Chris Benoit and family found dead

[Zachary Sharp]

Pretty well said V...

A

[Shane Lawrence]

[Head Booker]

Benoit tragedy not the only one
Kevin Hench
FOXSports.com, Updated 37 minutes ago

Professional wrestling is fake.

The carnage it has left in its wake is not.
Add Chris Benoit to the long list of freakishly muscled carnival attractions for whom a pro wrestling career ended tragically.

Toxicology results are pending and Benoit may well have been battling deeper, more primal personal demons when he reportedly killed his wife and son before taking his own life, but only the most naïve observer could ignore the overwhelming evidence that most wrestlers who look like Benoit have undergone countless cycles of chemical enhancement.

The prescription anabolic steroids found at Benoit's home have long been known to contribute to paranoia, depression and the violent outbursts we've come to know as "roid rage." Couple that with the near-compulsory painkillers a wrestler must take to do his job effectively after enduring countless body slams and you have a cocktail for massive, mind-altering mood swings.

The Benoit story is the latest and most tragic installment in an ongoing saga that the men who get rich promoting professional wrestling would prefer their fans didn't know too much about.


Vince McMahon wants you to think about the stars of today and tomorrow, not the cemetery of steroid-fueled bodies his "sport" has helped put in the ground. But on the grim occasion of the deaths of Nancy and Daniel and Chris Benoit, let's remember some of the other pro wrestlers who died before their time.


Ravishing Rick Rude — Died at 40 of an apparent heart attack in 1999, a bottle of prescription pills for his bad back at his side. The autopsy report said he died of "mixed medications." Rude was an admitted user of anabolic steroids.

Louis Mucciolo, a.k.a, Louie Spicolli — Died in 1998 at age 27 when he suffocated on his own vomit after ingesting massive amounts of Soma and alcohol. Investigators also found an empty vial of testosterone, pain pills and an anti-anxiety drug at the scene.

Brian Pillman — An admitted user of steroids, he died of a heart attack at age 35 in 1997 on the morning of WWF's In Your House: Badd Blood pay-per-view event.

Rick "the Renegade" Williams — Died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 33 after being released from his World Championship Wrestling contract in 1999.

"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig — Found dead of a cocaine overdose at age 44 in his motel room on April 10, 2003, the morning of a match. Hennig's father maintained that steroids and painkillers contributed to his death.

Rodney "Yokozuna" Anoa'i — Died of a heart attack in 2002 at 34.

Davey Boy Smith, "The British Bulldog" — Died of a heart attack at age 39 on May 17, 2002. An autopsy report indicated that past steroid use had likely played a part in his death.

Michael "Road Warrior Hawk" Hegstrand — An admitted steroid user, he died of a heart attack at age 46 in 2003.

Michael Lockwood, "Crash Holly" — In 2003, at the age of 32, he choked to death on his own vomit after ingesting 90 painkiller pills.

Jerry Tuite, "The Wall" a.k.a. "Malice" — Died at age 36 in 2003 of an apparent heart attack in his hotel room.

Raymond "Hercules" Hernandez — Dead of heart failure in 2004 at age 47.

Ray "The Big Boss Man" Traylor — Found dead of a heart attack in 2004 at age 42.

Eddie Guerrero — After a long battle with painkillers, he was found dead of a heart attack by his nephew in his hotel room at age 38. The first person his nephew reportedly called was Guerrero's best friend, Chris Benoit.

Chris Candido — Died in 2005 at age 33 from a blood clot after breaking his tibia and fibula and dislocating his ankle in a pay-per-view event.

Owen Hart — Fell to his death at age 34 in 1999 when the rigging that was lowering him into the ring malfunctioned.
And then there's the story of the Von Erich wrestling family.

Wrestling patriarch Fritz Von Erich, nee Jack Adkisson, had five wrestling sons: Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike and Chris.

David died in a hotel room in Tokyo at the age of 25 in 1984 just as he was embarking on a three-week pro wrestling tour of Japan. The official cause of death was acute enteritis, severe inflammation of the intestines.

Three years later, Mike committed suicide by overdosing on the tranquilizer Placidyl at the age of 23. After David's death, Mike had suffered a series of setbacks including a serious shoulder injury that had left him severely depressed.

Devastated by the deaths of his older brothers and frustrated by his own limitations as a wrestler, the youngest and smallest brother, Chris, shot himself to death at the age of 21 in 1991.

