WWE Superstar: Benoit Murder/Suicide

[JazmenFlowers]

I can't believe no one's talking about this. how tragic and sad!
_________________________________________

The deaths of former WWE champion Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and their son Daniel are being treated as an apparent murder-suicide, according to The Associated Press.

AP reported that a law enforcement official close to the investigation said Benoit strangled his wife and smothered his son over the weekend before hanging himself in his weight room on Monday at their home in Fayetteville, Georgia. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard as saying that details of the deaths "are going to prove a little bizarre" when released to the public.

Autopsies were scheduled Tuesday (June 26) by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, results of which are expected to be announced at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Benoit, whose workmanlike approach to wrestling earned him legions of fans and championships in the WWE, WCW and ECW, was scheduled to perform at the WWE's "Vengeance" pay-per-view event on Sunday in Houston but backed out at the last minute citing "a family emergency," according to the WWE. On its Web site, the WWE added that it asked the Fayette County Sheriff's Department to check on Benoit after receiving "several curious text messages" sent by the wrestler early Sunday morning.

Authorities arrived at Benoit's home on Monday afternoon, and upon entering the residence, quickly located the bodies of Benoit, Nancy and Daniel. The WWE then canceled that evening's live broadcast of "Monday Night Raw," instead airing a three-hour tribute to Benoit, complete with matches spanning his 20-plus year career and testimonials from his fellow wrestlers.

Tributes also appeared on WWE.com, but as news started to break that Benoit may have murdered his wife and young son, those were gradually replaced with photo collections and straight news reporting on the situation. By Tuesday afternoon, a sober news report of the tragedy was on the site's home page.

In the wake of the news, professional wrestling fans around the world have taken to sites like PWInsider.com to post their feelings on Benoit, who was idolized by so-called "smart fans" for his bruising, technical style. And while many remembered him as an in-ring giant, their opinions of him out of the ring have forever changed.

"If that TMZ report is totally true, well, let's just say that Chris Benoit was a 'special' sort of monster," one fan wrote. "I hate it, but if ... that is true, my respect and admiration of any sort for Chris Benoit died right with him."

"I have 7 and 8 year old sons. Reading this story, I can actually hear my kids screaming for help if I were to ever do something so horrible, and it makes me want to throw up," another added. "How a father can do this is beyond me. To compare Benoit to Owen Hart [another much-revered grappler who died in a freak in-ring incident in 1999] is akin to desecrating Hart's grave."

Benoit and Nancy, a wrestling manager who worked under the name "Woman," had been married since 2000 but had separated in May 2003 when Nancy filed for divorce, according to the Journal-Constitution.

Accompanying that filing was a petition for protection from domestic abuse, with Nancy claiming that she was intimidated by her husband, who "lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home." In another count, she claimed Benoit had destroyed furniture in their home.

On the same day the divorce and petition for protection were filed, a judge issued a restraining order against the wrestler, which barred him from the family's home. A few months later, in August, Nancy filed to have both the divorce and protective petition dismissed.

[camchristo]

I read that this morning. It is very sad. It just seems like we're hearing about so many murder-suicides lately.

In fact, about 2 weeks ago, a few towns over, a step dad shot his step daughter four times at point blank range and then shot himself. The wife/mother came home to find them. Nobody has any clue why. There were never any outward problems that anyone knew of. A 15 year old girl. Very sad.

[mikeschmike]

This is terrible! I watched wrestling as a little kid, and I always thought this guy was cool. Sad sad sad...

[SuzeQuze]

It is so sad.

[sara1998]

I can't read any more of this.... It could have very well been me a few years ago. This makes me physically ill.

[GODDESS6]

this story is why i was asking in another thread about how to read atlanta news, my family are huge wrestling fans, we just watched benoit last tuesday win a match to go to this week pay per view, of which we bought & it said he wouldn't be there due to a family tragedy~ he was still alive then, but his family wasn't, he had already killed them~ it said in a press conference that there were steroids at the scene & anyone who has followed wrestling knows steroids run rampant in it~ they will ban you for other drugs, but turn their heads on the steriod issue~ i wonder if it was roid rage, last week he seemed so happy~ anyways, this is so sad, i feel for his wife & child that he killed & surviving 2 kids~ how damn sad this world has become ~

may they all R.I.P. ~

[BlackWidow]

It is sad...why don't murderers just kill THEMSELVES!
Leave innocent people alone to live their lives!

