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Post by MRW1215 on Jun 26, 2007 10:04:46 GMT -5
Well, all sources seem to indicate that it WAS a murder-suicide. I still don't know what to think about all this; hell, I get chills just thinking about this whole thing. The way he came off on TV, whether that was just a character or not, along with what the other wrestlers said about him last night, I can't imagine why he would do something like that. I also heard that these "instruments of death" are supposed to be really bizarre, according to the Fox News channel.
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Post by Steve on Jun 26, 2007 11:08:18 GMT -5
It's starting to sink in for me, I think. I mean, everybody hates to accept it... but time of death really tells the story. They say the order of death was Nancy, Daniel, Chris... it's just sad.
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Post by MRW1215 on Jun 26, 2007 14:53:36 GMT -5
Man, with all that's come out about the situation, it's hard to feel bad about Benoit. I just... don't get why he did it, unless it WAS because of steroid use, like some news outlets are suggesting. I mean, if I turned on the news and saw a report that said "Pro wrestler New Jack recently murdered his family and took his own life", I'd say no surprise. But Benoit?
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Post by motosada on Jun 26, 2007 15:39:45 GMT -5
...
What the fuck?
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Post by jddelphin on Jun 26, 2007 17:42:12 GMT -5
Benoit strangled wife, smothered son
By GREG BLUESTEIN Associated Press Writer © 2007 The Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — Pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his 7-year-old son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine pulley, authorities said Tuesday.
Investigators found anabolic steroids in the house and want to know whether the muscle man nicknamed "The Canadian Crippler" was unhinged by the bodybuilding drugs, which can cause paranoia, depression and explosive outbursts known as "roid rage."
Authorities offered no motive for the killings, which were spread out over a weekend, and would not discuss Benoit's state of mind. No suicide note was found.
"I'm baffled about why anybody would kill a 7-year-old," District Attorney Scott Ballard said. "I don't think we'll ever be able wrap our head around that."
The Montreal-born Benoit was one of the stars of the WWE wrestling circuit and was known for his wholesome family-man image. His wife, Nancy, was a wrestling stage manager who worked under the name "Woman." They married in 2000.
When he won the world heavyweight championship in 2004, Benoit (pronounced ben-WAH) hoisted the belt over his head and invited his wife and child into the ring to celebrate. Asked by the Calgary Sun that same year to name his worst vice: Benoit replied: "Quality time with my family is a big vice. It's something I'll fight for and crave."
Nevertheless, Nancy Benoit filed for a divorce in 2003, saying the couple's three-year marriage was irrevocably broken and alleging "cruel treatment." She later dropped the complaint, as well as a request for a restraining order in which she charged that the 5-foot-10, 220-pound Benoit had threatened her and had broken furniture in their home.
In the divorce filing, she said Benoit made more than $500,000 a year as a professional wrestler and asked for permanent custody of Daniel and child support. In his response, Benoit sought joint custody.
The bodies were found Monday afternoon in the house, situated off a gravel road in this suburb about 20 miles south of Atlanta.
Benoit's 43-year-old wife was killed Friday in an upstairs family room, her feet and wrists were bound and there was blood under her head, indicating a possible struggle, Ballard said. Daniel was probably killed late Saturday or early Sunday, the body found in his bed, the district attorney said.
Benoit, 40, apparently hanged himself several hours and as long as a day later, Ballard said. His body was found in a downstairs weight room, his body found hanging from the pulley of a piece of exercise equipment.
A closed Bible was placed next to the bodies of the wife and son, authorities said.
The prosecutor said he found it "bizarre" that the WWE wrestling star spread out the killings over a weekend and appeared to ren in the house for up to a day with the bodies.
Toxicology test results may not be available for weeks or even months, Ballard said. As for whether steroids played a role in the crime, he said: "We don't know yet. That's one of the things we'll be looking at."
Steroids have been linked to the deaths of several professional wrestlers in recent years. Eddie Guerrero, one of Benoit's best friends, died in 2005 from heart failure linked to long-term steroid use.
The father of Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig blamed steroids and painkillers for Hennig's drug overdose death in 2003. Davey Boy Smith, the "British Bulldog," died in 2002 from heart failure that a coroner said was probably caused by steroids.
Benoit was a quiet, roughhewn figure amid the glitz and bluster of pro wrestling. He performed under his real name, eschewed scripted personas and didn't bother to fix a gap where he had lost one of his front teeth. (According to the WWE Web site, he lost the tooth while roughhousing with his pet Rottweiler.)
His signature move was the "Crippler Crossface," in which he would lock his hands around an opponent's face and stretch his neck.
He met his wife in the 1990s when she was married to rival wrestler Kevin Sullivan. As part of the scripted rivalry, Benoit and Nancy were supposed to act as if they were having an affair. A real romance blossomed, and she left Sullivan for Benoit.
Neighbors said the Benoits led a low-key lifestyle.
"We would see Chris walking in his yard from time to time. He wasn't rude, but he wasn't really outwardly warm," said Alaina Jones, who lives across the street.
