REPORTS say Chris Benoit, one of TV wrestling's leading personalities, and his family have been found dead in their home.

The bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their young son were found after the wrestler missed an engagement to attend to a "family crisis", according to TMZ.com.

Police are investigating the scene.

The official WWE website reported the deaths and said the upcoming episode of Raw would serve as a tribute to Benoit.

Chris Benoit, 1967-2007
Posted Jun 25th 2007 7:59PM by Michael David Smith


This is why WWE really shouldn't have done that whole "Vince McMahon is dead" storyline. Several news outlets, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, are reporting that pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy and their 7-year-old son were found dead at their home in Atlanta today.

The WWE first announced the deaths on its web site this afternoon, and for much of the day, fans everywhere expressed "yeah, right" skepticism because the WWE was in the midst of a storyline in which they had faked the death of McMahon, the WWE's owner.

But the Journal-Constitution and Atlanta TV stations have quoted local law enforcement authorities confirming the deaths, and McMahon himself showed up in the opening of tonight's Monday Night RAW to explain that Benoit's death was real.

No cause of death has been given for any of the Benoits, but law enforcement said they did not die of gunshot wounds.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. - Details of the deaths of pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old son may seem "a little bizarre" when released to the public, a prosecutor said.

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Authorities were investigating the deaths at a secluded Fayette County home as a murder-suicide and were not seeking any suspects outside the home.

Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "The details, when they come out, are going to prove a little bizarre."

Those details may emerge after the completion of autopsies scheduled for Tuesday.

Investigators believe Benoit, (pronounced ben-WAH,) killed his wife and son over the weekend and then himself sometime Monday. The bodies were found Monday afternoon in three different rooms of the house on Green Meadow Lane, in a subdivision off a gravel road about two miles from Whitewater Country Club.

The autopsies were scheduled to be done at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in DeKalb County.

Ballard told The Associated Press a gun was not used in any of the deaths. But he declined to say how the three died.

"We're pretty sure we know, but we want to confirm it with the crime lab," Ballard said early Tuesday.

Fayette County Coroner C.J. Mowell did not immediately return phone calls. The answering service for his funeral home said he was out of town.

World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Web site that it asked authorities to check on Benoit and his family after being alerted by friends who received "several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning."

Pope said the three were found about 2:30 p.m., but he would release no other details about the deaths.

Stamford, Conn.-based WWE also said on its Web site it had further information on the deaths of Benoit, 40; his wife, Nancy, 43; and son, Daniel, but had been asked by authorities not to release it.

Benoit, a native of Canada, was born in Montreal. He was a former world heavyweight champion, Intercontinental champion and held several tag-team titles over his career. He was known by several names including "The Canadian Crippler."

"WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family's relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy," the federation said in a statement on its Web site.

Benoit was scheduled to perform at the "Vengeance" pay-per-view event Sunday night in Houston, but was replaced at the last minute because of what announcer Jim Ross called "personal reasons."

Benoit maintained a home in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the defunct World Championship Wrestling.

The WWE canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, Texas, and USA Network aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast.

Benoit's wife managed several wrestlers and went by the stage name, "Woman," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

They met when her then-husband drew up a script that had them involved in a relationship as part of an ongoing story line on World Championship Wrestling, the newspaper said.

Benoit has two other children from a prior relationship.

I'm so tired of the cowardice of so called MEN in this society

Jun 26 2007 4:02 PM EDT

Deaths Of WWE Champ Chris Benoit, Family Being Treated As Murder-Suicide
'I'm baffled by why anyone would kill a 7-year-old,' district attorney says.
By James Montgomery

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The deaths of former WWE champion Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and their son Daniel are being treated as an apparent murder-suicide, according to investigators in Fayette County, Georgia.

Speaking at a press conference held at the front gate of Benoit's home in rural Fayetteville on Tuesday (June 26), District Attorney Scott Ballard said Benoit killed his wife and son sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning — placing a bible next to each of their bodies — before taking his own life in a weight room in the basement of the house.

"In a community like this, it's bizarre to have a murder-suicide," Ballard told reporters, clarifying earlier comments he had made in which he said details of the deaths were "a little bizarre." "Some period of time elapsed between the time of death of the two victims and [Benoit's] suicide. It was bizarre that he would be in the home with the deceased bodies."

