Topic: Pro Wrestler and Family Found dead

[GoldenPhoenix]

I'm surprised no one has brought this up, this absolutely floored me.

Pro wrestler Chris Benoit, wife, son found dead

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. - WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife, and son were found dead Monday and police said they were investigating the deaths as a murder-suicide.

Detective Bo Turner told television station WAGA that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn’t be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab.

The station said that investigators believe the 40-year-old Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son, Daniel, over the weekend, then himself on Monday. A neighbor called police, and the bodies were found in three rooms.

Lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope, of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, told The Associated Press the deaths were being investigated as homicide, and that the causes of death awaited autopsy results on Tuesday. Pope said the bodies were discovered about 2:30 p.m., but refused to release details.

The house is in a secluded neighborhood set back about 60 yards off a gravel road, surrounded by stacked stone wall and a double-iron gate. On Monday night, the house was dark except for a few outside lights. There was a police car in front, along with two uniformed officers.

Pretty shocking and heart breaking, especially since it could have been Benoit himself that murdered his family before committing suicide.

[ShyGuy]

I just heard about this, i's really sad, no matter what happened.

[Kairon]

Dear god. I hate these sorts of cases... like when comedian Phil Hartman and his family died. How in the... *cannot comprehend*

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: Kairon
Dear god. I hate these sorts of cases... like when comedian Phil Hartman and his family died. How in the... *cannot comprehend*

What is most sad is that it does appear he did it himself, which is totally contradictory to what people knew about him. He supposedly really loved his family and even got along well with children, so if he did do it, that is absolutely mind blowing.

[KDR_11k]

Perhaps he joined some weirdo cult that believed death is a good thing so he killed them out of love?

[Sir_Stabbalot]

Ugh. Sounds horrible. Not really much to say.  

[MysticGohan]

Yeah... It's Insane! I don't tend to believe a thing until this investigation in concluded. It seem out of Character for Benoit. It just doesn't make any sense, what would cause such a thing?

[ThePerm]

yeah, frickin weird, it seems real out of character...everyone says its a double murder suicide...but thats out of character for benoit..maybe it was a crazy fan..its hard to say..i hope the investigation continues.

[mantidor]

I am not to knowledgeable about wresting, but aren't these guys as much actors as they are athletes? I don't get how could you say "it was out of character", people probably don't know the real character of any wrestler at all...

EDIT:

actually, this is pretty extrange, if he killed himself, thats a little difficult to hide from the press, but apparently people only knew this today and worse, from a leak of the police department. I've read wrestling stages deaths, could this be the case? terribly awful bad taste, but I've seen some of your reality shows, and I wouldn't be very surprised...

EDIT EDIT:

So I have overlooked the fact that he was found by the cops, so just ignore my previous edit.

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: mantidor
I am not to knowledgeable about wresting, but aren't these guys as much actors as they are athletes? I don't get how could you say "it was out of character", people probably don't know the real character of any wrestler at all...

EDIT:

actually, this is pretty extrange, if he killed himself, thats a little difficult to hide from the press, but apparently people only knew this today and worse, from a leak of the police department. I've read wrestling stages deaths, could this be the case? terribly awful bad taste, but I've seen some of your reality shows, and I wouldn't be very surprised...

EDIT EDIT:

So I have overlooked the fact that he was found by the cops, so just ignore my previous edit.

Well just like anyone else wrestlers are real people with friends who know them well and even some of the fans.

[Ian Sane]

Chris Benoit is one of my favourite wrestlers ever.  Wrestler deaths have been happening incredibly frequently over the last few years and a lot of my faves have died young.  Did this happen in the old territory days prior to the national expansion and we just didn't hear about it?  I don't know but it seems every year a couple wrestlers die under the age of 60.

Even though I'm a fan I didn't know Chris personally so I don't really feel sad.  It's always tragic when someone dies young but I personally am not that affected, just bummed out.  But the nature of his death is so bizarre.  What if he killed his family?  The whole way any fan looks at him now will be so different.  One of my favourite wrestlers of all time may be a murderer.  That's just too weird.  Is it okay for me to even be his fan anymore?

I haven't watched current wrestling for a few years so this won't affect my interest because it's already gone.  But it's such a horrible way to go and if he killed them it's a horrible thing to learn about someone.  I hope it turns out someone else murdered them.  That's still brutal but that what be less tragic.

Plus think of Chris' surviving kids from his previous marriage.  Imagine if your dad was involved with something like this.

[nickmitch]

Wow, this is just terrible.

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: Ian Sane
Chris Benoit is one of my favourite wrestlers ever.  Wrestler deaths have been happening incredibly frequently over the last few years and a lot of my faves have died young.  Did this happen in the old territory days prior to the national expansion and we just didn't hear about it?  I don't know but it seems every year a couple wrestlers die under the age of 60.

Even though I'm a fan I didn't know Chris personally so I don't really feel sad.  It's always tragic when someone dies young but I personally am not that affected, just bummed out.  But the nature of his death is so bizarre.  What if he killed his family?  The whole way any fan looks at him now will be so different.  One of my favourite wrestlers of all time may be a murderer.  That's just too weird.  Is it okay for me to even be his fan anymore?

I haven't watched current wrestling for a few years so this won't affect my interest because it's already gone.  But it's such a horrible way to go and if he killed them it's a horrible thing to learn about someone.  I hope it turns out someone else murdered them.  That's still brutal but that what be less tragic.

Plus think of Chris' surviving kids from his previous marriage.  Imagine if your dad was involved with something like this.

