The Benoit murders 6 months later

[Bix]

Now that we have some perspective...

 

Was the Fragile X story planted by WWE?: At this point, I feel like there are 2 possibilities: Pam Winthrope was watching the tribute show, saw Daniel's facial features, and knowing about the disease as the parent of a child with it, made up the rest; or WWE planted the story. I think we can safely say that Chris Benoit would not have told anyone, especially a total stranger. Winthrope's story was amazingly vague and the radio station that interviewed her has not been forthcoming at all. Either way, she's got to be lying about something, and someone needed to know that it was a condition that one could reasonably think Daniel had.

 

Why did DA Scott Ballard say that Daniel was "almost a dwarf" and then later say he was normal size?: This was just strange.

 

What were the needle marks on Daniel's arms??: Chris Benoit was insane, but I don't see why he would have injected HGH (nobody has any other theories as to what he was injected with) into Daniel intravenously given his own experience. Also, as far as we know, there was no HGH in the house by the time Chris killed himself.

 

How incompetent were the cops, and what happened to Holly McFague?: The cops were afraid of the dogs, and instead of being sensible and calling animal control, sent the Benoits' neighbor, Holly McFague (who the dogs liked) into the house, where she found the bodies before running out and screaming to horror. She went to Boston, got a lawyer, and hasn't been heard from since, so I guess there was either a big financial settlement early on or they're still digging up dirt on the cops before suing. There's also the issue of the diary. From the 9/24 F4W:

 

The AP ran an article about Chris Benoit's diary. Cary Icther, the attorney for father Michael Benoit, said the entries showed Benoit "wracked with grief and preoccupied with death", noting that Chris wrote the entries as if he was talking to Eddy. Ichter said he was not going to provide copies of the diary for review, but noted certain phrases, including, "I will be with you soon". He also "wrote warmly" about both Daniel and Nancy. The article again noted that the diary had been found in the trash by one of Benoit's neighbors after the police and family had left. I can only imagine that the trash in question belonged to the neighbor, because I cannot fathom the police and family doing an investigation and not finding the diary in the trash at Benoit's house. I should note, though, that from very early on there were people talking about how it was a rinky-dink investigation (one person even used the term, ironically, "Barney Fife") and they were stunned with certain things the police did.

I get the feeling there's more bad stuff that we don't know about.

 

Why didn't Chavo Guerrero and Scott Armstrong find the text messages more alarming and mention them to the office (or call the cops) earlier? Why didn't WWE ask for the welfare check, even without knowledge of the texts, when Benoit was unavailable for a day after the "food poisoning" call?: The former feels like depressingly creepy wrestling business protectiveness, like they had a feeling that he did something bad but were afraid to report it until it was clear something happened to him, too. The latter I can't really think of an answer to.

 

Why are some fans so upset about WWE erasing Benoit from history?: Are they just that damaged? He killed his family and then himself. It was at least partially brought on by WWE not providing adequate medical care (both in terms treatment after head injuries and the drug testing program). If WWE didn't care about all that, there are still people who would see them as marketing a murderer. I guess WWE should care more about people getting old Nitros with perfect video quality.

 

Who came off the worst during the fallout?: It's really depressingly obvious now that Jericho was insuring that he had a job when he un-retired. McDevitt did his best to come off as a cold, evil man, even moreso than the McMahons. Cena for obvious reasons and also being a really transparently bad liar during all of this. Kennedy for obvious reasons and also not thinking about the fact that Signature Pharmacy had already been busted. Regal and Chavo for speaking publicly and then coming off as depressingly idiotic after the Signature bust given their medical and family issues. I really didn't think that Steve Blackman would possibly get any sort of gig out of his appearances, but his one-shot on Raw (juiced to the gills no less) made him look even worse than he did at the time. Oh, and David Black for letting the public know that he's a horrible fraud when it comes to running a drug testing program.

 

Why wasn't Santino suspended over Signature?: Orton I get. Santino?

 

Whaddya got, either Re: the above or to add?

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

Why wasn't Santino suspended over Signature?: Orton I get. Santino?

Doesn't the first failure only get you a warning?

