Ira Einhorn, the ex-hippie guru at the centre of a...

Ira Einhorn, the ex-hippie guru at the centre of a controversial extradition case between France and the United States was extradited to the US to face trial for the murder of his former girlfriend. He was extradited from France after the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rejected his last-ditch appeal on July 19. Einhorn had appealed to the European Court when France's highest court, the Council of State, ruled he could be extradited on July 12. After this ruling Einhorn cut his throat with a knife. His injuries were not life-threatening. He said he cut himself to leave blood on the hands of the French government. French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin had rejected Einhorn's appeal against extradition in 1999, after France was assured on the retrial and execution issues. Part of the extradition deal between France and the US guarantees him a new trial, and the US also had to pledge that Einhorn will not be executed if he is again convicted. Both conditions were imposed because France does not permit extradition if a suspect has been tried in absentia, or if the accused faces execution if convicted.The United States promised Einhorn would not be eligible for a death sentence during the retrial because Pennsylvania did not have the death penalty at the time of the crime.The 61-year-old former anti-war activist, is expected to face a new trial for the beating death of his former girlfriend, Helen "Holly" Maddux in 1977. He has already been tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in absentia in 1993 in Pennsylvania for the murder. Maddux's corpse was found stuffed in a trunk inside a closet of Einhorn's Philadelphia home.Einhorn denies killing Maddux, saying the charges stemmed from a government conspiracy against him because of his opposition to the Vietnam War.