credit Dave Meltzer and wrestlingobserver.com


Benoit family found dead



The WWE just told its talent and released on its web site that Chris Benoit was found dead by Atlanta police.

Benoit, wife Nancy aka Woman and son Daniel were all found dead. We have no other details at this moment. It is believed that Chris Benoit's two other children were in Canada.

All plans for Raw tonight have been scrapped and they will do a show on the life of Benoit.


According to reports Benoit had been drafted over to ECW to hold the belt for awhile and when he didn't make the shows this weekend they had to hot the belt to Johnny Nitro. Seriously I haven't felt this sick about a wrestlers death since Eddy or maybe Owen Hart. I actually can't believe this. I wish it was a joke.

All RAW plans have been scraped and one can only hope this puts an end to the Vince Assasination angle.

Blessings to those members of the familes that are still alive.

Chris was amazing. He is easily one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and and easily one of the greatest entertainers ever. He was probably the most loved wrestler that never spoke-he was one of only a handful of wrestlers that were fan favorites because of their abilities in the ring, not their abilities on the mic. I will never be able to look at the sharpshooter or the crossface with out thinking of Benoit-the greatest!
These are two of my favorite pictures. They will forever bring tears to my eyes.

sad day. Classy move by Vince to drop the Dead Mr. McMahon angle tonight for this.

Very sad news. I'm still in shock.

And the news keeps getting worse....

Vince McMahon broke the news to the wrestlers backstage about the death of Chris Benoit and his family.

One wrestler who was present tells PWTorch that everyone was gathered for an urgent, impromptu gathering backstage. McMahon then explained the basics - that Chris Benoit and his wife and won were found dead. He didn't elaborate or provide any details, and may not have known any more himself. "I've never seen a locker room floored like that. Seventy percent of everyone was just floored like I've never seen before. Everyone is just sad. He was well-liked by everyone. No one ever had a bad word for him. He and Bobby Eaton, that's what people say about those two."

He added: "He never complained about sh-- (in his personal life), but lately it always looked like something wasn't setting right with him inside, like something was eating at him."

There are no police reports yet confirming the backstage info circulating that they all died of gunshot wounds.


According to FoxAtlanta:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- Authorities said professional wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and child were found slain Monday at their Fayette County home.

Lieutenant Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department said the three were found about 2:30 p.m., but he would release no other details.

Pope said the deaths are being investigated as homicide, but the cause of death awaits autopsy results tomorrow.

He would not say how the bodies were discovered, or who found them.

The World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Website that the 40-year-old Benoit, his wife, Nancy, and his son Daniel were found dead but also had no other details.


Trying to enjoy the celebration of Chris's life but he isn't the only dead wrestler I end up seeing on the screen. This is a vicious ****ing buisness.

This almost has to be a murder/suicide.. so sad..

I read preliminary reporting that said the victims didn't die of gunshot wounds, but obviously any early reporting is suspect at best, and of course, a murder suicide doesn't have to involve a gun.

That was a long sentence. I apologize.

It's been a while since I followed wrestling....the storylines were getting too outlandish for me. But, guys like Benoit, Owen, and Eddy...they were the true ring warriors-guys that were fun to watch and weren't too over the top.

It seems like the WWE is having to do the 10 bell tribute far too often these days.

RIP Canadian Crippler.

That's what I'm afraid of.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Police are investigating a murder-suicide

I hope not. Benoit always seemed like a good guy and they just had 3 hours of wrestlers talking about how great he was.

That's about 15 less 4+* matches annually in the wwe now.

One of my favorite wrestlers since he was in the Horsemen.

Always had that god-awful mullet.

He will be missed.

Fox News is reporting that it does appear to be Murder-Suicide.

This is very sad...

I thought so as well. People can say what they want about Vince. Mick Foley said in his book, Hardcore Diaries, that Vince's main goal is to entertain the fans, even if he has to appear like a d.ick. Vince respected the fans by tributing a great one-Chris.