 

Besides which, if he had a prescription for whatever he was taking, he's fine under the policy. I don't believe the names of the drugs he was getting from Signature were ever released, actually.

[Jingus]

Was the Fragile X story planted by WWE?: At this point, I feel like there are 2 possibilities: Pam Winthrope was watching the tribute show, saw Daniel's facial features, and knowing about the disease as the parent of a child with it, made up the rest; or WWE planted the story. I think we can safely say that Chris Benoit would not have told anyone, especially a total stranger. Winthrope's story was amazingly vague and the radio station that interviewed her has not been forthcoming at all. Either way, she's got to be lying about something, and someone needed to know that it was a condition that one could reasonably think Daniel had.

I don't see any possible motivation for them to have planted this story. Not that I think they wouldn't do it because they're fine upstanding folks or anything dumb like that. Everything Vince does is either to amuse himself or to make money, and I don't see why the company would've done something that random and without any potential gain.

 

What were the needle marks on Daniel's arms??: Chris Benoit was insane, but I don't see why he would have injected HGH (nobody has any other theories as to what he was injected with) into Daniel intravenously given his own experience. Also, as far as we know, there was no HGH in the house by the time Chris killed himself.

According to all reports, Benoit seemed to be obsessed with his own small size and how it held him back. Maybe it was his deranged way of trying to make sure his son didn't turn out to be shrimpy too.

 

Why didn't WWE ask for the welfare check

Because they weren't (INSERT RACIST STEREOTYPE HERE)?

 

Why are some fans so upset about WWE erasing Benoit from history?: Are they just that damaged? He killed his family and then himself. It was at least partially brought on by WWE not providing adequate medical care (both in terms treatment after head injuries and the drug testing program). If WWE didn't care about all that, there are still people who would see them as marketing a murderer. I guess WWE should care more about people getting old Nitros with perfect video quality.

Part of it is just being pissed at not being able to watch their former vanilla saviour's matches on 24/7, sure. But I think a lot of people are taking it as the WWE trying to cover up their own guilt by pretending that Benoit never existed and nothing ever happened, sort of sweeping it all under the rug.

 

Who came off the worst during the fallout?: McDevitt

Nuff said. There has been plenty of douchebaggery throughout this whole thing, but I can't think of anyone who matched McDevitt in either the epic scope or sheer quantity of his blatant lies.

 

Doesn't the first failure only get you a warning?

 

Besides which, if he had a prescription for whatever he was taking, he's fine under the policy. I don't believe the names of the drugs he was getting from Signature were ever released, actually.

The whole Signature mess was nothing but a transparent ass-covering. Supposedly over thirty wrestlers were named, but the WWE just arbitrarily decided to punish about a dozen. As to the "first offense = warning", does that mean that Kennedy, Umaga, Nitro and the others had all failed tests at some point? I never completely understood that, it seemed like they just made up whatever punishments they wanted for whoever was caught in that debacle.

 

Here's another one: What happened to the writings that Nancy allegedly had hidden away, to be released in the event of her death?

[Bix]

Why wasn't Santino suspended over Signature?: Orton I get. Santino?

Doesn't the first failure only get you a warning?

No. This ONLY applied to the original baseline tests in early '06.

 

Besides which, if he had a prescription for whatever he was taking, he's fine under the policy. I don't believe the names of the drugs he was getting from Signature were ever released, actually.

Err, the whole point was that internet prescriptions didn't count and that's why everyone else (except Orton, who they did try to construct a flimsy excuse for) was suspended.

[Bix]

Was the Fragile X story planted by WWE?: At this point, I feel like there are 2 possibilities: Pam Winthrope was watching the tribute show, saw Daniel's facial features, and knowing about the disease as the parent of a child with it, made up the rest; or WWE planted the story. I think we can safely say that Chris Benoit would not have told anyone, especially a total stranger. Winthrope's story was amazingly vague and the radio station that interviewed her has not been forthcoming at all. Either way, she's got to be lying about something, and someone needed to know that it was a condition that one could reasonably think Daniel had.

I don't see any possible motivation for them to have planted this story. Not that I think they wouldn't do it because they're fine upstanding folks or anything dumb like that. Everything Vince does is either to amuse himself or to make money, and I don't see why the company would've done something that random and without any potential gain.

