Source: AccessNorthGa.com
Authorities are investigating whether steroids may have been a factor in the deaths of pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old son who were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide, the local district attorney said Tuesday.
Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said test results may not be back for weeks or even months.
“We don’t know yet. That’s one of the things we’ll be looking at,” he said.
Autopsies were scheduled Tuesday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in DeKalb County.
Authorities were investigating the deaths at a secluded Fayette County home as a murder-suicide and were not seeking any suspects.
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, off a gravel road about two miles from the Whitewater Country Club.
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.
Authorities also declined to say whether drugs or steroids were found inside the house. “We’re not releasing any information as far as what was located inside the house,” sheriff’s Sgt. Keith Whiteside said Tuesday.
Asked about the condition of the inside of the house, Whiteside said investigators found “nothing really out of the ordinary.”
The bodies were found in three different rooms: Benoit in the home’s weight room, his wife in an office and the son in an upstairs bedroom, Whiteside said.
Whiteside said the sheriff’s department will release the cause of death as soon as it is available. He said results of toxicology tests could take up to a week or longer.
Fayette County Coroner C.J. Mowell did not return phone calls. The answering service for his funeral home said he was out of town.
Benoit’s friends said they were stunned.
“I saw him with his family all the time,” said Jimmy Baswell, who was Benoit’s driver for more than five years. Accompanied by his wife and son, Baswell laid a white wreath Tuesday at the Benoits’ gate.
“They always seemed like they were the happiest people,” he said.
Baswell said Benoit had promised to teach his 13-year-old son Gavin how to wrestle. In a letter placed on the wreath, Gavin promised to grow up and become a wrestler like Benoit.
“Hey Chris, hope you like it up there in heaven. Don’t worry about me. I’m still going to wrestle. Tell Daniel and Nancy I said hi,” the letter said.
Neighbors said the Benoits led a low-key lifestyle.
“They were nice,” said Lorre Jones, who lives across the street. Her daughter Alaina said, “We would see Chris walking in his yard from time to time. He wasn’t rude, but he wasn’t really outwardly warm.”
“You never dream anything like this would happen in your neighborhood _ let alone across the street,” Lorre Jones said.
The Fayette County Tax Assessors Office lists the value of the home where the bodies were found at nearly $900,000. It is located on more than 8 1/2 acres.
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.”
Sheriff’s Lt. Tommy Pope told WSB-TV that the three were found about 2:30 p.m., but he wouldn’t release other details.
Stamford, Conn.-based WWE also said on its Web site it had been asked by authorities not to release further information on the deaths of Benoit, 40; his wife, Nancy, 43; and son, Daniel.
Benoit 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 company said in a statement on its Web site.
Benoit had 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.”
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.
