Possible Chris Benoit Murder/Suicide Coverup?

Before I write anything else, I want to say I know next to nothing about the subject matter. I am not a pro wrestling fan, nor have I been closely following this story. I am acting as a medium here.

That said, I'm sitting here with a buddy who is a fan and has been watching the story.

In case you (like I) haven't been following the story...

Benoit -- 180 centimetres tall and weighing 100 kilograms -- strangled his wife and suffocated his son before hanging himself with a pulley on a weightlifting machine, a law enforcement official said Tuesday.

CTV Story

That's the official story.
The following has recently come to light:

Wikinews has learned through an investigation that anonymous edits on the Wikipedia article Chris Benoit were added about the death of his wife Nancy Benoit 14 hours before police entered the Benoit home to find the former professional World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Canadian wrestler and his family dead.

First report

Now this smells kinda fishy.

As I mentioned, my buddy is sitting here with me. He came to me because this set off alarms for him. The timing and circumstances just don't add up.

I'm inclined to agree.

I think we're both off on wildly different trains of thought ATM.

I'm thinking media cover up... the WWE (the wresting federation that Chris was a member of) would want to distance themselves from these events due to potential damage to their image and marketability if a connection was made between this horrific event and the kind of crap that wrestlers go through for their... erm... "art".

He's thinking that this might have been a hit. That Chris was set up because he pissed off the wrong person (or persons) and earned himself a nasty fate.

SO!

I suggested that this would be a good place to get some outside thoughts happening. Shall we indulge in a big of ignorance denial?

I'm no wrestling fan either, but did check out wiki as I found this info about the death being put online before police even found the bodies interesting. It has now been updated with an apology from the person who put the info on there, they are saying they had heard rumours and decided to put it on wiki. It should not be too hard to find out who did it, so I am expecting there to be even more updates.

Thanks for the heads up Goose. My bud and I got yappin on other subjects while waiting to see if anyone had any comments...

check this out:

The anonymous individual responsible for suggesting, 14 hours before police discovered the body, that WWE wrestler Chris Benoit's wife was dead is confessing, saying his/her comment was a "terrible coincidence."

Updated report

Man... I don't know about you, but I hate the words "terrible coincidence".
It's too often used as a flimsy cover on questionable events.
It's plausible that this update is another step towards effective cover up to protect an unknown person, persons, or organization.

I'm still smelling market spin...

Yeah I don't buy the coincidence thing either, somebody knew something way ahead of everyone else and had to point it out ,and now it is going to come back and bite them in the butt big time.

en.wikinews.org...:_Claims_%22terrible_coincidence%22
Wikinews originally broke the story about the suspicious edit after receiving a tip from Wikipedia administrators. The fact the edit originated from a computer in Stamford, CT (the site of WWE headquarters) appears to be another coincidence.

I think it's just a coincidence. If you read his other wiki edits, he just went around vandilizing pages, and did it to 2 other wrestlers.

I'm the mysterious friend of which Bit spoke of... LOL

I honestly doubt he was doing the edits himself. The IP Address from the initial edits were from Stamford, CT not from Fayetteville, GA where Benoit was. And why would you go to Wiki and change information on Wiki, of all places, 14 hours prior to anyone knowing that there was anything wrong? That can't be a "terrible coinsidence"... Someone knew something before hand in Stamford and it leaked.

I honestly believe something definitely smells a little foul here.

The more I learn about this whole thing, the more I believe there actually is a real for real conspiracy that went on here...

Here's why:


Let's look at the timeline

Wife dead Firday
Child dead Saturday
Pay-per-vie event Sunday
Chris dead Monday

Chris was a star. He was scheduled to be involved in that pay-per-view as a major feature. There's a hell of a lot of money involved in pro-wrestling and WWE isn't a minor organization.

It stands to reason that if such a major event was happening in their star's life as to disrupt his participation in a large money making event, they would send someone to talk to him. At the very least, there would have been a lot of discussion over the phone trying to convince him to go through with his part in the show.

I find is very difficult to believe that he could have possibly been out of contact for 2 days after killing his wife.

I find it very difficult to believe that his employers would not be alarmed by one of their stars suddenly cutting communication.

I find it very difficult to believe that any modern corporation would not make moves to protect their investments.

Now here's the thing. the WWE had two investments on the line here. They had Chris, their star, and they had the upcoming pay-per-view event. If it came out that Benoit had killed his wife and child before the scheduled pay-per-view, one would expect that a large number of customers would cancel their bookings or simply not buy in at show time.

