cover of episode EP. 162: GEORGIA - The Chris Benoit Story: WWE Superstar Turned Family Annihilator (Pt. 2)

EP. 162: GEORGIA - The Chris Benoit Story: WWE Superstar Turned Family Annihilator (Pt. 2)

Publish Date: 2024/7/5
logo of podcast Murder In America

Murder In America

Chapters

Shownotes Transcript

Think you know the Brooks Ghost? Think again. Introducing the all-new, better-than-ever Ghost 16. Now with nitrogen-infused cushioning for lightweight, supreme softness that feels good every step, every street, every single day. So go ahead, take your daily joyride in the all-new nitrogen-infused Ghost 16. It'll turn your everyday miles into everyday endorphins. Let's run there. Head to brookssrunning.com to learn more.

This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Whether you're selling a little or a lot, Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. From the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the we just hit a million orders stage. No matter what stage you're in, Shopify's there to help you grow. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash special offer, all lowercase. That's shopify.com slash special offer.

Ryan Reynolds here from Int Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices

down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mint Mobile, unlimited premium wireless. I'm ready to get 30, 30, ready to get 30, ready to get 20, 20, 20, ready to get 20, 20, ready to get 15, 15, 15, 15, just 15 bucks a month. Sold! Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees. Promo rate for new customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month. Slows. Full terms at mintmobile.com.

This is my life. I have battled and lost, struggled and won.

I've had victory and defeat and defeat and victory. I will never be overmatched or unprepared. This is who I am and who I will always be. I'm Chris Benoit. In last week's episode, we walked you through the fall of one of the most beloved wrestlers of all time.

Chris Benoit. Chris started his wrestling journey when he was 18 years old. And through years of practice, hard work, and determination, he quickly rose to the top. Winning championship after championship, Chris was known all around the world. And his luck wasn't just in the ring. Chris Benoit had everything you could ask for. A successful career, money, a nice home, notoriety. He

He also had a loving wife named Nancy and their seven-year-old son, Daniel. But sometimes having everything doesn't necessarily mean you have a happy life.

Throughout Chris's wrestling career, his use of steroids had been an ongoing problem within his marriage. According to his wife Nancy, it made him violent and aggressive. In addition to that, Chris was also in an industry where hits to the head are very common. And studies show that that also can lead to aggression. But a huge turning point in Chris's life is when his best friend Eddie Guerrero passed away.

So in addition to Chris's anger and aggression, he was also dealing with a lot of grief. In the weeks before June of 2007, Chris Benoit was clearly showing signs of a mental decline. He was angry, paranoid, and withdrawn.

And soon enough, the world would find out that one of their most beloved wrestlers had murdered his entire family. So in this week's episode, we are going to walk you through exactly what happened on that tragic weekend and the investigation into the double murder-suicide. So this is the story of Chris Benoit. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America.

I'm saying that there was two text messages, and they were both at like 3.30, 4 o'clock in the morning, one from his phone and one from his wife Nancy's phone. And they went to the same wrestler who doesn't even live anywhere near them and basically said, this is the house number, the dogs are in the backyard, the patio door's unlocked, and that was it. That's what they're worried about. And it's unlike, like I said, Thunder Cow...

I had a character for Chris to do anything like this. He's missed two shows, one on Saturday and pay-per-view on Sunday. That neighbor that's friendly with him, do you think they would be able possibly to contain those dogs? Well, that's what the other, this Chavarro is the name of the other wrestler. That's what he's saying. He's saying that Chris is always saying how friendly he is with his next-door neighbor. But it's the house to the left I'm saying. House to the left.

Yes, and they don't seem to be very worried because they get these messages at 3.30 o'clock in the morning. When they spoke to him the other day, he seemed depressed and he said something about food poisoning. And like I said, they get the same messages. Nobody's answering the cell phones. Nobody's answering the house phones. What I'll do is I'll go ahead and have a deputy swing out and see if they can make contact with neighbors. Okay. And see where we can go from there. Okay, thank you. You'll let me know. Thank you. No problem. Bye.

Hey, County 911, what is your emergency? Hi, the cops came to my house and I just want to make sure that they're okay because they sent me over to my neighbor's house. What's your address?

