Chris, Nancy, & Daniel Benoit found dead

[goodhelmet]

The thing that sickens me about this is the real tragedy of a 7 year old being murdered by his father seems to be totally lost out there among the IWC.

As a father of two, I agree completely. I just found out about 2 hours ago from my wife. I am reading all of the posts and reports and trying to make sense of it all in a strange city away from my family and kids. Ultimately, I keep picturing his kid and I don't feel sadness for anyone but him.

[Frankensteiner]

I don't think either hold a lot of water honestly. Roid rage doesn't explain the lapses between killing his wife and son. If he would've flown off in a rage he would've killed them in one shot. I also find insanity hard to swallow at this point as this all seems extremely calculated on his part.

Calculated murders don't preclude insanity. Whether or not the murder was calculated has little to do with whether or not a person can be classified as insane; his thougths, mood, motive and reasons for killing are probably more important in determining his mental state than the way he committed the actual murders.

[Guest teke184]

http://www.news1130.com/news/topstory/arti...626_212836_4500

 

Delta woman says wrestler Chris Benoit had a son with Fragile X syndrome

Tuesday, June 26 - 06:28:36 PM Katharine Kitts

 

DELTA (NEWS1130) - We may never know the reasons behind Chris Benoit's decision to take the life of his wife, young son and himself. However, a Delta woman, who was in contact with the Canadian wrestler a few years ago, said she might have some insight into the family. Pam Winthrope said Benoit's son had a genetic condition called Fragile X syndrome. Winthrope said she has experienced the condition first hand and knows how it can tear a family apart.

 

Fragile X syndrome is an inherited mental impairment. Pam's 12-year-old son has the condition and she said in an effort to shed light on the syndrome, her husband called Chris Benoit about five years ago.

 

She said, "We talked to him because I was trying to set up a support group in BC and in Canada, we only have a couple of them. My husband was struggling when we got diagnosed with our son, and Chris was struggling with his. They talked for a few minutes and then he said he didn't want to be a public face for Fragile X, he just wanted to keep it really, really quiet."

 

Winthrope said she couldn't believe the news that Benoit had taken his life along with his wife and 7-year-old son. She added that families can be torn apart by the disease because it's very difficult to find help and support. She said, "You as a parent have to go out there and find what's available and it's not easy --they don't tell you."

 

Authorities offered no motive for the killings, which were spread out over a weekend, and would not discuss Benoit’s state of mind.

Umm.

 

From what I'm finding about this on Wiki (take with a grain of salt), this may explain a few things.

 

 

One of the symptoms of Fragile X syndrome is Hypotonia, which is where a person has abnormally low muscle-tone. That may explain the HGH injections given to the son.

 

The disorder is genetic, carried by the mother, and has a 50% chance of being expressed in any sons. (From all indications I've heard, Nancy had at least one son with Kevin Sullivan that was considered developmentally normal.)

 

 

 

Symptoms

 

 

Aside from intellectual disability (mental retardation), prominent characteristics of the syndrome include an elongated face, large or protruding ears, flat feet, larger testicals in men (macroorchidism), and low muscle tone. Behavioral characteristics may include stereotypic movements (e.g., hand-flapping) and atypical social development, particularly shyness and limited eye contact. Some individuals with the fragile X syndrome also meet the diagnostic criteria for autism. While full mutation males tend to present with severe intellectual disability, the symptomology of full mutation females runs the gamut of minimally affected to severe intellectual disability, which may explain why females are underdiagnosed relative to males.

 

From all indications, the Chris-Nancy marriage was a shaky one pretty much held together by the kid.

 

Since the kid had a major genetic disorder caused by the mother's genes, that may have added a lot of stress to the relationship.

 

 

Part of Benoit flipping out could have been associated with a new diagnosis of some additional problems with the son, which would have caused him long-term problems.

[Bix]

I'm pretty sure Daniel was her only child. "Ben Sullivan" from WCW was a worked, age inappropriate son.

