Initial investigation in cause of death of Benoit and his family released

[James Steele]

It is on the main page of WWE.com and it was tjhe last thing we wanted it to be. Why Chris, why?

http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/superstars/chrisbenoit/articles/benoitupdateBenoit's death part of a double murder-suicide

Written: June 25, 2007

According to lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope, of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, in Fayetteville, Ga., the deaths of WWE Superstar Chris Benoit (http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/superstars/chrisbenoit/), wife Nancy and son Daniel were the result of a double murder-suicide, WWE.com has learned.
Benoit failed to appear both at Saturday’s live event in Beaumont, Tx., and WWE’s Vengeance: Night of Champions in Houston Sunday night, after informing WWE of a family emergency. Several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning prompted concerned friends to alert Richard Hering, VP of Government Relations for WWE, Inc. Hering, in turn, spoke with Fayette County sheriffs Monday, and requested that they respond to the Benoit residence to check on him and his family.
Authorities representing the Sheriff’s Department initially had a difficult time entering Benoit’s new Fayetteville home Monday afternoon, which had been guarded by two large German Shepherds roaming freely around the property. Once authorities entered the residence, they quickly located the bodies of Benoit, Nancy and Daniel. WWE was notified of the discovery at approximately 4 p.m.
At 10 p.m. Monday night, Lt. Pope held a press conference in conjunction with Scott Ballard, the district attorney for Fayette County. The press conference officially ruled authorities’ findings as a double murder-suicide from within the home.
WAGA, a FOX-owned and operated television station in Atlanta, reported that investigators believe Benoit killed his wife and 7-year-old son over the weekend, then himself on Monday.
The three bodies have been received by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab, in Decatur, Ga., where autopsies will be performed Tuesday morning. Toxicology reports will not become available for at least two weeks.
WWE.com has further information relating to both the investigation and the cause of death, but the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department has requested that WWE.com not release any additional details at this time.

[Londoner]

Still hard to believe, but it appears to be true now. What is up with people in this world?

[James Steele]

While this isn't 100% official. I still can't believe Chris Benoit killed his family. I never thought I would lose all my respect for Chris Benoit, but if this is indeed the truth...:nono:

[KayfabeMan]

WoW.

This is incredible.

[KayfabeMan]

Not in a good way either.

[Londoner]

The strange thing is, he had a job for life..so much for that.

[KayfabeMan]

Why would this happen?

I hope some information becomes available about why if this is indeed the case.

[EazyMack]

Man... the story gets crazier.

I'm betting WWE would not have had the RAW tribute to him had they known of this.

[Tb1]

Benoit didn't do it. I could never believe that.

[#1-norm-fan]

those "curious text messages" probably explain alot.

[Londoner]

I'm curious about those 'curious txt messages'.

[James Steele]

Chris Benoit went from one of the greates success stories to one of the worst tragedy stories in the wrestling business.

[Lara Emily]

While this isn't 100% official. I still can't believe Chris Benoit killed his family. I never thought I would lose all my respect for Chris Benoit, but if this is indeed the truth...:nono:

I agree fully, I worshipped the guy but if it all went down as it sounds it did, he can rot :-\

[James Steele]

I pray Chris Benoit has a mental disease or something they can prove...SOMETHING to at least know this wasn't the normal Chris Benoit.

[#1-norm-fan]

I agree fully, I worshipped the guy but if it all went down as it sounds it did, he can rot :-\

I'm sorry, I would probably agree at some point to some extent but that was just morbid sounding... ugh.

[Lara Emily]

I pray Chris Benoit has a mental disease or something they can prove...SOMETHING to at least know this wasn't the normal Chris Benoit.

Me too.

[Slow]

Can't believe... i mean, WTF!? It's just... AARRRGGHHH how could... dammit

[EazyMack]

Benoit didn't do it. I could never believe that.
Unfortunately, an investigator wouldn't just come out making crazy claims so soon without MAJOR substantial evidence of it.

[Londoner]

Something serious must've happened leading upto these events, its weird to think what could possibly have happened.

[Shaggy]

I understand how people dont know how to feel about this...

