Chris Benoit : Dead

[Dingbat]

World Wrestling Entertainment is deeply saddened to report that today former ECW, WCW and WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and his family were found dead in their home. There are no further details at this time, other than the Benoit family residence is currently being investigated by local authorities.

Tonight’s Raw on Sky Sports (start time 1am) will serve as a tribute to Chris Benoit and his family. WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family’s relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy.
I didn't know whether to place this in Pap or in Sports & Bets, but I thought here was appropriate.

Chris Benoit was one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history and he will be sorely missed. For anyone who remembers WWE WrestleMania 20, it will be a sad moment to try and watch the ending to that show from now on.

It currently seems as if Benoit, 40, his wife Nancy, 43 and his son Daniel, 7, had contracted tuberculosis - Benoit's wife and son were already suffering from an illness when he called WWE on Saturday to notify them that he could not make the Sunday night event as he had to look after them. The family lived in Atlanta, Georgia, site of the 2007 tuberculosis scare (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_tuberculosis_scare).

EDIT: It has later emerged that Benoit apparently killed both his wife and his son, then hung himself.

[katox]

Whoah! I've not watched wrestling in ages (was a bit of a fan several years back ~blush~), but I think I can remember his name. How very sad. :(

[Roxit]

R.I.P Chris Benoit, Nancy and Daniel

I'm a keen wrestling fan and I don't give a shit what you view on it is. I'm very shocked by this and deeply saddend. Chris was a great wrestler and could really put on a great show. He also helped a lot backstage, recently making MVP his project to help him inprove.

The WWE did the right thing by cancelling their show and have Vince McMahon come out and explain that he isn't really dead and that it was just a work, but Chris Benoit is really dead.

My thoughts go out to their relatives.

[Kinga86]

Chris Benoit was a great man/wrestler and he will be missed by both friends and fans. RIP.

[Mezmerize]

OMG, This is spooky I was playing Wrestling (Smackdown V's Raw the first one) game and my first title defence was against Chris Benoit :(

RIP Benoit and family

[Roachy]

Benoit'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, 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.


Jesus Christ. That's what the WWE website says....

[Some Random Kid]

Omg are you kidding?

[Roachy]

Omg are you kidding?
wwe.com (http://wwe.com)

check it out.

[Some Random Kid]

*sigh* I remember when he came to where I live i got his autograph... This has deeply made me sad. :(

[Cerberus]

When I used to watch wrestling, Chris was my favourite along with The Rock.

How saddening, I remember him well.

[Thomp]

Completely unexpected... and a double murder suicide too :(

RIP

[Hydralisk]

It does beg the question though: why?

He had a great career going on, a (presumably) loving family, great friends, etc.

RIP.

[Thomp]

It does beg the question though: why?

Sometimes people feel as though they don't need a reason

[Some Random Kid]

I just don't see why he took his son and wife as well...He seemed like a good man...When he wasn't busting ass.

[CheHamstera]

What a tragedy. I remember him from years back.

No point in asking why - the only people who could have told you are gone now. We can speculate, and I'm sure people will, but we'll never know for sure.

[Midget]

i'm not sure whether i want to say RIP yet, so i'll wait until we find out what happened for definite :/

[edit]
woah, i'm hearing rumours that his wife killed his son, so he killed his wife, texted some people (including Chavo Guerrerro) to alert the police and then hung himself in the gym

[Shiny]

Holy crap...He was actually my favorite wrestler when I was into it.

All I can say is one great big :(

[Roxit]

Yeah I don't have a clue what to think or feel at the moment. So I guess we will just have to wait.

The Smackdown and ECW tapings will be back to normal tonight. I think the WWE may be a little embarrassed at the moment. Raw was turned into a 3 hours special celebrating the life of Chris Benoit - but now he might be a murderer.

[Mister Qwerty]

I didn't know who he was at first. But, wouldn't it be on the news at some point?

[Thomp]

i'm not sure whether i want to say RIP yet, so i'll wait until we find out what happened for definite :/

[edit]
woah, i'm hearing rumours that his wife killed his son, so he killed his wife, texted some people (including Chavo Guerrerro) to alert the police and then hung himself in the gym

If that's true, then it's unbelievably weird...

[WraithMaster]

If you look back to Chavo talking on Raw last night about Benoit, he made quite a few comments about how he was always a secretive guy, but the last couple of days before this happened, Benoit did something different and let Chavo into his house and made him feel welcome and everything. Chavo mentioned that the last thing that Benoit said to him was, "I love you, Chavo." It didn't strike me as absurd or anything that Benoit said that until this info was released. Know what I mean?