 

Also, if the Fragile X story is false (I am 50/50), that's impressively shoddy reporting.

[jdw]

The thing that sickens me about this is the real tragedy of a 7 year old being murdered by his father seems to be totally lost out there among the IWC.

No, just among some.

 

Keller hammered the point home earlier in the day:

 

http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_20635.shtml

 

KELLER'S BLOG: Updated thoughts on the Benoit Tragedy

 

UPDATED: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - 11:11 a.m.

 

-It is really sad for those of us who admired Chris Benoit's work over the years that his body of work is now permanently soiled. No match of his will ever be rewatched and appreciated the same way. Having said that, nothing about his pro wrestling body of work being ruined is the least bit relevant relative to the tragic death of his seven year old. I cannot imagine a worse death than your father smothering you after being a state of sheer petrified fright for however many hours it was since you last heard your mother arguing with your father. Absolutely horrible.

I suspect he said something similar in one of his ealier audio updates.

 

Say what you will about Wade, he did have the balls early on to cut through the fandom, the protection of the business, and the respect most everyone had for Benoit right to a critical, inescapable point.

 

John

[Guest teke184]

I'm pretty sure Daniel was her only child. "Ben Sullivan" from WCW was a worked, age inappropriate son.

 

Also, if the Fragile X story is false (I am 50/50), that's impressively shoddy reporting.

Gary Cappetta's autobiography mentioned Nancy and Kevin having both a boy and a girl.

 

 

That sticks out in particular because the boy was the subject of a story in there, as Abdullah The Butcher once fleeced him in a card game as a rib, then gave everything he'd won off of him to the boy's sister.

 

(This was when the entire Sullivan clan was travelling with the WCW crew during a tour circa 1991, as that was the limited time-frame when Abby was in WCW.)

[Bix]

I'm pretty sure Daniel was her only child. "Ben Sullivan" from WCW was a worked, age inappropriate son.

 

Also, if the Fragile X story is false (I am 50/50), that's impressively shoddy reporting.

Gary Cappetta's autobiography mentioned Nancy and Kevin having both a boy and a girl.

 

 

That sticks out in particular because the boy was the subject of a story in there, as Abdullah The Butcher once fleeced him in a card game as a rib, then gave everything he'd won off of him to the boy's sister.

 

(This was when the entire Sullivan clan was travelling with the WCW crew during a tour.)

 

This sounds vaguely familiar, but I find it strange that it hasn't been in the news AT ALL.

 

Was she active at all betwen leaving Florida in '86-'87ish and starting in WCW during '89? Between leaving WCW in 1990 and starting with ECW in '93? I don't remember her ever being pregnant during this period.

[jdw]

I think they should've just straight up dedicated the show to Nancy and Daniel.

Good point.

 

We've been discussing this for a half hour, and one of the pissant internet fans on a pissant internet board came up with something that the folks in the WWE couldn't come up with.

 

John

[Guest teke184]

I'm pretty sure Daniel was her only child. "Ben Sullivan" from WCW was a worked, age inappropriate son.

 

Also, if the Fragile X story is false (I am 50/50), that's impressively shoddy reporting.

Gary Cappetta's autobiography mentioned Nancy and Kevin having both a boy and a girl.

 

 

That sticks out in particular because the boy was the subject of a story in there, as Abdullah The Butcher once fleeced him in a card game as a rib, then gave everything he'd won off of him to the boy's sister.

 

(This was when the entire Sullivan clan was travelling with the WCW crew during a tour.)

 

This sounds vaguely familiar, but I find it strange that it hasn't been in the news AT ALL.

 

Was she active at all betwen leaving Florida in '86-'87ish and starting in WCW during '89? Between leaving WCW in 1990 and starting with ECW in '93? I don't remember her ever being pregnant during this period.

 

The children were at least 4-5 come 1991, when the trip in question likely happened.

[Bix]

I'm pretty sure Daniel was her only child. "Ben Sullivan" from WCW was a worked, age inappropriate son.

