Steroids Found In Dead Wrestler's Home

Did "Roid Rage" Cause Apparent Murder-Suicide Of Chris Benoit And Family?

(CBS/AP)  Officials investigating the apparent murder-suicide of pro wrestler Chris Benoit and his wife and son found anabolic steroids in the house and want to know whether the muscle man nicknamed "The Canadian Crippler" was unhinged by the bodybuilding drugs, which can cause paranoia, depression and explosive outbursts known as "roid rage."

"In a community like this it's bizarre to have a murder-suicide, especially involving the death of a 7-year-old," Ballard said. "I don't think we'll ever be able to wrap our minds around this," Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said.

He said Benoit's 43-year-old wife, Nancy, was killed Friday in an upstairs family room, and her feet and wrists were bound and there was blood under her head, indicating a possible struggle. Daniel, age 7, was probably killed late Saturday or early Sunday, and his body was found in his bed, the district attorney said.

Benoit, 40, apparently hanged himself hours later, Ballard said. His body was found in a downstairs weight room hanging from the pulley of a piece of exercise equipment. Authorities said Benoit placed a Bible next to each of their bodies before killing himself.

World Wrestling Entertainment, based in Stamford, Conn., issued a statement Tuesday saying steroids "were not and could not be related to the cause of death."

"The physical findings announced by authorities indicate deliberation, not rage," the company said, adding that Benoit tested negative April 10, the last time he was tested for drugs.

The WWE instituted a new and supposedly tougher drug policy just last year after the death of another wrestler was linked to steroid use, reported CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts.

Instead, the WWE said Benoit told co-workers his wife and son had food poisoning and were throwing up.

Authorities offered no motive for the killings, which were spread out over the weekend and discovered Monday. No suicide note was found.

On Saturday, Benoit called a co-worker to say he had missed a flight and would be late for a wrestling event in Texas, WWE said in a timeline posted Tuesday on its Web site. The co-worker said Benoit sounded tired and groggy and said "I love you," which the co-worker found "out of context," WWE said.

When a co-worker who usually travels with Benoit called him later from the Houston airport, Benoit told the co-worker his wife, Nancy, was throwing up blood and that his son, Daniel, also was throwing up. Benoit said he thought it was food poisoning, according to WWE.

After Benoit talked to a WWE Talent Relations representative, the representative suggested Benoit try to make it to a pay-per-view event in Houston since he would not be able to make it to the live event in Beaumont, Texas.

But early Sunday, two co-workers received a series of text messages from the cell phones of Benoit and his wife. Most stated his home address in Fayetteville, about 20 miles south of Atlanta. One message from Benoit's phone said: "The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open," according to WWE.

The text messages led WWE to ask authorities to check on Benoit and his family.

Ballard said the messages appeared to be an attempt by Benoit to get someone to the home to find the bodies after his suicide.

The prosecutor said it appeared the wrestler remained in the house for up to a day with the bodies.

The boy had old needle marks in his arms, Ballard said. He said he had been told the parents considered him undersized and had given him growth hormones.

"The boy was very small, even dwarfed," Ballard said.

Toxicology test results may not be available for weeks or even months, Ballard said. As for whether steroids played a role in the crime, he said: "We don't know yet. That's one of the things we'll be looking at."

Benoit received drug deliveries from a Florida business that sold steroids, human growth hormone and testosterone on the Internet, according to the Albany County, N.Y., District Attorney's Office, which is investigating the business, MedXLife.com.

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.

Steroids have been linked to the deaths of several professional wrestlers in recent years. Eddie Guerrero, one of Benoit's best friends, died in 2005 from heart failure linked to long-term steroid use.

The father of Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig blamed steroids and painkillers for Hennig's drug overdose death in 2003. Davey Boy Smith, the "British Bulldog," died in 2002 from heart failure that a coroner said was probably caused by steroids.

[cricketmk3]

I think the person who updated Wikipedia should be located and questioned in depth because there is no way I believe it's a coincidence that they talked about Mrs. Benoit's death before her body was found. This gets more and more interesting though.

[wiccantexan]

Thanks for the timeline update, cricketmk3. Have you heard the latest strange twist? Benoit's Wikipedia entry was altered 13 hours before the body was found, saying he'd missed the Vengence event because of his wife's death. What do you make of that?

[cricketmk3]

WiccanTexan, the facts state that the wife was killed a day before the son so your theory wouldn't work if this is true. Besides, if Benoit walked in on his wife trying to harm their son in any way, surely he would have called the police/ambulance. Let's face it...he was on steroids, insane, and killed his innocent family.

[wiccantexan]

An addendum to that; if the wife/son were throwing up blood, did the wife plan a murder/suicide with the child and Benoit found them, and finished off the wife? The son had no marks on his neck, reportedly; autopsy will determine what exactly killed him.

[wiccantexan]

Apparently they'd argued over the care of their son in the days before this tragedy.

For all we know, the wife killed the disabled son in frustration, Chris killed her in a fit of rage, and then killed himself in remorse.

Chris sounded out of it in the phone calls; perhaps he was in shock?

[incog-nito]

Since it appears that there are people who will always think of Benoit as guilty, and another group as innocent, I offer this eulogy:

Benoit, if you are in heaven right now, may your soul and your family's be at peace. On the other hand if, and only if, you are in hell right now, may you rot and burn there for eternity you murdering SOB!

[seafang]

Interesting to read Peacethinker, and Stazz6 comments.

You only have to turn on any of the alphabet soup network stations any night of the week in prime time, to see all the dumb and dumber stupid programming for people with an IQ the same as their shoe size. Compared to network programming, WWE pro wrestling is a high class entertainment medium, and Vince McMahon took it to a level never seen before. Yes we know it isn't real; but what is real about looking at a TV screen, and hearing people laugh; and NOBODY on screen is either laughing or doing or saying anything funny. Now that is beyond dumb; and the networks are full of it.