I'm at 110 Green Meadow Lane, and they asked me to cop the fence because they have attack dogs. And I went in, and the little boy and the mom are dead. And so I ran out to scream to them, but then they went in the house, and they haven't come out yet. Are they okay? Okay, hold on just a moment.

I can. I know where the controls are, but I'm not going in there. So, Piarra, tell the cops to come this way. Okay, ma'am. Did the cops call? Listen to me. What did the cops tell you to do? They told me because this guy's a professional wrestler and I'm friends with him. And they said, can you go put the attack dogs in the kennel? And I did that. And then I...

I went upstairs, I just, everything was open, so I was yelling, Nancy, Daniel, that's the little boy, and I went up to Dan's room and he's been killed. And then I went up to Nancy's where she sits to watch TV and she had been strangled and had tape on her face.

And then I didn't see Mr. Benoit. I don't know where he is. I didn't want to go down in the basement for some reason. Okay, ma'am. Now there's more cops here. Ma'am, listen to me. What did the cops tell you to do? Did they tell you to go to the neighbor's house? Yes. Okay. Now they came when I said everyone's been murdered, and they went in the house, and I said I looked in every room but the basement, and they went in the basement, and now they haven't come back out.

Okay. Listen to me. Listen. We have got contact with our cops. They're okay? Ma'am, our cops are okay. But they're okay. But if they told you to go to the neighbor's house, you need to stay over there, okay? No, I'm here. I'm right outside the Benoit's house. No, I mean, they just said stay here in the driveway. I just got nervous because they never came back out. We have contact.

if you're SO people that went in the basement. Okay, they do. She's talked to the cops in the house. Okay, I'm sorry. I was nervous that he might be in there and do something to them. I just don't know what... This is the neighbor that was told by the police to get out of the house. He's the one that found the...

murdered bodies and he said that the cops ran down in the basement and he hasn't seen them. He's afraid something has happened to the cops in the basement. Your cops? Listen to me. The SO dispatcher said he has contact with them and they're okay. Okay, they're okay. And they're okay. I just wanted to make sure your cops in the basement were okay. Okay, everything's fine. Okay. Alright, thank you. Bye-bye. Thank you. I just wanted to make...

In the weeks before the three bodies were found at 130 Green Meadow Lane in Fayetteville, Georgia, many people in the wrestling world said that Chris had been acting very strange. Chris Jericho admitted that they started calling him Houdini because he would often just disappear out of nowhere. They also called him the Loch Ness Monster because after he disappeared, he would resurface, but only for a brief moment.

Chris Jericho said. And then I also call him the Loch Ness Monster because he would surface and like call you on the phone and if you missed that call, if you went back under, even three seconds later, you wouldn't hear from him for like another month. And that started really getting more and more regular. And this was very out of character.

For Chris' whole career, he had always been reliable, but not anymore. Another internal problem Chris seemed to be going through was that in 2007, he was switched over to WWE's ECW, which was their least watched segment. So I'm sure it felt almost like a demotion. Chris was still considered one of the best wrestlers of all time, but it was clear that the height of his career was over.

Based on their loved one's accounts, Nancy had really been trying to get Chris to end his wrestling career. They even talked about him opening up his own wrestling school called Benoit Wrestling Academy. They made t-shirts for it and they also wrote up a business plan for them to run it out of Atlanta, Georgia.

And that meant he would be closer to home so he could spend more time with his family. But it seemed like Chris was having a hard time setting this in motion. Starting this school meant that his wrestling career would be officially over and he wasn't ready to give it up just yet. In fact, shortly before the tragedy, he told a friend, quote, some of us don't know when to get out, end quote.

But towards the end of June 2007, Chris had a wrestling match in Dothan, Alabama, not too far away from his home. And his wife Nancy also showed up, but not necessarily to support her husband. Throughout the wrestling community, there had been rumors that Chris was cheating on her with a WWE girl named Michelle McCool.

Now, there has never been any proof of this affair other than suspicious text messages found on Chris's phone. The text was to one of his coworkers and it read, "Could you please text me Michelle McCool's number, please?" There were also other subtle signs that pointed to Chris's infidelity, including taking phone calls outside when he was at home and also having a second cell phone. And it's been said that his wife, Nancy, was onto him.

And something to note here is that a common side effect of frequent steroid use is erectile dysfunction and impaired sexual performance, which was also a problem in their marriage. So this suspected affair was even more hurtful. Ivan Muchnick explained, "Of course, she had been taunting him about the decline of their sex life, and their relationship had taken on a full-throated slash-and-burn dynamic. Perhaps Chris was just taunting her back."