 

Also, if the Fragile X story is false (I am 50/50), that's impressively shoddy reporting.

Gary Cappetta's autobiography mentioned Nancy and Kevin having both a boy and a girl.

 

 

That sticks out in particular because the boy was the subject of a story in there, as Abdullah The Butcher once fleeced him in a card game as a rib, then gave everything he'd won off of him to the boy's sister.

 

(This was when the entire Sullivan clan was travelling with the WCW crew during a tour.)

 

This sounds vaguely familiar, but I find it strange that it hasn't been in the news AT ALL.

 

Was she active at all betwen leaving Florida in '86-'87ish and starting in WCW during '89? Between leaving WCW in 1990 and starting with ECW in '93? I don't remember her ever being pregnant during this period.

 

The children were at least 4-5 come 1991, when the trip in question likely happened.

 

The timeline doesn't match up-she met Sullivan in '84, they married in '85, and she was on TV constantly from '84-'86. It's possible they were from her first marriage or a previous relationship of his.

[Guest teke184]

I'm pretty sure Daniel was her only child. "Ben Sullivan" from WCW was a worked, age inappropriate son.

 

Also, if the Fragile X story is false (I am 50/50), that's impressively shoddy reporting.

Gary Cappetta's autobiography mentioned Nancy and Kevin having both a boy and a girl.

 

 

That sticks out in particular because the boy was the subject of a story in there, as Abdullah The Butcher once fleeced him in a card game as a rib, then gave everything he'd won off of him to the boy's sister.

 

(This was when the entire Sullivan clan was travelling with the WCW crew during a tour.)

 

This sounds vaguely familiar, but I find it strange that it hasn't been in the news AT ALL.

 

Was she active at all betwen leaving Florida in '86-'87ish and starting in WCW during '89? Between leaving WCW in 1990 and starting with ECW in '93? I don't remember her ever being pregnant during this period.

 

The children were at least 4-5 come 1991, when the trip in question likely happened.

 

The timeline doesn't match up-she met Sullivan in '84, they married in '85, and she was on TV constantly from '84-'86. It's possible they were from her first marriage or a previous relationship of his.

 

If she left TV in 1986 and had the kids, they could be at around the right age by 1991.

 

(That's based off of a rough guesstimate that Abby was gone from WCW by early 1992, which may be mistaken. He was certainly there through Starrcade 1991 and at least one Clash during the Kip Frey era, but I'm not sure how much longer he stayed.)

[Bix]

It could fit, but I don't know. Anyone? John?

 

Meanwhile, TMZ posted the divorce & restraining order documents (Adobe Acrobat/PDF)

[Guest Some Guy]

I still don't know what to say. I feel bad for the guys who poured their hearts out last night talking about what a great guy he was and how much they loved him with out knowing what he had done.

 

I have a 7 year old God daughter (who loves wrestling) and I can't imagine harming her in the slightest. How anyone could ever even hit a child, let alone kill their own is absolutely beyond me.

[Bix]

WWE releases detailed timeline.

 

Detailed WWE/Benoit timeline

Written: June 26, 2007

 

Below is a detailed WWE/Chris Benoit timeline from Saturday to Monday:

 

Saturday, June 23, 2007

 

Chris Benoit was scheduled to appear at the WWE Smackdown/ ECW live event in Beaumont, Texas

 

3:30pm

A co-worker received a voice message from Benoit. The message from Benoit stated he missed his flight and over slept and would be late to the WWE Live Event. The co-worker called Benoit back, Benoit confirmed everything he said in his voice message and sounded tired and groggy. Benoit then stated, “I love you”. The co-worker stated that it was “out of context.”

 

3:42pm

The same co-worker was concerned with Benoit’s tone and demeanor and called Benoit for a second time. Benoit did not answer the call and the co-worker left a message stating “just call me back.”

 

3:44pm

Benoit called the co-worker back stating he didn’t answer the call because he was on the phone with Delta changing his flight. Benoit stated he had a real stressful day due to Nancy and Daniel being sick with food poisoning. They discussed travel plans for the WWE Tour of Texas with Benoit still sounding groggy at this point according to the co-worker.

