It is one of those iconic names.
Du Pont.
About the last thing you’d expect to see affixed to that name is convicted murderer.
But that was before John E. du Pont, the eccentric heir to the chemical company fortune, went off the deep end at his Foxcatcher Farm estate in Newtown Square.
Du Pont shot and killed Olympic gold medal wrestler Dave Schultz in January 1996.
The shooting sparked a two-day standoff between the millionaire, who was known to have a small arsenal of weapons on his estate, and an armada of Delco and state law enforcement officials.
Eventually du Pont surrendered. He would become one of the richest Americans ever charged with murder.
His family name, which adorned the du Pont Pavilion on the Villanova campus, would forever be linked to his bizarre actions, as well as the company the family made famous.
Du Pont eventually was convicted of the murder, but ruled mentally ill.
He spent he rest of his life behind bars.
As the memories came flooding back yesterday when word was received of du Pont’s death, maybe the best description I heard came from former Delco prosecutor Joe McGettigan.
He was there for the siege at Foxcatcher Farm, and worked on the prosecution team that convicted du Pont.
McGettigan described Schultz as a great guy, an excellent athlete, someone everybody liked.
It was those same characterstics du Pont craved.
“He was none of those things,” McGettigan told a radio reporter.
Instead, he apparently used his money to gain access to the world of elite sports. Foxcatcher became something of a gathering point for big-time athletes, especially wrestlers.
Du Pont gave the money to make the home of the Villanova Wildcats basketball program happen.
But he never really became the kind of person Schultz was. And it apparently ate away at him, until it finally pushed him over the edge, and into a murderous act.
The old axiom proved true: Money can’t buy you everything.
Read our full coverage of the death of John E. du Pont here.
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