Benoit Murder Update (6-18-08)

Normally, I would add this to the original story. But this is strange enough for its own post. Investigators are looking into who altered pro wrestler Chris Benoit's Wikipedia entry. Specifically the entry allegedly mentioned his wife's death hours before authorities discovered the bodies of the couple and their 7-year-old mentally handicapped son. Benoit's page on Wikipedia was updated at 12:01 a.m. Monday, about 14 hours before authorities say the bodies were found. The site reported that Benoit missed a match on Saturday night "stemming from the death of his wife Nancy."

Fayette County district attorney's office learned of the posting Thursday. E-mail to the AP.WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt disclosed that no one at the WWE knew Nancy Benoit was dead before her body was found Monday afternoon. Text messages from Chris Benoit's cell phone were sent to co-workers a few hours after the Wikipedia posting. 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 hung himself. Toxicology tests may not be available for a few weeks.

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

Chalk this one up to marital problems? Alcohol? Steroids? Out side chance, murder meant to look like a murder suicide?

Update 7-2-07: The New York Daily News has speculated that Benoit abused gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB a/k/a "date-rape drug.") GHB which is associated with blackouts and memory loss, was thought by some to be a performance enhancing drug back in the 1990's. Legal Pub cautions that the toxicology report has still not been released, so this is still speculation.

Update 7-12-07 Stone Called Steve Austin's Ex Wife allegedly has reported abusive conduct in her relationship as well. Speculation has been fueled that perhaps the wrestling world powers need to provide more education and counseling for its entertainers.

Update 7-13-07:

Benoit regularly received deliveries from MedXLife.com which allegedly sold steroids, human growth hormone and testosterone on the Internet. Six people at the pharmacy have already pleaded guilty to supplying athletes with drugs. Benoit apparently also injected his son with growth hormone because he thought he was too small for his age. Since the death of MedXLife.com customer Eddie Guerrero from heart failure in November 2005 - the WWE has a strict testing procedure.

Update 7-17-07 Coronor's autopsy report contains toxicology data indicating Benoit had elevated levels of testosterone associated with steroid use. No surprise here. Still does not prove steroids caused the rage. Hydrocodone (pain killer) and xanax (anti anxiety) were also reported in his system. Dr. Astin who allegedly prescribed the steroids faces charges for improper prescription writing...

Update 7-24-07: There is an excellent comment that should be read about why steroids were likely a very minor factor in the Benoit murder- family suicide. I will not repeat it here as it should be read in the comment section where the author placed it!

Update 9-6-07: Steroids may not have been the cause of the murder-suicide after all. Brain scan and pathology reports are allegedly consistent with brain damage (protein and plaque formation around the dead tissue) from multiple concussions. This alone may account for the depression and bizarre behavior of Chris Benoit. It may also serve as an additional defense in the event of any wrongful death lawsuit.

Update 6-18-08: A recent comment on the Pub argues that the crime scene findings are consistent with murder and not murder suicide. For example, all the empty alcohol containers but only one victim with alcohol in her blood stream. Read the comment and judge for your self whether this should remain an open investigation.

Update 3-2-10: We shall never know if steroids played any role in this tragedy. What we do know is that due to unreasonable spamming, any further comments on this particular thread will need to be sent to legalpub@legalpub.net. They will then be posted manually.