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On June 25th 2007, the news of the Benoit family murders
rocked the world of professional wrestling. The former World
heavyweight champion was found dead in his home along with
his wife Nancy and seven year old son Daniel. Later that
night, WWE held a three hour tribute to the 'Canadian
Crippler', only to find out the next day that what happened
inside the Benoit household the previous weekend would
change the general opinion on Chris Benoit forever. Chris
Benoit killed his wife on Friday, killed his
mentally-retarded son on Saturday and then committed suicide
on Sunday morning. This is the most shocking story in
wrestling history. |
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Monday
June 25, 2007...
҂
In the most shocking story of the year, Chris Benoit,
age 40, his wife, age 43, and son, age 7, were found
dead at their home in Fayetteville, GA., and the police
are treating this as a murder-suicide case. His wife
Nancy was found dead in the living room, his seven year
old son Daniel in his room and Benoit in the weight room
according to reports coming from Atlanta. Benoit is
believed to have killed his wife on Saturday and son on
Sunday and then killed himself on Monday. Benoit was
sent home on Saturday after requesting time off to
attend to personal problems, missing both the Saturday
show in Beaumont and the Vengeance pay-per-view in
Houston, TX.
҂
TMZ.COM is reporting that Chris Benoit strangled his
wife on Saturday then went ahead and smothered his seven
year old son in his bed the next day. "Investigators refuse
to officially comment, pending final confirmation by the
coroner on the cause and time of the deaths," TMZ.COM says.
TMZ.COM are also adding that sources are saying that
officers found Benoit hanged in a weight room inside their
home.
҂
According to WWE.COM, several 'curious' text messages
sent by Benoit to his WWE friends on Sunday resulted in
an alert to WWE officials who related the information to
Fayette County sheriffs on Monday. Unfortunately it was
too late as by the time they checked his house in
Fayetteville the Benoit family was dead. Benoit
apparently moved recently to the new house which was
guarded by two large German Shepards.
WWE received the news of the discovery at 4PM. In a press
conference held later in the night by Lt. Pope and district
attorney Scott Ballard, it was officially announced that
this case was a double murder-suicide. Autopsy will be
conducted today and toxicology reports won't be available
for the next two weeks.
҂
Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told the
Atlanta Journal Constitution that investigators are
pretty sure how the Benoit family died however they are
waiting for the crime lab reports to confirm their
findings. "The details, when they come out, are going to
prove a little bizarre," he told the newspaper. Ballard
said that no suspects outside the home are under
interrogation which pretty much confirms the one-man
job.
Tuesday
June 26, 2007...
҂
The
death of Chris Benoit forced WWE to cancel the three
hour edition of Monday Night RAW yesterday and was
replaced by a tribute to the former World Heavyweight
champion. RAW opened with Vince McMahon standing inside
an empty arena addressing the people at home about the
events that occurred, saying that while this show was
supposed to be about his death angle, a real life
tragedy happened. Several WWE Superstars shared their
Benoit stories during the course of the three hour show
like they did when Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero passed
away. All mentions of the McMahon 'death' storyline were
wiped out from WWE.COM and the angle will apparently be
canceled after yesterday's unfortunate events.
҂
The news of the Benoit's family death was splashed all
over the media both television, print and Internet.
'Chris Benoit's Dark Side' read the first, big headline
on FOXNews.com earlier, giving the story the top priority
yesterday night and early this morning on their website.
CNN.COM also has the article as it's main feature whereas
Yahoo! News, Sports Illustrated and tons of online
newspapers worldwide covered the story on their respective
websites.
҂
A
couple of hours ago, a press conference was held in
front of reporters headed up by Fayette County District
Attorney Scott Ballard and Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette
County Sheriff's Department. The cause of death for all
three members is asphyxiation, as Chris Benoit first
strangled his wife with an electric cord and then
smothered his seven year old son with a bag. His wife
was found in the living room while his son was in his
bedroom upstairs. Chris was found in the weight room in
the basement hanging from the pulley of a weight
machine.
During the press conference they said that Nancy was
killed on late Friday night, his son on Saturday and
Chris on early Sunday morning as opposed to Saturday,
Sunday and Monday as previously noted. When a reporter
asked how long after he killed his son Chris did the
suicide the answer was, "Several hours later but not
more than a day." He placed a copy of the Bible next to
the dead bodies of his wife and son.
His
43 year old wife Nancy had blood on the back of her head
and her body was wrapped in a towel with hands and feet
tied up. A lot of prescribed medications were found by CSI's although it's believed that
they were all legally given to him by doctors and anabolic
steroids were also found in the house.
No motive was given
at this time although they did give an indication that they
might know the real story why this happened. Benoit sent a
text message to one of his co-workers - believed to be Chavo
Guerrero - but details of the message were not revealed.
҂
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has revealed
information on the personal life of Chris and his wife
Nancy, saying that Nancy - who was part of WCW playing
the character Woman - filed for divorce and an order of
protection four years ago, in May of 2003.
According
to the divorce papers, Chris has threatened to hit her
multiple times and even caused damage to their home
furniture and personal belongings. The judge presiding
the case issued a restraining order against the former
champ and prevented him from entering their house. His
wife dropped the case later that year and the two
resumed their relationship afterwards.
҂
TMZ.COM managed to
get the papers in question, which you can read
here. The two moved in
together in 1997 after they carried their WCW on-screen
relationship to real life and got married in 2000. Together
they had one child, Daniel, who was also killed in the
attack. Benoit has two other children from a previous
relationship, David and Megan, who were not in the house and
don't live with their dad.