On June 17th, 2007, Nancy returned back to their home in Fayetteville while Chris left for his next match in Columbus, Georgia. And based on their text messages, Nancy and Chris seemed to have had an explosive fight before he left. Later that day at 4:01 PM, she texted him, "Grow up," followed by another message a few minutes later that said, "Answer the phone. I need to know what the plan is."

Then at 4:35 p.m., her last message read, quote, "If I end up having to throw away any food again for tonight and tomorrow, I will not be cooking any meals for anyone for a very long time." It seemed as if Nancy was expecting Chris to come home that night after she made a big meal, but he wouldn't. Chris ended up staying the night in Columbus and didn't come back until the next day around midnight.

When he did pull up to the house late at night, he forgot to deactivate the alarm system on the security gate, which alerted the Fayetteville Police Department. An officer ended up coming out to their house that night to make sure everything was okay. Unfortunately, it was a false alarm.

But little did they know in about a week, the police would be coming back to their property for something far more serious. But over the next few days, there was obvious tension in the Benoit household.

Something else the couple argued about was that Chris was very controlling when he would leave for work. He barely ever called home, but when he did, he would micromanage Nancy. Ivan Muchnik explained in his book that Chris didn't like Nancy to have any friends. When he was on the road, he didn't want Nancy to have a social life at all, to the point where he would even hide her Hummer so she couldn't get around.

In one instance, Nancy and her next door neighbor Holly had to drive all around Fayetteville looking for her car. And finally they found it at the airport. His micromanaging was so bad, Chris would even call home and tell Nancy exactly what she was to make for dinner that night, even though he wasn't going to be home to eat dinner. It was very hard on Nancy.

Their relationship was at rock bottom. And she even admitted to friends that she had recently turned to alcohol and pills to help numb the pain. Now in the weeks before the tragedy, Nancy told her neighbor Holly that she was trying to cut back. But about midday on June 18th, Chris's off day, Nancy avoided her husband and spent the majority of the day speaking with her good friend, Pam Clark.

On the phone, Nancy confided in Pam about the major problems in her marriage, like their sex life, Chris's infidelity, and even fights about money. At one point during their conversation, Nancy even mentioned that she was so afraid of Chris, she was considering taking Daniel to Florida so they could live by her parents. Then, eerily enough, at the end of their phone call,

Nancy told Pam, "If anything happens to me, make sure people know that Chris did it."

With tensions still rising within the home, Chris left again to film a WWE match in Charlotte. But by Wednesday, June 20th, he was back at home for a couple of days of rest before he had to leave yet again for a match in Beaumont, Texas. But on his off days, Chris's usual routine at home consisted of sleeping, tanning, and hitting the gym.

On Friday, June 22nd, Chris drove his son Daniel over to their next door neighbor Holly's house at around 8:30 AM. Holly held a horse camp on her property and Nancy had signed him up for it. But Holly would later say that when Chris dropped Daniel off that morning, something was weird with him. And when he went to leave, he pulled out of her driveway quickly and recklessly. Holly found it strange as Chris was usually more friendly.

And even more strange was that the day before, when Chris dropped Daniel off, he didn't even drive up to her house. Instead, Chris dropped him off at the end of the driveway and made him walk. It was odd.

Later that day, Chris had an appointment with his doctor, Dr. Phil Astin. His office was located in Carrollton, and he was there for a refill on his prescriptions and an overall checkup. During the appointment, Dr. Astin stated that everything appeared to be normal, even though Chris had complained about depression and how he was wanting to go back on Zoloft.

As for his marriage, Chris complained that Nancy was "moody and bitchy" and Dr. Astin mentioned that she might be approaching menopause. He also told Chris that she could set up an appointment with him after the 4th of July. Dr. Astin would later say that he didn't notice any red flags during Chris's visit, nothing that showed he was on the verge of a homicidal break.

Now, after leaving Dr. Astin's office, Chris drove to the McDonald's in Peachtree City off I-85, and he spoke with his friend and fellow wrestler, Bob Holly. In their conversation, Chris told Bob that his wife, Nancy, was, quote, "acting like Hitler."

whatever that means. Then later that day, Chris met up with his friend and tailor, Ray Rawls. Ray was a very talented tailor in Georgia and had worked with Chris for many years, tailoring his wrestling pants.