Ballard added that Benoit's wife was killed in an upstairs "family room," her body found bound by her hands and feet, and that there was "blood under her head." The couple's 7-year-old son was killed in his upstairs bedroom. Both deaths were attributed to asphyxiation, according to an autopsy performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Benoit hung himself using a chord from a weight set. When asked for a possible motive for the murders, Ballard said he couldn't speculate on Benoit's state of mind over the weekend but added, "I'm baffled by why anyone would kill a 7-year-old."

Ballard also said that investigators found several prescription drugs in the house, as well as anabolic steroids, but he could not comment on whether or not Benoit was taking them, as he was awaiting the results of a toxicology report, which might take "longer than two weeks" to come in from the lab.

Benoit, whose workmanlike approach to wrestling earned him legions of fans and championships in the WWE, WCW and ECW, was scheduled to perform at the WWE's "Vengeance" pay-per-view event on Sunday in Houston but backed out at the last minute citing "a family emergency," according to the WWE. On its Web site, the WWE added that it asked the Fayette County Sheriff's Department to check on Benoit after receiving "several curious text messages" sent by the wrestler early Sunday morning.

Authorities arrived at Benoit's home on Monday afternoon, and upon entering the residence, quickly located the bodies of Benoit, Nancy and Daniel. The WWE then canceled that evening's live broadcast of "Monday Night Raw," instead airing a three-hour tribute to Benoit, complete with matches spanning his 20-plus year career and testimonials from his fellow wrestlers.

Tributes also appeared on WWE.com, but as news started to break that Benoit may have murdered his wife and young son, those were gradually replaced with photo collections and straight news reporting on the situation. By Tuesday afternoon, a sober news report of the tragedy was on the site's home page.

In the wake of the news, professional wrestling fans around the world have taken to sites like PWInsider.com to post their feelings on Benoit, who was idolized by so-called "smart fans" for his bruising, technical style. And while many remembered him as an in-ring giant, their opinions of him out of the ring have forever changed.

"If that TMZ report is totally true, well, let's just say that Chris Benoit was a 'special' sort of monster," one fan wrote. "I hate it, but if ... that is true, my respect and admiration of any sort for Chris Benoit died right with him."

"I have 7 and 8 year old sons. Reading this story, I can actually hear my kids screaming for help if I were to ever do something so horrible, and it makes me want to throw up," another added. "How a father can do this is beyond me. To compare Benoit to Owen Hart [another much-revered grappler who died in a freak in-ring incident in 1999] is akin to desecrating Hart's grave."

Benoit and Nancy, a wrestling manager who worked under the name "Woman," had been married since 2000 but had separated in May 2003 when Nancy filed for divorce, according to the Journal-Constitution.

Accompanying that filing was a petition for protection from domestic abuse, with Nancy claiming that she was intimidated by her husband, who "lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home." In another count, she claimed Benoit had destroyed furniture in their home.

On the same day the divorce and petition for protection were filed, a judge issued a restraining order against the wrestler, which barred him from the family's home. A few months later, in August, Nancy filed to have both the divorce and protective petition dismissed.

WOW! I know I read about this yesterday night and today in the morning! What a sick F.U.C.K! I don't care how depressed he was, he killed his wife and his 7 YEAR OLD SON! What a ****ing looser!
Apparently the WWE has so far disown Benoit from their company. Everything related to him has been removed from the website. GOOD FOR THEM!

I JUST WANNA KNOW WHAT'S GOIN ON NOWADAYS WHERE WOMAN AND CHILDREN ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED HAPHAZARDLY, LIKE CATTLE BY THESE ANIMALS. HOW MANY SO FAR??????? FIRST THAT GIRL THAT WAS PREGNANT, AND LATER IT TURNED OUT TO BE HER BOYFRIEND THAT KILLED HER AND THE BABY, THEN THE WHOLE FAMILY IN THE VAN , AND THE SLIMEBALL TRIES TO BLAME THE MOM. THANK GOD FOR GOOD INVESTIGATION. THEN THE CRAZY IMMIGRANT THAT KILLED HIS FAMILY, I'M SO TIRED OF THIS ****. SOME PEOPLE MAY CRITICIZE MY RELATIONSHIP AND CALL IT A SIN, BUT I THANK GOD FOR THE SANITY THIS WOMAN BRINGS INTO MY LIFE.

women and families suffer