SO!

I suspect that the "rumor" could have been real discloser in the face of an active suppression of information. The WWE was making moves to protect their pay-per-view revenues by not allowing the information out.

They still have a crap load of damage control to do here, regardless.
Watch the media engine go to work over the next while as the WWE and the industry as a whole attempts to distance itself from the tragedy that it created.

"Wrestling has consumed my life," Benoit would say, according to WWE. "It’s my mistress, my passion. It defines a lot of who I am as a person."

source
"Consumed my life".
"Defines a lot of who I am as a person".
Yikes.

What is pro wrestling? What is it that Chris was being defined as?

It's violence for the purpose of entertainment.

Benoit, and every other pro wrestler, was conditioned to be a violence engine. To act brutish. To appear threatening. To resolve conflict with force.
Lump in massive pressure to use steroids, the stress that comes with fame, and the recreational narcotics that we all know celebrities like to indulge in, and you've got yourself an industry manufactured timebomb.

Now you might think I'm going a little overboard...
So he wigged out... it's no one's fault, right?
Of course the corporations should move to protect their investments, right?

Yeah, well... it F:censored:king p:censored:s me off any and every time I see human suffering inflicted at the hands of greedy fat cats.

Thought ever crossed anyones mind perhapps this was done by someone inside that wanted questions to be asked.

Think he could have texted some of the entertainers for help and about what he had done to his wife.

The WWE has the means to cover it up...maybe someone knows this and wants people to look deeper.

Maybe someone who wants people to put pressure on the WWE for steroids killed Chris. I never heard so much about steroids in wrestling than I have now. Maybe someone inside wwe who wanted people to start asking questions, or maybe even another wrestling organization, Kurt Angle has one, TNA?

guys, he killed his family thats it, over out and done

The Wrestling world is full of weird and unexplained deaths that seem to never end. Its almost like its in the written script of a wrestling episode. I used to watch Wrastling back in the day and I remember this character Sting used and he would drop from the rafters in all black with white make up and a baseball bat. One of the times they had him come down on this string from the rafters and it dropped free fall and the lights went out in the ring and it ended up being a dummy. Then, a couple years later, I read that Owen Hart dropped from the rafters and died.

This business is crazy with all the travel and time away from home. I can see why they have such a problem with wrestlers using drugs and passing away at an early age.

Check the WWE website. Chris was "insane" apparently. Funny how his doctor claimed he was fine a few hours earlier. Maybe he was "insane" because he knocked back an offer he should not have.

I first read about this on MSN, here: www.msnbc.msn.com...

He did contact people, sending text messages to some WWE workers, and that's when they notified authorities.

These things happen, just leave it alone.

Originally posted by DazedDave
I think it's just a coincidence. If you read his other wiki edits, he just went around vandilizing pages, and did it to 2 other wrestlers.

Yeah, but in any of those vandalisms, did he ever say anything that was fact? I think not. I don't buy the whole "it was just a strange coincidence" theory.

Good to see some movement in this thread. This has the potential to be a real issue and smacks of coverup.

I am confused about the "leave it alone" comments. Er, that's not what ATS is about. Yes, it's a tragedy and the human element shouldn't be forgotten, but come on now people... this is a forum that has questioned every aspect of 9/11.

Back on subject:

The key to cracking a cover-up is to find the inconstancies and pick away at them. This this one:

Benoit, known as the “Canadian Crippler,” had failed to show up for two WWE events. When WWE employees reported receiving puzzling text messages from Benoit early Sunday morning and were unable to contact Benoit in his suburban Atlanta home, WWE officials called law-enforcement authorities, who entered the house on Monday and found the bodies.

MSNBC Story
Why would police wait more than 24 hours to investigate a potentially violent domestic situation? Benoit's marriage had previous reports of violence. Police don't wait around on these things.

Seems to me that the timing doesn't add up.

I think that this needs to be investigated

youtube.com...


[edit on 7/2/2007 by Cheech]

I think the Police are a bunch of IDIOTS and easy fooled.

#1. Chris Benoit was considered a family man and he was very close with his family.

#2. Beniot was supposed to win the World Championship Title on the night of his suicide.

#3. Beniot stole his wife from another wrestler by the name of Kevin Sullivan. At the time (10 years ago) Sullivan said he was going to kill Benoit.