[amber]

Yeah, I can't help thinking that steroids were involved. That **** makes you mean, and crazy. It's like..."muscle meth". Bad.

[gldstwmn]

This evening I read somewhere that he was giving his 7 year old human growth hormone. Horrifying.

[Sorcerer386]

You can read about a lot of this at wwe.com. But, his son suffered from this syndrome they call "Fragile X Syndrome." It leads to all sorts of disabilities, physical, mental, and emotional. It IS speculated that the boy was given growth hormones, however, I think he was given something to try to help the syndrome. Benoit apparently killed his wife first, then killed his son some time later, and then some time later he killed himself. It was said Sunday on the PPV he couldn't attend due to 'personal reasons.' My friend and I joked that he was probably mad that he was traded to the less than popular ECW show. I felt bad after I heard what really happened. Also, at wwe.com, it explains reasons that it couldn't be steroid abuse, however much of it you want to believe is up to you.

Here's what I think. It's been said that his wife had set to divorce in 2003, but then changed her mind. He was apparently violent at times even then, and she was probably afraid to divorce him. I'm betting, in some rage (it could have been roid rage), he killed his wife. Then, realizing what he had done, and knowing of his son's disabilities, he probably didn't want his son growing up without a mother, as his disabilities were enough, so he killed his son. Then, in a mass of depression, he killed himself. I'm not condoning this type of behavior, but I do think it's sad. He was such a good wrestler and so well respected, but now he'll just be remembered as a killer, including suicide. I would say more, but I don't want it to come out wrong, but I will say that I have a bit more sympathy than most people would for him. No one understands how disconnected from real life a person suffering severe mental distress becomes.

[GODDESS6]

Pro Wrestler Chris Benoit and Wife Argued Over Care of Mentally Retarded 7-Year-Old Son


http://omaha.cox.net/cci/newsnationa...alidatearticle

ATLANTA (Associated Press) -- In the days before pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and child and hanged himself, the couple argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, an attorney for the wrestling league said Wednesday.

"I think it's fair to say that the subject of caring for that child was part of what made their relationship complicated and difficult, and it's something they were both constantly struggling with," said Jerry McDevitt, an attorney for World Wrestling Entertainment. "We do know it was a source of stress and consternation."

McDevitt said the wrestling organization learned from the couple's friends and relatives that the Benoits were struggling with where to send the boy to school since he had recently finished kindergarten.

He also said Benoit's wife didn't want him to quit wrestling, but she "wanted him to be at home more to care for the kid. She'd say she can't take care of him by herself when he was on the road."

The child suffered from a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism, McDevitt said.

Over the past weekend, authorities said, Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine cable in the couple's suburban home. No motive was offered for the killings, which were discovered Monday.

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the slayings. Some experts believe steroids cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

The WWE, based in Stamford, Conn., issued a news release Tuesday saying steroids "were not and could not be related to the cause of death" and that the findings indicate "deliberation, not rage." It also added that Benoit tested negative April 10, the last time he was tested for drugs.

Also Wednesday, Benoit's personal physician said the wrestler did not give any indication he was troubled when he met with the doctor hours before the start of the weekend.

Benoit had been under the care of Dr. Phil Astin, a longtime friend, for treatment of low testosterone levels. Astin said the condition likely originated from previous steroid use.

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit in the past but would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed the day of their meeting.

"He was in my office on Friday to stop by just to see my staff," Astin said. "He certainly didn't show any signs of any distress or rage or anything."

"I'm still very surprised and shocked, especially with his child Daniel involved," Astin said. "He worshipped his child."

District Attorney Scott Ballard said the autopsy indicated that there were no bruise marks on the child's neck, so authorities are now assuming he could have been killed using a choke hold. "It's a process of elimination," he said.

The Benoits' argument over their son was not the only friction in their marriage. Nancy Benoit had filed for a divorce in 2003, saying the couple's three-year marriage was irrevocably broken and alleging "cruel treatment." She later dropped the complaint.

Meanwhile, authorities in Georgia were investigating a link between Benoit and a Florida business that may have supplied him with steroids.

Prosecutors in upstate New York who have been investigating the company's drug sales said Benoit received deliveries from Signature Pharmacy and MedXLife.com, which sold steroids, human growth hormone and testosterone on the Internet.

