Crime + investigation

John du Pont: The Wannabe Wrestler Who Was Driven to Murder an Olympian

Watch a video on wealthy murderer John du Pont, heir to the du Pont family fortune.

JOHN DU PONTASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 26, 2017Last Updated: September 30, 2025

When money couldn't buy him a place on the 1968 Olympic team, John du Pont, heir to the du Pont family fortune, started the Foxcatcher National Training Center, a facility for talented wrestlers and swimmers.

Du Pont was known for his eccentric behavior—claiming to have ghosts and spies in his mansion—but no one took him for a cold-blooded killer.

True Crime: John du Pont

Naomi Ekperigin talks about John du Pont's strange, wealthy upbringing and his murder of wrestler Charles Schultz.

5:00m watch

On January 26, 1996, for reasons still unknown, du Pont killed Dave Schultz, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist who was training for the 1996 Atlanta games at the facility. After a two-day standoff with police, he was captured.

Du Pont was found "guilty, but mentally ill" and sentenced to 13 to 30 years in prison. On December 9, 2010, he died in prison at age 72.

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Citation Information

Article Title
John du Pont: The Wannabe Wrestler Who Was Driven to Murder an Olympian
Website Name
A&E
Date Accessed
November 06, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
September 30, 2025
Original Published Date
December 26, 2017
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