That's what is being said now-a double murder suicide. I can't see that. I just can't see Chris doing anything like that, not with his aweseom reputation. I don't know the wife, but who would want to murder Chris? I imagine it was some other person.

Yesterday, Benoit wan't at the Pay Per View for personal reasons. I read today that his son and wife were coughing up blood so he missed the pay per view to be with them, and that lately he has had his mind elsewhere (according to some WWE wrestlers). I don't know what happened, but he will be missed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070626/ap_on_...s/wrestler_dead



WWE.com



Looks like this is going to be true. I don't even know how to feel anymore. Especially after watching all the superstars pour their hearts out on national TV about how much of a great guy he is. I really hope he didn't do this.

Me too but he has been distracted lately, and he missed a pay per view...Something was wrong with the family. But I refuse to believe that Chris had anything to do with it.

That's what I thought about OJ when I heard Nicole Simpson had been murdered...


Good call me.

Could've been the wife...

I just can't believe this.....
When i first heard that his wife and son had died as well, murder suicide was the furthest thing from my mind.
I really hope that isn't the case.
A truly gifted wrestler and entertainer!

WWE releases timeline of events leading to deaths of the Benoit family
» Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
» On Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 1:59 AM EST

World Wrestling Entertainment is providing more details about the shocking turn of events leading to the deaths of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and son Daniel.

WWE officials were first notified this weekend by Benoit that he would be unable to appear at a scheduled Smackdown/ECW House Show in Beaumont, TX on Saturday and the Vengeance PPV the following Sunday in Houston, TX (where he was scheduled to compete for the vacant ECW World Title against CM Punk). Benoit informed WWE officials that he had a serious family emergency and left it at that.

WWE's VP of Government Relations Richard Hering was then made aware of several curious text messages sent by Benoit to WWE employees and wrestlers on Sunday morning. WrestleView.com has spoken with at least one strong source about this situation stating that Benoit's text messages almost had a "thank you and goodbye" theme to them causing many to be alarmed and concerned. As a result, Hering contacted Fayette County sheriffs on Monday and requested that they check out the Benoit residence when he was not getting back to WWE officials.

Authorities then responded to the Benoit residence and reportedly had a difficult time entering their new home on Monday afternoon, which was guarded by two large German Shepards roaming around the property. When authorites entered the home, they immediately located the bodies of Benoit, Nancy and Daniel. World Wrestling Entertainment was then notified of the discovery at approximately 4:00pm Eastern on Monday. A press conference was held Monday night by Lt. Pope officially ruling the findings as a double muder-suicide within the home.

As reported earlier, it is believed that Benoit killed his wife Nancy and 7-year-old son Daniel over the weekend and then killed himself on Monday. All three bodies have been received by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime lab in Decatur, GA. Autopsies will be performed Tuesday morning, while toxicology reports will not become available for two weeks. It is interesting to note that WWE.com is currently reporting that further information relating to the investigation and cause of death are known at this time, but the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department has requested that information not be released by WWE at this time.

Even though it is looking more and more likely, I still have trouble believing it. Something must have been seriously wrong mentally with him. It is a shame that we have stories like this all over this country when there clearly had to be something wrong, yet it goes unnoticed until it is too late.

This really sucks.

not much to say but feeling sorry for the family. Sad loss all around

Very sad..he will truly be missed. RIP Chris Benoit and family.

What the hell are you all talking about it...some clown who makes a living as an actor that you all have fallen in love with, kills his wife, and 7 year old and you guys are moaning our loss?

I am just glad he killed himself as well.

Seriously, most of these guys lead pretty messed up lives fed by "fame" and addictions up the ***. We know the persona, not the person. I love Shawn Michaels the wrestler, but I met him and he is a total ****. Coolest one I ever met was X-Pac, I forget what he was, this was back in WCW days. Biggest ****? Jeff Jarret by far. I met a bunch of them at a Bobby Mc Gees in San Fransisco one year.