 

4:30pm

A co-worker who consistently travels with Benoit, called Benoit from outside Houston airport and Benoit answered. Benoit told the co-worker that Nancy was throwing up blood and that Daniel was also throwing up. Benoit thought they had food poisoning. Benoit stated he changed his flight and he would be arriving into Houston at 6:30pm. Benoit told the co-worker to drive onto the WWE event.

 

5:35pm

Benoit called WWE Talent Relations stating that his son was throwing up and that he and Nancy were in the hospital with their son, and that Benoit would be taking a later flight into Houston, landing late, but would make the WWE live event in Beaumont.

 

6:10pm

A representative of Talent Relations called Benoit. The representative from Talent Relations asked Benoit what time Benoit was getting into Beaumont. Benoit responded he was leaving Atlanta at 9:20pm Eastern time arriving into Houston at 9:24pm Central time. The representative from Talent Relations advised Benoit that it would be too late to make the WWE live event in Beaumont. Benoit apologized citing he had a family emergency. The representative from Talent Relations suggested to Benoit that instead of going to the WWE live event in Beaumont, Benoit should take the flight to Houston, rest up and be ready for the Vengeance Pay-Per-View event.

 

6:13pm

The representative from Talent Relations called Benoit to reconfirm the travel plans with no answer from Benoit. The representative from Talent Relations left a voice message to take the flight and rest up.

 

 

 

Sunday, June 24, 2007

 

Text messages sent to co-workers from Chris Benoit and Nancy Benoit’s cell phones:

 

Text Message 1

Sent to: Two Co-Workers (the same who had verbal correspondence with Benoit the day before)

From: Benoit’s cell phone

When: 6/24 at 3:53am from

Message: C, S. My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215

 

Text Message 2

Sent to: Two Co-Workers (the same who had verbal correspondence with Benoit the day before)

From: Benoit’s cell phone

When: 6/24 at 3:53am

Message: The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open

 

Text Message 3

Sent to: Two Co-Workers (the same who had verbal correspondence with Benoit the day before)

From: Nancy Benoit’s cell phone

When: 6/24 at 3:54am

Message: C, S. My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215

 

Text Message 4

Sent to: Two Co-Workers (the same who had verbal correspondence with Benoit the day before)

From: Nancy Benoit’s cell phone

When: 6/24 at 3:55am

Message: C, S. My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215

 

Text Message 5

Sent to: A Co-Worker who consistently traveled with Benoit

From: Nancy Benoit’s cell phone

When: 6/24 at 3:58am

Message: My address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215

 

WWE made several attempts to contact Benoit via phone and text messages, as well as, the local hospitals in the Atlanta area. As of 11:00 pm Sunday night there was no contact made with Benoit.

 

 

 

Monday, June 25, 2007

 

12:30pm

WWE was notified of text messages sent to the two co-workers.

 

12:45pm

WWE contacted the Fayetteville County Sheriff’s office and requested them to go to Benoit’s

residence

 

4:00pm

WWE received a call from the Fayetteville County Sheriff’s office, advising that they entered

the house of Benoit and found 3 deceased bodies (a male, a female and a child). The Fayetteville Sheriff’s office has secured the house as a “major crime scene” and that the Fayetteville County Sheriff’s Office had no further information.

[Guest teke184]

C = Chavo.

 

S = Steve (Regal)?

[Tim Evans]

Or maybe Steve Austin? Probably Regal though.

 

I think WWE did what was best tonight with Vince appearing at the start of the show. Either way, They will be made out to look like the bad guys.

[Guest teke184]

Or maybe Steve Austin? Probably Regal though.

 

I think WWE did what was best tonight with Vince appearing at the start of the show. Either way, They will be made out to look like the bad guys.

Given the way that Regal looked on the show, as well as the fact that those two had a longer history than Benoit and Austin, I'm thinking it's Regal.