What do you do when a guy you have worshipped all this time ends up doing something so horrendous that its unforgivable??

I honestly dont know what to think right now....The sad thing to come of this is that if Benoit is revealed to of actually done everything that it will be hard for people to say that they are a fan of him. People will complain about you being a fan of a man that killed his own family.

I just pray that something comes up with in the next few weeks that explains that he didnt do it......I pray

[EazyMack]

What do you do when a guy you have worshipped all this time ends up doing something so horrendous
Which makes another case for the whole "false idols" thing.

[Somebody's Gotta Die]

Absolutely disgusting...

Had they known this, they DEFINITELY would have gone with a McMahon tribute show with a small clip for Benoit in the beginning or something...

It is absolutely disgusting that Chris would do this to his 7-year old son, not to mention his wife that the superstars were saying he "adored"...

I really hope that Benoit was not involved in this and that they can find something from the autopsy, but the story sure does make a lot more sense now...

Especially considering the evidence of the house being dark all night and the "mysterious" text messages...

Benoit is not the human being I thought he was...

I sure as hell hope this isn't true though...

[Pardeep 619]

Fuck this is all crazy. Sorry, I honestly don't know what to say about this at the moment (too much to take in and all that).

[EazyMack]

Well we can't rule out substance abuse either... that will certainly make a person do crazy things. I agree with everybody else that this just doesn't seem to be within character for him.

[Slow]

Sadly if authorities say this early in an investigation that it was a suicied-murder then the scene must have been obvious. I just really really hope he was set up and his name can be cleared, in death he has a great wrestling legacy and its painful to see it tarnished so much

[DCXtreme]

Where did u read the house was dark all night

[EazyMack]

I just really really hope he was set up and his name can be cleared, in death he has a grea wrestling legacy and its painful to see it tarnished so much
To put him in the same boat as Lex Luger... yuck.

[DCXtreme]

Lex is better than Chris if he really did this.

[Mikey]

Even thinking about Chris Benoit doing somthing so horrible makes me sick to my stomach

[Corkscrewed]

Chris Benoit just went from one of the greates success stories to one of the worst tragedy stories in the wrestling business.
Added the "just" but that's how I feel right now.

It only takes a moment to shatter a life (or three). A moment of anger. A moment of insanity.

The WWE.com story is as close to a confirmation of this as we can get without an actual confirmation. (They use a lot of qualifiers in the article... "according to..." and stuff like that.)

But if all the pieces can be put together, you have this:

Over the past few weeks or months, apparently Benoit had looked like something was eating him up inside. Supposed mental problems, I suppose.
Benoit calls WWE and says he'll be late to a house show... then later amends that to he won't BE at the house show. Also reports his wife and son were coughing up blood, which may very well have been true, in a twisted, darkly ironic way.
Benoit leaves weird text messages. No-shows a PPV... which is something practically unheard of for him.
Police discover three bodies in his home. It appears the wife and son died two days before Benoit, who appeared to have killed himself Monday morning.A very private person who obviously had some sort of disorder (domestic or mental), who kept it to himself extremely well, who snapped at some point and killed his family, then possibly contemplated his actions for a day or two before realizing he'd just ruined his life and his reputation and has no apparently better choice (to him) than to kill himself too. Perhaps he was so disgusted with himself after sanity returned to him that he couldn't live with what he had done, and thus committed suicide.

To me, that makes a lot of sense, even though the acts are very senseless. What caused that murderous fit of insanity? I'd love to know, but we may never know.

Does this tarnish Benoit's legacy? Absolutely. He'll always be respected and loved as a wrestler, but he may very well be reviled as a person. If this turns out to be true, I will definitely lose respect for Benoit. I can't help it. Like someone else said, anyone who kills his family is despicable, no matter how temporarily insane or mad he went. If I found out (God forbid) that my own father did something like that to my mom and my little brother, my love and respect for him would plummet (I have a super relationship with my dad, btw, so saying that carries a lot of weight).

Ultimately, we can agree that this was a tragedy. If this story holds true, I'm sure there will be those who find pity for Benoit and his sudden descent to madness. There will be others who hate him for his despicable crime.

