At the turn of the last century, John DuPont was considered one of the richest people in the United States. The American inherited the famous family fortune from him, including numerous factories, but he did not become famous as a businessman. He has invested huge amounts of money in developing sports around the world, sponsoring wrestling, swimming and pentathlon tournaments.
Over time, the reputation of a philanthropist began to mar the bizarre antics, one of which ended in tragedy. In a fit of madness, DuPont… shot and killed Olympic champion Dave Schultz.
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The jock was the best friend of the rich eccentric.
friendship story
DuPont had a passion for sports and invested a lot of money in it. The businessman’s main project was a massive wrestling complex: John turned 800 acres of his Philadelphia property into a modern training ground and arena. The businessman was also the manager of many wrestlers and even founded his own Foxcatcher team, in which he invited Dave Schultz, Olympic wrestling champion in 1984.
The brothers Dave and Mark Schultz are one of the most successful fighters in history. Both became winners of the Olympic Games and world championships – the athletes at one time were personally accepted by Ronald Reagan. Dave himself suffered from dyslexia and, probably because of the disease, sympathized with Dupont, who was distraught after the death of his mother. In 1990, he agreed to join the new team in his brother’s place. Mark, like many others, did not want to mess with the strange rich man.
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— If Dave wasn’t at Foxcatcher, no one would go there. He was a legend, one of the best fighters in the world at the time. Over the years he spent at his training center, it became increasingly difficult to work with DuPont, said Kevin Jackson, a former member of Foxcatcher.
Subsequently, Schultz became the only person capable of influencing the mentally unstable billionaire – DuPont saw him as his best friend. The oligarch’s condition, meanwhile, worsened: he claimed he could see Disney characters, he hired security to search for spies and secret tunnels in his house. One day, the American became so brutal that he kicked Kevin Jackson and other black athletes out of the club, saying that Foxcatcher had become part of the Ku Klux Klan. During training, he would sometimes point guns at the fighters, and once decided to ride around the neighborhood in a tank.
“Hi boss”
According to one version, the reason for the murder of Schultz was the “childish” disagreements between the businessman and his friend:
Dave was the closest person to John. It had a calming effect on him. But Dave was not a sycophant. If John said that he saw something coming out of the walls, Dave said no. I think John may have had some kind of delusional fear of him,” recalled Mike Hostigian, a close friend of Schultz’s.
Dupont’s next bout of madness, which occurred on January 26, 1996, ended in tragedy. The billionaire grabbed a Magnum pistol and ordered his security adviser, Patrick Goodale, to take it to Schultz’s home. Suspecting nothing, the fighter greeted him with a friendly smile and the words “Hello, boss.” John replied:
Do you have problems with me?
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This was followed by a shot to the head. Dupont calmly returned to his mansion and the athlete’s wife informed the police about the incident. Law enforcement officers immediately went looking for the American. For two days, 70 police officers and a squad of special forces broke into the property of the killer, who locked himself in the house and tried to avoid arrest. When the madman turned off the electricity and heat, he still gave up.
Justice was achieved with great difficulty. Dupont’s lawyers tried by all means to turn the case around and “exonerate” their client from prison. Experts argued: Schultz deliberately ingratiated himself with the billionaire to use his money. Attempts to change the course of events did not convince the jury: John was sentenced to 30 years in prison for third-degree murder. The statement that the defendant was crazy did not save either.
In 2010, the oligarch died in the Laurel Highlands prison, where criminals with mental disorders were held. The family mansion and other buildings were destroyed, and based on this story in 2014 the film Foxcatcher was shot, which received five Oscar nominations. The authors of the film implied in their production that there was a love relationship between the murderer and the athlete. Later, journalists from the Washington Post also expressed this version in their article.