Remember when Phil Hartman was killed by his wife? This reminds me of that. So out of left field and sad. My prayers go out to his surviving kids and family.

I wouldn't quite put it like that but..

I admit, that I am not a wrestling fan and have only casually watched it through out the years, finding it mildly entertaining when watched with friends who are passionate about it..

However, it blows my mind that people seem to think they knew Chris Benoit, saying what a great guy he was, and how he couldn't possibly have done it, as if they are CB's Best friend or next door neighbor or something. Does anyone of us REALLY know celebrities? Unless they get into legal trouble, we have no real clue what any celeb is really like, what they are capable of? It might not seem like it now, but OJ Simpson had one of the best images of any sports figure ever right up until he slit his wife's throat, and this was AFTER he'd been charged with spousal abuse. People forget that, that the Juice was one of the most fan friendly athletes ever, he seemed like a really great, nice guy. Old white guys loved him, and that took alot of doing back when the juice was ripping it up.

People get to personally and emotionally attached to stars... but they are getting attached to the "persona" The real Chris Benoit apparently was a very disturbed and violent man, and I'm afraid to say that it's much more likely to be a murder suicide than some Puerto Rican male breaking in and killing a family of three, one of which was a giant, muscle bound, violent athlete.

I am reserving judgement until all details are released. Its a tragedy plain and simple regardless of who,how and why. Msny people feel as though they knew Chris solely based on his on screen persona. As someone who has followed wrestling for a lot of years I can say that he was one the very few peformers that you never heard a negative thing said about.

A close friend of mine ran into Chris and his family at a theme park a few years back. My friend said he talked to Chris for a few minutes not about wrestling stuff but a family stuff and that Chris was super happy to have a few days off to enjoy with his family.

Oddly two weeks or so ago I was a woken at about 7:30am by my ex who manages in the restaurant of a local hotel to inform me that Benoit was siting a few feet from her.

If you add a J to the beginning of your username and squeeze a c inbetween that a and k, thats how I truely feel about you right now about your comments. Really, how the hell could you be so insensitive. It doesn't matter what happened or how it happened right now, a 40 year old man, his wife and a 7 year old boy is dead.

And how freaking sick could you be to actually say that you were glad he killed himself as well. Just that statement alone is disturbing.

Unfortunately, it was the first thing I thought. Not saying I thought Benoit was nuts or anything, but it was the first thing that popped in my head.




Spot on correct.

"Ballard told The Associated Press a gun was not used in any of the deaths. But he declined to say how the three died."

Interesting.

AKoff, Anytime your punk *** wants to meet face to face to dicsuss my friends's death, let me know.

We have grown up loving him. Which celebrities do you love? Maybe Daniel Negreanu-what if he died, would you be sad even though he made his living gambling?

Good post. Just because everyone close to him says he's a great guy, the public sees him as a great guy, and he is in his professional life, does not mean he's not capable of a murder-suicide.

RIP to Chris and his family.

Just heard on the radio that evidence showed he strangled his wife and smothered his son afterwards. I didnt catch how Chris died.

CNN/SI is reporting he strangled his wife (probably on Saturday), smothered his son (probably on Sunday) and than hanged himself on Monday. Police are also investigating the possible role that steroids played in all of this.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more...ex.html?cnn=yes

Reports are coming out now that he strangled his wife Saturday and smothered his son Sunday/Monday before hanging himself monday morning in his weight room. A number of wrestlers received text messages from him during the Sunday night PPV.

Anybody want to continue arguing that Chris wasn't on steroids? Seems like the behavior of a drug-free well balanced person to me...

Just a shame...

Yeah you never here of murder suicides where steroids weren't involved. What a classy thing to say.