According to Ivan Muchnik, Chris wore long tights, the kind that cover your legs, and he was a perfectionist about them, as he was with every aspect of his craft. He was like Michael Jordan with basketball shoes, discarding each pair after just a few matches. Ray would later say that when he met up with Chris, he said something about how he was tired, and Chris suggested that he make this infamous drink that included Red Bull, goodies powder, and this thing called Yellow Jackets, which is this diet pill that contained the stimulant ephedra.

Now, yellow jackets have since been banned by the FDA due to safety concerns and health risks. But back in the day, they used to carry them in gas stations. And Chris told Ray that when he would drink this concoction, it would make him feel like Superman. Like with many people who interacted with Chris before the murders, Ray couldn't help but think that Chris wasn't himself.

something seemed off with him. But of course, no one suspected that he was on the brink of murdering his family. Now later that day, Chris would call his local Hummer dealership about selling Nancy's car.

Then after that, he called a company called Aqua Pro about coming over and servicing his swimming pool. And while Chris did that, Nancy left their home to do some grocery shopping at Publix. She casually strolled through the aisles, buying food for a barbecue she planned for that evening. It seemed to be your average day,

By the time Nancy arrived back home, there were two Aqua Pro employees working on their pool, named Patrick Sterling and Andrew Webb. Both men said that they witnessed Chris and Daniel in the backyard in their swimsuits. And once Nancy came home with the food, Chris started grilling in the backyard. Everything seemed perfectly normal, but that was far from the case. As darkness fell upon their Fayetteville, Georgia home,

A darkness emerged within Chris Benoit. Now because Chris ended up taking his own life, no one really knows exactly what happened that night. It's possible that he and Nancy got into a huge fight. It's also possible that they didn't. Maybe Chris had been planning to kill Nancy for a while.

or maybe it was a spur of the moment type thing. All of those answers died with Chris. But what we do know is that on the evening of June 22nd, 2007, at 9:25 that night, the Benoit's home phone called 411, requesting the non-emergency phone number to the Fayette County Police Department.

But after the operator gave over the phone number, no one ended up calling the non-emergency number. Then, just minutes after calling 411, their next door neighbor, Holly, received three phone calls from the Benoit residence. The first was at 9.32 p.m. Then

then a minute later at 9:33 p.m., and then the last one, about 30 minutes later, at 10 p.m. But Holly did not pick up the phone and no voicemail was left. Many people believe that Nancy was the one who placed these calls to 411 and their next door neighbor. Perhaps she could sense that she was in danger,

But she also knew that calling 911 on her husband would forever change their family, putting a spotlight on Chris's mental decline. And for whatever reason, Nancy never ended up calling 911. Maybe she reasoned with herself that Chris would never actually hurt her. But she was wrong. Because at some point that night, Chris ultimately decided to end her life.

Once the decision was made, he walked downstairs and grabbed a tube sock, duct tape, and cables, then go upstairs into their bonus room where Nancy was known to watch TV. How this next part played out is unclear, but over the next few moments, Chris would overpower his wife, shoving the tube sock into her mouth as a makeshift gag. It's also possible that he used tape to hold the sock in her mouth.

From here, Nancy's screams would be muffled. And she did indeed try to scream, hoping to alert anyone that she was in danger. The struggle was so intense, blood filled the sock that was in her mouth.

And over the next few moments, Chris used the cables to tie her arms together. He then used the duct tape to bind her feet. It's unclear how long Nancy was tied up for, but I'm sure all she could think about during that time was her son.

who was somewhere in the house. Nancy couldn't even plead with Chris to let her go because of the gag in her mouth, but she did try and fight back. During the struggle, it's believed that Chris slammed her head down on the floor, causing blood to pool beneath. And it's here when Chris decided that it was time to kill her. He grabbed the remaining cables that he brought upstairs and he looped them around his wife's neck. Up until this point,

Maybe there was some part of Nancy that thought Chris would let her go. Maybe he was just mad and was having one of his angry episodes. But when she felt the cables loop around her neck, she knew it was over for her. While lying on her stomach, Chris pushed his knee down into Nancy's back

as he fastened his grip on the cables, pulling them with all of his might. Like with any strangulation, it took several minutes for Nancy to pass away, but soon enough, he would feel her body slump under the weight of his knee. And just like that, 43-year-old Nancy Benoit was dead.