It appears quite clear he did it from what I've read. I guess his wife was strangled to death, his kid was smothered to death in bed and he hung himself in the weight lifting area of his house.

[NWR_pap64]

I'm not a fan of wrestling, but this is a very sad and disturbing story.

I have to concur with what Ian said earlier. Maybe today's wrestling world demands far too much from the wrestlers, giving them a lot of mental, physical and emotional stress? I'm sure many of them take medications just so they can keep a strict daily wrestling schedule.

[Ian Sane]

"It appears quite clear he did it from what I've read. I guess his wife was strangled to death, his kid was smothered to death in bed and he hung himself in the weight lifting area of his house."

My God.  What the hell convinced him to do that?  The sad thing is we'll never know.  It's like Michael Hutchence's suicide only unfortunately other people were involved.

Benoit's old tag partner in Stampede, Beef Wellington, died just a few days ago.  I wonder if that has anything to do with it.  Mike Awesome also commited suicide by hanging himself earlier this year.

[mantidor]

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Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix


Well just like anyone else wrestlers are real people with friends who know them well and even some of the fans.

yes of course but isn't that persona hidden away behind all the theater? I thought that was the case... so people know for instance the family of the undertaker and his other normal life? I really don't know, I always thought that was just never mentioned.

[ThePerm]

i got high fives from both eddie guererro and benoit..its wierd when these guys die, i would say wrestlers die more frequently than actors, musicians, other sports athletes or death row inmates.

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: mantidor

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Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix


Well just like anyone else wrestlers are real people with friends who know them well and even some of the fans.

yes of course but isn't that persona hidden away behind all the theater? I thought that was the case... so people know for instance the family of the undertaker and his other normal life? I really don't know, I always thought that was just never mentioned.

Usually the wrestlers are pretty open about themselves when they aren't around the ring. In addition to that there is alot of inside news of what goes on behind the ring, just like any celebrity.

[blackfootsteps]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
...
What if he killed his family?  The whole way any fan looks at him now will be so different.  One of my favourite wrestlers of all time may be a murderer.  That's just too weird.  Is it okay for me to even be his fan anymore?
...

That's an interesting point. Apparently on TV over there they aired a tribute to him. I'm not sure that's appropriate in the case of a suspected murderer. I feel bad for his extended family, it must be horrible.  

[BranDonk Kong]

The thing is, there were absolutely ZERO details on what happened when the tribute aired. There was no real information until a few hours after the show, and then only this morning it was officially confirmed (due to autopsy reports) that he did it. Vince McMahon opened the show tonight, and said that it would be dedicated to all of those affected by what he did, and other than his comments, there would be no mention of his name throughout the show. I can't believe anyone could commit such a horrible crime.

[MysticGohan]

Apparently WWE.com has more news on the matter. Benoit didn't beat his wife to death, as there's no evidence on the body. And benoit had not been using steroids, so it's not roid rage. Each of them had a Bible nearby.

But what would cause all this? Was it truly benoit? it makes no sense.

[Shift Key]

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Originally posted by: MysticGohan
But what would cause all this? Was it truly benoit? it makes no sense.

Being a wrestling fan since the days of WCW beating WWE in the ratings, this news has just left me numb. From what I've seen of him over the years he was an excellent wrestler, and from the various interviews over the years I get the picture that he was well-respected and popular with other wrestlers. Given he's been wrestling professionally for over 20 years, but he was certainly someone who gave his all.

For any person to take the lives of their family is tragic, but having felt like I knew Benoit over the years (if only through a TV) made this really hit hard. It was like a friend had passed. The added news that his wife and son had been taken as well was sickening, and only raises more questions.

Investigators claim that they found anabolic steroids in the house. They probably belonged to Chris - after all, he was 40 when this happened and after that long doing wrestling (Benoit had broken his neck years ago) But I don't feel that this was linked to the incident. My gut feeling is that it was a combination of depression and marital problems.

I remember the Owen Hart tribute match that he did with Bret Hart (Owen Hart had died in a freak accident). It was very emotional and as close to the real thing as you'll ever get.

Wrestling has been lacking something special for the last few years, and this loss only adds to its problems. I miss the glory days of WWE and WCW fighting for ratings. And I will certainly miss Chris Benoit.



An interesting side note: MSNBC were talking with Bret Hart about this news and they decided to throw in an interesting factoid:

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An on-screen graphic said that since 1997, there have been 1,000 pro wrestlers 45 and younger and 65 of them have died - 25 by heart attacks, five of 25 from steroid use, 12 deaths from use of other drugs. The death rate are seven times higher than the general population. There is 12 times the chance of a wrestler dying from heart disease.

Probably irrelevant to the news at hand but interesting to think about anyway. There was a history of steroid abuse years ago but there wasn't anything linking the industry to a culture of encouraging  the use of steroids. These days there's a much more stricter enforcement of "wellness" and several wrestlers have been suspended for breaking the rules.

[Dasmos]

It's tragic, but pretty sick. I've heard, in the news, he choked his son with a wrestling move and was injecting him with human growth hormones because he was small.

[IceCold]

This hits close to home for me - Benoit was born in Montreal and grew up in Edmonton.. plus he is my all-time favourite wrestler.

Tragic.

[BranDonk Kong]

I don't know if that choke hold thing checks out. I read it too, but wouldn't there be bruising caused by it? At first they said he used a plastic bag. Then again, maybe he told his son he was going to show him how to do a move, and never let go. Either way, he's a f*cking dick. Ruthless aggression - how fitting.