Two years later, Kerry, who had battled a long addiction to painkillers, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 33, leaving eldest brother Kevin as the only survivor of the sport that had defined his family.

And now Chris Benoit, his wife and son have been added to the long, unbearably sad list of victims claimed, in part, by the brutal chemical calculus that is professional wrestling.

There is no arguing that the physical capabilities of these massive men can provide awesome theater. When Hulk Hogan lifted the 500-pound Andre the Giant and dropped him to the canvas, it was legitimately hugely thrilling.

But keep in mind there is a price these impossibly engorged specimens are paying for your entertainment.

And the price for many of them is their very lives.

[Zachary Sharp]

Not good at all... it'll be stormy after this.

A

[Blizzard]

I think the murders were strange because it didn't seem like the actions of Steroid rage. It is also sick that someone could smother their child. What is almost more disturbing is how someone can sit in their home after killing their family members for days. This is just insane. I just can't imagine what the families are going through.

[Spyral]

I will continue to love the job he done for professional wrestling. As a human being he is scum

[Lone Gunman]

More from WWE.com:

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 Fayette County Sheriff’s office has secured the house as a “major crime scene” and that the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office had no further information.

[Head Booker]

Benoit, wife argued over care for son
Associated Press, Updated 17 hours ago

ATLANTA (AP) - In the days before pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and child and hanged himself, the couple argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, an attorney for the wrestling league said Wednesday.

"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 Jerry McDevitt, an attorney for World Wrestling Entertainment. "We do know it was a source of stress and consternation."

McDevitt said the wrestling organization learned from the couple's friends and relatives that the Benoits were struggling with where to send the boy to school since he had recently finished kindergarten.

He also said Benoit's wife didn't want him to quit wrestling, but she "wanted him to be at home more to care for the kid. She'd say she can't take care of him by herself when he was on the road."

The child suffered from a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism, McDevitt said.

Over the past weekend, authorities said, Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine cable in the couple's suburban home. No motive was offered for the killings, which were discovered Monday.

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the slayings. Some experts believe steroids cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

The WWE, based in Stamford, Conn., issued a news release Tuesday saying steroids "were not and could not be related to the cause of death" and that the findings indicate "deliberation, not rage." It also added that Benoit tested negative April 10, the last time he was tested for drugs.

Also Wednesday, Benoit's personal physician said the wrestler did not give any indication he was troubled when he met with the doctor hours before the start of the weekend.

Benoit had been under the care of Dr. Phil Astin, a longtime friend, for treatment of low testosterone levels. Astin said the condition likely originated from previous steroid use.

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit in the past but would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed the day of their meeting.

"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."

"I'm still very surprised and shocked, especially with his child Daniel involved," Astin said. "He worshipped his child."

District Attorney Scott Ballard said the autopsy indicated that there were no bruise marks on the child's neck, so authorities are now assuming he could have been killed using a choke hold. "It's a process of elimination," he said.

The Benoits' argument over their son was not the only friction in their marriage. Nancy Benoit had 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.

Meanwhile, authorities in Georgia were investigating a link between Benoit and a Florida business that may have supplied him with steroids.

Prosecutors in upstate New York who have been investigating the company's drug sales said Benoit received deliveries from Signature Pharmacy and MedXLife.com, which sold steroids, human growth hormone and testosterone on the Internet.

Six people, including two of the pharmacy's owners, have pleaded guilty in the investigation, and 20 more have been arrested, including doctors and pharmacists.

"That's something that sounds like we ought to be investigating," Ballard told the AP on Wednesday.

A lawyer for MedXLife co-owner Dr. Gary Brandwein scoffed at allegations that his client's company sold steroids to Benoit.

"I've only read that in the paper. I have no direct information about that whatsoever," Terence Kindlon said Wednesday, adding that prosecutors in Albany County, N.Y., were trying to "distract everyone's attention from the fact that their case is disintegrating."

Brandwein, a 44-year-old osteopath from Boca Raton, Fla., has pleaded not guilty to six counts in New York state court related to the criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was accused of signing and sending prescriptions without ever seeing patients.

Telephone messages left for attorneys for Brian Schafler and Greg Trotta — two other co-owners of MedXLife — were not immediately returned Wednesday. The two men have pleaded guilty to felony third-degree diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions, admitting they helped get drugs in 2006 for customers in upstate New York who had no medical need for them.

