John Eleuthère du Pont

John Eleuthère duPont (November 22, 1938 – December 9, 2010) was an American multimillionaire and member of the prominent du Pont family. He was an ornithologist and conchologist, publishing several books on birds; a philatelist, coach, and sports enthusiast. As a philanthropist, he founded and directed the Delaware Museum of Natural History, which opened in 1972. He also contributed to Villanova University and other institutions.

In the 1990s he established a wrestling facility at his Foxcatcher Farm after becoming interested in that and the pentathlon events. He became a prominent supporter for amateur sports in the United States and a sponsor for USA Wrestling. In the 1990s friends and acquaintances were concerned about erratic behavior; for instance, he added elaborate security to his house, but his wealth protected him. In 1997 he was convicted of the murder in the third degree of his friend Dave Schultz, an Olympic champion freestyle wrestler. He was ruled to have been mentally ill but not insane and was sentenced to prison, where he died several years later.

Early life and education

John duPont was born in 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest of four children of William duPont, Jr. and Jean Liseter Austin (1897–1988). He grew up at Liseter Hall, a mansion built in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania by his paternal grandfather on more than 200 acres of land given his parents at their wedding by his maternal grandfather. Both his parents' families had immigrated to the United States at the beginning of the 19th century and become highly successful.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the couple acquired more land and developed Liseter Hall Farm for Thoroughbred breeding, showing and racing. His mother retained Liseter Hall Farm after the couple divorced in 1941. She added a dairy herd of Guernseys] and bred Welsh ponies at the farm. Age two when his parents divorced, DuPont had two older sisters, Jean duPont McConnell and Evelyn duPont Donaldson, and an older brother, Henry E. I. duPont. Their half-brother, William du Pont III, was born to their father's second marriage.

DuPont graduated from Haverford School in 1957. He attended college in Miami, Florida, where he studied under and was mentored by the scientist Oscar T. Owre. He graduated from the University of Miami in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology. DuPont went on to complete a doctorate in natural science from Villanova University in 1973.

Science career

During his graduate work, duPont participated in several scientific expeditions to study and identify species of birds in the Philippines and South Pacific. As an ornithologist, duPont is credited with the discovery of two dozen species of birds. He wrote a number of books on birds published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History, including:

• Philippine Birds (1971)
• Birds of Dinagat and Siargao, Philippines;: An Expedition Report (1973); D.S. Rabor was listed as the second author.
• South Sulu Archipelago Birds: An Expedition Report (1973), with D.S. Rabor
• South Pacific Birds (1976) ISBN 0913176044

In addition, he published several short papers during the 1970s on birds, relating to the expeditions and updating the lengthier books.

He was second author with Clifton Stokes Weaver, for Living Volutes: a Monograph of the Recent Volutidae of the World.

During this period, he was active with founding Delaware Museum of Natural History in 1957. As a young man, he served on the board, helping guide the institution toward opening in 1972. After having been part of scientific expeditions, he served as director of the museum for many years.

Personal life

At the age of 45, on September 3, 1983, he married Gale Wenk, a therapist. The marriage was annulled 90 days later.

Interests

Philately

Du Pont was 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.

Athletics

"DuPont was considered one of the most positive forces for amateur sports in the United States. In addition to his official role as a sponsor for USA Wrestling, he also contributed financially over the years to modern pentathletes, swimmers, gymnasts, track and field athletes and triathletes. At one point in 1992, more than 150 athletes in three sports were using his training center."

After his mother's death, duPont turned the 440-acre (1.8 km²) Liseter Hall Farm in Newtown Square into a wrestling facility for amateur wrestlers. He called his team "Team Foxcatcher," after his father's noted racing stable. DuPont established a training center and sponsored competitive events at the estate. He also allowed some friends, such as David Schultz, an Olympic champion wrestler, to live with his wife in a house on the grounds for years.

DuPont became a coach in wrestling, swimming, track, and the modern pentathlon. He was also involved in promoting a subset of the modern pentathlon (run, swim, shoot) as a separate event. He took up athletics and became a competitive wrestler in his 50s. His only prior wrestling experience was as a freshman in high school. He began competing again at the age of 55 in the 1992 Veteran's World Championships in Cali, Colombia; following that in 1993 in Toronto, Canada; in 1994 in Rome, Italy; and in 1995 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

David Schultz murder

On January 26, 1996, DuPont was seen to shoot Dave Schultz dead in the driveway of Schultz's home on du Pont's 800-acre (3.2 km²) estate. Schultz's wife Mary and duPont's head of security saw the events. The security chief was sitting in the passenger seat of duPont's car when DuPont shot three bullets into Schultz. Police did not establish a motive. Schultz was a longtime friend of duPont who had repeatedly tried to help him.