Six people, including two of the pharmacy's owners, have pleaded guilty in the investigation, and 20 more have been arrested, including doctors and pharmacists.

"That's something that sounds like we ought to be investigating," Ballard told the AP on Wednesday.

A lawyer for MedXLife co-owner Dr. Gary Brandwein scoffed at allegations that his client's company sold steroids to Benoit.

"I've only read that in the paper. I have no direct information about that whatsoever," Terence Kindlon said Wednesday, adding that prosecutors in Albany County, N.Y., were trying to "distract everyone's attention from the fact that their case is disintegrating."

Brandwein, a 44-year-old osteopath from Boca Raton, Fla., has pleaded not guilty to six counts in New York state court related to the criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was accused of signing and sending prescriptions without ever seeing patients.

Telephone messages left for attorneys for Brian Schafler and Greg Trotta _ two other co-owners of MedXLife _ were not immediately returned Wednesday. The two men have pleaded guilty to felony third-degree diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions, admitting they helped get drugs in 2006 for customers in upstate New York who had no medical need for them.

McDevitt said the drugs found in Benoit's house were legitimately prescribed. "There's no question, none of these drugs are out there, none of these drugs came from Internet pharmacies," he said.

In addition to causing paranoia and explosive outbursts, steroids can also contribute to deep depression, according to experts.

"Just as you have the extreme high of when you're on steroids, you can get the opposite," said Dr. Todd Schlifstein, a clinical assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine. "You can have a dramatic difference in mood swings. You can feel there's no hope, there's no future."



i just have to say for the record that WWE did not know that chris had killed himself & family when they aired the "tribute" show on monday night raw~ when they found out, by the time they aired ECW the next night, they made a statement pretty much disowning him & then put on a very entertaining show~ my son is really into wrestling, & we have had lengthy discussions about this, it really bothers him about chris's son~


on edit: i just saw WWE has added this story to their website, & now vince mcmahon will be on TODAY this morning~ maybe this will shed some light on this disease his poor little son had, it is something i have never heard of & after googling it, i guess there aren't alot of resourses out there for it & it can be real hard to deal w/ as a parent, the pics of the children suffering w/ it are heartbreaking~

[JazmenFlowers]

ok, this has got me in tears. that poor child. I will never, ever understand why this happens. why "god" allows this to happen.

[gldstwmn]

According to various news outlets, his doctors office was raided this morning. I'd be interested to know what other types of medication were found in that house.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by Sorcerer386

You can read about a lot of this at wwe.com. But, his son suffered from this syndrome they call "Fragile X Syndrome." It leads to all sorts of disabilities, physical, mental, and emotional. It IS speculated that the boy was given growth hormones, however, I think he was given something to try to help the syndrome. Benoit apparently killed his wife first, then killed his son some time later, and then some time later he killed himself. It was said Sunday on the PPV he couldn't attend due to 'personal reasons.' My friend and I joked that he was probably mad that he was traded to the less than popular ECW show. I felt bad after I heard what really happened. Also, at wwe.com, it explains reasons that it couldn't be steroid abuse, however much of it you want to believe is up to you.

Here's what I think. It's been said that his wife had set to divorce in 2003, but then changed her mind. He was apparently violent at times even then, and she was probably afraid to divorce him. I'm betting, in some rage (it could have been roid rage), he killed his wife. Then, realizing what he had done, and knowing of his son's disabilities, he probably didn't want his son growing up without a mother, as his disabilities were enough, so he killed his son. Then, in a mass of depression, he killed himself. I'm not condoning this type of behavior, but I do think it's sad. He was such a good wrestler and so well respected, but now he'll just be remembered as a killer, including suicide. I would say more, but I don't want it to come out wrong, but I will say that I have a bit more sympathy than most people would for him. No one understands how disconnected from real life a person suffering severe mental distress becomes.

I think your post is a good clinical view of what happened. I was under the impression that the HGH was illicit and not prescribed for the child. However I'm sure we're going to get a lot of crossed up facts in the days to come.

[Raeven Skye]

and I just read that another pro-wrestler Sherri...something...(sorry...I'm a UFC fan)...died a few days ago, and now they're looking at her death as suspicious...and she's linked to Benoit somehow
it's all really sad