John du Pont: Difference between revisions
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DuPont founded the [[Delaware Museum of Natural History]] in 1957 which opened to the public in 1972. He was the institution's director for many years. |
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He 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, the building simply is called [[The Pavilion]]. |
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After his mother's death, du Pont turned his 440-acre estate in [[Newtown Square, Pennsylvania|Newtown Square]] into a wrestling facility for amateur wrestlers<ref>[http://sos-pa.com/ The Value of Open Space], Save Open Space, Everything Old is New Again, April 1999</ref>. Du Pont's wrestling team was called "Team Foxcatcher." |
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==References== |
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Revision as of 19:51, 2 August 2009
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[1], 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.[2] 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, John 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 duPont suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
On January 26, 1996, duPont shot Schultz dead at a wrestling facility on his estate without apparent provocation while Schultz's wife and several others witnessed the crime. Police did not establish about a motive. Schultz was a longtime friend of duPont who had repeatedly tried to help him.[3]
Those who knew duPont well said the shooting was uncharacteristic behavior for him. For example, Joy Hansen Leutner, a triathlete from Hermosa Beach, California, lived for two years on the estate.[4] Dupont helped Leutner through a stressful period in the mid 1980s. She later 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."[5]
Newtown Township supervisor John S. Custer Jr. said, “at the time of the murder, John didn’t know what he was doing.”[6] Charles King, Sr., a duPont stable hand and manager for 30 years, knew duPont well throughout his life. King's son Charles “Chuckie” King Jr. considered duPont his friend during his childhood. Charles King Sr. still blames Patrick Goodale, an ex-Marine and duPont security consultant, for influencing what happened. “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.”[7]
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 believed people would break into his house and kill him, the reason he put razor wires in his attic. On February 25, 1997, a jury found him guilty of third degree murder but mentally ill. In Pennsylvania, third degree murder is a lesser charge than first degree (intentional) or second degree (during the perpetration of a felony) and indicates a lack of intent to kill. In Pennsylvania criminal code, "mentally ill" applies to someone whose "disease or defect" leaves him unable either to understand that his conduct is wrong or to conform it to the law.[8]
DuPont was sentenced to 13 to 30 years incarceration and is currently housed at the State Correctional Institute-Mercer, a minimum-security institution in the Pennsylvania prison system.[9]
Interests
Ornithology
As 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. He 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. In a 1980 auction, while bidding anonymously, he paid $935,000 for one of the rarest stamps in the world, the British Guiana 1856 1c black on magenta.[10]
Athletics
John duPont was an accomplished athlete before his arrest and also a coach in wrestling, swimming, triathlon, track, and modern pentathlon. In 1966, he brought triathlon competition to the United States[citation needed], which now enjoys more than a million participants.[citation needed]
duPont has also been a competitive wrestler. He wrestled in the 1992 world championships in Cali, Colombia; in 1993 in Toronto, Canada; in 1994 in Rome, Italy; and in 1995 in Sophia, Bulgaria. DuPont never placed lower than fourth place in any of the championships. He is a two-time wrestling world champion.[11]
Supported institutions
DuPont founded the Delaware Museum of Natural History in 1957 which opened to the public in 1972. He was the institution's director for many years.
He 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, the building simply is called The Pavilion.
After his mother's death, du Pont turned his 440-acre estate in Newtown Square into a wrestling facility for amateur wrestlers[12]. Du Pont's wrestling team was called "Team Foxcatcher."
References
- ^ Last hurrah for historic Liseter Hall Farm, Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, September 2005
- ^ IN MEMORIAM: OSCAR T. OWRE, 1917-1990, James A. Kushlan, The Auk 108: 705-708. July 1991
- ^ For Du Pont Heir, Question Was Control, by Jere Longman, Pam Belluck and Jon Nordheimer, The New York Times Atlanta 1996, February 4, 1996
- ^ Signposts to a Tragedy - Du Pont Heir, By Randy Harvey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, January 31, 1996
- ^ For Du Pont Heir, Question Was Control by Jere Longman, Pam Belluck and Jon Nordheimer, The New York Times Atlanta 1996, February 4, 1996
- ^ In Memory of a Murder, J.F. Pirro, MainLine Today, Published January 12, 2007 at 12:00 AM
- ^ In Memory of a Murder, J.F. Pirro, MainLine Today, Published January 12, 2007 at 12:00 AM
- ^ Law and Legal Research, Lawyers, Legal Websites, Legal News and Legal Resources, Onecle, Crimes And Offenses - 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Pennsylvania Statutes
- ^ Heir Sentenced Up to 30 Years For Killing of Olympic Wrestler, New York Times, May 14, 1997
- ^ 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.
- ^ SILVERBACKS Veterans Wrestling 2008 ARCHIVE, September 28, 2008
- ^ The Value of Open Space, Save Open Space, Everything Old is New Again, April 1999
External links
- "Du Pont guilty but mentally ill", CNN, February 25, 1997.