҂
Tonight's Smackdown! and ECW tapings will go on as
usual, taping from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX.,
however there will be no angles or funny backstage
vignettes and the shows will instead focus on wrestling
matches. Those who don't feel like going out and doing
the job are free to refuse although everyone booked is
expected to get in the ring. Dave Meltzer of the
Observer says that everyone backstage was wrecked by the
news and Vince McMahon held the whole team up. Long time
friends and co-workers of Benoit are still having a hard
time accepting the fact what Benoit did to his own
family.
҂
As the day progresses and more news comes out from
yesterday's Benoit family massacre, WWE.COM keeps
removing anything related to Chris Benoit. While
yesterday the whole page was dominated by Benoit videos
and articles, today only the main feature is about the
former champion, linking to an article with the headline
'Benoit's death part of a double murder-suicide'. All
Chris Benoit items on the WWEShop.com
online shopping site have been removed, quite probably to
remove any association with what facts are point to - Benoit
being a murderer. TNAWrestling.com, the official website of
TNA, also removed the earlier posting about Chris Benoit's
death.
҂
"It's almost like reliving the whole Owen death over
again." Those were the words of former WWE and WCW
champion Bret 'Hit Man' Hart when being interviewed by
the Calgary Sun regarding the death of Chris Benoit and
his family. Hart said that he doesn't know the details
yet, and probably doesn't want to know. He said his
whole family took it really hard as Benoit was like a
member of the Hart family. Bret Hart's brother Ross and
sister Diana also gave comments, which you can read
here.
Wednesday
June 27, 2007...
҂
WWE.COM posted a detailed time line of the events over
the weekend, from Benoit canceling his appearance in
Beaumont, TX., to his final text message. Benoit told
his WWE co-workers that his family was sick and both his
wife and son were throwing up blood. After WWE officials
rescheduled his flight to Houston for the PPV, Benoit
started sending bizarre messages on Sunday early morning
starting at 3:53.
Benoit
sent messages from his cell phone and his wife's, who
was already dead along with her son by that time. Four
of the five messages contained "My physical address is
130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215"
while the other one had "The dogs are in the enclosed
pool area. Garage side door is open," indicating to his
friends where they will be finding his body and those of
his wife and son. The last message was received at
3:58AM and sent to the Chavo Guerrero and William Regal,
the same people who Benoit talked to on Friday.
҂
As investigators continue to look for clues as to what
triggered Chris Benoit to kill his wife and son and then
commit suicide, the possibility of drugs and steroid use
is being considered. Crime scene investigators found a
lot of prescribed drugs and anabolic steroids in the
house which were all legally prescribed to Benoit
according to Fayette District Attorney Scott Ballard.
WWE is taking a defensive stand on this one, even
sending a press release to outline certain points.
"The physical findings announced by authorities indicate
deliberation, not rage. The wife's feet and hands were
bound and she was asphyxiated, not beaten to death. By
the account of the authorities, there were substantial
periods of time between the death of the wife and the
death of the son, again suggesting deliberate thought,
not rage. The presence of a Bible by each is also not an
act of rage."
The company also said that Benoit was tested last for
drugs on April 10th 2007 and the results were negative.
Toxicology reports won't come out for the next couple of
weeks and WWE said it's unfair to blame drugs and
steroids at this early stage especially when the
authorities stated there is no evidence yet.
҂
Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard provided
some additional details on the bodies of Nancy and
Daniel Benoit during media appearances on television.
Ballard said that Nancy had bruises on her back
consistent with someone holding her down with a knee and
bruises on her chest which suggests she was crushed to
the ground. The Medical Examiner also found old needle
marks in the arm of Daniel Benoit which could have been
from HGH - human growth
hormone - shots he was given when he was younger. The seven
year old child was said to be smaller in size than what
other normal children his age would be.
҂
While
the fans in Corpus Christi missed out on the three hour
RAW that was supposed to happen this past Monday night,
the show has been rescheduled for July 16th. Initially
RAW on that day was going to be live from Calgary, and
going to Canada so early after this tragedy was going to
be painful and hard. Smackdown! and ECW on July 17th
from Edmonton - which is 'Benoit country' - were also
canceled although no replacement city has been announced
yet. The two other Smackdown!/ECW non-TV events in
Saskatoon on the 14th and Regina on the 15th were
canceled as well.
҂
W-O Newsletter reader 'ShadyRudy' attended yesterday's
Smackdown!/ECW TV tapings in San Antonio, TX., and sent in
word that security had a tough job to keep out all the signs
related to Chris Benoit. Anyone in the stands who displayed
signs such as 'RIP', 'Future Hall of Fame', 'Eddy & Chris'
and other related signs were taken away. Vince McMahon
kicked off the ECW on Sci Fi TV tapings yesterday by making
the following announcement.
"Last night on Monday Night Raw,
the WWE presented a special tribute show, recognizing the
career of Chris Benoit. However, now some 26 hours later,
the facts of this horrific tragedy are now apparent.
Therefore, other than my comments, there will be no mention
of Mr. Benoit tonight. On the contrary, tonight's show will
be dedicated to everyone who has been affected by this
terrible incident. This evening marks the first step of the
healing process. Tonight, the WWE performers will do what
they do better than anyone else in the world - entertain
you."
҂
The ex wife of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Debra, gave her
comments to FOX31 Colorado yesterday regarding the
Benoit family murder. "The domestic and drug abuse is
out of hand in the WWE and something needs to be done
about it," she said while adding that she saw Austin
doing drugs during his time in WWE when they were
married. Debra said that she and Nancy Benoit had a lot
in common as both filed for divorce and both were forced
to write a letter to drop the case. Debra said that
while Austin was put on probation for a year, she was
placed under a gag order which prevented her to keep the
"dark side" of wrestling from going out to the public.