If he killed his family, then so much for those rosy musings of putting on a clinic with Eddie Guerrero in heaven. And how WWE handles this will be really tricky too, because they'll have to cross the fine line between honoring Benoit as a legendary wrestler and avoiding praising a murderer.



Last week, I think it was, someone said that at this point in Benoit's career, it would have been impossible to make people boo Benoit, because he was so respected (I think this might have been in reference to his future in ECW). Well, like I half-joked earlier, this would definitely be the biggest, most effective heel turn in the history of the wrestling business.

:(

[RGWhat316]

This is starting to become truer it seems. On Foxnews.com, they have a headline that says "Chris Benoit's Dark Side". Though I wish they would stop covering this Paris Hilton BS on tv, so we can get more answers!

I want to say that I cannot believe that Chris could do something like this, but even if you know someone or not, things may not always be what they seem. I really don't even want to believe something like this could happen, and I want to wait until I hear about official DNA evidence to prove that he did it. But if it somehow was him, it would be someone you would least expect, and sometimes that is true. I just wish there would have been signs so something like this could have been stopped.

[EazyMack]

Well like I said, they wouldn't make such claims so soon without proof. I just want to know why, what drove him to that point?

[James Steele]

Cops Suspect Murder-Suicide in Killings of Pro Wrestler Chris Benoit and His Family

Tuesday , June 26, 2007
FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. —
WWE (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:siteSearch%28%27WWE%27%29;) wrestler Chris Benoit (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:siteSearch%28%27Chris%20Benoit%27%29;), his wife and son were found dead Monday, and police said they were investigating the deaths as a murder-suicide. Detective Bo Turner told WAGA-TV the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn't be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab.
The station said investigators believe the 40-year-old Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son, Daniel, over the weekend, then himself on Monday. The bodies were found in three rooms.
• Click here to view video report from MyFoxAtlanta.com. (http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3594146&version=9&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1)
World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Web site that it asked authorities to check on Benoit and his family after being alerted by friends who received "several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning."
Lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department told The Associated Press the deaths were being investigated as homicides, and that autopsies were to be performed Tuesday. Pope said the bodies were discovered about 2:30 p.m., but refused to release details.
• Click here for full coverage on the WWE Web site. (http://www.wwe.com/)
The house is in a secluded neighborhood set back about 60 yards off a gravel road, surrounded by stacked stone wall and a double-iron gate. On Monday night, the house was dark except for a few outside lights. There was a police car in front, along with two uniformed officers.
Benoit was a former world heavyweight and Intercontinental champion. He also held several tag-team titles during his career.
"WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family's relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy," the organization said in a statement on its Web site.
Benoit was scheduled to perform at the "Vengeance" pay-per-view event Sunday night in Houston, but was replaced at the last minute because of what announcer Jim Ross called "personal reasons."
The native of Canada maintained a home in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the defunct World Championship Wrestling.
The WWE canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, Texas, and USA Network aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast.
"My relationship with Chris has extended many years and I consider him a great friend," Carl DeMarco, the president of WWE Canada, said in a statement. "Chris was always first-class — warm, friendly, caring and professional one of the best in our business."



http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,286673,00.html

[Corkscrewed]

On Foxnews.com, they have a headline that says "Chris Benoit's Dark Side".
lol, wow. Leave it to Fox to turn anything into a sensationalist attention grabber. Yeah, it's a shocking news story, but a headline like that just cheapens the whole thing.

[EazyMack]

Fox truly sucks.

[Londoner]

Damn right it does.

[addy2hotty]

Just don't want to believe this news. Truly shocking, pretty heartbreaking.

What would drive an apparent 100% family man to do such a thing, I guess we'll never know for sure.

[UmbrellaCorporation]

Holy fucking shit.


I seriously am having a hard time believing this is the case. I mean, I am very aware that anything is possible....but still.

It's hard to think of -that- being the particular scenario.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Whoa, let's not all turn on Chris Benoit yet. Look, killing someone is never right, but for Benoit to suddenly kill his wife and child? Something must be up. Yeah, this shit happens, but seriously, completely ignoring what we all thought of Benoit, this doesn't make too much sense.

