This is the latest from the Benoit rumor mill. The headline wants you to believe there was some nefarious reason for Benoit taking out the insurance policy, but the article, as short as it is, says otherwise.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter are reporting that Chris Benoit took out a new life insurance policy, which listed his ex-wife and oldest child David, 14, and Megan, 10, as the beneficiaries. Nancy apparently confronted Chris about it and he refused to change it. Nancy also found out that Chris Benoit set up a new bank account in the name of his ex-wife in Edmonton.
Remember kids, dirt sheets, like The Observer, base their business models on rumor and speculation. Which is fine for an upcoming wrestling storyline or a wrestler changing companies, but as far as a real-life murder goes, they need to leave the crime reporting to the professionals. And no, I don’t consider myself a professional.
So to recap from the dirt sheets and irresponsible media, we have 3 motive allegations. “Roid Rage”, the Benoits arguing over Daniel’s Fragile X Syndrome which he may or may not have had, and now the insurance policy.
This just goes to show you just how ridiculous and uninformed not only the wrestling press can be, but the mainstream press as well.
Can we finally drop the whole “roid rage” issue? No. Ok, if you won’t listen to me, how about some expert professionals?
Domestic violence experts downplay the possible role of steroids in the Chris Benoit killings, saying the tragedy was more about Benoit’s anger over control issues at home.
Steroid usage has been linked to angry outbursts called “roid rage,” and depression when usage stops.
But in the case of Benoit, who apparently killed his wife and 7-year-old son during the weekend of June 24 before committing suicide, “that was a premeditated act and that’s not rage,” said Dr. Gary Wadler of New York, who studies the use of drugs in sports.
“I would wonder whether there was some underlying psychiatric abnormality that was unmasked by being on steroids,” he said.
“It’s sort of counterintuitive that he’s raging for three days straight,” said Nancy Grigsby, executive director of the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Unfortunately, it looks like a garden variety domestic violence incident to me. It’s a decision, and they’re actually typically quite calm when they give themselves permission to do what they want to do.”
The killings at the Benoit home occurred over an entire weekend, which does not point to rage, experts said.
Penn State University epidemiologist Charles Yesalis, who has studied steroids for 30 years, said “anabolic steroid rage is a spontaneous behavior. From what I’ve read, the death of Benoit and his family wasn’t spontaneous. I don’t see steroids had much, if anything, to do with this.”
I’m sorry, but this is idiotic and sensationalist at best.
This is a picture of Chris Benoit applying the Crippler Crossface.
His hands are clearly around the face of his opponent, not the throat. The crossface is designed to injure the opponent’s neck and back, not the throat.
District Attorney Scott Ballard says, “A choke hold was used, rather than hands. There’s no bruising consistent with strangulation by hands.”
The crossface is not a chokehold, hence the word crossface.
Wrestling writer Dave Meltzer adds, “There was bruising consistent with the Crippler Crossface on one arm and Daniel’s face. There were no bruises on his neck.
No offense to Dave Meltzer, but you’re a wrestling writer, not a forensics expert. Consistent does not mean conclusive.
“But police don’t believe, because of the size difference, that the hold was applied exactly as in a wrestling match.”
Somebody wake me up when that comes from a legitimate news source and not a gossip rag or a dirt sheet.
Due to Daniel’s size, I doubt Benoit could have locked his son’s arm between his legs. In my opinion, he used the stereotypical chokehold, using one arm around the throat and using the free arm to apply pressure on the occupied arm.
A source having access to certain of Daniel’s medical reports reviewed those reports, and they do not mention any pre-existing mental or physical impairment. Reports from Daniel’s educators likewise contradict the claims that Daniel was physically undersized.
Uh-huh. A source, you say? That source better watch his ass because if that information is true, leaking that information to the press without the permission of law enforcement violates a number of federal privacy laws whether the patient is deceased or not.
And again I say wake me when this comes from a legitimate news source.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am in no way excusing what Benoit did. I have dubbed him the Canadian Coward, and I stand by that. However, just because pro-wrestling is involved, let’s not turn this into some conspiracy theory, over-sensationalized crapfest in order to see who can be the first to break a detail about the case whether it’s true or not.
Chris Benoit’s former wife, Martina Benoit, said the star wrestler “was the most loving person anyone could imagine. I love him.”
Reached at her home in Ardrossan, Alberta, Canada, Benoit called reporting of the killings in Fayette County “crap.” She did not elaborate before ending the call.
Maybe to her and their kids, he was, but obviously, he wasn’t to Nancy and Daniel.
But in the wake of the lurid events that played out in suburban Atlanta last weekend, the Daily News has learned that another drug may have been part of a deadly cocktail that could have caused Benoit to snap. According to sources familiar with his drug regimen, Benoit was a known abuser of the drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate – or GHB, also known as the “date-rape drug.”