You hear about them all the time, but they don't generally involve a guy with gigantic muscles who literally choked the life out of his wife and child whom he adored by universal accounts. Yes, I'm making an assumption, but I'd bet every penny I have to my name that it's the correct assumption.

You really want to start attacking me personally? Really?

i agree 100% with akoff...

this whole thing is sad and disturbing, and i feel very bad for the family...but "feeling bad" for the POS that caused all this is just wrong IMO...

and SS24, you paying tribute to him (your sig) is creeping me out a bit.

I edited my personal attack from the last post and apologize. YOu could very well be right. Hell I'm a fan and am not naive to think that the guy never took any enhancement drugs but its a little early to suggest that that was the reason for this tragedy. Even if he was on them it make not have been a factor. I don't believe I've ever heard of a multi day long roid rage incident but I may be wrong.

It absolutely matters how it happened. Right now it's looking 95%+ that he brutally murdered his wife and kid.

And since akoff's statement was made after likely knowing he was a murderer, I dont see whats wrong with saying Benoit should have killed himself after doing something so disgusting.

Accepted, ty.

I was a fan of his too, back when I watched wrestling a lot (haven't for years now though). As much as I'd like to think that a lot of these guys aren't abusing drugs, having met a few professional wrestlers and spoken to guys close to the business tells me that the guys who bust their butts trying to make it without chemical help are the exception rather than the rule. The human body just isn't designed to be that big or to take that much abuse on a constant basis, hence the huge list of former pro wrestlers who died before seeing their 60th birthday.

Just look at the guys who've died over the years from long-term drug abuse...Eddie Guererro, British Bulldog, Bam Bam, Brian Pillman, Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand, etc, etc, etc...

I just can't entertain the notion for a second that steroid abuse didn't lead to the tragedy, and if I'm wrong I'll certainly admit to a making an unfair assumption.

*Edit* Also, it didn't have to be a multi-day rage (I have no idea if those happen or not), could have easily been a rage-induced murder of the wife, followed by a grief-induced killing of his son and ultimately himself.

Here's what's wrong with saying that: If he did something so horrendous, he should've taken his punishment like a man. It's the same thing that I said after Virginia Tech and what pisses me off about these tragedies.

Killing yourself's the coward's way out. Not that it doesn't have its consequences, but still...

Maybe, but if his punishment should have been execution, then he did take his punishment, didnt he?

I think it is more honorable to recognize that you no longer deserve to live and kill yourself, rather than have the government prosecute you and relive everything in a prurient public trial.

At least killing himself possibly shows that he recognized the wrongness of his actions, rather than having some outside entity intervene.

I guess you could say that a trial potentially achieves some sort of closure for those affected, but I really dont see how it would make much of a difference in how those who knew the victims felt.

The whole thing just sucks, plain and simple. I'm a fan, a huge fan. I know these guys are "Super Hero's" on TV and have personal lives, but it still is hard when you watch them every week. You look up to them. I'm 27 and have been watching since I was 10. I will continue to watch, it's just really sad to see someone you cheer or boo each week end up in a situation like this. I am in no way shape or form condoning what happened because there is absolutely no reason for it, but being for a fan for so long, it does blur your perception. Tomorrow or the next day I may be feeling alot of different emotions just as I have for the last 20 plus hours. It went from Sadness to Anger to Confusion. It's being selfish saying I am going to miss so much cheering him on, but so be it. Yes, as a person he made some real bad choices this weekend, choices NO ONE should choose to do, but as a fan and just looking at it from a fan stand point, it all is just a major shock. Sorry if this is just rambaling and I'm leaving work and probably should edit it, but so be it.

Even if the killing of the wife was rage induced, I can see no reason EVER, EVER, EVER for wanting to kill your child. I can take a lot of things, but to even think about my son or daughter being hurt by me or anyone else kills me. No matter what kind of rage or grief you may have, you have to be a sick individual to kill your child.

