Judge: Du Pont Competent For Trial

A judge who found John E. du Pont too delusional to stand trial two months ago in the shooting of a wrestler found him competent Monday after psychiatrists said heavy doses of drugs helped clear his head.

The millionaire murder defendant is “admittedly mentally ill” but now understands reality well enough to be tried in the shooting of world-class wrestler David Schultz, said Delaware County Judge Patricia H. Jenkins, who set trial for Jan. 21.

Two months ago, doctors on both sides of the case agreed the 57-year-old heir to the DuPont Co. chemical fortune was unable to help his attorneys. They said he thought he was the dalai lama, the Christ child and the last surviving member of the Russian royal family.