"If only I had spoken up sooner, maybe Nancy and her
little boy would be alive today...that's why I'm going
public now, something has to change!"
҂
The Chris Benoit tribute show this past Monday night did
a 3.8 composite rating with a 6.2 share, off hours 3.5,
4.1 and 3.9. For its usual time slot of 9PM to 11PM, the
show had a composite of 4.0, a drop of 0.2 from the
previous week. AM RAW on early Sunday morning did a 0.6
with a 2.8 share while Smackdown! last Friday did a 2.4
with a 4.8 share. (Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media
Research and put online by PWInsider.com)
҂
The tragic events of this past weekend sparked a huge
interest on the topic on the Yahoo! website with
searches for 'Chris Benoit' shooting through the roof.
Benoit holds the top spot in the 'Top movers' and 'Top
leaders' categories. Yesterday Yahoo! Buzz Index
dedicated an entry on the subject, titled 'Benoit's
Tragic Tale Rocks Search', the same way they did when
Vince McMahon's limo blew up, resulting in massive
searches for the truth. Searches for 'WWE' trail Benoit
in the second place and searches for 'Vince McMahon'
puts him in fifth in the 'Top leaders' chart.
Thursday June 28, 2007...
҂
Child care may have been one of the problems in the
Benoit family and the husband and wife argued a lot over
the situation according to Jerry McDevitt, lead attorney for
World Wrestling Entertainment. A news story that appeared on
the Associated Press revealed that their seven year old son
Daniel was mentally retarded, suffering from a rare medical
condition called Fragile X Syndrome. "I think it's fair to
say that the subject of caring for that child was part of
what made their relationship complicated and difficult, and
it's something they were both constantly struggling with,"
said McDevitt. "We do know it was a source of stress and
consternation." Nancy Benoit wanted her husband to spend
more time at home to take care of his son with her, although
she didn't want him to quit professional wrestling. It's
interesting to note that the Associated Press reported today
that ten empty beer cans were located in the house along
with an empty bottle of wine which was found next to
Benoit's dead body.
҂
On
Friday, the day he murdered his wife, Chris Benoit
visited his personal physician Dr. Phil Astin, who was
also happened to be a longtime friend. He said that the
former champion didn't give any indications of trouble
when he showed up. "He was in my office on Friday to
stop by just to see my staff," Astin said. "He certainly
didn't show any signs of any distress or rage or
anything." Benoit was being treated for low testosterone
levels by Dr. Phil Astin, a condition that likely
originated from previous steroid use. "I'm still very
surprised and shocked, especially with his child Daniel
involved," Astin said. "He worshipped his child."
҂
The office of Dr. Phil Astin was raided by DEA agents
and the Sheriff's department last night and confiscated
computers and other records listed in the warrant
according to WSB-TV Channel 2. The raid started yesterday night and
concluded early this morning and it was in connection with
the Benoit investigation. In the meantime, WSB-TV Channel 2
also obtained a picture sent by a fan who claims to have
snapped the last picture of Chris Benoit when he was at Dr.
Astin's office on Friday just hours before he killed his
wife. The picture seems to be taken from a camera phone and
has Benoit smiling, wearing a cap and black t-shirt. You can
see it
here.
҂
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon appeared on 'The Today Show'
with Meredith Viera on NBC this morning to discuss the
Benoit family tragedy. The discussion was mainly with the
host pressing McMahon on the use of steroids in professional
wrestling. Vince said that the last random test Benoit took
was in April and it was negative however he said that it
doesn't mean he wasn't taking them when this happened. Vince
said that hopefully the toxicology report will shed some
light on the situation although since the crime was done
over a period of three days he suspects that roid rage is
out of the question.
McMahon said that the company had no
indication at all that this person would turn out to be a
"monster" and do what he did to his family. In the closing
moments, Vince said that the company is not trying to hide
the fact that Benoit was part of their organization,
because, in his words, "unfortunately, he was". He added it
was time to find a way to move on in the best way possible
for the company and its fans.
҂
There's a big mystery involving a Wikipedia entry which
listed the death of Nancy Benoit on Chris Benoit's page
on the site hours before the Sheriff's department
arrived on location and identified the three bodies. The
Associated Press ran an article regarding this and lead
WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said that they had no idea who posted this
and it's possible that Benoit may have sent other test
messages to someone else who they are unaware of. The
posting came from someone located in Stamford, CT., - the
home of WWE - although WWE deny posting this. The post was
deleted but later resurfaced and McDevitt said that
investigators are looking into the people behind the
posting.
Friday
June 29, 2007...
҂
The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that funeral
services for Chris Benoit will be held in a province of
Alberta, Canada while the funeral for Nancy and their
son Daniel will probably be done in Daytona Beach, FL.,
where her parents live. Chris' father, Michael Benoit
said that the family will take a long time to come to
terms with what happened, if they ever do. "It's a
horrible, horrible event that's happened," he told the
newspaper.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Nancy's family. We're
very concerned about the long-term affects on her
family. There are no words to describe the loss we
feel," he added. Mother and son are expected to be
cremated in Georgia after a funeral home assisting the
family picks up the bodies from the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation Crime Lab medical examiner's office. It
will be interesting to see if WWE will have a presence
at the Nancy and Daniel funeral service and while the
company won't be there officially at Chris' funeral,
close personal friends of Benoit might make the trip.