McDevitt said the drugs found in Benoit's house were legitimately prescribed. "There's no question, none of these drugs are out there, none of these drugs came from Internet pharmacies," he said.

In addition to causing paranoia and explosive outbursts, steroids can also contribute to deep depression, according to experts.

"Just as you have the extreme high of when you're on steroids, you can get the opposite," said Dr. Todd Schlifstein, a clinical assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine. "You can have a dramatic difference in mood swings. You can feel there's no hope, there's no

[Head Booker]

WWE’s chairman calls Benoit a ‘monster’
McMahon refutes comment steroids weren’t a factor in the murder-suicide

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
Updated: 8:31 a.m. CT June 28, 2007

In an exclusive interview on TODAY, WWE chairman Vince McMahon backed off claims by his organization that steroids had nothing to do with the murder-suicide of wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and 7-year-old son.

“Steroids may or may not have had anything to do with this,” McMahon told TODAY co-host Meredith Vieira. “It’s all speculation until the toxicology reports come back.”

That was a retreat from a statement World Wrestling Entertainment, based in Stamford, Conn., had put out earlier, in which the organization said “steroids were not and could not be related” to the deaths.

Confronted with that statement by Vieira, McMahon said, “We didn’t say that. Our reaction was reacting to the hysteria of the media.”

McMahon explained that he and the WWE were reacting to suggestions that the phenomenon known as “'roid rage” may have led to the killings. Among the potential side effects of steroid use are depression, paranoia and episodes of rage.

The slayings of Benoit’s wife, Nancy, and their child were carried out last weekend. Authorities say that Benoit may have remained in the house with the bodies as long as another day before hanging himself, using the rope and pulleys from a weight machine. His wife had been strangled. Sometime after she was killed, the couple’s son was smothered. Bibles were placed next to the bodies.

‘This man was a monster’
“This is not an act of rage,” McMahon said. “This is an act of deliberation.” He added that investigators also found prescription medications in the house that may have played a role.

“This is a horrific tragedy,” he said. “It happened in pro wrestling. There’s a rush to judgment. There’s almost a hysteria around us.”


McMahon said that Benoit was known to the organization as “a mild-mannered individual,” adding, “there was no way of telling this man was a monster.”



Benoit married Nancy, who also worked for WWE, in 2000. Three years later, she filed for divorce, claiming that her husband “lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home.”



They reconciled three months later. But there have been reports that the marriage had been under pressure recently, and Nancy had demanded that Benoit spend more time at home helping to care for their son, who was developmentally disabled.


McMahon built the WWE into a thriving force in entertainment, creating characters and building story lines that ran like violent soap operas from one big pay-per-view show to the next. The outcomes of the matches are scripted, but the wrestlers travel as much as 300 days a year, putting on shows in cities across the country on an almost nightly basis.



While the action may be staged, the wrestlers take a pounding in the ring and injuries are frequent. So is the use of pain medications. In an earlier taped interview with NBC News, former wrestler Lex Lugar, who battled addiction to prescription drugs, said that drug use is rampant in the sport.



Benoit, known as the “Canadian Crippler,” had failed to show up for two WWE events. When WWE employees reported receiving puzzling text messages from Benoit early Sunday morning and were unable to contact Benoit in his suburban Atlanta home, WWE officials called law-enforcement authorities, who entered the house on Monday and found the bodies.

Police reported finding anabolic steroids in the home along with prescription drugs. Sports columnists and commentators have attacked McMahon and professional wrestling for failing to control the use of drugs, which have been implicated in a number of deaths. After Benoit's suicide and the slaying of his family, those criticisms intensified.

On Monday, WWE replaced its “Monday Night Raw” television show with a three-hour tribute to Benoit. Shortly afterward, when it became public knowledge that he had killed his wife and child, it pulled a tribute to him from its Web site. The organization also released the statement in which it said steroids were not to blame for the tragedy.

McMahon’s steroid charge
Vieira cited statistics showing that 60 wrestlers have died before the age of 65 since 1985 and said, “It seems like early death is almost an occupational hazard.”

McMahon questioned that number and said that he can speak only to five wrestlers who have died while under contract to the WWE or its predecessor, the WWF.