GHB can also be used as a performance-enhancing drug along with steroids. Again, I don’t think Benoit was on the so-called “roid rage”. What he did was methodical. While maybe not in his right mind, I believe he knew what he was doing.
Someone interviewed for the article offers a unique theory.
Trinka Porrata, a retired Los Angeles police detective who is president of the non-profit Project GHB, adds that it is not uncommon for GHB users to add methamphetamine into the mix, and that meth abuse often contributes to bizarre acts involving religion.
“The question everybody asks is, ‘How in the hell could you kill your son?’ Well, in a meth psychosis, your son could be the devil. That can happen quite easily,” says Porrata.
I guess we’ll find out if he’s right when the tox reports come in.
US authorities have dropped an investigation into anonymous Wikipedia entries from America and Australia that posted news of wrestler Chris Benoit’s wife’s murder 14 hours before her body was discovered.
Fayette County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lieutenant Tommy Pope said he could no longer see “any relevance” in investigating the Wikipedia entries.
The parents of Nancy Benoit are saying that their grandson, Daniel Benoit, not only did not have Fragile X Syndrome but didn’t have any kind of medical problem.
The parents of Nancy Benoit were contesting a widely-reported aspect of the case — that Daniel Benoit had an inherted genetic developmental disability.
On Friday, Nancy Benoit’s parents said through their attorney that they were unaware that their grandson had a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism.
Atlanta-based lawyer Richard Decker, who represents Paul and Maureen Toffoloni, told ESPN.com’s Elizabeth Merrill that the grandparents babysat often for Daniel and noticed no medical issues.
“To them, he’s always been a normal, healthy, happy child with no signs of illness,” Decker said. “And that’s not from a distance. That’s from day-to-day contact.
This could just be the words of proud grandparents blinded by grief. As the PWTorch article states in an interview that Chris Jericho did, Jericho said that he didn’t know that Daniel had Fragile X Syndrome but once he heard what the syndrome entailed he said that it fit Daniel to a T.
If Chris Benoit killed his family and himself over Daniel’s alleged Fragile X Syndrome, it not only makes him a coward, it also makes him a quitter.
While most wrestlers and ex-wrestlers are saying how surprised they were at Chris Benoit’s actions, Bruce Hart, brother to Bret “The Hitman” Hart and son to the late Stu Hart, is saying that Benoit was crazier than a shithouse rat.
Chris Benoit was a “delusional juice freak” who chased the dark side and had trouble distinguishing between his fictional character and reality, says the man who started him out in professional wrestling.
“The last time I saw him he was in pretty rough shape mentally,” said Bruce Hart, son of the legendary Stu Hart. “I didn’t know all the details but I knew it wasn’t good. I was not at all shocked (by what happened).
Hart will not simplify the shocking murder of Benoit’s wife and 7-year-old son or the eventual suicide of the wrestler by attributing it only to steroid usage. But he truly believes that steroid abuse, in combination with delusional behaviour, painkillers and failing health — “almost all the people we started out with (who did steroids) began breaking down around 40,” Hart said — is a deadly cocktail that needs to be further examined.
“I’ve known too many wrestlers who couldn’t separate the character they play on television from their real life,” said Hart, who has wrestled professionally, promoted wrestling and trained wrestlers all his life.
“Wrestlers start believing their press clippings and what is said on television. It’s like an actor leaving the set but still playing the part. There’s a delusional element to this. I’ve seen it over and over again. Some people can’t separate the character from real life, and Chris was one of those people.
“From my experience, that has been quite prevalent with wrestlers and that becomes exacerbated by steroids, drugs, painkillers and failing health.”
Hart did wonder if Benoit had been given an unfavourable medical report, which may been another factor in his violent behaviour. “A lot of the steroid users start getting liver and kidney problems around the age of 40,” Hart said. “There are a lot of wrestlers out there who are dead that you never heard about whose bodies broke down. I’ve known others who had looming health issues and went a little crazy. Maybe this caused him to go off.”
Which leads me, even more, to believe that this wasn’t the case of “roid rage” that everyone has been wailing about. And that’s why I haven’t been posting about the steroid-related parts of this story.
To me, it’s a non-issue. Steroids may have contributed to what happened, but they weren’t the be all and end all to motive. If that was the case, then wrestlers would be killing people every other week.
(Hey everyone. 2025 Trench here. Bruce Hart is known to stretch the truth according to other wrestlers. So, take what he says with a grain of salt.)