҂
The mystery of the Wikipedia entry regarding Chris
Benoit and the mention of his wife passing away several
hours before authorities even knew about was partially
resolved yesterday after one of the people who made the
entry submitted an apology for his posting. The user,
who lives in Stamford, CT., said that he heard rumors
why Benoit didn't make it on the PPV and proceeded to
post that his wife passed away without having reliable
sources. The problem was that it ended up to be true,
which raised some alarms to investigators on the case.
"It is one of those things that just turned into a huge
coincidence," the anonymous user said. The apology is on
the front page of WikiNews and you
can read it
here.
҂
Free-to-air Italian television station Italia Uno has
dropped WWE Smackdown! from its lineup following the
Benoit family double-murder suicide that rocked the
wrestling industry. Smackdown! aired on Sundays but a
press release issued today from the Italia Uno officials
stated that in light of this week's tragedy, the show
will be taken off the air indefinitely in respect to
those children who might confuse real life situations
with fantasy. Italia Uno director Luca Tiraboschi added that as long as the WWE
Superstars 'traded punches' in the ring for storyline
reasons only, then it was all fine for the channel as the
show fit the entertainment category however when situations
like this surface, Italia Uno is not in it anymore. Sky
Italia - which is pay TV - will still carry other WWE
programming.
҂
WWE.COM got rid of all the news stories on Chris Benoit
from the website yesterday, a move which was expected to
come at anytime. In the past few days WWE.COM kept
updating a section with the timeline and other news
stories on the 'Canadian Crippler'. The corporate WWE
website at corporate.wwe.com still has the press releases that the
company sent regarding this case.
Saturday June 30, 2007...
҂
In
the upcoming issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
there is a huge story on the death of the Benoit family
with some revealing information. Investigators found
bruises on the neck and arm of seven year old Daniel and
couldn't figure out what was used to cause that kind of
bruising. Authorities realized what was done after they
saw a tape of Benoit applying the 'Crossface' during one of his matches
and eventually it was ruled that he used a variation of the
move on his son to kill him. While police said it was a
choke hold during media appearances, they didn't want to
make it sound worse releasing the information how the kid
got murdered.
Another interesting point is that recently
Chris Benoit made a life insurance and included his ex wife
and two kids from that marriage as the beneficiaries,
leaving out Nancy and Daniel. The general theory why the
murders happened is that Nancy was going to inform him that
she was leaving with their son and that's when Chris went
crazy. It is believed that he killed his son because he
thought he would never live a good life considering his
medical conditions without his parents.
҂
Martina Benoit, the ex wife of former World champion of
Chris Benoit gave some comments to the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution newspaper saying that her ex
husband was the "most loving person anyone could
imagine." Telling the newspaper that she "loves him",
Martina Benoit called the allegations of the killings
"crap" before hanging up and ending the call. The two
have two other children from their previous marriage.
She lives in Ardrossan, Alberta, Canada
with their two kids.
҂
Chris Benoit's personal physician seems that he has gone
missing in action as the DEA did a second raid in his
offices in Georgia and also raided his mother's home,
who also was not there. This is now an official DEA
investigation which spells trouble for the doc as they
will get information on those other personalities who he
prescribed steroids in the past. Benoit visited Dr. Phil
Astin on Friday of last week, just hours before he
murdered his wife Nancy.
҂
In
another twist in the Wikipedia posting saga, authorities
managed to locate the person who posted the entry on
Wikipedia regarding Nancy Benoit's death hours before
Georgia police even knew and took away the computer used
to make the posting. While the anonymous user - who
lives in Stamford, CT., - said it was just a coincidence
and posted the information without credible sources,
police are going to look deeper into the story as they
feel the person could be hiding something and his
computer might contain important evidence. The person
who made the posting apologized yesterday and his
unedited letter appeared yesterday on Wikinews.org.
҂
For the first time since the tragedy, the parents of
Nancy Benoit, Paul and Maureen Toffoloni, released a
statement through their attorney to ESPN.COM. "We're
trying to stay out of their way right now," their
attorney said. "In the meantime, Maureen and Paul and
Sandra (Nancy's sister) have asked me to ask members of
the media and public to remember that this is an
investigation of the death of their daughter and only
grandchild. And even though Chris and Nancy led public
lives, the family, specifically Daniel, did not lead a
public life." Nancy's parents said that they often
baby-sit seven year old Daniel but never noticed any
medical issues with him. "There has been a lot of
speculation and rumor in the media that is doing nothing
to advance the investigation and doing everything to
cause the Toffolonis
intense pain," the statement said.
Monday
July 2, 2007...
҂
Chris
Benoit's personal physician Dr. Phil Astin could face
charges from the federal government although the Georgia
state prosecutor in charge of the Benoit investigation
said that he has no plans to file criminal charges but
he doesn't know what the federal government will do.
"From our standpoint, I have no reason to believe there
will be any criminal charges at the current time,"
Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told The
Associated Press. "What the federal government is going
to do, it will be up to them." Dr. Astin's attorney said
that it's possible that federal charges will be filed
against his client in connection with the two raids
carried out by the DEA last week. "I wouldn't be shocked
if there's some charges that come out of this," he said
to the AP. Astin went MIA, along with his mother, after
the raids. Manny Arora, the attorney,
said that Astin will turn himself in if he is asked to do
so. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office declined to
say Monday if any charges were planned....
҂
And this just in! The Associated Press is reporting that
Dr. Phil Astin has been charged with seven counts of
distributing painkillers and other drugs to other
clients, a case brought forward by the federal
government. Astin prescribed drugs such as Percocet, Xanax, Lorcet and
Vicoprofen between April 2004 and September 2005. It is
believed that he prescribed Xanax on Friday for Benoit as
well. The recipients were identified in the indictment by
the initials O.G. and M.J. A criminal complaint was also
filed, but was under seal. Astin, who vanished after the
first DEA raid last week, surrendered himself to local
authorities and is expected to make an initial court
appearance Monday afternoon. Federal prosecutors are seeking
the forfeiture of all property and proceeds Astin obtained
through the illegal conduct if he's convicted.