#4. Sullivan is a high ranking member of the Church of Satan, whose credo is to seek revenge against those that have done you wrong.
------

My thoery is that Kevin Sullivan possibly with other members of the Church of Satan broke into the home on Friday. Drugged the family. Held the kid as hostage to make Benoit call the WWE and cancel his event. then he tied up his ex-wife and made Benoit watch as he killed her. then the next day made benoit watch as he killed his son. then on the next day they killed Benoit and made the whole scene look like a murder suicide.

The Text Messages could have been sent by anyone with Chris' phone.
The Wiki Page was edited from CT not GA.
Chris Benoit was going to become the World Champion on Sunday night.
Roid Rage happens within a short burst, not over an entire weekend...

If Kevin Sullivan is not the #1 Suspect then the Police are IDIOTS.

Originally posted by BitRaiser
Good to see some movement in this thread. This has the potential to be a real issue and smacks of coverup.

No doubt, I posted a thread that people seem to have shown some interest in here, about this topic.

Wikipedia post on Benoit, 14 hours in advance

there is something that really reeks about this whole affair, in my honest opinion.

Originally posted by AndreaK
I first read about this on MSN, here: www.msnbc.msn.com...

He did contact people, sending text messages to some WWE workers, and that's when they notified authorities.

These things happen, just leave it alone.

This interview was purely damage control for McMahon. He spent nearly the enitre thing backpedalling on every issue; especially the steroids quote from WWE.com "Steroids were not and could not be related to the cause of death." which I read myself on the website... They said it. And if someone's refering to roid rage then one says roid rage not steroids. But he turns around says "We didn't say that!" HUH? ...and then its reacting to the hysteria of the media." They deal with the hysteria of the media constantly... they've dealt with it since Davey Boy Smith (Wreslter in the picture was actually Owen Hart.) and Curt Hennig died. But when she tried to call him on exploiting his employees and how he's making money off of wrestlers and how he's accountable but instead of answering... He gets angry and tries to put her in her place... and failed miserably.

It's more the reactions Vince gave to an interview he called himself in attempts to wash his hands of this and again failed miserably. All because every answer he gave he was basically hiding behind "We/I didn't say that." So, leave it alone?! Give me a break... LOL Thanks for the post though... I hadn't seen the interview yet!

I think McMahon was just being a bit overly defensive. Since this whole ordeal began, he has been insulted and blamed both personally and professionally. When the WWE lawyer was quoted as saying "Steroids were not and could not be related to the cause of death...", he was responding to all the allegations of "roid rage" in the media. What he meant was that "roid rage" is a sudden and fairly brief psychological condition. What Chris Benoit did, over the course of three days, was a more deliberate and methodical act that could not be attributed to a single burst of "roid rage". In a way, I agree. I think where the mistake was made was in the absoluteness of the statement.

While I don't find Vince McMahon to be a Saint by any stretch, I think a lot of what is being said in the media is unfair. Vince McMahon and the WWE have never asked or told any of their employees to take steroids. In fact, despite popular beliefs, a majority of professional wrestlers don't even use steroids. Regardless, to pin a double murder and suicide on Vince McMahon because he didn't take a more active role in preventing steroid abuse in his company is completely uncalled for. These are grown men we are talking about. Grown men who themselves have witnessed firsthand the negative side effects of steroid abuse in the wrestling industry. No one took a needle and held it to their arms. No one told them that they would lose their jobs if they didn't take steroids.

The fact is that the WWE voluntarily instituted a "wellness policy" that includes random drug testing as well as rehabilitation and therapy to any employees who seek it. And many employees have sought out the help offered to them, and were given the time off to overcome their addictions. Professional wrestlers have been dying at young ages for years now. Until now, most of the deaths barely got a brief mention in the media. Where was the outcry then? Where was the outrage of the public or the media then? In my opinion, this is just another story for the media to take advantage of and use for their benefit. I fully expect that there will be some politicians looking to use this story for their benefit in the near future by holding public hearings and whatnot. Anything to get the attention off their poor performance.

Something has to be done, I agree. Vince McMahon and the WWE have to take a more proactive approach when it comes to drug abuse. But we must admit that NO ONE saw this coming. Although there have been a few murders in the history of the wrestling business, and although many performers have died at a young age as a result of years of drug abuse, nothing like this has ever happened. Hindsight is 20/20. It's going to take the wrestling business a very long time to recover from this tragedy. But this isn't the time for finger-pointing. This is the time to move on and allow the Benoit family their privacy and their time to grieve. This is the time to allow the WWE and Vince McMahon the chance to deliberate and come up with a rational and realistic policy so that things like this never happen again.