[Roxit]

Oh dear. It appears that this happened,

Benoit strangled his wife Saturday night.

Sent text messages to wrestlers during the Vengence PPV.

Smothered his son after the PPV Sunday night.

Hung humself Monday morning.

WWE called police to check on Benoit after he no showed the weekend shows.

I'm not 100% on this though. It seems it was down to what people are calling 'Roid Rage'

[Dingbat]

I'm in utter shock over the revelations regarding this situation; revelations which are completely horrifying if true.

Chris Benoit was one of my favourite wrestlers when I began to watch attentively, and now this...

[Dr S]

I'm in utter shock over the revelations regarding this situation; revelations which are completely horrifying if true.

Chris Benoit was one of my favourite wrestlers when I began to watch attentively, and now this...

what he said ... bloody hell

[captain canuck]

Rather surreal and distressing stuff, for a fan, former fan, or even casual observer (I'd hope).

I was going to say that the tragedy was at least lessened by the fact that his two children (both daughters, I believe) "from a previous relationship" were in Canada at the time, so they were spared involvement.

But they're still involved, despite being survivors. :(

I want an address or something so I can mail condolences to the extended Benoit family. Seriously.

[Youlikeyams?]

Holy crap...He was actually my favorite wrestler when I was into it.

All I can say is one great big :(

Same here. :(

[Taysmith]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286737,00.html

[Roachy]

It does beg the question though: why?
I think that's what we'd all like to know but at present, Police are not releasing any information about his possible motive...

[matt bird]

it was me

i crippler crossfaced him and then his family

[Roachy]

it was me

i crippler crossfaced him and then his family
I thought you'd have said something more tasteful like... I dunno...

"CHRIS BENDEAD MORE LIKE!"

....Like that.

[Thomp]

CN just reported this:

Steroids found at wrestler's house of death
Pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and asphyxiated his son, Daniel, before hanging himself in the weight room of the family's suburban Atlanta home, law enforcement said Tuesday. Authorities also said they found a number of drugs -- all believed to be legal -- including steroids.

Also heard he had taken the steroids and flown into a rage before murdering his wife and son

[Flava Dave]

Steroids don't turn you into a family-murdering maniac. They just make your balls fall off.



Edit: Although making your own balls fall off may count as pre-emptive family murder.

[Roachy]

There are very few wrestlers (if any) that don't take performance enhancing drugs.

[matt bird]

the gospel according to roach

[Roachy]

the gospel according to roach
Damn straight!

[Dingbat]

There are very few wrestlers (if any) that don't take performance enhancing drugs.
Actually that hasn't been the case for a couple of years, and has almost never been the case on the independent wrestling scene. There was a noticable change after WWE were pretty much forced to implement a drugs-testing policy following the death of Eddie Guerrero in 2005. Wrestlers disappeared from television and returned at half the size. Any performance enhancers that are still being used today are either prescribed or legal, otherwise any wrestler found to be using them will be subject to a suspension without pay and possibly even a contract termination.

[captain canuck]

The Wellness Policy eh? I thought they gave up on that ages ago.

If it's still going, there must be tons of loopholes, exceptions, and ways around it.

[Mutey]

Woah, that's really sad. I remember him from when I used to watch wrestling a long time ago. :(

[Scott Star]

R.I.P Nancy and Daniel Benoit.

[DangerMouse]

I think the title of this thread needs changing.

Drugs or no drugs, what he did was sickening and totally unforgiveable. A cowardly scumbag.

[sushi.]

I'm also not sure why all the attention is being drawn to him as being a tragic character with little attention to his victims. I tend to agree with the above.

[WraithMaster]

WWE.com now has a timeline of what went on the last time they heard from Benoit.

http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/chrisbenoittimeline

As facts emerged surrounding the case, all tributes to Chris Benoit were removed both on-air and on WWE.com.

They must be fairly humiliated now because of last night's tribbie episode.

[Dingbat]

I think the title of this thread needs changing.

Drugs or no drugs, what he did was sickening and totally unforgiveable. A cowardly scumbag.
I agree wholeheartedly. When I originally read what had happened I deliberated over what to call the thread, but since Benoit was a favourite of mine I decided R.I.P. was best.

Now, after what's emerged, it makes me sick to my stomach to even think of how upset I was.

