John Eleuthère du Pont
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John Eleuthère du Pont (born November 22, 1939) was a member of the prominent Du Pont family who in 1996 was convicted of murdering Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz and sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. Experts at the trial testified that du Pont suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.[1]
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[edit] Personal background
He is the son of William du Pont, Jr. and Jean Liseter Austin. Prior to his arrest and conviction, he was an American ornithologist, a former coach and financial sponsor of sport wrestling, and a philanthropist.
John du Pont graduated from the University of Miami in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology. An ornithologist, du Pont is credited with the discovery of two dozen species of birds. He was also a philatelist, and anonymously paid $935,000 during a 1980 auction for one of the rarest stamps in the world, the British Guiana 1856 1c black on magenta. [2]
In 1983, he married occupational therapist Gale Wenk but emotional instability was already evident and the difficult marriage ended in a 1985 divorce.
Du Pont largely funded a new basketball arena at Villanova University which opened in 1986. Originally, the venue was called du Pont Pavilion, but his name was removed from the facility after his conviction. Today, it is called simply The Pavilion.
[edit] Team Foxcatcher
John du Pont's Team Foxcatcher practiced at the facility on his estate in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. The trainer was David Schultz, and members included Kurt Angle.
[edit] Murder conviction
On 26 January 1996 he shot dead Olympic gold medalist wrestler David Schultz at the wrestling facility of du Pont's Team Foxcatcher, without apparent provocation and with Schultz's wife among several witnesses. After the shooting, the multimillionaire locked himself in his mansion for two days, while he negotiated with police on the telephone. Police turned off his power, and were able to capture him when he went outside to fix his heater. Expert psychiatric testimony described du Pont as a paranoid schizophrenic who believed Schultz was part of an international conspiracy to kill him. On February 26, 1997, a jury found him guilty of murder but mentally ill.
[edit] References
- ^ Heir Sentenced Up to 30 Years For Killing of Olympic Wrestler
- ^ Rachlin, Harvey (1996). Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein's Brain: The Remarkable Stories Behind the Great Artifacts of History, From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0805064060.
[edit] External links
- John du Pont biography at about.com.
- John du Pont biography at NNDB.
- "Du Pont guilty but mentally ill", CNN, February 25, 1997.