DuPont's friends said the shooting was uncharacteristic, but many people had noticed his increasingly disrupted behavior. Joy Hansen Leutner, a triathlete from Hermosa Beach, California, lived for two years on the estate. Leutner said duPont helped her 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. She is quoted as saying "There's no way John in his right mind would have killed Dave."

Newtown Township supervisor John S. Custer Jr. said, “at the time of the murder, John didn’t know what he was doing.” Charles King, Sr., a duPont stable hand and manager for 30 years, claimed he knew duPont well throughout his life. King's son Charles “Chuckie” King Jr. said he considered DuPont his friend during his childhood. Charles King Sr. blames the duPont security consultant for influencing what happened. King said “I don’t think John could shoot someone unless he was pushed to or was on drugs”. “After that guy 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. During the trial, one of the defense's expert psychiatric witness described DuPont as a paranoid schizophrenic who believed Schultz was part of an international conspiracy to kill him. He said duPont believed people would break into his house and kill him, and had installed a variety of security features in his house.

DuPont pleaded "not guilty by reason of insanity". The insanity defense was thrown out, and 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, "insanity" 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.

The jury verdict of "guilty but mentally ill" meant the sentencing would be referred to the judge, Patricia Jenkins. She could sentence him from 5–40 years. Following the guilty verdict, Mary Schultz, Dave's widow, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against du Pont. It resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement being awarded to the Schultzes' two children.

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

Du Pont was first eligible for parole on January 29, 2009; it was denied. DuPont's maximum sentence would have ended on January 29, 2026, when he would have been 87. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the verdict in 2000. In 2010 the 3rd Circuit U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia rejected all but one issue raised on appeal (involving his use of a Bulgarian prescription drug, scopolamine, before he fatally shot Schultz in 1996), and requested written briefs.

DuPont died on December 9, 2010. He had unspecified health issues and had been ill. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said duPont was found unresponsive in his bed at the Laurel Highland State Correctional Facility. He was pronounced dead at 6:55 a.m. at Somerset Community Hospital.

Philanthropy and institutions

DuPont founded the Delaware Museum of Natural History in 1957, which opened to the public in 1972 on a site near Winterthur donated by his relative Henry Francis du Pont. John duPont served on the board for many years.

He helped fund a new basketball arena at Villanova University, which opened in 1986. Originally it was called DuPont Pavilion but, after his conviction, his name was removed from the facility. Today it is called The Pavilion.

Foxcatcher Farm

After his mother's death in 1988, John Eleuthere duPont assumed stewardship of Liseter Farm and renamed it Foxcatcher Farm after his father's famed Thoroughbred racing stable.

He maintained much of her work, but added a wrestling facility and supporting buildings for that interest.

After his arrest, duPont sold off the dairy herd, nearly 70 Guernseys, in the fall of 1996. He ordered all the buildings at Foxcatcher Farm to be painted a matte black. The Delaware Museum of Natural History, which duPont formerly headed and held the dairy farm in trust, sold that portion in January 1998 after his conviction and sentencing to prison. Since then, the land has changed hands again. It is slated to be developed as the campus for a relocated prep school, as well as a community of new million-dollar-plus homes. The 400-plus acres of Foxcatcher Farm was left of the original larger property.

Disputed will

DuPont's will bequeathed 80% of his estate to the Bulgarian wrestler Valentin Yordanov, an Olympic champion, and his relatives. In June 2011, Beverly A. du Pont Gauggel and William H. du Pont, relatives of John duPont, filed a petition in Media, Pennsylvania to challenge the will, asserting that duPont was not "of sound mind" when he made his will. The petition claims that during that period, duPont asserted alternately that he was Jesus Christ, the Dalai Lama and a Russian Czar.

Representation in media

Steve Carell is to portray John Eleuthère duPont in the upcoming feature film, Foxcatcher, set to be released in 2013.

References

http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2011/07/15/news/doc4e1f9c40e2299851240884.txt?viewmode=fullstory

External links

• "LIFE photos", LIFE, US Olympic pentathlete, August 1967.
• "flickr", Collector, May 2008.
• "How About At Your Place?" Said the Colonel", LIFE, 4 Aug 1967