Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide


Over a three-day period between June 22 and 24, 2007, Chris Benoit, a 40-year-old veteran Canadian professional wrestler employed by World Wrestling Entertainment and living in Fayetteville, Georgia, killed his wife Nancy Benoit and suffocated their 7-year-old son, Daniel, before hanging himself. Autopsy results showed that Benoit's wife was murdered first as she was bound at the feet and wrists and died of asphyxiation on the night of June 22. On June 25, Nancy was found wrapped in a towel and with blood under her head, although Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard reported no other signs of a struggle.
The couple's son, Daniel Christopher Benoit, also died of asphyxia, killed as he was lying in his bed on the morning of June 23. Then, on the evening of June 24, Benoit committed suicide in his weight room, when he used his lateral pulldown machine to hang himself. He placed copies of the Bible alongside the bodies of his wife and son,. Since Benoit's suicide, numerous explanations for his actions have been proposed, including severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, steroid and alcohol abuse,, leading to a failing marriage and other personal problems. The incident led to numerous media accounts, and a federal investigation into steroid abuse in professional wrestling.

Murders and suicide

Nancy Benoit

On Friday June 22, 2007, Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy in an upstairs bedroom. Her limbs were bound, and her body was wrapped in a towel. A copy of the Bible was left by her body. Injuries indicated that Benoit had pressed a knee into her back while pulling on a cord around her neck, causing strangulation. Officials said that there were no signs of immediate struggle. Toxicologists found alcohol in her body, but were unable to determine whether it had been present before death or was a decomposition product. Decomposition also made it difficult to estimate pre-death levels of hydrocodone and alprazolam, found in "therapeutic levels" in her body. In any case, her medical examiner saw no evidence that she was sedated, as her son had been when he was killed.

Daniel Benoit

Daniel Christopher Benoit was Chris' third child and second son, having older paternal half-siblings named David and Megan via Chris's first wife, Martina. He was Nancy's only child, as she had no children with her ex-husbands Jim Daus and Kevin Sullivan.
Daniel was suffocated and killed in his bedroom, and a copy of the Bible was left by his body. Daniel had internal injuries to the throat area, showing no bruises. Daniel's exact time of death is unknown. The reports determined Daniel was sedated with Xanax and likely unconscious when he was killed. Daniel's body had also just started to show signs of decomposition but was not as far along as his mother's body.
It was later alleged that Daniel had Fragile X syndrome and that this was the cause of domestic problems in the Benoit family. It was also suggested that needle marks on Daniel's arms were the result of growth hormones given to him because Benoit and his family considered him undersized due to Fragile X. Benoit's coworker and best friend, wrestler Chris Jericho, stated that from his own research on the condition, the symptoms "fit Daniel to a tee, all across the board". Concerning those who had publicly stated that they had no knowledge of Daniel having the condition, Jericho said, "If Chris had decided that he wanted to keep it to himself, you wouldn't have been able to pry that out of him with anything." Despite Chris Jericho's initial statements regarding Daniel, he later stated in his 2011 book Undisputed, "It turned out that Daniel didn't have Fragile X, but at the time it made sense because I was grasping at straws."
District Attorney Ballard later released a statement saying that a source with access to Daniel's medical files found no mention of any pre-existing mental or physical ailments. Likewise, Daniel Benoit's teachers reported that he was on par with other students and not about to be held back as previously thought. Speaking publicly for the first time in a major public interview on a Talk is Jericho podcast in 2016, Nancy's sister Sandra Toffoloni, who was intimately related with the Benoit family, unequivocally denied any claims that Daniel had ever had Fragile X or any other such condition. She also stated that claims of needle track marks on Daniel's arms were "preposterous".

