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 arrived back in the US to face trial for the murder of his former girlfriend. He will not be facing the death penalty following French demands for guarantees against it.
Einhorn fled the U.S. in 1981 shortly before his trial in a Pennsylvania court. French authorities arrested him in 1997 in southern France, and the United States made its initial request for extradition.
He was extradited from France after the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rejected his last-ditch appeal.
Einhorn fought extradition through the French legal system and appealed to the European Court when France's highest court, the Council of State, ruled he could be extradited last week.French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin had also rejected Einhorn's appeal against extradition last year, after France was assured on the retrial and execution issues.
Part of the extradition deal with France guarantees him a new trial, and the U.S. 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.Einhorn however reacted to the Council of State ruling to extradite him by cutting 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.
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.