҂
ESPN.COM is running a huge article which contains
comments from Nancy Benoit's ex husband, Jim Daus. Interesting to
note is that it was him who introduced her to wrestling the
first time, getting front row seats to a show in Orlando
when they were just kids. However after she was sucked into
the business, all the tours ended up destroying their
marriage and the two agreed that a divorce was the best way
to go. Daus said he met Nancy face to face for the first
time since they split nine years ago while in a plane
heading out of Chicago. He said the two tallked for around
four hours and the last time they communicated by e-mail was
seven years ago when Chris' and Nancy's son Daniel was born.
Daus added that he couldn't sleep for the first three days
after news came out that Nancy was murdered by her husband.
"I pushed her into this whole thing," he said, reflecting on
the time he took her to the first wrestling match in Orlando
back when they were still kids.
Tuesday July 3, 2007...
҂
The death of Chris Benoit could have the biggest impact
in World Wrestling Entertainment and its Wellness
Program program. Introduced after Eddie Guerrero passed
away in late 2005, the Wellness Program randomly tests
WWE Superstars for steroid use and other medication
which wasn't in their system after their baseline test.
According to the DEA, Chris Benoit received a ten month
supply of steroids every three to four weeks in the
period of May 2006 to May 2007 from his personal
physician Dr. Phil Astin. WWE sent a press release last
week saying that Benoit was tested in the beginning of
April of this year for steroid use and the results came
in negative. The news of Benoit receiving that large
amount of steroids every four weeks puts the Wellness
Program credibility in jeopardy regardless of the
outcome of the toxicology reports.
҂
Dr. Phil Astin - who surrendered himself yesterday - was
arrested by Georgia police and charged with seven counts
of distributing painkillers and other drugs to other
clients, a case brought forward by the federal
government. He was later released on a $125,000 secured
bond however his freedom came with a few conditions. His
medical license was revoked and he was placed under
house arrest and forced to wear an electronic monitoring
ankle bracelet. Astin's lawyer, Manny Arora, said his client was innocent of the charges and said
that Astin never prescribed steroids to Chris Benoit - a
friend for the past six years. DEA agents stormed his
offices twice last week and took computers, files and other
information that could spell big trouble for other wrestlers
or sports celebrities who were prescribed with drugs and
steroids. The search warrant was obtained by the website
TheSmokingGun.com and you can read it
here.
҂
In
comments given to Newsday.com, WWE said that its
testing program is one of the most aggressive of its kind
compared to other tests by competitive sports organizations
and as WWE put it, it's "unique for an entertainment
company." Despite the reports of Benoit getting a huge chunk
of steroids every couple of weeks, WWE stood firm by its
tests although the company said that it would make any
improvements necessary to maintain it as a "state-of-the-art
program to the utmost betterment of our performers, fans,
and business partners."
WWE said that the abuse of drugs and
steroids is unacceptable in the company. Dr. Gary Wadler, a
Manhasset steroid expert criticized WWE's drug test policy
calling it woefully lacking. He said that WWE allows for a
higher threshold of testosterone in a person's system than
in other sports before considering a steroid test positive.
The company gives wrestlers up to an hour's notice before
the test is done. Dr. Wadler also noted that WWE prohibits
only 'non-medical use' of banned drugs and allows wrestlers
to provide a doctor's explanation for use even after testing
positive.
҂
Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com is reporting that Nancy
and Daniel Benoit's funerals will be held on Saturday
July 14th at the Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in
Daytona Beach, FL., starting at 1PM. The address is 201
University Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32118. No funeral
arrangements for Chris Benoit have been made yet
although it will happen where his parents live in
Alberta, Canada.
Wednesday July 4, 2007...
҂
The Boston Herald is running a story about the person
who found the bodies of the Benoit family. As it turns
out, it was in fact their neighbor, Holly McFague, who had the keys
to their house and went in first when the police came
knocking. McFague moved temporarily to Boston as authorities
took over the area where the Benoit's were found dead. And
her representative said that she can't go home because her
house is surrounded by media. Apparently the police knocked
on her house first asking for help as two large dogs guarded
the Benoit house.
Since the dogs knew McFague, she went in
freely and that's when she found out that all three members
of the Benoit family were dead and ran out of the house
screaming. Her rep, George Regan, said that she spoke to
Chris on Saturday, the day after Nancy was killed. He went
in great lengths to explain how his wife and son were
suffering from a food poisoning. "At the time she was
thinking that it was way too much information," he said.
"She found him very odd to say the least," he added. "But
she was very close to his wife, and the little boy was
friendly with her children."
҂
Conflicting reports are now surfacing saying that Daniel
Benoit did not suffer from Fragile X syndrome as
previously reported by the media and Fayette County
District Attorney Scott Ballard is moving on as if
Daniel was a normal healthy kid. Ballard said in a news
release Tuesday that some of the boy's medical records
have been reviewed and "they do not mention any
pre-existing mental or physical impairment." According
to his grandparents - Nancy's parents - Daniel was just
like every other kid and they never noticed anything
that suggests otherwise during the many times he
visited.
Fragile X is an inherited mental impairment which can
range from learning disabilities to more severe
cognitive or intellectual disabilities. WWE also seem
that they're going ahead and back the District Attorney
on this matter. "A lot of people got caught up in the
idea Daniel had Fragile X syndrome," said Gary Davis,
vice president of Corporate Communications at WWE. "We
were just as caught up as everyone else."