After the murders

At about 3:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday June 23, 2007, fellow wrestler and close friend Chavo Guerrero received a voicemail message from Benoit's phone stating that he had overslept and missed his flight and would be late for that night's house show in Beaumont, Texas. Guerrero called Benoit back and found that Benoit sounded tired and groggy as he confirmed everything that he had said in his voice message. Guerrero, who was "concerned about Benoit's tone and demeanor," called him back 12 minutes later. Benoit did not answer the call, and Guerrero left a message asking Benoit to call back.
At 3:44 p.m. EDT, Benoit called Guerrero back, stating that he had not answered the call because he was on the phone with Delta Air Lines changing his flight. Benoit stated that he had a stressful day due to Nancy and Daniel "being sick from food poisoning". Guerrero then replied with "All right man, if you need to talk, I'm here for you". Benoit ended the conversation by saying "Chavo, I love you". During a 2014 appearance on Chris Jericho's Talk is Jericho podcast, Guerrero said Benoit sounded "off" when he talked to him, especially when he said, "I love you". Another co-worker who often traveled with Benoit called him from outside the Houston airport and Benoit answered. Benoit told the coworker that Nancy was vomiting blood and that Daniel was also vomiting. Benoit failed to show up for the house show in Beaumont, and left a voicemail on Chavo Guerrero's cell phone that he would be on a flight that would arrive in Houston at 8:00 a.m. CDT on the following morning. During this time, Benoit also called and left a voicemail for an unknown friend.
On Sunday June 24, 2007, five text messages were sent to co-workers between 3:51 a.m. and 3:58 a.m. using both Chris Benoit's and Nancy Benoit's cell phones. Four of them were the Benoits' address; the fifth said that the family's dogs were in the enclosed pool area, and also noted that a garage side door had been left open. Guerrero and referee Scott Armstrong were two of the recipients of these texts. Chavo Guerrero was woken up by the texts, and went back to sleep, telling himself that he was picking Chris Benoit up at Houston airport in a few hours. Benoit failed to show at Houston airport on the flight that arrived at 8:00 a.m.
Late Sunday morning, Benoit called WWE's talent relations office stating that his son was vomiting and that he and Nancy were at the hospital with him. He also stated that he would be taking a later flight into Houston where he was scheduled to face CM Punk for the vacant ECW World Heavyweight Championship at. Benoit failed to appear for the Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view event in Houston on the night of Sunday June 24.

Chris Benoit

Chris Benoit, according to District Attorney Ballard and the city sheriff, committed suicide by hanging. Benoit used a weight machine cord to hang himself by creating a noose from the end of the cord on a pull-down machine from which the bar had been removed. Benoit released the weights, causing his strangulation. Ballard said Benoit was found hanging from the pulley cable.
On the 2016 Talk is Jericho podcast, Nancy's sister Sandra Toffoloni clarified some details further. She said that over the weekend after the murders, the search history on Benoit's computer showed he had researched "the quickest and easiest way to break a neck". He had then later used a towel around his neck attached to the handle of the machine, which he pulled down using a very heavy weight and let go, breaking his neck instantly.

Discovery of the bodies

On Monday June 25, 2007, WWE wrestlers and senior officials arrived in Corpus Christi for WWE Raw, which was to take place on that Monday night at the American Bank Center. As the early hours of the afternoon progressed and the show got closer to starting, WWE senior officials were increasingly concerned that they hadn’t heard from Chris Benoit in over 24 hours. Chavo Guerrero then showed the WWE Vice President of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis, the texts that he and Scott Armstrong had received from Chris and Nancy’s cellphones in the early hours of Sunday. As some more time progressed without any contact from Chris Benoit, WWE called the Fayetteville, Georgia police for a welfare check at the Benoit household. After discovering the bodies, the police notified WWE around 4:15 p.m., informing them that they had discovered three bodies at the Benoit home and the house was now ruled as a "major crime scene".
A suicide note was not discovered during the initial investigation, but a note was later discovered in another Bible that had been included in Benoit's possessions that were sent to his first wife. According to professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, "There was a note that was found in a Bible by the mother of Chris' two children who lives in Canada. The Bible was mixed in with Chris' personal belongings that were shipped to them." Chris Benoit's father Michael Benoit stated, "He had a hand-written notation in there saying 'I'm preparing to leave this Earth.'"

