John du Pont
John Eleuthère du Pont (November 22, 1938 – December 9, 2010) was an American convicted murderer. An heir to the du Pont family fortune, he was a published ornithologist, philatelist, conchologist, and sports enthusiast. Du Pont died in prison while serving a sentence of thirty years for the murder of Dave Schultz.
John Eleuthère du Pont | |
|---|---|
du Pont in February 1992 | |
| Born | November 22, 1938 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 9, 2010 (aged 72) State Correctional Institution – Laurel Highlands, Somerset Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Conviction(s) | Third-degree murder |
| Criminal penalty | 13 to 30 years in prison |
| Details | |
| Victims | David Lesley Schultz, aged 36 |
| Date | January 26, 1996 |
| Location(s) | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Gale Wenk (m. 1983; annulled after 90 days; div. 1987) |
| Parents |
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In 1972, du Pont founded and directed the Delaware Museum of Natural History and contributed to Villanova University and other institutions. In the 1980s, he established a wrestling facility at his Foxcatcher Farm estate after becoming interested in the sport and in pentathlon events. Du Pont became a prominent supporter of amateur sports in the United States and a sponsor of USA Wrestling.
By the 1990s, friends and acquaintances were concerned about du Pont's erratic and paranoid behavior, but his wealth shielded him. On February 25, 1997, he was convicted of murder in the third degree for the January 26, 1996, shooting of Dave Schultz, an Olympic champion freestyle wrestler living and working on du Pont's estate that was located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. He was ruled to have been mentally ill but not insane and was sentenced to prison for thirteen to thirty years. Du Pont died in prison at age 72 on December 9, 2010. To date, he is the only member of the Forbes 400 richest Americans to be convicted of murder.