﻿Every murder is a heinous act that will cause a ripple effect in whatever pond it occurs in; that
is not up for debate. Each life lost so tragically at the hands of another person will doubtlessly
leave unseen scars behind. However, there is something astronomically different when a
murder occurs around or because of a celebrity. By definition, a celebrity is "a famous person"
or "the state of being well-known." While average citizens may never get to cross paths with these
individuals, they are a large part of our lives and possess an otherworldly aura around them.
Thus, when crimes occur to – or at the hands of – these people who seem so untouchable by common
forces, it reminds us that everyone remains human regardless of their social status.
One crime that will forever rock the worlds of those interested in professional sports
is the double-homicide of Nancy Benoit and Daniel Benoit, followed by the suicide of
Canadian professional wrestler Chris Benoit. Born to Michael and Margaret Benoit on May 21,
1967, Christopher Michael Benoit found his start in Canada. He grew up in Edmonton, Alberta,
and was interested in professional wrestling from a young age. He idolized wrestlers such
as Bret Hit and Dynamite Kid, the desire to be a wrestler solidifying after attending a
wrestling show in his pre-teen years. Hellbent on achieving his dream, Benoit would train for
professional wrestling at the legendary Hart family dungeon. This was a dream come true,
considering the trainer at the Hart dungeon was Stu Hart, the father of his idol, Bret Hart.
His experience in the Hart dungeon was seen in his in-ring wrestling style.
He began his professional wrestling career under Stu Hart in 1985, spending a good decade wrestling
in Canada and the United States as well as Japan to gain traction under himself. He would find
his place in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the mid-1990s after 10 years of wrestling,
impressing higher-ups quickly and being moved onto more prominent projects.
Somewhere in the mix of working at WCW, Benoit was written to have a staged affair with the
wife of another wrestling talent, Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan's wife, Nancy, and Benoit were forced to
spend a lot of time together, resulting in an actual affair occurring between the two.
Nancy would end up leaving Sullivan for Benoit. Time passed, and Benoit became unhappy with the
writing of WCW, especially when Kevin Sullivan was promoted to head-writer.
As a result, Benoit left the company in 2000 for WCW's rival, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
This departure would be accompanied by three close friends and fellow wrestlers, following
a ditch effort by WCW to keep Benoit on the show by giving him the company's championship. He would
continue working for the WWE until his passing. From what is reported, it reads as though Nancy
had always had a toe in professional wrestling. Though she had initially started out as a model,
she was known for attending shows with her first husband, Jim. She had helped with photography
needs a few times before and was contacted about a magazine cover for pro-wrestling magazine,
Wrestling All-Star. When she was on set for the photoshoot in 1984, she met Kevin Sullivan,
who talked her into becoming a part of his entourage. While Nancy was married already
at the time, she would end up divorcing her husband to instead marry Kevin in 1985.
The on-screen affair with Chris Benoit began in 1996, Sullivan writing the
storyline himself. It would result in the divorce of Nancy and Sullivan in 1997.
Nancy would become engaged to Benoit shortly after, the two marrying in November of 2000.
Before their marriage, though, Nancy would give birth to her first and only child.
Fathered by Chris, Nancy gave birth to her son, Daniel Christopher Benoit, in February of 2000.
Though Daniel was Nancy's only child, Daniel was Benoit's third child and second son. His
other two children were from a past relationship and were in the care of their mother in Canada.
Daniel resided in Georgia with his mother while Benoit traveled around with WWE and is remembered
fondly by Benoit and Nancy's wrestling coworkers. While the couple was married in November of 2000
after a few years of being engaged, it would be less than three years after their vows when
Nancy filed for divorce. The filing came in May of 2003. Nancy was quoted as saying
the marriage was irreparably broken and citing cruel treatment from her husband.
Nancy also filed a restraining order against Benoit. The divorce never went through, however,
with the divorce filing and restraining order both being dropped a few months later in August 2003.
Before the tragic events of the Benoit family, tragedy had struck the professional wrestling
world a year and a half beforehand as well. Coming out of perhaps the greatest era of professional
wrestling to date in the Attitude Era, Benoit and many others who began in the 1980s were thriving
as they rode the post-Monday Night Wars wave of energy. However, this thriving wave would begin
to die away with the sudden and tragic passing of Benoit's best friend and road partner, Eddie
Guerrero. Guerrero is another wrestler remembered for his extraordinary ability to captivate a
crowd, and his sudden death had a massive impact on Benoit. It is assumed grief, mixed with various
other issues, including brain trauma, may have played a part in the events to come.
It was a weekend in June of 2007 when the tragic events occurred.
While not much is known about what happened within the home, many wrestlers have come
forward since to speak of receiving phone calls or text messages from Benoit the entire weekend.
It is known from autopsy reports Nancy was the first of the Benoits to meet her demise.
