The Murder Suicide of Pro Wrestler Chris Benoit
On June 25th, 2007, professional wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel were found dead in their Fayetteville, Georgia, home at around 2:30 p.m. EDT. The Fayette County, Georgia Sheriff’s Department is currently investigating this case.
Police entered Benoit’s home on a “welfare check” after several missed appointments, and found three dead bodies. Investigators confirmed that Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son and committed suicide over a three day period.
The Murders
Nancy Benoit
On Friday, June 22nd, Chris Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, leaving her bound at the ankles and wrists and covered with a sheet in a room in their home. A bible was left by her body and she died of asphyxiation. She had bruises on her back and stomach consistent with Benoit pressing a knee into her back while pulling on a cord around her neck.
It was later revealed that Nancy filed for divorce in May 2003, allegedly after domestic abuse from Chris, but withdrew it in August that same year.
Between the Two Killings
At about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23rd, Chavo Guerrero received a voice message from Chris Benoit stating he missed his flight and overslept and would be late for that night’s house show in Beaumont, Texas.
According to the World Wrestling Entertainment website, Chavo called Chris Benoit back and Benoit sounded tired and groggy as he confirmed everything he had said in his voice message. Concerned about Benoit’s tone and demeanor, Chavo again called Chris Benoit back, just twelve minutes later. Benoit did not answer the call at that time.
At 3:44 p.m. Chris Benoit called Chavo back, stating he did not answer the call because he was on the phone with Delta Air Lines changing his flight. “Benoit stated he had a real stressful day due to Nancy and Daniel being sick with food poisoning.” Benoit told Chavo that Nancy was throwing up blood and that Daniel was also throwing up.
Between the two killings, Chris Benoit called WWE’s “Talent Relations” office, stating that his son was throwing up and that he and Nancy were in the hospital with their son, and that he would be taking a later flight into Houston, but would make the live event in Beaumont.
Daniel Benoit
Seven year old Daniel was suffocated by Chris Benoit in his own bedroom, killing him. A Bible was left by the boy’s body. However, it was revealed on June 27th that Chris may have killed his son with a choke hold. Scott Ballard said, “the boy had internal injuries to the throat area, but showed no bruises”, indicating he may have been locked in the crook of his father’s own arm. The time frame for when this happened is not truly known. Daniel had needle marks in his arm, suggesting that he had been given growth hormones because Benoit and his family considered him undersized; which was theorized to be most likely the result of him suffering from Fragile X Syndrome.
However, District Attorney Scott Ballard released a statement saying that a source having access to Daniel’s medical files reviewed said files and found that they mention no pre-existing mental or physical ailments. Likewise, Daniel Benoit’s educators report that Daniel was on par with other students and not about to be held back as previously thought.
Text Messages
Between 3:51 and 3:58 a.m. on June 24th, 2007, five text messages were sent to Benoit’s co-workers (among which was again Chavo Guerrero) from both Benoit’s and his wife’s phone. The first, third, fourth and fifth text messages stated: “My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane, Fayetteville Georgia. 30215”
The second text message which, according to Scott Ballard, was believed to have been sent to his neighbor to get someone to find their bodies after he committed suicide (although Chavo claims to have also received the message), stated: “The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open”. WWE officials were notified of the text messages sent to the co-workers two hours before the bodies were found.
Chris Benoit
The perpetrator, Chris Benoit, according to Scott Ballard, died of asphyxiation and was found hanging by the cord of a weight machine in his basement. When Benoit released the weights – about 240 pounds, which weighed more than he did – it caused his strangulation. Ballard said the pull-down bar had been removed and Chris Benoit was found seated against the machine.
Possible Motives
There is no evidence that Chris Benoit left a suicide note of any kind, making it difficult to understand any possible motives for his actions if he indeed did them.
WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt appeared on MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams on July 17th, 2007 said that Benoit was prescribed testosterone as part of a treatment for testosterone replacement therapy, which McDevitt said was a common medical practice for people who had used steroids in the past, and had suffered testicular damage as a result.
Former wrestler and Harvard graduate Christopher Nowinski, who has since gone on to be a groundbreaker in the field of sports-related concussion trauma and Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (or CTE), along with the writing of the book Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis, has come out and claimed that Benoit may have been suffering from repeated, untreated concussions throughout his wrestling career, ultimately leading to an unstable mental state. Nowinski has been quoted as saying that Chris Benoit “was one of the only guys who would take a chair shot to the back of the head…which is stupid.”
Paranoia
HeadlinePlanet.com stated that after the death of his friend Johnny Grunge in 2006, Chris Benoit refused to attend his funeral and he would not attend church anymore due to a hatred of religion. He would not let Nancy Benoit go out past 6 p.m. and he would not let Daniel Benoit go outside because he felt that someone was watching his family and paranoid that someone was stalking him. This behavior is consistent with Late-Onset Schizophrenia, however it should be noted that the diagnostic criteria for Late-Onset schizophrenia is still a subject of some debate, and paranoid behavior does not necessarily indicate that someone has schizophrenia. Anything could have happened.
credit – murderpedia
