John du Pont

John Eleuthère duPont (born November 22, 1938) is an American and member of the prominent du Pont family who was convicted of murder in the third degree. He is also known as an ornithologist, philatelist, philanthropist, coach, and sports enthusiast.

Biography

John duPont was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of William duPont, Jr. and Jean Liseter Austin (1897–1988). His parents' nuptials -- on January 1, 1919, in Rosemont, Pennsylvania -- were billed as the "Wedding of the Century" in media accounts. Jean's father, William Liseter Austin, an executive of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, gave the couple more than 242 acres of land as a wedding gift. William duPont Sr. built Liseter Hall, a sumptuous, three-story Georgian mansion, for the couple on the land in 1922

Both of his parents' families immigrated to the United States in the early 1800s. John is the youngest of four children; he has two older sisters, Jean duPont McConnell and Evelyn duPont Donaldson, and an older brother, Henry E. I. duPont.

John duPont graduated from Haverford School in 1957. He attended college in Miami, Florida, where he studied under and was mentored by Oscar T. Owre, Ph.D. He graduated from the University of Miami in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology. He also holds a doctorate in natural science from Villanova University, which he received in 1973.

On September 3, 1983, he married therapist Gale Wenk, but the marriage was annulled 90 days later.

David Schultz murder

In 1997 Mr. duPont was convicted of murdering Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz the year before, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Experts at the trial testified that Mr. duPont suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. On January 26, 1996, Mr. duPont shot Schultz dead at the wrestling facility without apparent provocation and with Schultz's wife among several witnesses. Police say they are mystified about a motive; Schultz was a longtime friend of duPont who had repeatedly tried to help him. Those who knew Mr. duPont well, say that the shooting was uncharacteristic behavior for John. Joy Hansen Leutner, a triathlete from Hermosa Beach lived for two years on the estate. John helped Miss Hansen (Leutner) through a stressful period in the mid 1980s which she referred to when she said, "With my family and friends, John gave me a new lease on life he gave more than money; he gave himself emotionally." She expressed incredulity about the killing. "There's no way John in his right mind would have killed Dave." Newtown Square Supervisor John S. Custer Jr. said, “At the time of the murder, John didn’t know what he was doing.” Charles King, Sr. who was a duPont stable hand and manager for 30 years knew Mr. duPont very well and throughout his life. Mr. King's son Charles “Chuckie” King Jr. considered John his friend during his childhood. Charles King Sr. still blames Goodale, an ex-Marine, duPont security consultant. “I don’t think John could shoot someone unless he was pushed to or was on drugs,” he says. “After that guy [Goodale] starting hanging around him, my son always said Johnny changed. He was scared of everything. He was always a little off. But I never had problems with him, and my son never had problems.”

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 duPont as a paranoid schizophrenic who believed Schultz was part of an international conspiracy to kill him. He also was paranoid that people were going to break into his house and kill him, which is why he put razor wires in his attic. On February 25, 1997, a jury found him guilty of third degree murder but mentally ill. Third degree murder is a lesser charge than first degree (Intentional) and second degree (during the perpetration of a felony). It indicates the lack of intent to kill. Mentally ill, under the Pennsylvania criminal code, this term applies to someone whose "disease or defect" leaves him unable either to understand his conduct is wrong or to conform it to the law.

He was sentenced to 13 to 30 years incarceration and is currently housed at State Correctional Institute-Mercer, a minimum-security institution in the Pennsylvania prison system.

Interests

Ornithology

An ornithologist, duPont is credited with the discovery of two dozen species of birds. He has written a number of books on the subject of birds, including: South Pacific Birds, South Sulu Archipelago Birds; an Expedition Report, Birds of Dinagat and Siargao, Philippines; an Expedition Report, and Philippine Birds. Mr. duPont was the second author of Living Volutes: a Monograph of the Recent Volutidae of the World, which he co-wrote with Clifton Stokes Weaver.

Philately

He is also a philatelist, and during a 1980 auction anonymously paid $935,000 for one of the rarest stamps in the world, the British Guiana 1856 1c black on magenta.

Athletics

Mr. duPont is an accomplished athlete and also a coach. He has coached wrestling, swimming, triathlon, track and modern pentathlon. In 1966 he founded the sport of triathlon in the United States. In just 20 years over one million athletes participated in this sport. Mr. duPont is also a competitive wrestler. He wrestled in the world championships in 1992 in Cali, Colombia, 1993 in Toronto, Canada, 1994 in Rome, Italy and 1995 in Sophia, Bulgaria. Mr. duPont never placed lower than fourth place in any of the championships. He is a two time world champion.

Supported institutions

DuPont created the Delaware Museum of Natural History in 1957 and it was opened to the public in 1972. Mr. duPont was the directory for many years.

DuPont largely funded a new basketball arena at Villanova University which opened in 1986. Originally, the venue was called duPont Pavilion, but his name was removed from the facility after his conviction. Today, it is called simply The Pavilion.

After the death of his mother, du Pont turned his 440 acre estate in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, into a wrestling facility for amateur wrestlers. Du Pont's wrestling team was called "Team Foxcatcher."

External links

• "Du Pont guilty but mentally ill", CNN, February 25, 1997.