Once the story surfaced (whatever the origin was), it was used by WWE to deflect from "roid rage" to "simple marital dispute and then Chris went crazy."

 

What were the needle marks on Daniel's arms??: Chris Benoit was insane, but I don't see why he would have injected HGH (nobody has any other theories as to what he was injected with) into Daniel intravenously given his own experience. Also, as far as we know, there was no HGH in the house by the time Chris killed himself.

According to all reports, Benoit seemed to be obsessed with his own small size and how it held him back. Maybe it was his deranged way of trying to make sure his son didn't turn out to be shrimpy too.

I get that. I don't get why Benoit, even if he was a nut, would inject HGH intravenously when he would know from his own experience that it's not how you do that.

 

Doesn't the first failure only get you a warning?

 

Besides which, if he had a prescription for whatever he was taking, he's fine under the policy. I don't believe the names of the drugs he was getting from Signature were ever released, actually.

The whole Signature mess was nothing but a transparent ass-covering. Supposedly over thirty wrestlers were named, but the WWE just arbitrarily decided to punish about a dozen.

Where'd you hear about the additional 15+ guys? Unless you're counting all of the women in the company since the male wrestlers heard about Signature from the women, but the investigators were unaware that women use steroids (or something) and thus didn't check the customer list for their real names.

 

Here's another one: What happened to the writings that Nancy allegedly had hidden away, to be released in the event of her death?

They were never a sure thing. She did tell people "If something happens to me, Chris did it" and had her own safe deposit box, but there was nothing in the box about their problems.

[sek69]

I have a feeling McDevitt acted the way he did at least in part to try to deflect some of the heat from Vince. You know half the shit he said came directly from Vince anyway, better to have the EVIL LAWYER~! say it than the head of the company.

 

As far as WWE erasing history goes, personally (and I'm not "outraged" by it) I think it's just stupid. Its as if by editing him off shows WWE can somehow act like nothing happened. Plus they could have made a goodwill gesture and donate all of Benoit's DVD royalties to his surviving children like they did when Eddie died. That way, they would come off as something less than a heartless rasslin' company and the videophiles could have their intact Monday Night War episodes.

[Bix]

Didn't some of the cable companies specifically request that Benoit be edited off 24/7 content?

[sek69]

Didn't some of the cable companies specifically request that Benoit be edited off 24/7 content?

 

When it first happened, there was two versions: one with Benoit and one with him edited out (24/7 updates on Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning so they had time to rush the editing). They asked cable companies which one they wanted, and I guess most said "without" since that's the way it's been. It appears they are working toward ending that anyway, as his name gets mentioned more and more often on the MNW shows.

[Tim Evans]

I got one, Why was Harry Smith brought onto the main roster after they knew he failed a drug test and pushed with Jeff Hardy? I might have my facts wrong but didn't he fail the test when he was in developmental

 

And why is Hustler printing naked pictures of Nancy Benoit in a upcoming issue? Are they that desperate for readers?

[sek69]

I got one, Why was Harry Smith brought onto the main roster after they knew he failed a drug test and pushed with Jeff Hardy? I might have my facts wrong but didn't he fail the test when he was in developmental

 

And why is Hustler printing naked pictures of Nancy Benoit in a upcoming issue? Are they that desperate for readers?

 

Harry was brought up just for the sole purpose of being able to say they suspended a guy on TV for failing. He hasn't been back on TV since his suspension ended.

 

 

 

And yes, Hustler is that desparate.

[Bix]

I got one, Why was Harry Smith brought onto the main roster after they knew he failed a drug test and pushed with Jeff Hardy? I might have my facts wrong but didn't he fail the test when he was in developmental

He was brought up so they could publicly suspend (based on the old test) a newly pushed guy to show they were legit about the changes in the policy. Really.

 

And why is Hustler printing naked pictures of Nancy Benoit in a upcoming issue? Are they that desperate for readers?

It's Hustler, what do you expect? I'm just surprised it took so many months for this guy to come forward.

[Loss]

In the case of Harry Smith, he's been gone longer than 30 days. What's the deal with him now?