Memorial and cremation

A memorial for Nancy and Daniel took place in Daytona Beach, Florida, on July 14, 2007. Both were cremated and their ashes placed in starfish-shaped urns for Nancy's family. Chris was also cremated, following a private memorial service in Ardrossan, Alberta, Canada on August 6, 2007 but the fate of his ashes has not been publicly revealed.

Possible motives

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt appeared on Live with Dan Abrams on July 17, 2007, and 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 Christopher Nowinski stated that Benoit may have been suffering from repeated, untreated concussions throughout his wrestling career, ultimately leading to an unstable mental state. Nowinski was quoted as saying that Benoit "was one of the only guys who would take a chair shot to the back of the head ... which is stupid". Tests conducted on Benoit's brain by Julian Bailes, the head of neurosurgery at West Virginia University, showed "Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient". Other tests conducted on Benoit's brain tissue revealed severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and damage to all four lobes of the brain and brain stem. Bailes and his colleagues concluded that repeated concussions can lead to dementia, which can contribute to severe behavioral problems. Benoit's father said that brain damage may have been the leading cause of the double murder-suicide. A statement released by WWE dismissed this idea as "speculative".
Nancy Benoit had filed for divorce in May 2003, allegedly after domestic abuse from Chris, but had withdrawn it in August 2003. In February 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Nancy may have suspected her husband of having an affair with a female WWE wrestler, and that they may have also argued over a life insurance policy. The AJC claimed the source was a recently released report from the Fayette County Sheriff's Office.
Speaking on the matter in his autobiography The Hardcore Truth, Hardcore Holly speculates the main influence in Benoit's actions was alcohol abuse rather than steroids. Holly and Benoit traveled together on the road during their time together in WWE, and Holly did not believe steroids played a factor and that Benoit had tended to drink more than he normally would when issues with Nancy arose.

Responses

World Wrestling Entertainment

The deaths were first reported to fans of World Wrestling Entertainment on their WWE Mobile Alerts Service and posted to its official website soon after. On its corporate website, the company released the following statement:
After Vince McMahon had gathered the wrestlers together to tell them that Chris, Nancy and Daniel had all passed away, WWE canceled the scheduled three-hour-long live Raw show that had been scheduled for a few hours later on the night of June 25 that was scheduled to take place at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, and replaced the broadcast version with a tribute to Chris Benoit's life and career, featuring past matches, segments from the Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story DVD, and comments from wrestlers and announcers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. Shortly after the program aired, many of the aired comments were posted on WWE.com. It was not until the last hour of the tribute program that reports surfaced one after the other that Chris, Nancy and Daniel had all died on different days over the weekend, and that the police were not looking for any other suspects, working under the belief that Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son before killing himself.
The next night, Tuesday June 26, 2007, after details of the murder-suicide became available, the company aired a recorded statement by Vince McMahon before its ECW broadcast:
After learning about the full details of his and his family's deaths, WWE quickly distanced itself from Chris Benoit:
Numerous individuals in professional wrestling, past and present, commented on the deaths and their aftermath:
When the news was released about Benoit's death, most mainstream news outlets covered the story, including MSNBC and Fox News Channel. Benoit made the cover of People magazine. Essays on Canadian Writing Press announced on July 16 that noted wrestling writer Irvin Muchnick had written a book on the Benoit case, due out in 2008. At the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav in August 2007, Jimmy Kimmel joked to honoree Flavor Flav that "Chris Benoit is a better father than Flavor Flav", which drew a shocked, appalled response, and laughs from the crowd. The show aired less than two months after the incident, but no reference was made to the taping date of the episode in question.

Government

With Benoit and his death allegedly linked to steroid abuse, WWE went under investigation by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding their talent wellness policy. Congress did not take action against either the WWE or any other professional wrestling company in the wake of the event. In January 2009, Henry Waxman, outgoing chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, requested that the Office of National Drug Control Policy chief, John P. Walters, "examine steroid use in professional wrestling and take appropriate steps to address this problem." In the letter, Waxman stated, "In the first year of WWE's testing program, which began in March 2006, 40% of wrestlers tested positive for steroids and other drugs, even after being warned in advance that they were going to be tested." He also wrote about how wrestlers who test positive for performance enhancers receive light punishment and afterwards can often participate in wrestling events. The committee investigation also uncovered how easily wrestlers can secure "therapeutic use exemptions" so they can continue performing while using steroids. When Waxman's staff interviewed Dr. Tracy Ray, a physician contracted by WWE, Ray claimed there was "shadiness in almost every case that I've reviewed."