҂
Chris Benoit's mother, Margaret, gave comments to the
Toronto Star newspaper, saying that her son would
probably be still alive if DEA agents took action when
they found out that Benoit was buying large quantities
of steroids. Earlier this week, the DEA said that
Benoit's name popped up during a probe called 'RX Weight
Loss' some time ago and Benoit was identified as an
excessive purchaser of injectable steroids
from a company that was under the microscope.
Asked if
quicker action by authorities could have helped her son, she
said, "We would certainly hope so. We just don't know. We're
dealing with so many things. It's incredible." The DEA said
that it would have been impossible to predict what Benoit
was going to do. "You don't run out and arrest a doctor for
making one prescription that is questionable," a DEA
spokesman said. "There's just not enough evidence to arrest
or bring charges. We want to bring charges that are
legitimate. Cases take time." Margaret Benoit said that
there's nothing much they can do now except to mourn Chris,
Nancy and Daniel. "It's so late now, too late. You can't
turn the clock back."
Thursday July 5, 2007...
҂
When
DEA stormed the offices of Dr Phil Astin last week in
connection with the Benoit family tragedy it was a
matter of when not if, other wrestlers would be exposed
as recipients of pain killers and other controlled
substances that Dr. Astin prescribed. Two individuals
were named in an indictment against the doc - who is
under house arrest - but only their initials were
revealed which were O.G. and M.J.
AOL-owned TMZ.COM revealed the names of those two people:
Oscar Gutierrez, known to fans as Rey Mysterio, and Mark Jindrak. Jindrak hasn't been part of WWE since June of 2005
however Mysterio was receiving these substances while being
one of WWE's main eventers on the Smackdown! brand. Lead WWE
attorney Jerry McDevitt keeps making some bad calls on TV
saying no other WWE Superstar ever had contact with that
particular doctor. Ouch! Time to call some crisis management
specialists.
҂
WWE is getting a lot of press lately
although it's not the press that they would like to get.
In the new issue of one of the most popular Hollywood
gossip magazines, PEOPLE, Chris Benoit made it on the
cover - quite possibly the first pro wrestler to ever be
on the front - with the headline 'Family Secrets. A
son's health mystery, a rocky marriage, a looming drug
scandal. Inside the wrestler's trouble world.' There's
also a small picture on the side with Chris and his son
Daniel from WrestleMania XX. "He wasn't a monster," Dean
Malenko tells PEOPLE. "We're talking about a guy who, a
month ago, was in Jacksonville and rather than drive
down to Orlando, where he needed to be the next day, he
took a flight to be home with Daniel." You can see the
cover
here.
҂
Jakks Pacific Inc., told the San Mateo County Times that
the company has pulled all Benoit toys from its WWE action
figure line. "The company takes what happens very seriously;
and we don't want to contribute any more to the situation.
So we are no longer going to be distributing or making any
more Chris Benoit action figures," said Genna Rosenberg,
spokeswoman of Jakks Pacific Inc. "We have the power to not
make them, and no longer send them out, and that's what we
are planning to do." Jakks are the official action figure
makers for World Wrestling Entertainment. The newspaper also
said that toys retailer giant Toys 'R' Us removed all Chris
Benoit toys from its shelves after details of what happened
became public. Benoit merchandise is becoming very rare as
retailers and online stores pull their items however eBay
seems like the place to be to find all your Chris Benoit
stuff as the auction site still lists DVDs, action figures
and clothing bearing his name with some DVDs even topping
the $130 mark.
Monday July 9, 2007...
҂
Tonight at 9PM EST on CNN Larry King
will be covering the Chris Benoit double murder/suicide
story with guests including Chris Jericho, WWE Hall of
Famer Bret 'Hit Man' Hart and the current WWE champion
John Cena. This is the first time that a WWE personality
- except for spokesman and attorney - will be commenting
on the situation since this horrible tragedy took place.
Tuesday July 10, 2007...
҂
John
Cena, Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Ted DiBiase, Steve
Blackman, WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt, Dr Phil Astin's
attorney Manny Arora and Fayette County DA Scott Ballard
were all guests on last night's Larry King Live on CNN to
talk about the Benoit family tragedy. All were live in the
studio except Hart, Arora and Ballard who were connected via
live links. King did not ask the hard questions and everyone
talked highly of Chris Benoit although in the final moments
they agreed that his last few hours of his life will
overshadow everything he did for the wrestling business.
Chris Jericho did his homework very well and certainly came
out as the most intelligent from the show. The show had
clips of Benoit provided by WWE including his WrestleMania
XX celebrations, wrestling Bret Hart in WCW, winning the
Rumble and other memorable moments in his wrestling career.
Bret Hart called for a wrestlers union during the closing
minutes while answering an e-mail question.
Thursday July 12, 2007...
҂
A news report on WAGA-TV in Atlanta yesterday reported
that from the medical records that the DEA confiscated from
Dr Phil Astin's office it resulted that seven former WWE,
WCW and ECW Superstars received steroids and pain killers
prescriptions from the doc over the past few years. These
are Lex Luger, Marcus Bagwell, Johnny Grunge, Mark Jindrak,
Bob Holly, Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit. Nancy Benoit's
name was also on the list.
҂
Astin's attorney said numerous
times on television and on print that the doctor never
prescribed anything illegal to Chris Benoit. The doc is also
being investigated in the death of former Public Enemy
member Johnny Grunge, who passed away on February 16th at
his residence in Peachtree City, GA. Astin pleaded not
guilty when he was arraigned last week. His attorney said
that depending on the outcome of the investigation he might
change it to a guilty plea and bargain with the federal
government.