Luckily, it was just a coincidence according to the anonymous poster…
Hey everyone. I am here to talk about the wikipedia comment that was left by myself. I just want to say that it was an incredible coincidence. Last weekend, I had heard about Chris Benoit no showing Vengeance because of a family emergency, and I had heard rumors about why that was. I was reading rumors and speculation about this matter online, and one of them included that his wife may have passed away, and I did the wrong thing by posting it on wikipedia to spite there being no evidence. I posted my speculation on the situation at the time and I am deeply sorry about this, and I was just as shocked as everyone when I heard that this actually would happen in real life. It is one of those things that just turned into a huge coincidence. That night I found out that what I posted, ended up actually happening, a 1 in 10,000 chance of happening, or so I thought. I was beyond wrong for posting wrongful information, and I am sorry to everyone for this. I just want everyone to know it was stupid of me, and I will never do anything like this again. I just posted something that was at that time a piece of wrong unsourced information that is typical on wikipedia, as it is done all the time.
Those are “winning the lottery” type odds.
Anyway, the poster also admits to being from Stamford, CT but wishes to remain anonymous.
Again, I say even the writer monkeys at WWE couldn’t write a script this outlandish.
An anonymous user operating a computer traced to Stamford, Conn. ” home to World Wrestling Entertainment ” posted an entry to pro wrestler Chris Benoit’s biography on Wikipedia.org announcing the death of his wife Nancy at least 13 hours before police in suburban Atlanta said they found her body along with her husband’s and that of their 7-year-old son, FOXNews.com has learned.
Employees at Wikipedia.org said the posting went live on their site on Monday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Police, however, said they found the bodies Monday at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
The posting reads: “Chris Benoit was replaced by [[Johnny Nitro]] for the ECW Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.” According to a Wikipedia.org report published after FOXNews.com made inquiries, the edit was reversed just under one hour later with the comment:
“Need a reliable source. Saying that his wife died is a pretty big statement, you need to back it up with something.”
If that post was made anywhere besides Stamford, I would have said that it was just another Wikipedia vandal who happened to get it right by accident.
And let’s further fuel some conspiracy theories while we’re at it.
In related news, FOXNews.com also has learned, through widely posted Web reports, that former pro wrestler Sherri Martel, who was found dead on June 15, was linked to former wrestler Kevin Sullivan ” ex-husband of Nancy Benoit.
Martel, who had a reputation as one of the top managers in pro wrestling, was found dead at her mother”s home in near Birmingham, Ala., on June 15. She was 49.
Investigators, who have not yet determined Martel’s cause of death, say foul play is not suspected but that Martel did not die of natural causes.
I don’t know what to make of the Wikipedia entry, but Sherri Martel’s death is just plain coincidence.
According to the Associated Press, a WWE attorney is saying that Daniel Benoit’s medical condition was a great cause of stress for his mother and father, Nancy and Chris Benoit. Daniel Benoit was diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome, a form of mental retardation that is sometimes accompanied by autism. The WWE attorney also said that Nancy Benoit wanted Chris Benoit to be at home more to help take care of Daniel. It’s alleged that Nancy said she could not take care of Daniel by herself.
First off, I thought investigators told the WWE not to release any more details. Why is the WWE airing the Benoit’s dirty laundry all of a sudden? They wouldn’t be trying to deflect some kind of responsibility, would they? Not that I think the WWE is responsible for their deaths, but they sure are acting suspiciously.
Secondly, is a $500K a year salary not enough money to be able to take care of a child with Fragile X Syndrome? Could they not have afforded someone to come in and help Nancy while Chris was on the road?
However, this new revelation, if true, makes me think of another possible motive for why the Canadian Coward killed his family. The article states that in the past, Nancy had not asked Chris to quit wrestling. Maybe she did recently. Chris Benoit’s love of professional wrestling is legendary among hardcore fans. Maybe Nancy gave Chris an ultimatum. Either leave wrestling or I’ll leave. Not that that’s an excuse for killing your family.
The content of Chris Benoit’s text messages have been made public. Two were sent from his cell phone and three were sent from Nancy’s. 4 of the messages just kept saying his street address, and the fifth told the recipient where his guard dogs could be found. They were all sent between 3:53 AM and 3:58 AM on June 24th.
For those of you new to the party, Kevin Ray Underwood was arrested in the death of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin.
He killed her, sexually assaulted her (in that order), and then was preparing to consume her flesh.
The reason he landed here is that after he killed her and while the police were looking for her, Underwood just casually logged into his MySpace and Blogger accounts.
It’s no secret that Underwood had an obsession with cannibalism. It seems that it was about as far as a secret that you can get…
The claims about Kevin Ray Underwood’s behavior are contained in a witness summary report filed by prosecutors prior to a hearing yesterday in McClain County District Court.
According to the report, Underwood talked to a childhood friend about cannibalism and also talked to a worker at an Oklahoma City haircut shop about cooking organs.
Way to keep it to yourself there, Hannibal. I hope your taste for flesh is worth the needle.