I feel sorry for WWE, actually. Steroids couldn't have made him do this, so there's no sense in pretending like this was the fault of their Wellness policy. They made a three-hour tribute to the man under the assumption that this was a terrible tragedy, and then this emerges.

[Midget]

i still don't think you should all be jumping on him this soon

at least wait until we have a little more info

[Hydralisk]

I think the title of this thread needs changing.

Drugs or no drugs, what he did was sickening and totally unforgiveable. A cowardly scumbag.
Don't be so quick to condemn him - one of my mates thinks that he might have gone temporarily mad, or suffered a degrade in mental health. I'm still in awe about this, but he could very well have not been in control of himself.

Nevertheless, this is still a huge shock to me. RIP Nancy, Daniel, and (for now) Chris Benoit.

[Swedey]

This whole thing is so bizarre, if it emerges that this is some elaborate work I will not be surprised.

[Scott Star]

This whole thing is so bizarre, if it emerges that this is some elaborate work I will not be surprised.

Dude...this is no work, the Vince McMahon death was a work but they had to drop the angle cos of Benoits death.

I had so much respect for Chris, but after reading all this I just regret feeling sad about it.

I hope they examine Chris' brain, I have a theory that repeated concussions may have resulted in this temporary insanity or something.

Either way, all evidence points to Chris doing this and it's disgusting, all his friends who were mourning him on the WWE Raw tribute show, talking about him and how he loved his family...the next day the news comes out that it was most likely Chris, that's just a knife in the back to all of those people.

[captain canuck]

Don't be so quick to condemn him - one of my mates thinks that he might have gone temporarily mad, or suffered a degrade in mental health. This wouldn't actually be too surprising, and it sounds like one Chris Nowinski, former WWE wrestler (who I'd imagine has right to believe he can judge the effects of a head trauma, given that he's still living with some of them) had the same idea.

It doesn't quite forgive things in the end, and I'm still inclined to wonder why wrestlers continue to comment, adding stuff like "I'll see you soon, anyway", practically disregarding the latest news.

1. Only in radical Islamic movements do suicides end up in Heaven, and given that it is the most likely explanation of the "see you soon", it just seems improbable.

2. Nor do murderers, even if the cause was beyond their immediate control.

[Teri]

Dunno if its true (cause I dont keep up with wrestlign anymore) but one of my mates who's really into it says apparantley one of his best friends had died recently aswell and that might have had somehting to do with it. He's pretty sure that it was him that killed the family though..

[Scott Star]

Dunno if its true (cause I dont keep up with wrestlign anymore) but one of my mates who's really into it says apparantley one of his best friends had died recently aswell and that might have had somehting to do with it. He's pretty sure that it was him that killed the family though..

He'll be talking about Eddie Guerrero who died in 2005



From what I've been reading recently, Daniel had the fragile X syndrome Some reports claim Benoit didnt trust Nancy with her handling of Daniel while dad was out on the road. So he was home whenever he could be. Maybe thats why Nancy and Daniel attended lots of WWE events, as well. So there could have been a deep resentment on Benoits part towards Nancy that boiled over in an intense argument which may have resulted an accidental homicide of his wife, Nancy...

So, Benoit killed Daniel's mother and he would have gone to jail, leaving Daniel all alone in a world where his condition has little help resources and tears families apart. I Don't at all condone what he did; but judging by the bibles placed next to his wife and son, the death of Nancy was accidental or at least afterwards he was remorseful and somehow felt that there was no way Daniel would have a chance in the world with such a rare disease and a lack of people who know/want to deal with it. The fact that he waited around for a few hours could have been spent wondering what the hell to do. So he killed Daniel for the reasons stated above, in my opinion (which is still horrible, but there is some sense of a tragic incident rather than a grisly killing).

[Teri]

It wasn't Eddie (he would just said that if it was him) but he specifically said he must be goign through a hard time with eddie dying last year and then one of his best friends recently

Maybe he's talking shit though

[matt bird]

he should have used suntan lotion

it keeps away HARMFUL RAYS

[ZekeyLizard]

I'm no scientist, but I think Chris might have been insane. You know with the murderin' and all.

[Midget]

Initially reported on Wikinews, FOXNews.com later reported that news of Nancy Benoit's death was posted on Wikipedia half a day before the police discovered the bodies. The posting reads: “Chris Benoit was replaced by Johnny Nitro for the ECW Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.” The phrase "stemming from the death of his wife Nancy" was added to the English Wikipedia's "Chris Benoit" article at 12:01 a.m. EDT on June 25, whereas the Fayette County police reportedly discovered the bodies of the Benoit family at 2:30 p.m. EDT (14 hours, 29 minutes later). The IP address of the editor was traced to Stamford, Connecticut, which is also the location of WWE headquarters.
woah... weird shit

[captain canuck]

Now that's a trip.