Among those who have died were Eddie Guerrero, who succumbed in 2005 to heart failure linked to steroid use. Curt “Mr. Perfect” Henning died of a drug overdose in 2003, and Davey Boy Smith, the “British Bulldog,” died in 2002 of heart failure, also linked to steroids.



McMahon referred several times to the WWE’s “wellness program,” which the organization began in February. The WWE claims to test its athletes for steroids and other drugs and says that Benoit was last tested in April. The results were negative, the WWE says.

Two weeks ago, McMahon had staged his own death in a spectacular car explosion and had not been seen since. WWE publicists claimed that the FBI was working on the case. But when Benoit and his family were found, McMahon re-emerged to fight off the attacks on his business.

Born Vincent Kennedy McMahon, the 61-year-old got involved in professional wrestling through his father, Vincent J. McMahon, a wrestling promoter, whom McMahon did not meet until he was 12 years old. The family business was originally called the World Wide Wrestling Federation. McMahon later changed that to the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF, but when the World Wildlife Fund objected in court to McMahon's use of those initials, he changed the name again to World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE.

Under McMahon, professional wrestling underwent a renaissance during the 1980s that saw the creation of the "Wrestlemania" pay-per-view extravaganzas that began in 1985.

In 1994, McMahon stood trial on charges of providing his wrestlers with steroids. He admitted to taking the drugs himself during the 1980s but denied providing them to his wrestlers or ordering them to take them. He was acquitted of the charges.

Mr. McMahon ‘presumed dead’
In WWE shows, McMahon plays a character called “Mr. McMahon” who is seen as an evil overlord. Donald Trump once joined the antics, participating in a staged feud with McMahon.

But on June 11, after a Monday Night Raw broadcast, cameras followed “Mr. McMahon” out of the arena and into his limousine, which was then shown exploding. The WWE said that Mr. McMahon was “presumed dead,” and claimed that the FBI was investigating.

Monday night’s edition of “Raw” was supposed to include a tribute to “Mr. McMahon,” but when news broke that day that Benoit was dead, Vince McMahon reappeared and a tribute to Benoit aired.

“Everybody in this organization, to my knowledge, is well-adjusted family people,” McMahon said. “They go to work like everybody else. They’re performers. We put smiles on faces. That’s our job description, not to be tainted and smeared by this.”

[Head Booker]

Booker T talks about Benoit

WWE superstar King Booker sat down with KHOU out of Houston, Texas today to talk about the Benoit tragedy. Below are some of the highlights.

Booker said that he knew Benoit personally and as most people in the business that knew Benoit have said, commented that he had never seen a bad side of Benoit. He noted that he knew Benoit’s wife Nancy and all of his children. He characterized what has happened as completely "out of the norm and unexplainable."

Booker noted that he wrestled Benoit in 75-100 matches and just recently talked to him for about thirty minutes about the wrestling business. "We're all tired at certain points, we work a lot of hours, but I never saw this side of Chris. I've never seen Chris mad. I've never seen Chris angry. He was always the guy with a lot of positive energy, always pushing the guys."

He went on to tell a story of a student that came to his wrestling school in Houston, Texas to be trained. Booker said that the student arrived from Illinois, with “no way to go back” and had $800 in his pocket. He revealed that the student carried around a photo of Benoit and Eddie Guerrero with him, as he was inspired by them to pursue a career in professional wrestling. "That was just the type of person he was, always encouraging people. He didn't even know this guy, but that's the type of person he was." Booker commented.

When “roid rage” was brought up in the interview, Booker commented, "The media is going to put a spin on it, you know. We know that. WWE knows that. Did the guy last week who murders his wife and kid last week have any form of roid rage? He was a cop. This happens in any form of life. I feel like the human life is a delicate piece of equipment and everyone has their breaking point. We don't know what his breaking point was. You don't know what my point is, I don't know what your point is. We're all human. I just think it was a huge malfunction and whatever it was, we may never know. It's not for us to know. It's out of our hands and with God now."

Booker said that the wrestling industry is a huge family and he’s cried and wanted to pull his hair out over the tragedy. He revealed that he loved Chris and said that he is mad to see him "go out like this. I'm pissed at him in certain ways. I wish I could just hold him for a second, but it's out of our hands. I'll be there at the funeral and tell him goodbye and hopefully see him on the other side. Hopefully, I'll find out what happened one day."


www.rajah.com/base/node/8376

[Head Booker]

Doctor's office raided in wrestler probe By HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 54 minutes ago

ATLANTA - Federal drug agents raided the office of a doctor who prescribed testosterone to the pro wrestler who killed his wife and son and hanged himself, authorities said Thursday.