After Nancy had passed away, Chris wrapped her body up in a blanket. Then, for whatever reason, he placed a Bible down next to her.

Now, it's safe to assume that Chris was extremely paranoid after murdering his wife. Daniel, his seven-year-old son, was still in the house, and it wouldn't be long until he started asking about his mom. It's possible that Daniel even heard a struggle going on in the room over, while his dad was murdering his mother. After all, she was killed upstairs fairly close to his bedroom. And it's at this point when Chris started to spiral. What was he going to do next?

Another thing that likely brought on paranoia was the fact that Chris was scheduled to get on a flight to Texas in just a couple of days to compete in a match. But how was he supposed to do that when he just murdered his wife?

Hours after murdering Nancy, Chris began frantically planning out his next move. And sadly, instead of taking Daniel somewhere safe or turning himself in, he came to the conclusion that Daniel needed to die too. So in the early morning hours of June 23rd, Chris went into his stash of pills and pulled out a Xanax. He then went into Daniel's room and gave it to him.

This way, when he did kill him, he would be sedated. After giving the medicine some time to kick in, Chris went back into Daniel's room. Over in the corner of his bedroom was a wall full of his dad's pictures. Like we mentioned, Daniel thought Chris was the coolest dad in the world.

He was his hero, so much so, he had a shrine of him. But that didn't matter to Chris at this moment. While Daniel was in bed, Chris came up behind him and put his seven-year-old son in a chokehold. The same chokehold that Chris would put his opponents in, in the ring. But unlike in wrestling, there was no tapping out and Chris wouldn't let go of his grip until Daniel was dead.

After murdering his son, Chris put a Bible next to his body as well. And interestingly enough, a butcher knife was also found next to Daniel, although it wasn't used in his murder. Now, it's safe to say that Chris didn't get any sleep that night. How could he, after murdering his entire family? And in those early morning hours is when the paranoia really set in.

Chris knew that it was only a matter of time until people started to try and get in contact with him. For one, Daniel was still attending that horse camp next door. So, at 8:30 AM on June 23rd, Chris called Holly's cell phone and left a voicemail. In it, he asked Holly if Daniel was scheduled for camp that weekend, because if he was, Chris said that he wasn't going to be able to make it, because Daniel wasn't feeling well.

Over the next few hours, Chris continued to pace around his home, trying to think of his next moves. Then, around 3:00 PM, Holly finally called Chris back. When he answered, he quickly told her that both Nancy and Daniel had food poisoning, so they wouldn't be around for the next couple of days. Holly would later recall that she thought this phone call was strange because she usually communicated these sorts of things with Nancy, not Chris. But he seemed to be calm.

He ended the phone call by saying that Daniel's food poisoning was worse than Nancy's and that the two were just going to stay in for a couple of days until they got better. And then he hung up. - It's also believed that Chris took some kind of substance after murdering Nancy and Daniel, because at some point that day he placed a phone call to a coworker named Michael Parker. Apparently Michael wanted to vent after his tryout with the organization. And when Chris called him back and left a voicemail,

you can definitely tell that his speech was slurred. Now, this voicemail is really hard to understand and the audio isn't great, but given the fact that he left it after the murders, we just have to include it because it is so eerie.

Yeah.

give me a call and let me know. And, um, you know, fuck, man, you know, nothing, nothing,

change the experience. Nothing should be better than experiencing you got that. I'm just talking to you right now. I don't know what the details are off the top of my head, but I hope all's well with you, man. I just missed you the last couple of weeks. I hope you're doing well. If you can, when you get the chance, give me a call. Take care, man. I hope all's well. Bye.

Now, Chris was supposed to get on a plane that morning and fly to Texas for his WWE match in Beaumont, Texas. But clearly, he wasn't going to make it. So he called his WWE friend Chavo Guerrero and left him a voicemail letting him know that he missed his flight because he overslept and that he was going to try and get out on the next flight to Texas.

But clearly this was a lie. Chris was just trying to buy himself some time before people started getting suspicious. A few minutes later, Chavo would call Chris back and almost immediately he could tell that something wasn't right.

