Benoit strangled wife, smothered son
Wednesday Jun 27 05:00 AEST
By ninemsn staff
Wrestling superstar Chris Benoit strangled his wife, smothered his son and then hanged himself in his weight room, according to police.
Police investigators announced the grisly findings at a press conference this morning (AEST).
"Mr Benoit had sometime, possibly Friday, murdered his wife by asphyxiation. Sometime shortly after that, the same for his son Daniel and sometime later ... committed suicide by hanging himself in the basement area," officials said in a statement from the Fayetteville Sheriff's Department.
The bodies of the 40-year-old wrestler, his wife, Nancy Benoit, 43, and their seven-year-old son, Daniel, were found in three separate rooms at their Atlanta home on Monday.
Mrs Benoit was bound at the wrists and feet, with a towel wrapped around her body and blood underneath her head, according to officials.
A Bible was reportedly found near each one of the bodies.
World Wrestling Entertainment staff asked police to check on Benoit after they were alerted to a series of "curious" text messages he had sent to friends, reportedly during Sunday's Vengeance TV wrestling program.
There has been speculation he was watching the program with his son, who may have been alive at the time.
However, police say they believe Benoit died on Saturday. Authorities understand he used a cord from one of his workout machines as a makeshift noose.
Toxicology tests will show whether steroids or prescription drugs, both found inside the Benoit home, could have been a factor in the deaths. Steroid abuse has been linked to angry outbursts known as "roid rage."
As the investigation continues, Benoit's history of domestic abuse has been brought into the spotlight.
Mrs Benoit had filed for divorce and a restraining order against her husband in 2003, telling a judge she was "intimidated by threats of violence."
In the papers, Nancy claimed that Benoit, "lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home and personal belongings of the parties, including furniture."
She also said she was "in reasonable fear for petitioner's own safety and that of the minor child."
Three months later, she withdrew the divorce papers and a judge cancelled the proceedings.
Some friends of Benoit, however, are unable to accept that would harm his family.
"He was very happy with his wife and he loved his son Daniel," Ross Hart, a friend of Benoit and member of the Hart wrestling family, told the Edmonton Journal.
"This would be very uncharacteristic of Chris to do anything self-destructive. I find it very hard to believe that he would end his life or his family's."