The raid at Dr. Phil Astin's office in Carrollton began Wednesday night and concluded early Thursday, said agent Chuvalo Truesdell, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration. The search warrant had been obtained in connection with the Chris Benoit investigation, he said. No arrests were made.

Hours before the raid, Astin told The Associated Press he had treated Benoit for low testosterone levels, which he said likely originated from previous steroid use.

Among other things, investigators were looking for Benoit's medical records to see if he had been prescribed steroids and, if so, whether that prescription was appropriate, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because records in the case remain sealed.

Astin did not return repeated calls to his cell phone from The Associated Press on Thursday.

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit, a longtime friend, in the past but would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed when Benoit visited his office Friday.

Benoit strangled his wife and smothered son during the weekend, placing Bibles next to their bodies, before hanging himself on the cable of a weight-machine in his home, authorities said. No motive was offered for the killings, which were discovered Monday.

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the slayings. Some experts believe steroids cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

A "closed" sign hung on the front door of Astin's office Thursday. On the side door was another sign which read: "Our office is closed until further notice and Dr. Astin cannot be reached for comment."

Several patients who arrived for Thursday appointments left disappointed.

"Oh my goodness, I don't know what to think," said Amanda League, who said she knew nothing about her doctor's connection to Benoit. "He's always been a great doctor to me. Very nice. The staff is nice. There's great treatment here."

Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said in a statement Thursday that he could not immediately comment on the raid.

Also Thursday, Ballard told the AP that 10 empty beer cans were found in a trash can in the Benoit home. An empty wine bottle was found a few feet from where Benoit hanged himself, Ballard said.

It could take several weeks for toxicology tests to be completed on Benoit to see what medications, if any, were in his system.

Benoit took four months off from work in 2006 for undisclosed personal reasons, World Wrestling Entertainment attorney Jerry McDevitt said.

"He was feeling depressed, that kind of thing," McDevitt said.

In the days before the killings, Benoit and his wife argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, according to an attorney for the WWE wrestling league.

The child suffered from a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism.

[Head Booker]

Wikipedia posting is eerie twist in Benoit case
Web site posting referred to wife's death 14 hours before cops found her

Updated: 7:39 p.m. CT June 27, 2007
ATLANTA - Federal drug agents and sheriff's officials raided the office of pro wrestler Chris Benoit's personal physician in search of records and other items listed in a warrant, an official said Thursday.

Also Thursday, there was another bizarre twist to the case involving a posting to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

At 12:01 a.m. Monday, about 14 hours before authorities say the bodies were found, someone updated Benoit's page on the Wikipedia site stating that the reason he missed a match Saturday night was "stemming from the death of his wife Nancy."

The posting was made by someone using an IP address registered in Stamford, Conn., where World Wrestling Entertainment is based, said Cary Bass, a representative of Wikimedia Foundation of St. Petersburg, Fla., the parent company of Wikipedia.

It was not known where the posting was actually sent from, however, Bass said.

Over the weekend, authorities said, Benoit killed his wife and son and then killed himself at their home in Fayetteville.

The Fayette County District Attorney's Office was made aware of the posting by reporters on Thursday and forwarded the information to sheriff's investigators who are looking into it, a legal assistant said in an e-mail to AP.

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said to his knowledge, no one at the WWE knew Nancy Benoit was dead before her body was found Monday afternoon. Text messages released by officials show that messages from Chris Benoit's cell phone were being sent to co-workers a few hours after the Wikipedia posting.

McDevitt said WWE employees are given WWE e-mail addresses, though he did not know if Chris Benoit had one assigned to him.

[Icon Lord Leon Corbin]

That's all a bit weird if you ask me. And this Benoit thing has even made our tabloids, outside the sports pages at that. Although the article was about him injecting steroids into his son...

Wrestlers hardly ever make it into the papers here, when Owen fell he was lucky to get a tiny lil, almost invisible paragraph in the back sport pages at the time.

[GM Mark "Damn Right" Dent]

Trying to sort this out.

click.

[Icon Lord Jon Kellar]

I don't know what to say... I'm in complete shock and horror at the situation!