Living in Philadelphia during the 1970s, Ira Einhorn was a well-known hippie who immersed himself in the drug culture and referred to himself as the Unicorn. Einhorn became a self-proclaimed leader of the anti-war movement and was against purportedly corrupt political institutions. Einhorn also preached in favor of saving the environment. Einhorn taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1960s and at Harvard University in the 1970s.

In 1972, Einhorn met Helen Maddux, who went by the name Holly. The oldest of five children, Maddux was born and raised in Texas and attended Bryn Mawr College, a small liberal arts institution for women. After her graduation, Einhorn and Maddux began dating and eventually lived together in Philadelphia. Theirs was a rocky relationship plagued with open infidelity by Einhorn. In 1977, Holly told her younger sister, Elisabeth, that she planned to leave Einhorn when they arrived home after vacationing in...