Since the eventual outcome would have probably been either life in prison or punishment of death, I too am glad he went ahead and took the burden off of our legal system, but I just wish he's have done it before he hurt an innocent child.

I guess I feel as though looking at this as a roid rage incident almost gives it an excuse well maybe reason is a better word and I think it tragedy's like this there really is never an answer. All the facts seem to be out that Benoit held some deep disturbed mental problems and its a shame. A shame that a legacy he worked hard on for twenty years has just been flushed. But much more than that a shame that two innocent people died. That in the end is the ultimate tragedy. Its also a shame that again a negative light is cast on an industry based on the disgusting actions of one man.

Especially when he strangled the kid and had to feel him screaming and writhing. I can't imagine anybody strangling a kid.

Here's a recap I pulled from Rajah.com (WWE fan site) of the Police Dept press conference held today. There's some disturbing details in it, so don't read if you don't want to know.:








Below are notes from this afternoon's press conference regarding the Benoit family tragedy. This report was written by Richard Gray of WrestlingNewsWorld.com.

Lt. Tommy Pope:

- Benoit’s wife Nancy was murdered Friday by asphyxiation. She was in the office area of the house, dead, for close to a day

- Benoit’s son Daniel was murdered Saturday by asphyxiation. Daniel was confirmed to be in his bed when law enforcement officials found him.

- Chris Benoit committed suicide late Saturday early Sunday. No type of suicide note or anything in the house was located.

- Authorities are still waiting further results from crime lab and toxicology reports which could take several weeks to get back.

- Only one prior arrest of Chris Benoit is known. It was allegedly for a DUI, but nothing can be confirmed. There is no knowledge at this time if there was a history of domestic violence with Chris Benoit. It was also not know whether or not a divorce had been filed.

- Lots of prescription medications found in Benoit’s house that police believe to be illegal prescriptions at this time. However, he then said that police found anabolic steroids but would not say what all they found without a full list.

Police would not release a motive at this time.

- Law enforcement officials reported that Benoit text messaged a co-worker, which was received several hours after it was sent; contents of the message were not revealed. It was also not confirmed who the message was sent too, other than a co-worker.

- Steroids were not directly related to any of the deaths, police are unable to answer what Chris Benoit’s state of mind was during the killings.

District Attorney Scott Ballard:

- Bibles found by both victims, Nancy and Daniel Benoit.

- Nancy was found with her wrist and feet bound, she was on her feet, with blood under her head. That was the only sign of a struggle (the blood under her head). She was wrapped in a towel.

- Both victims were found clothed.

- Ballard said that he was told in 2003 a temporary protective order was sought and later dismissed. Ballard said that orders are typically for domestic violence, but not always.

- Ballard said that he is baffled why anyone would kill a 7 year old kid, but has no idea of the motive.

- Ballard said that there was no evidence that Chris Benoit was trying to hide the bodies. It is unknown if the Benoits have family in the area but they do have other family.

- Ballard said that he is not aware of any 911 calls and he has not personally talked to World Wrestling Entertainment.

- The three bodies were found in three different rooms, according to DA Ballard.

- Daniel Benoit’s body was found in his bed in his upstairs bedroom.

- Nancy Benoit’s body was in what looked to be in a family room upstairs.

- Chris Benoit’s body was found downstairs in the house in a weight room. Benoit was hung by a cord attached to a pulley used in weight lifting.

- Nothing further is known about the family emergency that Chris Benoit told WWE that he had to deal with.

- The next step in the investigation will be the toxicology reports. At this point, they are pretty clear it was a murder-suicide. Authorities need to get toxicology reports back to draw a firm confusion. Steroids were found but authorities can’t confirm he was on steroids. It could take several weeks to get toxicology reports.

- Ballard confirms that Bibles were found by each of the two victims, he did not know if they were identical or opened.




Basically, the man used steroids, but it can't be confirmed without a toxicology report whether or not he was on a cycle of them at the time of the killings.