[sek69]

In the case of Harry Smith, he's been gone longer than 30 days. What's the deal with him now?

 

He's doing dark matches. Meltzer has been pretty vocal about how obvious it was that WWE used him as a patsy and how disgusting that was especially considering his family history.

 

 

Also, one thing this whole ordeal taught us is that wrestlers' lives don't matter. If Congresscritters don't want to do any investigations because of the political risk with using taxpayer money to look into "rasslin" despite what happened, it pretty much seals it that no one gives a shit about if wrestlers live, die, or kill anyone.

[jdw]

Hard to see the Fragile X story being planted by the WWE. It's a pretty obsure thing, and I don't know who in the WWE Brain Trust could pull it out of their ass to create a plant.

 

Instead it looks more like what the WWE would typically do - grasp onto anything that pops up to try to point the finger elsewhere. They have a track record of being reckless, hasty and stupid in that regard, at times not even slowing down to think about it or check the facts.

 

I do agree that the origin of the story is odd. Perhaps one of the gifted writers who will be doing a book on Benoit will do a little investigating on it and track down what really led her to say what she said.

 

 

John

[Bix]

Yeah, WWE being too dumb to think of it seems to be the prevailing argument against them planting it. The situation is so weird, though, that I feel like it has to be considered a possibility, especially since Fragile X was already in the news that week.

 

Winthrope making any of it up is an odd case. There's a belief that as the parent of a child w/ Fragile X, she wouldn't have made it up. Someone has to be lying about something, as the possibility of Benoit telling someone seems nil, so even if she's telling the truth, her dead husband made it up for some reason years ago. There has to be something really weird going on either way.

 

It seems that Irv Muchnick's book will cover this all in-depth, as he already did a blog post about it.

[PeteF3]

That's the first time in about 5-and-a-half months that I've seen anybody classify the Fragile X story as being plausible, much less a probability as Muchnick apparently believes.

[Loss]

Yeah, WWE being too dumb to think of it seems to be the prevailing argument against them planting it. The situation is so weird, though, that I feel like it has to be considered a possibility, especially since Fragile X was already in the news that week.

This bears repeating.

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

I'm confused as to why WWE would plant the Fragile X story. In what way would planting the story make them look better?

[Bix]

Distraction from steroids, mainly.

[Guest WSnake]

Where'd you hear about the additional 15+ guys? Unless you're counting all of the women in the company since the male wrestlers heard about Signature from the women, but the investigators were unaware that women use steroids (or something) and thus didn't check the customer list for their real names.

Where did the women thing come from? Not that I don't buy it, but I've never heard of it.

[Bix]

Where'd you hear about the additional 15+ guys? Unless you're counting all of the women in the company since the male wrestlers heard about Signature from the women, but the investigators were unaware that women use steroids (or something) and thus didn't check the customer list for their real names.

Where did the women thing come from? Not that I don't buy it, but I've never heard of it.

 

Meltzer in the Observer.

[tomk]

I'm pretty sure that Smith has been on the last two weeks of Heat or so.

 

I don't think they planted the Fragile X story, but they clearly pushed it and ran with it. In the days after a murder lots of false leads will end up reported...this is the one that the WWE grabbed hold of.

 

Erasing Benoit from history leaves a bad taste. As its part of "this never happned and we move on" strategy. Whitewashing the past doesn't make it go away. A normal company would have done a "How to talk to your kids about this tragedy" segment, WWE opened ECW with a"we will never talk about this again" segment. It's about washing their own hands of blood.

[Bix]

http://www.fayettedailynews.com/article.php?id_news=669

 

Did Nancy Benoit try to call for help just before her death?

 

2008-02-14

 

By Cindy Morley

 

Did Nancy Benoit attempt to make phone calls for help just before being strangled by her husband, pro wrestler Chris Benoit, last June?

 

In the minutes before investigators believe former pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy, records show that several phone calls were made from the Benoit’s home phone, according to a final report by Fayette County Sheriff’s investigators into the murder-suicide of the Benoit family.

 

The report, compiled by Det. Ethon Harper, states that a call was placed to 411 directory assistance from the family’s home phone at 9:25 p.m. on the night Chris Benoit apparently killed his wife, Nancy, June 22, 2007.