It could also seriously damage the WWE, in terms of the response from investigators and such, if they traced it to HQ. And that's regardless of the knowing involvement of a company employee, or anyone else.

[capidosia]

the current theroy is that he snapped at his wife, after an arguement over their son, who was special needs....... badly ill, and killed her. Then deciding that his son wouldn't recieve the care he needed with his mum dead, and his dad either in jail or dead, decided to "protect" his son, and smother him in his sleep, then couldn't live with the greef, he hung himself.

i can kinda see why he would do that, not condoning his actions in any way, but i can see how he thaught he was protecting his son.

and as for roid rage, all benoits drugs we leagal, and either apetite supressors making him able to burn off fat easier in he gym, or leagal pain killers for his neck and back. Roid rage was the case with the likes of scott stiener when he beat his wife up so bad she ended up in hospital, and scott "razor ramon" hall when he put his wife in a&e, but benoit was always carefull to avoid that.

[The Mna]

People have killed for weirder reasons... reasons most other people would not agree with, but still valid to the killers.

[Scott Star]

It's not Roid Rage anyway capidosia...Roid rage won't last a whole weekend.
But other than that I agree with you, like what I said in my last long post =P

[Midget]

the "roid rage" could have just driven him to kill his wife though, his son's killing and the suicide could have simply been out of depression and the reasons mentioned above

[Smokey]

Come on, this only happened a couple of days ago. Most of the facts are speculation from the media and the police haven't finished the investigation yet. They won't even have finished the autopsies let alone gotten any forensic evidence back yet. Let the police finish this before you begin to judge this man.

I myself am shocked. Benoit always seemed a professional when working and although I know little of his personal life I wouldn't have had him high on my list of Wrestlers who kill. The Wikipedia thing is weird but it'll most likely turn out to be some innocent explaination.

[captain canuck]

Apparently the Wikipedia thing was a poor choice of wording made by a completely innocent party. I suspect he'll still be investigated thoroughly, though, just to be sure his story checks out.

[Scott Star]

Acccording to the WON, Nancy had placed a letter in a saftey deposit box which said something along the lines of "If something happened to me, Chris did it." She apparently said similar things to a friend on Thursday night. That pretty much kills any idea of this being some big out of character thing by Chris Benoit. This was clearly something that at least some people saw coming.

According to Dave in this week's Observer, it appears that Benoit did, indeed, use a form of the Crippler Crossface on Daniel. Apparently investigators found marks on the boy's arms and face that they didn't understand. Upon watching a tape of a Benoit match and seeing the move it made sense. There were no marks on the neck. They just said it was a "choke" as to not further sensationalize an already sensationalized story.

According to Dave again, close friends always knew Benoit had the same problems as Eddy with pills and the like and thought Benoit seriously needed to see a therapist, but no one suggested it to him since he wasn't the type to be open to that sort of thing.

....He used the crippler crossface to kill his 7 year old son.

Wow.

[Explosivo]

Acccording to the WON, Nancy had placed a letter in a saftey deposit box which said something along the lines of "If something happened to me, Chris did it." She apparently said similar things to a friend on Thursday night. That pretty much kills any idea of this being some big out of character thing by Chris Benoit. This was clearly something that at least some people saw coming.

According to Dave in this week's Observer, it appears that Benoit did, indeed, use a form of the Crippler Crossface on Daniel. Apparently investigators found marks on the boy's arms and face that they didn't understand. Upon watching a tape of a Benoit match and seeing the move it made sense. There were no marks on the neck. They just said it was a "choke" as to not further sensationalize an already sensationalized story.

According to Dave again, close friends always knew Benoit had the same problems as Eddy with pills and the like and thought Benoit seriously needed to see a therapist, but no one suggested it to him since he wasn't the type to be open to that sort of thing.

....He used the crippler crossface to kill his 7 year old son.

Wow.

Its a kick in the teeth when you find out your childhood hero has now been completely tainted. But I think in all honesty the people who have come out worst from this are the rest of his family, parents, ex-wife and other children. Hes not destroyed 3 lives, hes destroy a lot many more.

[captain canuck]

I'd imagine his two surviving children (David and Meghan, I think are their names) are the most likely to be scarred by the whole set of events.