It is believed that Nancy was killed on the evening of June 22, 2007. According to reports,
Nancy had been bound with both her hands and feet tied before being killed via strangulation.
Daniel would be the next Benoit to die, believed to have been killed the following morning on
Saturday, June 23, 2007. From toxicology reports, it appears as though Daniel was given Xanax
before his father suffocated him in his bed. Perhaps as a means of asking for forgiveness
in whatever headspace Benoit was in, he placed Bibles next to the bodies of both deceased family
members. The next known course of action was a voicemail Benoit left for Chavo Guerrero Jr.,
the nephew of his deceased best friend. The voicemail spoke of Nancy and Daniel having
food poisoning and how Chris himself would have to reschedule transportation for the upcoming shows.
Chavo spoke of how he called the man back and spoke with him, hearing Benoit reconfirm the
story left on the voicemail. Guerrero noted the man sounded tired and tried to call him
back not long after but got Benoit's voicemail. When Benoit called him back, Guerrero noted
the man still sounded tired, and something seemed wrong, but he didn't press. Instead,
they made plans for Chavo to pick Benoit up from the Houston airport the next morning.
Around 4am on Sunday, about half a day after Benoit had talked to Guerrero, texts were sent
to five different people. Benoit used both his own phone and Nancy's phone for the messages.
Two of the people who received them were Guerrero himself and a referee for WWE. Guerrero was woken
by the texts, but the texts were not overtly concerning, as he believed he would be seeing
the man in the next few hours. Benoit would not be on the flight to Houston, however.
Instead, late in the morning on Sunday, June 24, Benoit would contact the talent
relations of WWE to tell them he was at the hospital with his wife and son,
stating his son was vomiting. He told them he would be getting a later flight to make that
night's pay-per-view for the company's Extreme Championship Wrestling brand.
He would not make the show. Within the next 24 hours, Benoit would take a
moment to Google two different searches: a passage from a Bible about someone's son being resurrected
and the quickest way to break a neck. With this information, he proceeded to go to his home gym.
Tying a noose from one of the cables of his machines, Benoit would lift the heavy weights.
Once the noose was around his neck and the weights raised, Benoit allowed the weights to fall.
The heavy weights dropped, immediately breaking Benoit's neck and killing him.
It would be the next day, when it had been over 24 hours since anyone had heard from
the Canadian wrestler, that concern really grew. When Guerrero showed officials the
texts received the previous morning and Benoit failed to return contact, the local police for
the family were called in Georgia. WWE officials would be contacted once more around 4:15pm to let
them know they had discovered three bodies. To this day, friends who talk about Chris
Benoit will speak on how the man was a truly loving father
and the crimes came extremely out of left field. The WWE would pay tribute to the lost superstar
before they had learned of the full details but would just as quickly begin to distance themselves
when they learned of the actual details. While there are multiple potential causes for this
crime, one of the most accepted theories stems from a lack of treatment for past concussions.
There had been a study in football only a few years before this tragic event
that spoke of the long-term effect of untreated concussions and other head traumas. The condition
which follows extensive head traumas is known as CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
It was found, when Benoit's brain was examined by the head of neurosurgery at West Virginia
University, the 40-year-old man had extreme damage to his brain. In fact, it was so damaged it was
described to resemble the brain of an Alzheimer's patient in their mid-80s. CTE is the most accepted
explanation as symptoms of CTE include problems with memory or thinking, personality changes,
and behavior including depression, suicidal thoughts, and aggression. CTE is particularly
dangerous because diagnosis is generally only made after death during an autopsy.
To this day, the WWE had more or less wiped Chris Benoit from their history. However,
you can still find matches with Chris Benoit in them if you have a particular match in mind.
Despite being a triple-crown champion in both WWE and their purchased rival WCW,
Benoit will more than likely stay blacklisted. Some wrestlers will talk about Benoit to this day,
speaking on the situation to clear any confusion as well as they can.
One such person is Chris Jericho, who has utilized his Talk is Jericho podcast through the years,
dedicating questions or episodes to the former Rabid Wolverine of wrestling
or his deceased family members. Fans also still talk about Benoit, at times bringing up several
conspiracy theories associated with the events. The passing of two major stars in their company
led the WWE to stricter rules, promoting and maintaining focus on a steroid-free environment
while also minimizing the headshots wrestlers take with weapons such as steel chairs. Therefore,
even though Benoit may never have his name spoken on WWE television again,
he did lead to reform in the business. If you are still hungry for more information, The Dark Side
of the Ring opened their second season of the series with a two-part episode on the topic.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who were affected by this tragic event.
What did you think about the double-homicide-and-suicide of the Benoit family?
Was it a case you were familiar with prior? Do you think there should be
more rules implemented in physical sports to protect the future health of their workers?
If you have any requests for true crime topics you'd like to see covered,
leave a comment down below. Don't forget to subscribe, and we will see you next time!