 

 

(Not only did Benoit and Regal work together for years in WCW, Benoit busted his ass against Regal for the Pillman show in a famous match that helped Regal revive his career.

 

If not for Benoit wrestling him at that show, Regal's life would likely be completely different today.)

[World's Worst Man]

Kevin Sullivan speaks http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286848,00.html

 

“It’s surreal,” said Sullivan, who did not have children with Nancy Benoit. “She was a nice person. We just went our separate ways. She was nice and very loving and I’m sure she was a good mother.”

[Dylan Waco]

I don't think either hold a lot of water honestly. Roid rage doesn't explain the lapses between killing his wife and son. If he would've flown off in a rage he would've killed them in one shot. I also find insanity hard to swallow at this point as this all seems extremely calculated on his part.

 

Not true at all.

 

I agree that blaming this entirely on steroids seems less and less likely, but actually alot of the behavior is very consistent with known incidents of roid rage.

[sek69]

Man, watching the tribute show now is just flat out creepy. Especially when Edge says "I don't understand things like this", you can't help but wonder exactly what he's thinking.

[Strummer]

Posters at TSM are still trying to defend Benoit.

 

I really don't know what to say.

[Loss]

I would be interested in one of the news stations interviewing Debra Marshall.

 

She has been married to two wrestlers. She has been physically abused by at least one wrestler. She has been around both Chris and Nancy enough. She can compare the use of steroids and pain pills to that of other sports, because she knows what both wrestling and football locker rooms are like.

 

An interview with her would be interesting.

Steve Austin's ex-wife, Debra Marshall, commented on the Benoit Family Tragedy in a story published by My Fox TV in Colorado:

 

Regarding domestic abuse and drugs in pro wrestling, she said: "The domestic and drug abuse is out of hand in the WWE and something needs to be done about it."

 

Regarding the pattern of deaths in pro wrestling, she said: "In the last ten years, 60 wrestlers under age 45 have died... all in the prime of their lives. Big strong men, who somehow die with little or no investigation of the organization that encourages performers to use muscle-enhancing drugs."

 

The article concludes:

 

Ms. Williams claims she and Nancy Benoit's stories are very similar.

Both sought help from law enforcement because of domestic abuse. In 2003, Benoit sought a divorce from Chris Benoit saying he physically abused her, she also asked the courts for a restraining order. Williams did the same thing on the third occasion when she says she was attacked by "Stone Cold."

 

Williams says, like Benoit, Austin all but forced her to write a letter to authorities saying her complaint was a mistake. But in Williams's case, the courts put Austin on probation for a year. In return, Ms. Williams was placed under a gag order, forcing her to remain silent about the "dark side" of professional wrestling, filled with drugs, booze, and domestic abuse.

 

"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!"

 

In the TV report, she said:

 

-"Everyone thought we had this wonderful life, had this big house, worked together."

 

-"Steroids! He (Steve Austin) was doing steroids. I saw him do it, so I know he did it."

 

-"I have lived it. I have lived domestic abuse. I don't even want to think about what Nancy went through."

 

-"Why kill your wife, who's innocent, and why kill your seven year old, a little child. That's why I have to speak up. I've been silent for too many years." She said a gag order prevented her from talking about it her case with Austiin for a year.

 

-"I know what it feels like to have someone really, really big on top of you hitting you."

 

-"I had him arrested for hitting me."

 

-"I have a huge voice being that I was a wrestler, in it, abused, and married to the top guy. I'm glad I'm alive."

[kjh]

I think they should've just straight up dedicated the show to Nancy and Daniel.

Good point.

 

We've been discussing this for a half hour, and one of the pissant internet fans on a pissant internet board came up with something that the folks in the WWE couldn't come up with.

I'd say it was a calculated decision not to dedicate the show to Nancy and Daniel rather than incompetence, because his statement was very carefully designed to say as little as possible about what actually happened.