 

“An internet search shows the number given was listed to the Fayetteville Police Department and shows as the non-emergency line,” the report states.

 

“The number shows that listed address as 105 Johnson Avenue, which is the old address of the Fayetteville Police Department.”

 

However, according to the report, “none of the phones listed to the Benoit family called the number after receiving it. It appears the number was obtained but apparently never used.”

 

“I can only assume it was Nancy Benoit who called 411, but I’m confused as to why the call was made to 411 and not 911,” said Scott Ballard, Fayette County District Attorney.

 

“You can’t help but wonder if the child, Daniel, made the call to 411 instead of 911. But I certainly hope not. I hope he did not see anything.”

 

The report also states that at 9:32 p.m., a phone call was placed from the Benoit residence to a cell phone belonging to Holly Schrepfer -- a neighbor of the Benoit’s. The call lasted for five seconds.

 

At 9:33, phone call records show a another phone call being placed Schrepfer.

 

“These are consistent with statements given by the neighbor,” the report states.

 

“She said she received a phone call from (she believed) Nancy Benoit on Friday night but did not answer,” the report says.

 

“It is believed the injuries (to Nancy) and Nancy’s approximate time of death occurred after the phone calls were placed to Directory Assistance and Holly Schrepfer at approximately 9:30 p.m. on June 22, 2007.” the report states.

 

The home phone does not show another incoming or outgoing call until Saturday, June 23, at 3:01 p.m., according to the report.

 

The report states that it was from Schrepfer, who said she was returning a call after Chris Benoit left a message that morning.

 

Officials says the report confirms earlier conclusions the former pro wrestler killed his wife Nancy, Friday night and their son Daniel, “within several hours after Nancy Benoit.”

 

They say Benoit hung himself in the family basement sometime Sunday.

 

The report eludes to another phone conversation on June 18 --only days prior to her death -- that Nancy Benoit had with a friend in Tennessee, Pam Clark.

 

The report states that Nancy Benoit told Clark how she “was concerned that Chris may be having an affair with one of the Divas in the WWE.”

 

The report says Nancy Benoit also told Clark “she did not feel like she knew Chris anymore... and that he had been acting strange lately and his mood swings had gotten to the point that he would pick fights with her over nothing.”

 

The report goes on to say that “Clark stated Nancy seemed ready to stand up for herself, but had a very bad feeling something was going to happen to her, and that she kept a record of everything Chris had done to her...”

 

The report also states that “Clark stated Nancy made her promise that if anything happened to her she would make sure that Chris was investigated.

Clark said in the report she thought Nancy Benoit may have been planning to leave Chris and go live with her family in Florida.

 

According to the report, Schrepfer also told investigators “she knew the relationship between the Benoits had been rocky and that the couple had frequent fights.”

 

She also apparently told police that “Nancy Benoit told her she was afraid to go home after Chris slammed her against the wall. Schrepfer advised they became friends after that.”

 

Schrepfer also “described how Nancy Benoit began abusing alcohol and prescription medication to help cope with her relationship with Chris and the demands of his career.”

 

The report states that a number of types of prescription drugs were found in master bedroom, bathroom and closet.

 

“Along with the testosterone prescribed to Chris Benoit, investigators located a bottle labeled Carisoprodol (Soma) 350 mg, which was filled May 12, 2007 and contained 40 of the original 100 pills.”

 

The prescribing doctor was Phil Astin, of Carrollton, according to the report.

 

The reports states that three prescription bottles for Nancy Benoit of the narcotic hydrocodone (Lorcet) were also found.

 

One was filled June 19 at CVS in Peachtree City, and 82 of the original 120 remained, the respot states.

 

A second bottle of hydrocodone prescribed to Nancy was filled June 9 with 120 pills at Publix in Peachtree City. The bottle was empty, according to the report.

 

And a third bottle prescribed for Nancy Benoit was filled May 30 at the PTC CVS for 120 pills. The report says this bottle was also empty.

 

Each bottle had apparently been prescribed by the family’s physician, Dr. Phil Astin of Carrollton, the report says.

