THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS	Local Friday, June 20, 1997

They talked about those ideas in the 1970s, with Einhorn's girlfriend Helen ``Holly'' Maddux present, a spokeswoman for Gabriel said.

They talked much more recently, when Einhorn was a fugitive charged with Maddux's murder, say probers who have chased Einhorn across Europe.

Richard DiBenedetto, of the Philadelphia district attorney's office, would not name Gabriel yesterday but said: ``After Ira fled from Stockholm [ in 1988 ] , we know he went to England and London. We know he met with a famous pop star there.''

Police sources in France said authorities who captured Einhorn a week ago believe there was evidence -- its nature so far unspecified -- of recent contact between the men.

DiBenedetto, who has tracked Einhorn for 16 years as head of the fugitives and extradition unit, would not confirm nor deny the Gabriel name.

``I stress we have no proof he [ the rock star ] was supporting this guy. This person said he hadn't given him any money . . .

``Ira's the kind of guy who's going around to his contacts and hitting people up for whatever they're going to give him.''

All contact with Einhorn as a fugitive was denied by Gabriel in a statement issued by his spokesman in New York. But Gabriel did acknowledge earlier meetings.

``When Peter Gabriel's ex-wife's sister was staying with them, in 1976 or 1977, she invited Ira Einhorn and his girlfriend, Holly, to visit. Mr. Gabriel was very interested in Mr. Einhorn's research on Tesla technology and the paranormal, which he was conducting with his partner, Dr. Andrija Puharich.

``There were a few further phone calls in which Mr. Einhorn explained his work for which he was seeking funding. Contact was lost and Mr. Gabriel has not heard from him since the 1970s.''

Gabriel was a founding member of Genesis, but split to pursue a solo career in 1975.

He was known for his theatrical style of rock music when he was with Genesis. On his own, he continued to have critical and commercial success with a style described as ``intelligent rock.''

Gabriel's big breakaway hit was ``Sledgehammer'' and he's always been identified with liberal causes, in particular Amnesty International.

The Gabriel spokeswoman, Annie Ohayon, told the Daily News that despite their conversations, Gabriel never provided Einhorn any money, at any time, and had not been in touch with anyone named Eugene Mallon -- the alias Einhorn was using when he was captured a week ago in France.

Gabriel could not be contacted directly, she said, because he left for a trip to Africa.

As for the real Eugene Mallon, DiBenedetto said he's been a political radical and bookstore owner who seems to have disappeared from Dublin in the past three or four years. The bookstore was called Cathair Books.

``He was the center of a Trotskyite-type place,'' DiBenedetto said. ``He's this slight guy, balding, a vegetarian, and . . . a lot of subversives came through'' the bookstore.

The information, he said, came from a recent update from Irish police. Probers kept watching for the Mallon name after learning of an early-'80s connection to Einhorn, and that was the key to his discovery.

Einhorn, in a Bordeaux jail, still maintains to French authorities he is Eugene Mallon.

Einhorn used his name after the two were acquainted in Dublin in the 1980s and it appears Mallon aided the fugitive.

Mallon, he said, has left Dublin within the past three or four years.

Philadelphia Online -- Philadelphia Daily News -- Local News Copyright Friday, June 20, 1997