Last week, the world celebrated Earth Day — a time for people to reflect on the environment and the impact humans have on it. Earth Day dates back to the spring of 1970, and most people will tell you that U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson was its creator.
A man named Ira Einhorn, however, claims to be the holiday's real founder. The only issue is that he is a convicted killer.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Einhorn was considered to be the "head hippie" of Philadelphia.
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He led and participated in many rallies for the environment and against the Vietnam War. His nickname back then was Unicorn, which is the translation of his German last name.
But Einhorn had a dark side. In 1977, he and his longtime girlfriend Helen "Holly" Maddux (pictured below) broke up. After that, she moved to New York City.
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In September of 1977, Einhorn called Maddux and demanded that she pick up her stuff from their old apartment. She went to his home and was never seen again.
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When questioned by police, Einhorn told them that she went out to the grocery co-op and never came back.
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Following complaints of horrible smells from neighbors, police searched Einhorn's apartment 18 months later. Inside, they found Maddux's badly beaten, partially mummified corpse stuffed into a trunk in the killer's closet.
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Einhorn was charged with murder and released on bail. Before his trial, he fled to Europe under a fake name.
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In 1997, he was found living in France, at which point the U.S. government began extradition proceedings. They finally got him back to the States in 2001.
On the stand, Einhorn argued that CIA operatives killed Maddux. Their goal, he said, was to frame him for murder so he'd halt his investigations into the Cold War and "psychotronics." He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
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(via NBC News)
Because of his nickname, Einhorn was dubbed "The Unicorn Killer" by the media. To this day, he claims to be the founder of Earth Day, despite vast evidence that says otherwise.
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