Jimmy Baswell, who was Benoit's driver for more than five years, placed a white wreath at the Benoits' gate. "They always seemed like they were the happiest people," he said.
World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Web site that it asked authorities to check on Benoit and his family after being alerted by friends who had received "several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning."
"He was like a family member to me, and everyone in my family is taking it real hard," said fellow Canadian Bret Hart, a five-time champion.
The WWE canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, Texas, after the bodies were discovered.
Monday's show was supposed to be a memorial service for WWE owner Vince McMahon. In a storyline concocted by the WWE, McMahon was supposedly "assassinated" in a limousine explosion two weeks earlier. McMahon appeared at the beginning of Monday's telecast and acknowledged the bombing was made up.
The McMahon storyline has been dropped.
___
Associated Press writers Debbie Newby and Jason Bronis contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS the spelling of Curt Hennig's last name.)It probably makes me a terrible person, but I did find it singular that a contributor to the article was named 'Jason Bronis'... A bad joke, but boy- what a universe we live in...
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Post by Spunk on Jun 26, 2007 17:48:37 GMT -5
Does workrate excuse a dude killing his family before killing himself?
Seriously, this is very fucked up. The fact that Benoit killed his wife, then killed his son so his son wouldn't have to live without a mother and knowing that his father did it is just.. yeah.
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Post by Joe Snack Road on Jun 26, 2007 17:58:04 GMT -5
Why, again, do we care about this most fucked up of entertainment past times?
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Post by motosada on Jun 26, 2007 18:05:42 GMT -5
It probably makes me a terrible person, but I did find it singular that a contributor to the article was named 'Jason Bronis'... Yeah... I don't get it. Anyway, um... Yanno what, man? This is gonna fuck me up for awhile. I mean, I'm already not a big fan of people, but I'm with Spunk on this one. This is just too crazy even for words.
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Post by jddelphin on Jun 26, 2007 18:10:18 GMT -5
Jason Bronis... 'Jay-Bronis'.. >rimshot< >crickets<
tough crowd.
This is possibly the most f-ed up thing in wrestling history...
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Post by orochigeese on Jun 26, 2007 19:14:00 GMT -5
Looks like he did indeed do it. Still would like to know WHY but that just may not be let out to the public.
His close friends might know but he may never will. Sounds like Benoit had so many personal issues going on that things finally came to a head. This whole thing makes me so sick, I can't even express it.
To Spunk: For the record, it's not just workrate that made so many people look up to Benoit, it was his in-ring intensity and concentration and the way he continually gave his best in the ring. Of course those do NOT excuse a killer, or a rapist, or an assaulter in real life. But I really didn't think that workrate comment was necessary because no rational person was 'letting him off the hook' for this just cause of his in ring intensity. This is a shock cause of ALL the positive qualities he used to display, not just his workrate. Those positive qualities don't let him off the hook at all, but that doesn't erase the fact that up to 48 hours ago, a lot of people didn't know who he was personally. I and many others were a big fan of him over the years cause of what we THOUGHT his personal character to be. It turns out we were wrong, but we're not going around saying he's innocent cause he was an intense worker. And no, I'm not defending him, just clarifying why so many people USED to look up to him with the info we had. Now's really not the time to turn this into smark potshots, we're as shocked and saddened about this entire situation as anyone else.
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Post by Smacked Ass on Jun 26, 2007 19:37:51 GMT -5
I love how the media is instantly zeroing in on steroids as the cause. Ignorant fucks. How about a long, hard life on the road, torn up and hurting, watching the industry that you love literally consume your personal life, the lives of your friends (who really become your only real family), and still have to be that rock-solid, super-hero that everyone looks up to and admires. I'm not saying that all of that shit is a green light to off your family, I just wish the media would quit sensationalizing shit like this, and in the same breath, trivializing the issue by focusing on Benoit's steroid use, and not on what has to have been the culmination of years of mental illness. Oh yeah, I forgot, wrestling is fake. Just ask the Hart family, or the Von Erichs, or maybe the Guerreros?
Whatever, it's kind of a big deal here, what with Benoit growing up here and getting started with Stampede here, and every corner you turn, there's a reminder of how sick this whole situation is. I don't want to even think about it, or hear anymore "roid rage" claims. I remember thinking before Eddy died, how bad I wanted to see Benoit, Eddy, and Malenko do a farewell tour in Japan together, I wanted to see them return to the place where they really got their big jump, as champions. Dudes who became close on the road together and who's friendships grew to a brotherhood-like status experience a final tear through the ranks, and to get out of an industry that is a far different place than it was when they started, on top of their game, and on top of the industry. Now, Eddy is dead, found alone in his hotel room, and Benoit.... What the fuck is happening? Life, I guess?
I don't even really know what the fuck to say?...