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy reports

At the time of the incident, research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy, led by forensic neuropathlogist Bennet Omalu, in former players of gridiron football was a fast-growing issue in the sport that had been at the forefront following Dr. Omalu's 2002 report on Pro Football Hall of Fame member Mike Webster done after his death. Subsequent postmortem analyses of the brains of recently deceased NFL players agreed with the report on Webster's death, as each player showed the kind of brain damage previously seen in people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, as well as in some retired boxers. Michael Benoit agreed to have his son's brain analysed by the same neurosurgeons. On September 5, 2007, Julian Bailes, the chief of neurosurgery at West Virginia University, conducted a news conference in New York City to announce the results of Benoit's postmortem brain examination.
In December 2009, nearly 30 months after Benoit's death, Dr. Omalu confirmed to ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that the death of a second WWE wrestler, Andrew Martin, known in WWE by his ring name Test, was attributed to CTE. Bailes told ESPN, "When we announced our findings about Chris, some in the media said it was 'roid rage. We said at the time the real finding was that repeated head trauma was the cause. With Andrew Martin as the second case, the WWE and the sport in general have to ask themselves, 'Is this a trend?' The science tells us that jumping off 10-foot ladders and slamming people with tables and chairs is simply bad for the brain."
WWE noted the research was new at the time but released the following statement to ESPN for "Outside the Lines":
In the decade that followed after the broadcast, postmortem brain research on numerous deceased wrestlers diagnosed findings consistent with CTE. Wrestlers diagnosed with CTE in postmortem research include Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, Jimmy Snuka, Mr. Fuji, and Ron Bass.
Currently, there is litigation involving over 60 professional wrestlers and representatives of deceased wrestlers against WWE, with attorney Konstantine Kyros representing the wrestlers and representatives. It was dismissed by United States District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018 but currently being appealed. The litigation claims WWE concealed the risks of injury, specifically CTE. Bryant said the Benoit tragedy did not cause WWE to recognize a link between CTE and professional wrestling but stated: "The circumstances surrounding Mr. Benoit’s death were so tragic and so horrifying that it would have been reasonable for his fellow wrestlers to follow news developments about him and about CTE, through which they could have deduced that they were at risk of developing CTE and sought medical opinions about risks to their own health."

Steroids debate

Background

Steroids were found in the home, leading some media organizations to hypothesize that a steroid-induced rage may be the cause of Benoit's actions, as some doctors have linked steroid use to uncontrollable anger, among other psychological issues which include paranoia. WWE released a press-statement, challenging the "roid-rage" claims. One part of the statement reads:
Prosecutors in New York investigated the deliveries Benoit received from Signature Pharmacy and MedXLife.com, which sold steroids and human growth hormone over the internet. Terence Kindlon, the lawyer for MedXLife co-owner Gary Brandwein, denied allegations that his client's company sold steroids to Benoit. Brandwein pleaded not guilty to six counts in New York state court related to the criminal sale of a controlled substance. According to a report from Sports Illustrated, three packages sent to Benoit were from Signature Pharmacy with the first one sent in December 2005 to San Antonio, Texas. The second package was sent on February 13, 2006 to an address in Peachtree City, Georgia and the third package was sent in July 2006 to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This followed eleven wrestlers that were announced in a Sports Illustrated steroids investigation that began March 2007, which included Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Oscar Gutierrez, Adam Copeland and Gregory Helms, with Copeland receiving a high amount of steroids.
WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt stated that "they believe the facts of this crime do not support the hypothesis that 'roid rage' played a role in the murders." They cite evidence of premeditation in addition to the lack of a toxicology report, and the fact that the steroids found within Benoit's home were legally prescribed. Gary I. Wadler, who served on the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List and Methods Committee, and its Health, Medicine, and Research Committee agreed stating that "that was a premeditated act and that's not rage". Investigators seized both Chris and Nancy's medical records. They also have medical records of Mark Jindrak, Hardcore Holly, Lex Luger, Rey Mysterio, Jr., Buff Bagwell, and Johnny Grunge, all of whom were patients of Phil Astin.