[Loss]

From the Observer:

 

Wednesday morning Benoit news update

 

 

 

 

By Alex Marvez

 

Email: [email protected]

 

Good morning! Here is the latest news that has surfaced overnight in the Chris Benoit murder/suicide situation:

 

X: The Associated Press has written a comprehensive Benoit story leading with how he told some WWE co-workers that his murdered wife and son had contracted “food poisoning,” which is why he missed a scheduled Saturday night appearance in Beaumont, Texas. Here is the link: http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/sto...mp;SECTION=HOME

 

X: The Atlanta-Journal Constitution quoted people who knew the Benoits from outside the wrestling industry in its main story about the situation today. The newspaper also reveals that the DUI arrest Benoit had that Fayette (Ga.) County officials alluded to during a Tuesday news conference occurred in 1998 while he was working with WCW and before he was married to Nancy Benoit. Here is the link: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/fay...7metbenoit.html

 

X: Debra Williams, the ex-wife of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, felt compelled to speak out about the murder of Nancy and Daniel Benoit on the FOX 31 web site. “Domestic and drug abuse is out of hand in the WWE and something needs to be done about it,” said Williams, who claimed she saw Austin personally use steroids. “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 victim of domestic violence by Austin in 2002 – which is the last year she worked for WWE -- Williams said she filed for a restraining order after a third incident between the two. Williams said Austin later forced her to write a letter to the courts asking the order be repealed. In turn, she consented to a gag order about the situation. The link to the story can be found here: http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/N...mp;pageId=3.2.1

 

X: Two wrestling fans emailed from Australia to say that Monday Night Raw, which airs at 3:30 p.m. every Wednesday on FOX8, would not air today and instead replaced by an episode of Jerry Springer.

 

X: The Corpus Christi Caller Times has an interesting story about the cancellation and rescheduling of this week’s Monday Night Raw as well as an early run on merchandise after news of his death (sans the gruesome details) began to surface. Here is the link: http://www.caller.com/news/2007/jun/27/wwe...ly-for-july-16/

 

X: Sports Illustrated reported about the link between Benoit and a Florida-based company accused of dealing steroids and human growth hormone. Here is the link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/06/26/benoitcase/

 

X: Bret Hart once again weighed in on the Benoit murder/suicide in the Calgary Sun. “I can't begin to even understand what could drive somebody to do this,” said Hart, whose family helped train Benoit to become a pro wrestler. “The sad thing about it is I never saw Chris lose his composure and I never saw him get angry. He was always a very solid, sound, logical kind of guy. It’s totally the last thing you'd ever expect to come out of Chris Benoit. I think that's why everyone's having such a hard time coming to terms with this.” Here is the link to the story: http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/0...293695-sun.html

 

X: The Daytona Beach News Journal wrote an article about Nancy Benoit’s early beginnings in pro wrestling. Here is the link: http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJour...EST01062707.htm

 

X: I will be making Benoit-related radio appearances at 8:05 a.m. today on WQAM (560-AM) and 8:25 a.m. today on WIOD (610-AM) in Miami as well as hosting a chat session about the subject at 2:30 p.m. at washingtonpost.com.

 

X: Keep checking back at wrestlingobserver.com throughout the day for more updates.

[Guest teke184]

A theory that popped up over at The Pit that hasn't been explored here yet-

 

 

 

Anyone else remember a major WWE star being on "suicide watch" in the past year or so, but no name being named?

 

 

Most Smarks at the time thought it was Kurt Angle, due to a combination of injuries, marital problems, steroid and painkiller abuse, etc. Angle's own weird behavior at the time and since his release by the WWE haven't done much to change that perception.

 

However, with everything coming out now about Benoit, people are thinking that this could have been him instead.

 

 

 

If it comes out that the WWE knew Benoit had gone totally bat-shit crazy after Eddie died and hadn't taken proper steps to get him treatment, it would probably be as devastating to the company as anything else that's come out so far in the wake of the tragedy.

 

This whole thing already has a media circus vibe to it and something like this coming out would only add more fuel to the fire, keeping the story around for another news cycle.