[capidosia]

it's gonna be interesting when they get the 3 toxicology samples back, and complete the autopsy findings and release them, so far i'm taking everything that comes from anywere with a pinch of salt...... i have a feeling that most things that have been mentioned in the press are gonna turn out wrong, but we shall see soon enough. they estimated 2 weeks for a full tox scan, and then they can finish the autopsy report, and make their findings public.

it's not as if we haven't already had enough bull slung towards this story, and the wrestling busness in general over this that have already been disproven.

patentice however is not one of my vertues...... i wanna know now!

[::MTV::]

we love you chris rock on forevermore

I mean like in the afterlife

[Midget]

we love you chris rock on forevermore
did you even read the thread?

[captain canuck]

I think obviously not.

He/she/it has been living under a rock.

[Luna]

we love you chris rock on forevermore

EDIT: I mean like in the afterlife

Oh, that's alright, as long as you're saying he rocks in the afterlife it doesn't matter that he's a murderer.

[Martinus]

I have to admit in retrospect that this has all been very bandwagon-esque:

We love you unfortunate Mr Benoit -> You horrify us you monster.

You're assuming that this guy didn't have any underlying mental issues prior to what happened here. Any number of factors including steriod abuse, performance pressure, upbringing, religious influence, could have affected his decision making ability.

You should in fact feel sorry for the guy, he obviously considered suicide to be the only avenue open to him. If that's not a position worthy of a little compassion then what is?

[Luna]

I have to admit in retrospect that this has all been very bandwagon-esque:

We love you unfortunate Mr Benoit -> You horrify us you monster.

You're assuming that this guy didn't have any underlying mental issues prior to what happened here. Any number of factors including steriod abuse, performance pressure, upbringing, religious influence, could have affected his decision making ability.

You should in fact feel sorry for the guy, he obviously considered suicide to be the only avenue open to him. If that's not a position worthy of a little compassion then what is?

It is sad if he had mental problems, but I don't think anything could justify killing his son. Also, just to point out, I wasn't one of those who was leaving tributes to him and everything (I know that wasn't directed specifically at me, but I'm just saying).

[Martinus]

It is sad if he had mental problems, but I don't think anything could justify killing his son. Also, just to point out, I wasn't one of those who was leaving tributes to him and everything (I know that wasn't directed specifically at me, but I'm just saying).

Consider the ramifications of that for a moment; what you're saying is in no case can a person who has a psychotic episode and kills be considered anything other than evil.
In your opinion a person who is subjected to head trauma and undergoes a personality change and subsequently kills was always evil? Dodgy territory there.

You'd have to assume that everyone is inherently evil and it's simply a lack of trauma that makes the good, false part of us prevail.

[Luna]

Consider the ramifications of that for a moment; what you're saying is in no case can a person who has a psychotic episode and kills be considered anything other than evil.
In your opinion a person who is subjected to head trauma and undergoes a personality change and subsequently kills was always evil? Dodgy territory there.

You'd have to assume that everyone is inherently evil and it's simply a lack of trauma that makes the good, false part of us prevail.

I'd understand if he had gone completely mental, which he may have, no one knows, but from what it sounds like it was a sort of mercy killing, which doesn't seem right.

[Martinus]

For me it's not about what 'may' have happened, it's about what definately happened. A man decided to take his own life and the life of someone he devoted himself to because he assumed there was no other option.

[CheHamstera]

Well said Martinus. I wanted to say something myself but thought discussing morality and phsychosis here would be like banging my head against a wall.

... Which is all very ironic really.

'Good' and 'bad' remains much easier for people to understand than temporary insanity and personality changes. We don't know what happened, so we can't condemn anyone. We should just offer our sympathies.

[Luna]

For me it's not about what 'may' have happened, it's about what definately happened. A man decided to take his own life and the life of someone he devoted himself to because he assumed there was no other option.

I completely agree, sorry if it seems I'm being argumentative, I've dug myself a bit of a hole.

[Martinus]

Nah, I didn't take it that way, I just wanted to know how you qualified your point. People surprise me with interesting points of view all of the time. :)

[HChinaski]

The really sad part is that there was a WWE referee in Benoit's house that weekend, but was distracted for dozens of hours by a prolonged diversion Ric Flair was creating out in the garden.

[Scott Star]

The really sad part is that there was a WWE referee in Benoit's house that weekend, but was distracted for dozens of hours by a prolonged diversion Ric Flair was creating out in the garden.

That's not even the least bit funny =|