Toxicology results

At the press conference held by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on July 17, 2007, it was announced that three different drugs were found in Nancy Benoit's system: hydrocodone, hydromorphone and Xanax. All three drugs were found to be at levels investigators considered normal for therapeutic treatment. A blood-alcohol level was found to be 0.184. Kris Sperry, the medical examiner, added it was impossible to say whether any of the blood findings was due to ingestion of alcohol or the post-mortem process. It was also ruled out that Nancy was sedated by Chris before she was murdered.
Xanax was found in Daniel Benoit's system. District Attorney Scott Ballard noted this was not a drug that would be given to a child under normal circumstances. It is believed that Daniel was sedated before being murdered, with Sperry ruling out that Daniel died of a drug overdose. The GBI, however, said in the press conference that it could not perform tests for steroids or human growth hormones on Daniel because of a lack of urine.
Xanax and hydrocodone were also found in Chris Benoit's system, at levels investigators called consistent with therapeutic use. Elevated levels of the synthetic anabolic steroid testosterone cypionate were found in his urine; investigators believed that the level found suggested it had been taken recently. While the synthetic anabolic steroid testosterone cypionate was found in his urine, there was no evidence of GHB contrary to speculation. Benoit also tested negative for blood alcohol.

Drug charges against Benoit's doctor

Phil C. Astin III was the personal doctor for Chris Benoit. His attorney, Manny Aurora, asked a judge to throw out evidence seized during a raid on Astin's office after Benoit and his family died. He claimed the search exceeded authority granted in a search warrant and that police seized other patients' records and three years of bank records and computers. According to the Associated Press in February 2008, Astin was charged with overprescribing medication in a case not connected to Benoit. On January 29, 2009, he admitted he illegally prescribed drugs, sometimes without examining the patients first, and pleaded guilty to all 175 counts against him. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Wikipedia controversy

A statement regarding Nancy Benoit's death was added to the Chris Benoit English Wikipedia article 14 hours before police discovered the bodies of Benoit and his family. This seemingly prescient addition was initially reported on Wikinews and later on Fox News. The article originally read: "Chris Benoit was replaced by Johnny Nitro for the ECW World Championship match at, 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 at 4:01 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. The IP address of the editor was traced to Stamford, Connecticut, which is also the location of WWE headquarters. After news of the early death notice reached mainstream media, the anonymous poster accessed Wikinews to explain his edit as a "huge coincidence and nothing more."
Police detectives "seized computer equipment from the man held responsible for the postings" and called the posting an unbelievable "hindrance" to their investigation, but believed he was otherwise uninvolved, declining to press charges. The man had found several rumors on-line, which supported his theory about the Benoit "family emergency" as reported in wrestling news. The IP from which he made the edit was tentatively traced to vandalizing the Wikipedia entries for African wild ass, The Bronx, The Sopranos, Ron Artest, Stacy Keibler, and Naugatuck, Connecticut. He also reverted vandalism to Chavo Guerrero Jr. and recorded a loss for the Golden State Warriors.

Aftermath and legacy

In the years following the double-murder and suicide, it continued to be referred to in the media. The Great American Bash pay-per-view on July 20, 2008 was the last WWE pay-per-view with a TV-14 rating; WWE immediately thereafter adopted their current TV-PG, which resulted in a noticeable toning down of edgy content in shows. Within a few months, blood was also banned, which returned WWE's product to its pre-1997 rule on prohibiting deliberate blading in matches.
There have been discussions about whether or not Benoit would ever be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Steve Austin predicted that Benoit, although important to the business, would never be inducted into the Hall of Fame due to his actions. Chris Jericho also stated that Benoit should never be in the Hall of Fame.