FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say prescription steroids were found in the home of pro wrestler Chris Benoit and his slain wife and son were found with Bibles placed beside their bodies. But no motive has yet emerged for the murder and Benoit’s suicide.
Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said at a news conference Tuesday that Benoit strangled his wife in the family’s office and asphyxiated his son in his bed before hanging himself in the basement of their home.
Sheriff’s Lieutenant Tommy Pope says autopsy results reveal the wife was killed Friday and the son was likley killed the next day. Pope said investigators also believe Benoit killed himself hours after the son was killed Saturday or Sunday morning.
He said a Bible was placed by the bodies of each victim. The wife was bound by her feet and wrists and blood was found near her head. Ballard said her body was wrapped in a towel.
The seven-year-old boy was found killed in his bed. Autopsy reults shows mother and son died of asphyxiation.
Investigators believe Benoit killed his wife, 43-year-old Nancy, and 7-year-old son Daniel during the weekend and then himself Monday. The bodies were found in three separate rooms of the house, off a gravel road about two miles from the White Water Country Club.
Benoit, born in Montreal, was a former world heavyweight champion, Intercontinental champion and held several tag-team titles. His names in the ring included “The Canadian Crippler.”
Nancy Benoit filed for a divorce in May 2003, saying their three-year union was irrevocably broken and alleging “cruel treatment.” But she later dropped the complaint, as well as a request for a restraining order in which she charged that Benoit had threatened her and had broken furniture in their home.
In the divorce filing, she said Benoit made more than $500,000 a year as a professional wrestler and asked for permanent custody of Daniel and child support. In his response, Benoit sought joint custody.