 

Prescription bottles of hydrocodone (Lorcet) for Chris Benoit were also found, according to the report.

 

One bottle was for 120 pills, and was filled June 22, the reports says, and 85 remained. A second bottle was prescribed to Chris Benoit for 120 pills on June 8 and none remained, and a third bottle, prescribed Dec. 1, 2006, and of the 150, 81 remained, the report says.

 

Again, the report says each bottle had apparently been prescribed by Dr. Astin.

 

When interviewed by investigators, the report says Dr. Astin stated that he saw Chris Benoit in his Carrollton office Friday, June 22 -- the day investigators say he killed his wife.

 

“Dr. Astin advised that Chris Benoit did not appear outwardly depressed or anxious... and had no outstanding complaints other than his usual pain and muscular spasms.”

 

Fayette County Deputies went to the Benoit house Monday, June 25, after receiving a call that Chris Benoit missed a wrestling match over the weekend.

 

According to the report, the bodies of Daniel, Nancy and Chris Benoit were discovered after Schrepfer had taken the Benoit family dogs inside to place them in their kennel so investigators could enter the house.

 

“A short time later she exited the residence screaming that the family was dead.”

 

The report states that “Benoit continued to tell friends how would be at his event, but may be a little late..

 

“On Saturday June 23, Chris Benoit changed his Delta flight to a later arrival for a wrestling event,” the report says.

 

“It was apparent that Chris Benoit planned to leave the home after his wife and child were deceased and continue on with his planned wrestling event when he changed his airline flight,” the report says.

 

“At some point, Chris Benoit made the decision to stay in his home and to take his own life. Chris Benoit put his dogs outside and made his way to his home gym.”

 

The report says Chris Benoit then “sent text messages to two of his best friends to let them know the dogs were outside and what the street address was of his home.”

[Cox]

Pam Clark = the former Pam Hildebrand, wife of Brian, correct?

[Bix]

Why hasn't this been mentioned by the wrestling sites?

 

Judge allows nude photos of Chris Benoit's wife

Issue is moot, March issue was already distributed

 

By JOHN HOLLIS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 02/09/08

 

Hustler magazine has won the first round of a lawsuit filed by the estate of Nancy Benoit, which failed to prevent publication of nude photographs of the slain wife of former professional wrestler Chris Benoit.

 

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash on Friday denied Maureen Toffoloni's request for a temporary restraining order against publication of her daughter's pictures taken by photographer Mark Samansky 25 years ago.

 

Thrash based his decision on First Amendment rights that provide for freedom of expression. He cited the substantial volume of publicity and media attention surrounding the Benoit tragedy in saying Hustler magazine deserved that protection.

 

His ruling was essentially moot; Hustler's March issue has already been published and disseminated to the public.

 

"We think it's a good result," said S. Derek Bauer, the Atlanta attorney for LFP Publishing Group, which publishes Hustler. "You can't unpublish speech already published. You can't unring the bell."

 

Toffoloni, who lives in Daytona Beach, Fla., could not be reached. Rick Decker, her Atlanta attorney, declined to comment through a spokeswoman Friday afternoon.

 

The legal tussle involving the photos is the latest development since Chris Benoit killed his wife and 7-year-old son before taking his own life at the family's Fayetteville home in June.

 

The request for the restraining order was the first effort in a lawsuit filed by Toffoloni, administrator of Nancy Benoit's estate, against the magazine and Samansky.

 

The suit, which calls for unspecified damages including legal fees and litigation costs, was filed in Fayette County Superior Court earlier this week but was moved to U.S. District Court because the case involved a constitutional issue.

 

The suit contends that Nancy Benoit, who was married to James Daus from 1981 to 1986, never gave permission for the photos to be used for a "pornographic" magazine whose content includes "graphic and sexual photographs of nude women."

 

Daus testified in an affidavit that he was present when his wife, then an aspiring model, posed for still photographs and a videotape in the summer of 1983.

 

"Neither Nancy nor I ever gave Mr. Samansky permission to use the photographs or any videotape in any way," he said, adding that he and Nancy had been assured all the images had been destroyed.

So there's a lawsuit and it will keep going but the request for a TRO was rejected because the issue had already been published.