira successfully avoided the authorities and enjoyed some financial help from his wealthy connections back in the States. He knew to keep a low profile and stayed in his apartment.

Despite having left the country, he was aware that he was still a wanted man, and the U.S. government had a vast array of resources. When he did go out, it was only at night, and he used the name Ben Moore. While in Dublin, he went to see movies, visited bars, and joined a book club to discuss James Choice's Finnegan's wake. It wasn't the exciting jet-setting lifestyle he'd had back home, where he got to hop-knob with upper echelons of society. But it beat living the rest of his life in a jail cell, or being executed. Then in 1983, just as Ira was getting more comfortable with his life abroad, his landlord recognized him from news reports and called the authorities.

Police came to investigate. However, when they arrived, Ira wasn't there. He'd escaped just in time, moving to another location in Dublin. That's where he stayed another few years until 1986. That's when the same landlord ran into Ira out on the street. Ira fled again and avoided the police. Despite this near miss, Ira stayed in Ireland until 1988 before moving to Sweden. There he met Anika Flodine, a woman from a well-off background.

Soon they were married, and within a few years they left Anika's home country to be in southern France. There they lived a comfortable life in a converted ivy-covered windmill, where Ira went by the name Eugene Malin. As time went by, Ira began going back to his old ways. He chased clout, interacting with plenty of influential or famous people like actress Ellen Burstyn, or singer Peter Gabriel, who we must point out later said he was unaware of Ira's murder charge. All things considered, everything had worked out for Ira. For him, as the years passed, it must have seemed like he'd gotten away with killing Holly. After all, authorities had surely forgotten about him. But they hadn't. In 1993, back in the States, prosecutors tried to try to,

Ira in absentia without him present. A jury found him guilty of Holly's murder, and if he was ever caught, he'd be sentenced. There was the possibility of the death penalty. It must have come as a hollow victory for Holly's loved ones. They had an answer, but not justice. They'd have to wait until 1997 for that, because that year, French authorities were tipped off to Ira's location and took him into custody. But sending Ira back to the United States wasn't cut and dry. The French wouldn't extradite a suspect to a country with the death penalty. The entire process got held up in legal red tape. Starting in 1998, Ira remained under house arrest while diplomats hammered out the details.

All things considered, it was a pretty comfortable life. Ira got to stay home and could even still entertain guests. Finally, in 2001, American authorities promised that they'd retry Ira without the possibility of the death penalty. With that, French officials signed off on extraditing him. On the day word came down, Ira was at home speaking to reporters about his case, but when he heard the decision, he panicked. I'm going to pause here and say, what you're about to hear might be upsetting. Please consider this when continuing. In a desperate act, in full view of everyone around him, including a running camera,

Ira slashed his own throat. It's hard to say if he wanted to take his life or if he just wanted to injure himself. The wound wasn't lethal, and maybe he thought an injury would give him more time before heading back to the United States. As he bled onto his shirt, Ira choked out a critique of the French government's decision, claiming U.S. authorities would kill him. The shocking act didn't stop the inevitable. In July 2001, after a short stay in a French hospital, Ira finally arrived. back in the United States to face the justice he'd spent decades fleeing. At 61, his hair was gray, and his once-long beard had vanished with time. While awaiting trial, Ira asserted that he hadn't

killed Holly. He explained, the CIA, the FBI, or even the KGB took her life, and placed the body inside his apartment. He said they framed him because of his roots in the counterculture movement and because of his investigation into supposed psychic warfare. Plus, the authorities, authorities had always had it out for him. Of course, Ira's wild argument didn't hold weight in court. As for the prosecution, they had a wealth of circumstantial evidence that showed a clear pattern of abuse from Ira. Both of his previous girlfriends from nearly 40 years before, Rita and Judy, testified

against him. Even more damning, the prosecution presented Ira's diary entries from the days before and after his attack on Rita and Judy, and some of his passages leading up to Holly's disappearance. They showed a portrait of a man who seemed to view all of these women as his, and he was infuriated when they decided to leave him. This was more than enough for the jury. After the judge dismissed them, it only took a few hours for them to render their verdict. On October 17, 2002, they found Ira guilty of killing Holly.

When it came to sentencing, the judge handed Ira a lifetime sentence without the possibility of parole. This time, Ira couldn't rely on his charm or his intellect to get him. get him out of trouble. He was done. He spent the next two decades of his life behind bars. Journalists would come to interview him occasionally, but his story had wound down, and his influence was reduced to a footnote in Philadelphia's city history. And on April 3, 2020, Ira Einhorn died in prison from natural causes at age 79. Ira had spent decades riding one popular wave after another. But when looking back, It's clear that he reached his peak after his appearance at the very first Earth Day, nearly 50 years before his death.

From its humble beginnings on college campuses, Earth Day has become an essential event in environmental awareness. It introduced millions to the problems our planet faces, igniting a global movement that is recognized in over 192 countries. The more people who know and care about protecting our planet, the louder that message is. Because every time a new advocate adds their voice to the chorus of those, looking for a sustainable change. It forces policymakers to pay attention. Earth Day advocates have helped millions gain a new appreciation for the planet we call home. The irony, of course, is that Ira represented the opposite value. Despite his decades of saying otherwise and building a persona as a lovable hippie, Ira was a selfish man who only cared about himself.

Now, in his death, the event that he tried hijacking, the one that catapulted him to new, Heights lives on. And everybody knows that Ira had little to do with it. Thanks for listening to this episode of Dark Green, Earth Crimes and Conspiracies, brought to you by Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Be sure to check out our other shows, Unsolved Murders, Solved Murders, and Unexplained Mysteries. You can find all episodes of serial killers for free on Spotify every Monday and Thursday. For more information on Ira Einhorn, amongst the many sources we used, we found Stephen Levy's book, The Unicorn Secret, extremely helpful in our research. And if you'd like to learn more and take action on the climate, visit Spotify.com slash dark green

resources. We'll see you next time. Stay safe out there. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast. Our head of programming is Julian Browro. Our supervising sound designer is Russell Nash, with Nick Johnson as our head of production and quality control by Spencer Howard. Stacey Neumick is our supervising editor and Derek Jennings is our writing lead. This episode of serial killers was written by Robert Tyler Walker, edited by Terrell Wells and Kate Murdoch, fact-checked by Haley Milliken, researched by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood, produced by Bruce Kitovich, and sound design by Russell Nash. Our hosts are Vanessa Richardson and me, Greg Poulson. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere

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Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up, getting ready for bed, is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,

and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.