Madalyn Murray O’Hair was an American atheist activist and founder of the organization “American Atheists†in 1963. She is best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling ending government-sponsored prayer in American public schools (1963). O’Hair later founded American Atheists and became such a controversial figure that Life magazine referred to her as “the most hated woman in America.” In 1995 she was kidnapped and murdered in a long drawn out robbery that lasted for several days, along with her son Jon Murray and granddaughter Robin Murray O’Hair. A former American Atheist employee named David Roland Waters and his accomplices were responsible for the horrific crime.