Yes the true story is about the family of Chris Benoit, who didn't deserve to end that way.

[brian2564]

need to clarify. I am a Christian!!! Not that I have been killing people in fits of rage for centuries.

[brian2564]

Posted by shay223 at 03:22 PM : Jun 27, 2007
bobgee_1999 : any idiot in this world can get ahold of a bible, you did anyway: and i am not saying that i am a christian: i would be doing true christians a great disservice if i did: i was raised in the church but made decisions in my life that took me away from that: but i do know what i was taught, and a true christian would not have done what he did:
Yet Christians (and I am one) have been killing in fits of rage for centuries. And though you may have done some rotten things shay223, you can always come back to the church and start over.

[brian2564]

Posted by shay223
furthermore, i was raised to believe that in order to be forgiven of a sin you must confess your sins and repent: how could he do this if he was dead:
have you ever heard of the throne judgement?
someone who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, truly in his heart, is gauranteed heaven. He will stand in judgement and all his sins will be exposed. You need to really do some cross checking of your bible.
The only "UNPARDONABLE" SIN is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and though it does not say it in so many words, Denial Of Jesus will get you damnation, from my understanding

[garsh548]

Wake up, how many more will die until someone say enough is enough? There are kids doing steriod because they want to be buffed to play football. Wake up, there are to many deaths occurring.

[stazz6]

Well , Well , Well , I guess Vinny boy is at it again. I say ban the heck out of wrestling . Trust me i watch wrestling and enjoyed it at times but its all BS now , Well it as been for many years. And so what McMhan Is a Dirty Thief. Wish he did blow up in his Limo Now thats what i call entertainment . Also another thing is Roids is well known in Wrestling they cant live without it . So i say Vince Boy get out while you can and enjoy your *** money that you have . why dont you help the poor or help people like me that work for there money . Now i will protest till i die to get wrestling out once and for all , This *** is a joke . All these years and we never got anything back from Vincey Boy . Grow the hell up Vince . If i see you in the street i will show you what a man is all about. I hate wrestling . Vince can you refund my money ? Hey you can afford it . lol Well what i hope happens is He Goes Down like a sack of *** . Goodbye and for all the wrestlers that died R.I.P. Vince was not worth it . You will all find out

[willylou11]

Actually I was thinking maybe it's time to get the story back to what it's really about. Two innocent people died. Lets focus on that, instead of using this as a soapbox to discuss the subject "Why I think perfessional wrasslin is dum and all you'uns that watches it, is just a bunch a stupid, cousin datin, redneck idjits." Ultimately, it's different strokes for different folks, and when you sit there and try to make people believe that your way is the only right way, and we should all agree with you, you only make yourself look like an idiot. If you don't like it then change the channel, and if you don't want to read news stories involving wrestlers, then don't read them, because quite frankly, your mere presence hear just to demean what this story is actually about just so you can say wrestling is stupid has lowered my intelligence by six points since i read that comment. It was uninformed, uneducated, narrow-minded, and insensitive to memory of the two innocents whose lives were taken, and to the surviving members of the families left to deal with why this happened.

[peacethinker-2009]

Ahh yup, wrestling is stupid low-rent entertainment for inbreds and dim-wits, the wrestlers are all 'roided up obviously. Time to put this story to bed. Next!

[willylou11]

Oh yeah now boxing that is a real sport, I saw some of the Mayweather/De Lahoya fight, I have seen slow dances with more excitement. I think at one point Mayweather even napped through part of a round. Boxing, what a joke, next I suppose you going to preach on the virtues of Tommy Morrison

[nishaboston]

why are you people debating on whether or not wresteling is fake. For crying out loud yes wresteling is fake. If you think it is real then you need to get a clue. However, it might be fake but it takes alot of work jumping from ropes and doing drop kicks. They are no diffrent from stunt men. But what does it matter if it is fake or not. It is pure entertainment. This is no boxing match. Just like when you go to the movies and see action movies it is all fake!!!!

[samthetvcat]

PPS Also, apparently the tide has turned for celebrities and crime (Phil Spector, Paris with 'just' a dui) . . . another factor that may have caused him to escalate things from maybe an initial impulsive assault that to a mass murder/suicide (?)

[samthetvcat]

PS I wonder now with there having been so much media frenzy over spouses murdering their wives (OJ, Robert Blake, etc), especially if they were pregnant (Scott Peterson, the Hackings, Bobby Cutts, etc), whether there's going to be a rise in these murder-suicides of spouses instead.

Like maybe steroids played a part, but maybe it's also an alarming trend that needs to be carefully watched (?)

[willylou11]

I agree with the last comment, it does take a large amount of athleticism, however a lot of the decisions are scripted, and they do follow a storyline based on what the company thinks will sell the most tickets and increase pay per view buy rates.

[samthetvcat]

"Wow, really? You must have put some real deep thought into that remark. Get a life and quit being so pathetic. I am tired of reading your comments."
Posted by retmilspouse at 10:15 AM : Jun 27, 2007

"Are you just on this site to make comments on others comments? Read the article and discuss the facts."
Posted by retmilspouse at 12:46 PM : Jun 27, 2007

Well I appreciate you attempting to redirect the discourse by not responding to my name-calling of you after you set the ball in motion - however, I do wish you had followed your own example in the first place. Why didn't you just say that there are enough articles with which to comment on the war in Iraq, so could we please just leave any references to Halliburton out of this one for once? I still think under First Amendment the responsibility lies with you to look away, but I would have respected your request if you had just said you were frustrated.

Clearly certain topics have peoples' nerves frayed, so I think it helps to remember that everybody is entitled to an opinion - something I pledge to do as well :)