҂
The Associated Press is reporting
that some of the chemical tests on the bodies of Chris,
Nancy and Daniel Benoit are ready but officials do not
want to reveal the tests until all results are in.
"We're going to discuss what we find with local
investigators and they can determine what they want to
release," said John Bankhead, spokesman for the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation. There were some problems with
the body of Nancy Benoit as it was already in a
decomposing stage and that prevented some tests from
being done. Toxicology and blood-alcohol tests were done
on Chris' body while chemical tests were done on Nancy
and Daniel. An outside lab was hired to do testing for
steroids. "There is going to be some interpretation of
what was found," Bankhead said, without elaborating.
҂
The
four day Canadian tour which were supposed to happen at
the end of this weekend with RAW and Smackdown!/ECW
tapings as well have now been completely canceled. The
shows - in Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary and Edmonton -
were postponed just days after the Chris Benoit double
murder-suicide incident occurred and initially WWE said
they were going to reschedule these shows for a later
date. However the company is now offering refunds from
the point of purchase.
҂
The funeral for Nancy and Daniel
Benoit will be happening today at 1PM EST in Daytona
Beach, FL., where her parents reside. The funeral
services will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church. The address is 201 University Blvd, Daytona
Beach, FL 32118. It is not known if there will be any
official WWE representation at the funeral. The funeral
date for Chris Benoit has been made public as his
parents are keeping it a low key however it is expected
to happen in Edmonton, Canada where his parents live.
Friday July 13, 2007...
҂
The
funeral service for Nancy and Daniel Benoit was held
yesterday in Daytona Beach, FL., at Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic Church. The service lasted around an hour and
WWE's Dean Malenko, Fit Finlay, Vickie Guerrero and Jim
Ross were among those in attendance, which was less than
100. The name of Chris Benoit was never mentioned during
any of the speeches. Reporters from the New York Times,
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York Daily News and
others were also at the funeral to cover it for their
respective newspaper. Her family is asking that in lieu
of gifts or condolences, donations instead be made to
the foundation that they set up in the name of Nancy and
Daniel. Donations can be sent to: 'The Nancy and Daniel
Benoit Foundation for Battered Women and Abused
Children' c/o Decker, Hallman, Barber and Briggs, 260
Peachtree St., Suite 1700, Atlanta, GA 30303.
Tuesday July 17, 2007...
҂
Toxicology reports on Chris Benoit,
his wife Nancy and son Daniel were released today at the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation headquarters. Fayette
County District Attorney Scott Ballard opened the press
conference saying that all the findings so far still
leads that Chris murdered his wife and son and then
committed suicide. He thanked the crime lab for giving a
lot of attention to this case considering there are
other urgent cases that need to be taken care of. He
said that they will be unable to reply to most of the
questions regarding the crime scene or the investigation
as the investigation is still ongoing.
Dr
Kris Sperry, Chief Medical Examiner at the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation crime lab took over to explain
the results. Three drugs were discovered in Nancy's
body. These were Hydromorphone, a drug
to relieve severe pain. Hydrocodone, otherwise known as
Vicodin, which also releaves pain as well as Xanax, which is
used to treat anxiety. Her blood alcohol level was 0.184
although Dr Sperry said that it's wrong to speculate about
this because it could have been elevated due to the body
decomposing.
Going over Daniel Benoit, he said that Xanax
was found in his system as well although this is not a drug
that is usually given to a seven year old. Dr Sperry said
that they believe that he was sedated by Xanax before being
murdered but he wasn't overdosed with it. They couldn't get
any more results on him due to the very low level of urine
found in his body.
Chris Benoit had Xanax and Hydrocodone in
his system which were not at a toxic or elevated levels
however he had an elevated level of testosterone found in
his urine. "The presence of the testosterone alone even
could be an indicator that he was being treated for
testicular insufficiency," he said. Dr Sperry added that no
other illegal steroids were found in his body. A reporter
asked if Soma - a muscle relaxer - was found in his system
but he said no. He also said that the injection of
testosterone was irrelevant to the murders and they still
can't explain why he did what he did.
҂
WWE issued a statement just moments
ago regarding the toxicology report on Chris Benoit. The
full statement reads as follows. "WWE understands that
the toxicology reports for Chris Benoit indicate that he
tested positive for testosterone and negative for
anabolic steroids. On Mr. Benoit's last drug test in
April 2007 administered by Aegis Labs, he tested
negative for anabolic steroids and for testosterone.
Given the toxicology report of GBI released
today, it would appear that Mr. Benoit took testosterone
sometime after his April 2007 test and the time he died. WWE
understands that his dealings with Dr. Astin are currently
being investigated, and WWE has no knowledge of whether Dr.
Astin prescribed testosterone for Mr. Benoit at some point
after the April 2007 tests. For over 20 years, the WWE has
been demonstrating our concern for the well being of our
contracted athletes, instituting drug testing in 1987
leading up to our current Wellness Program which began on
February 27, 2006, administered by Dr. David L. Black of
Aegis Sciences Corporation - one of the world's foremost
drug testing authorities. We believe our Wellness Program is
at the very least comparable to those of professional sports
and is a program that will benefit WWE Superstars for
generations to come."
Tuesday August 21, 2007...
҂
The Associated Press is running a
story today about Chris Benoit and his hormone disorder
that according to his personal doctor's attorney, the
steroids prescribed to the former World champion were
for legitimate use. Manny Arora,
who is representing Dr Astin in the case, said that a
federal agent failed to tell a judge who issued the search
warrants about the condition that Benoit was suffering from.