Benoit just decides to go home and kill his wife and kids? That doesn't sound right. I mean for anybody. I doubt it went down like that. If Benoit did it, I'm hoping he did it under the best possible pretenses. That sounds awful, but with facts being as they are, I hope this was a mercy killing, with Benoit being so pained by it, he took his own life. If his wife and son were coughing up blood, though, a hospital would have been the logical choice.

This is truly odd. I guess we have to wait for more details to be released. Regardless of what kind of person he ends up to be, the WWE had every right to run the tribute show. Chris Benoit, even if it turned out he was behind World War II, was one of the best wrestlers to ever step foot in the ring. There is no way that man does not deserve a tribute show, just for his professional accolades alone.

I'm trying to work out why Benoit killed his son. If there were problems between Nancy and Chris, Daniel didn't have to get caught up in them. I've forgotten the term, but if Benoit is behind this, I think it was because he felt like he was protecting his family by doing it. Ending their lives so they don't have to worry anymore, and don't have to face the bad things in life. I don't think Chris would have made it painful for them.

I'm hoping that the only reason murder-suicide is being considered, is because there didn't look to be forced entry. But yeah, regardless of the circumstances, I'm not going to let this sour my view on Chris Benoit as a professional wrestler. The man was truly one of the best ever.

[D Mac]

Just told my roomate what happened and he said "Oh well, shit happens." Seriously pissed right now. :mad:

[James Steele]

Maybe his wife and son died because of the disease they had (if the coughing up blood is true) and Benoit just lost it.

[D Mac]

At the same time?

[D Mac]

And he would have called 911 or something right?

[Londoner]

Do remember that after the pakistan coach who died in the cricket world cup, they quickly reported it as a 'murder' and it turned out to be natural causes.

[RGWhat316]

Maybe his wife and son died because of the disease they had (if the coughing up blood is true) and Benoit just lost it.
That's the story I'm hoping is true, that something happened to his wife and son, and Chris just couldn't take it. Cus unless there is DNA evidence, there is no way that I am believing that Chris would take both of their lives.

[D Mac]

If his wife and son were in medical trouble some kind of medical action would have been taken and reported.

[Shaggy]

Just told my roomate what happened and he said "Oh well, shit happens." Seriously pissed right now. :mad:

Yea there is a girl that is staying with us and I told her about it like right after it was announced on WWE that him and his family were dead. She doesnt care for wrestling and she started joking about it saying that it was wrestling so it wasnt real. I got pissed and yelled at her....I told her she can talk all she wants about how wrestling may be fake but I am not gonna sit there and listen to her bad mouth Chris Benoit like that.

[Shaggy]

That's the story I'm hoping is true, that something happened to his wife and son, and Chris just couldn't take it. Cus unless there is DNA evidence, there is no way that I am believing that Chris would take both of their lives.

yea it just doesnt make sense that after hearing from all the wrestlers about how much he loved his kids that he would go off and kill one of them. That just seems so screwed up.

[Londoner]

People are so ignorant, Benoit/his family are fucking real, or were anyway. Hate on the business itsself if you must, not the people who have died.

[RGWhat316]

And he would have called 911 or something right?
Logically, yes. Just guessing here, but if he find out his wife and son were dead, he probably wasn't in the right frame of mind to even think about calling the police.

[Just John]

Wow, I wake up on my birthday to this.

When I heard Benoit had died I thought it was a terrible shame and such, now I've heard about the suicide and his wife and kid. Its just unreal.

[Kris P Lettus]

Some of you people are ridiculous..

No amount of fake fighting makes up for what he supposedly did.. If all this is true he should be rotting in Hell..

I used to love Benoit but this is repulsive and all of you trying to make excusses and trying to say that this is sad for his PRO WRESTLING legacy are sickening..

[Londoner]

^ Its hard to let go of someone you looked upto, whether its fake or not.

[FakeLaser]

This is the most horrible thing ever.

[Kris P Lettus]

^ Its hard to let go of someone you looked upto, whether its fake or not.

I could give a fuck..