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Post by Spunk on Jun 26, 2007 20:50:03 GMT -5
Looks like he did indeed do it. Still would like to know WHY but that just may not be let out to the public. His close friends might know but he may never will. Sounds like Benoit had so many personal issues going on that things finally came to a head. This whole thing makes me so sick, I can't even express it. To Spunk: For the record, it's not just workrate that made so many people look up to Benoit, it was his in-ring intensity and concentration and the way he continually gave his best in the ring. Of course those do NOT excuse a killer, or a rapist, or an assaulter in real life. But I really didn't think that workrate comment was necessary because no rational person was 'letting him off the hook' for this just cause of his in ring intensity. This is a shock cause of ALL the positive qualities he used to display, not just his workrate. Those positive qualities don't let him off the hook at all, but that doesn't erase the fact that up to 48 hours ago, a lot of people didn't know who he was personally. I and many others were a big fan of him over the years cause of what we THOUGHT his personal character to be. It turns out we were wrong, but we're not going around saying he's innocent cause he was an intense worker. And no, I'm not defending him, just clarifying why so many people USED to look up to him with the info we had. Now's really not the time to turn this into smark potshots, we're as shocked and saddened about this entire situation as anyone else. He killed 2 people and didn't have the balls to face himself afterwards, that is pretty much the only way I can look at it. It is so difficult right now to read stuff about him because its all 'RIP NEVER FORGET' kind of stuff, and yeah, he was a great wrestler.. But any report on his person I've read he sounded like a really big asshole. Constant hazing, if not worse than what JBL used to do -- but he always got a bye because he was Chris Benoit. When you heard stories of him kicking new guys' asses, it was ok because it was Benoit, but when he helped JBL it would be 'man, JBL is a dick' with no mention of Benoit. Benoit has gotten away with so much shit because he put on good matches. The final verdict is he strangled his wife, killed his son (WHO HAD FUCKING TRACK MARKS, BELIEVED TO BE FROM HGH AS BENOIT ALWAYS MADE HIS SON FEEL LIKE SHIT FOR BEING 'TOO SMALL') and then killed himself. The stories of him and his family are downright disturbing -- his kids were always dressed like they were going to a wedding when backstage, how they were quiet and wouldn't really talk to anybody, how people saw them working out with him.... It just seems like having Chris Benoit as a dad would kind of suck, his son was 7 years old and people have reported he was down on his son for being so small.... For real, what the fuck? Then the fact his wife tried to divorce him and reported how violent he'd get... Chris Benoit was great in the ring, but sounds like an insanely fucked up dude. I think his in-ring character was inspiring to people and so on, but Chris Benoit the person is nobody to look up to.
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Post by orochigeese on Jun 26, 2007 21:04:41 GMT -5
Dude, I 100% agree with everything you just said. And how sick of a person Benoit turned out to be.
I just think you need to realize that a lot of this info has only come out and been made public to a lot of us NOW. I didn't hear any of the hazing stuff before, or anything about how he treated his son or turned him into a robot. I knew NOTHING about his son, how many of us can say we ever heard anything about him? This information was simply not widely known and there was no reason to assume he mistreated people without any evidence or at least some type of allegations or stories.
I don't give a pass to Orton when he does stupid things...not cause I think he's a bad wreslter either. In fact, i've stated numerous times I think Orton is a good wrestler that just has problematic mic work (Benoit had FAR worse mic work). But Orton pisses me off cause what I've heard about him outside the ring. I NEVER heard any of these things about Benoit (or Cena or Kennedy or many others for that matter). Had I heard...my impressions of him would have been different for years. Ring work not withstanding. I can't watch Dynamite Kid matches without thinking he was a dick, even though his style was revolutionary.
What I'm saying here (I know I'm rambling) is that a lot of people are shocked by this because we didn't have any info about Benoit having these issues. If Orton were to get fired tomorrow for trashing a hotel room, there'd be little surprise cause he did it already. Whereas if John Cena were to blow up China with a neutron bomb, confusion would result. It's not in what we thought of his personal character.
It's not the "OMG workrate" of Benoit thats throwing a lot of us for a loop, its what he thought of his character. We were wrong. That's one of the shocking situations here...about just how wrong so many of us were. But I'm fully able to look at this and think just what a reprehensible person he was. I just didn't have that information 48 hours ago, few of us did. Whether we were fans of his ring work or not.
That's why the work rate comment you made earlier ticked me off a bit, cause I didn't want you to think I had given him a free pass on information I simply did not know about earlier. But I agree with you 100% - No amount of 5 star matches justifies murder. And no amount of them justifies child abuse either. Its just that many of us (smarks and non smarks) simply didn't know about the child abuse or family issues until this all happened. All this hit us at once and honestly, I think people have been pretty realistic about it. I've seen the vast majority of previous Benoit fans thinking quite differently about the man who used to be a role model with the info we once had. The info has changed, and so have our opinions. Benoit's no hero.
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Post by motosada on Jun 26, 2007 21:53:01 GMT -5
Yanno, it just kinds makes me cringe thinking that this is what Benoit's going to be remembered for.
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Post by motosada on Jun 26, 2007 21:57:38 GMT -5
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