PHILADELPHIA – Millionaire murderer John du Pont has lost his latest appeal in the 1995 slaying of an Olympic wrestler at his suburban Philadelphia estate.
The 71-year-old du Pont, an heir to the chemical company's fortune, was deemed mentally ill but still guilty of third-degree murder at his 1997 trial. He fatally shot gold-medal winner David Schultz, a 36-year-old who was training at a sports complex on du Pont's 800-acre estate outside Philadelphia.
New lawyers argued this year that du Pont's trial lawyers failed to focus on his use of a prescription drug that may have exacerbated his mental illness.
But the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals says even proof of drug intoxication would not be enough to rebut the murder charge under Pennsylvania law.
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