I used to LOVE the Four Horsemen the early 90's.. I was a HUGE Benoit mark back in the day.. But no matter how much I loved him does not excuss him of supposedly, taking the life of his wife, let alone A SEVEN YEAR OLD..

Sure I like him in my early teens, his son wont have the oppertunity..

If all this turns out to be false, then God rest his soul.. But if this is true, he is a deispicable piece of shit who should die a thousand deaths, wrestling icon or no..

[Londoner]

Yeah i've already said that myself, i'm just saying it wont be as easy as that for everyone else.

[D Mac]

Yeah let's get the official word before we judge.

[Kris P Lettus]

Who's judging??

[Kris P Lettus]

Why does your status say "Why Chris Why" if you believe this was all an accident??

[el fregadero]

Logically, yes. Just guessing here, but if he find out his wife and son were dead, he probably wasn't in the right frame of mind to even think about calling the police.
I'd wager after a day of sitting there looking at their bodies he would have been able to realize he should call 911.

[D Mac]

Why does your status say "Why Chris Why" if you believe this was all an accident??

I don't. That was the first thing I thought of when I read this news.

[D Mac]

It will be changed or left alone accordingly.

[Jeritron]

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[Triple A]

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[Jura]

It's funny how some of you are ready to go either way on this. If it turns out to be what the investigation currently makes it out to be then you all instantly hope he rots in hell but if the circumstances are something else then you are ready worship him and praise him as the great wrestler and performer that he was. Do you take the time to think of how his family feels. Do you ever wonder what Chris Jericho, Chavo, Dean Malenko and others are feeling right now. Chris was like a brother to them. No matter what, that will never change. Imagine if this situation happened to one of your family members. Would you just cut off yourself and wash your hands of what they had done or would you still remember that they were someone important to you?

With some of you it's so black or white. One or the other. I can't believe that he is gone or what allegedly happened and I don't really feel like coming to TPWW.net for a while. If this is the last post I make for a long time then I wish you all good luck. Moments like these make you reflect on life and that anything at anytime could happen but the sun will go down and the sun will rise again.

[Londoner]

^ Yeah things like this make me reflect on what life is really about to, strange.

[Rob]

Until I know for sure what happened, I'm not commenting anymore.

[Afterlife]

I could give a fuck..

I used to LOVE the Four Horsemen the early 90's.. I was a HUGE Benoit mark back in the day.. But no matter how much I loved him does not excuss him of supposedly, taking the life of his wife, let alone A SEVEN YEAR OLD..

Sure I like him in my early teens, his son wont have the oppertunity..

If all this turns out to be false, then God rest his soul.. But if this is true, he is a deispicable piece of shit who should die a thousand deaths, wrestling icon or no..




I defend the given sentience of young adults from the generic and ignorant scoffs of the Mature. I take heart in the fact that I, as a boy in my "early teens", knew the difference between Right and Wrong, knew of the separation in Truth and Bullshit and, most importantly, understood that there are things beyond comprehension. As I was so aware of actual reality, I lean on the assumption that when Adults throw around cliche remarks about the ignorance of youth and 'kids think they know it all', I find myself to be ready for an argument.

But you prove they have a point.

You don't know Jack from Shit about this situation, and you're as ready as a self-righteous political activist to jump on whichever bandwagon pulls up first -- and, by the sound of things, you're rootin' for the devil. I think what everybody -- especially guys in your mindset -- needs to do, is sit back, calm down, and wait for the story to unfold.

[Theo Dious]

There are many more possibilities to this than "Chris did it all," it's equally possible that his wife snapped and killed herself and their son, leading Benoit to lose it and kill himself. Likely? Maybe not, but until we know stuff we shouldn't be condemning anybody.

[Afterlife]

Hell, some guy could have entered their home, attacked and killed the wife and kid, and Chris was unable to save them. He's described as a family oriented guy with a rough time expressing softer emotions, and dealing with a situation where he was too weak to save his only purpose in life could have destroyed him.

This is an unknown story at the moment.

[KingofOldSchool]

If anyone is interested Dave Meltzer is going to be on Good Morning America this morning, it's on until 9 am.

I dunno if he was already on, though.

[Triple A]

Might as well keep this all in one thread btw.