DEA agents found that Benoit was being prescribed 10 months
worth of anabolic steroids every three to four weeks for a
whole year from May 2006 to May 2007. Arora said that if the
US government consulted a hormone disorder specialist, they
would have learned that the amount of steroids in question
was not excessive and would be the appropriate dosage based
on his medical condition. Astin has pleaded not guilty to
federal charges of improperly prescribing painkillers and
other drugs to two patients other than Benoit. Federal
prosecutors plan a superseding indictment with new charges.
He is free on bail but must remain in his home except under
limited circumstances. A pretrial conference is scheduled
for September 18th.
Wednesday September 5, 2007...
҂
Brain
examination results from Chris Benoit came out today and
tests performed indicated that there was big damage from
repeated concussions and other blows to the head.
Similar tests conducted on other five athletes - two of
whom committed suicide - showed that Benoit had the
highest level of brain damage compared to the
other five. These results were presented in New York this
morning during a press conference hosted by Dr. Julian
Bailes of the Department of Neurosurgery at West Virginia
University and Dr. Robert Cantu, the Chief of Neurosurgery
Service and Director of Sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital
in Concord, MA. Dr. Bailes said that considering the amount
of brain damage found it was enough to explain the double
murder-suicide.
Thursday September 6, 2007...
҂
Michael Benoit, the father of former
World heavyweight champion Chris Benoit, will give his
first in-depth prime time interview tonight at 9PM EST
on Larry King Live on CNN. His family and Nancy Benoit's
family are currently locked up in a legal fight to see
who will get the estate of Chris whose assets are worth
millions of dollars. A report released by two
neurosurgeon doctors just days ago revealed that Chris
Benoit's brain had massive damage from repeated blows
and concussions from his wrestling career and the
findings were enough to attribute the cause of his
actions.
҂
WWE has responded to the findings
revealed yesterday on Chris Benoit's brain examination,
which was announced at a press conference hosted by Dr.
Julian Bailes of the
Department of Neurosurgery at West Virginia University and
Dr. Robert Cantu, the Chief of Neurosurgery Service and
Director of Sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital in Concord,
MA. The WWE reply, issued the following response.
"Today's
attempt to explain that Chris Benoit's murder of his family
was possibly caused by some form of dementia as a result of
alleged concussions is speculative. WWE can certainly
understand the anguish of a father having to deal with the
fact that his son allegedly murdered his wife and young son,
as Chris Benoit is alleged to have done. We respect the
desire of that father to do whatever he can to find some
explanation as to why his son might commit such horrible
acts."
Friday May 30, 2008...
҂
Chris Benoit's personal physician,
Dr. Phil Astin, has been indicted yesterday by a federal
grand jury on a whooping 175 different counts all
related to illegally prescribing drugs to numerous
patients, including Chris Benoit. Dr. Astin allegedly
provided multiple prescriptions during the same day,
wrote inappropriate combinations of drugs and giving
methadone to patients in advanced for months and years.
"Since the initial indictment in this case,
investigators have carefully reviewed hundreds of
patient files and interviewed dozens of witnesses, and
we now see a much broader picture of the disturbing and
dangerous distribution of prescription drugs," said U.S.
District Attorney David Nahmias.
Tuesday May 12, 2009...
҂
The
former physician for Chris Benoit, Dr. Phil Astin, was
sentenced to ten years in prison earlier today after
pleading guilty to one hundred and seventy five counts
of distributing prescription drugs illegally and
conspiring to distribute drugs. Astin got half of the
maximum sentence he could have been given and will have
three years of supervised release after he's out of the
slammer as has to do additional community service.
Astin's name popped up during the investigation of the
double murder-suicide of Chris Benoit and his wife Nancy
and son Daniel. He was responsible of giving Benoit -
and other patients - all the prescription drugs. Astin
pleaded not guilty the first time around however changed
his plea earlier this year which resulted in a lesser
jail time.
Wednesday May 13, 2009...
҂
Chris Benoit's father, Michael, gave
some comments to iNews880 AM, a radio station in
Edmonton following the sentencing of Dr. Phil Astin
yesterday. "Now, since the trial is over, perhaps that
(medical records) will be made available to us. Perhaps
that will provide more insight to how the doctor was
treating my son, whether or not he was doing the proper
follow-up, and making sure that what he was prescribing
was doing any good, or if my son just kept asking for
it. I'm really not sure," he said. Astin was Benoit's
personal doctor and prescribed several illegal drugs to
the former World Heavyweight champion. Astin was
sentenced to 10 years in prison after getting a plea
deal with the prosecution. He initially declared himself
not guilty but faced twenty years in prison and a $1
million fine on each of the 175 counts he was charged.
Friday June 12, 2009...
҂
Nancy Benoit’s parents, Maureen and
Paul Toffoloni filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the
U.S. District Court in Newnan against Dr. Phil Astin III
and three drug distributors for their role in
contributing to the death of their daughter Nancy and
grandchild Daniel. The lawsuit also includes an
affidavit by a veteran Long Island sports medicine
doctor who reviewed Benoit’s medical records according
to the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper. The
family is seeking monetary damages for pain, suffering
and all expenses along with the "full value" of the
deceased lives. Dr. Phil Astin was sentenced to ten
years in prison last month after cutting a deal
following a guilty plea to 175 counts of distributing
prescription drugs illegally and conspiring to
distribute drugs. WWE and the McMahon family were not
named in the lawsuit as the Toffoloni's figured the big
guns at WWE would go all out against them including
revealing information that better be kept secret for
everyone involved.
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