Relatives seek to overturn John du Pont’s will

In his later years, John Eleuthere du Pont believed he was the Dalai Lama, Jesus Christ and a Russian Czar, according to court documents filed by a neice and nephew seeking to overturn the eccentric millionaire's will.

He also believed he was a top CIA consultant, the target of assassins, and that angry Republicans killed Olympic wrestler David Schultz, the man du Pont murdered, according to a petition filed by William H. du Pont and Beverly Austin du Pont Gaugger.

The pair have asked that a Delaware County jury decide whether du Pont was of sound mind when he executed a new will about three months before he died on Dec. 9 in prison in Somerset County, Pa. The will left the bulk of his estate to a former Bulgarian wrestler and his family.

No value has been placed on the estate, but it was worth at minimum $28.5 million, the 2010 sale price of du Pont's home and land in Newtown Square.

The neice and nephew question whether the beneficiaries - Valentin Jordinov Dimitrov, his spouse Zdravka Monteta Atanosova Dimitrov and other family members - exerted undue influence over du Pont.

Dimitrov, also the estate's executor, and family members visited du Pont frequently in prison. The petition states they were "openly hostile" to other visitors and "cast the natural heirs in a negative light."

The beneficiaries, it states, successfully concealed the new will until after du Pont's death.

A message left for du Pont Gaugger and her attorneys were not returned. Phone numbers for Dimitrov have been disconnected.

Du Pont was a great-great-great-grandson of the Eleuthere Irenée du Pont de Nemours, founder of DuPont chemical company. He spent almost 15 years behind bars for the murder of Schultz, a gold-medal winning wrestler who was gunned down on Jan. 26, 1996 during an argument outside Schultz's home on the grounds of du Pont's Foxcatcher Farm estate and training facility in Newtown Square.

At the time of the murder Dimitrov lived on the estate.

Du Pont was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia with delusion. He was found guilty but mentally ill and sentenced to 13 to 30 years in prison.

The petition to challenge the will states there was no competent evidence that du Pont ever recovered from his mental illness and that his condition had deteriorated further.

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