Chris didn't sound like himself and he appeared to be exhausted and groggy. Chavo was so unsettled by this phone call that he actually called Chris again shortly after they hung up. But this time Chris didn't answer. A little while later, Chris finally called Chavo back and said that he had been on the phone with the airline trying to find another flight out to Houston. And again, Chavo could tell that something was off.

So he took this opportunity to ask if everything was okay. Chris paused for a moment and said that everything was all right, but he was stressed because his wife and son had food poisoning. At the end of that phone call, he told Chavo that he probably wasn't going to make the event.

And in response, Chavo told Chris, "All right, man, if you need to talk, I'm here for you." To which Chris responded, "I love you, Chavo." Once the phone call ended, Chavo once again felt a pit in the bottom of his stomach. Chris never ended a phone call saying, "I love you." It was almost like he was saying goodbye. And in hindsight, he was.

After hanging up with Chavo, Chris walked over to the family computer and at 3:49 p.m. He typed in Elijah on the browser. At 4:02 p.m. Chris clicked into a Wikipedia article about the prophet Elijah. The story of Elijah is seen in the book of Kings in the Old Testament in which Elijah is sent by God to the town of Zarephath, a side of Israel. While there, he meets a widow who brings the prophet into her home and feeds him, although she doesn't have much food.

And also, while he's there, the widow's son dies, and Elijah pleads for God to send him the power to resurrect him from the dead and to restore the soul of the young boy back into his body. It reads, "...the Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived."

Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive." This Google search is a pretty good indication of what was going through Chris's mind after the murders. Except, in his reality, there was no bringing his son back from the dead.

At 4:30 PM, another WWE coworker phoned Chris wanting to know where he was. Chris informed him that both Nancy and Daniel had such severe food poisoning that they were vomiting blood. And he admitted that he wouldn't be able to make it to the event that evening in Houston. Then about an hour later, Chris called the WWE's talent relations and confirmed that he would not be at the event because of a family emergency.

And this time he said that Nancy and Daniel were in the hospital because their food poisoning had gotten so bad. And obviously everyone understood. Your wife and child being in the hospital was indeed a family emergency. So with that, they adjusted the WWE event accordingly and they continued on as usual. And I'm sure for Chavo, it kind of made sense on why Chris was acting so strange.

His wife and kid were in the hospital with a severe illness. But by that next morning, Sunday, June 24th, both Chavo Guerrero and referee Scott Armstrong received some ominous text messages that immediately made them feel sick to their stomachs. The first text came from Chris's phone at 4.53 a.m.

"Chavo, Scott, my physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane, Fayetteville, Georgia, 30215." The next text came in just seconds later, but this time from Nancy's phone. "The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open.

Chris then sent them the same exact message a total of five times, repeating his home address and how to get inside. I guess he sent it multiple times to make sure the messages went through. Or maybe he sent them so they would understand the underlying urgency behind his message. And it seemed to work. When Chavo and Scott woke up and read their text, they knew deep down that something wasn't right here.

First, Chris was canceling his flights at the last minute. Then he said, I love you over the phone. And now this. Now over in Georgia, shortly after sending those messages, Chris Benoit would walk downstairs into his family's basement where he had his home gym. Over on the lap pull-down machine, Chris removed the bar and created a noose with the cable. Then once he was ready, he put the cable around his neck and

Over in Houston, Texas, the employees at the WWE event were extremely concerned about Chris Benoit after receiving those ominous text messages. But they also had a huge event to run.

So while they continued with the event, they had one of their security personnel call the Fayetteville, Georgia Police Department to request a welfare check on Chris Benoit. By then, Chris had stopped replying to all messages.

His good friend and coworker, Chris Jericho, had even texted him that afternoon, letting him know that one of their fellow wrestling friends, Biff Wellington, had died from a heart attack at the age of 44. But again, there was no response. Around that same time, officers in Fayetteville, Georgia were entering the Benoit home and were about to make a gruesome discovery. By 3 p.m. on Monday, June 25th,

The Benoit residence was crawling with police presence. Fayette County Police Department detectives Joshua Shelton and Ethan Harper arrived at the Benoit home to canvass the crime scene. And it was very clear what had happened.

Based on the stages of decomposition Nancy and Daniel were in, it was obvious that they had been dead for several days. Nancy's decomposition was more advanced, so it was clear that Chris had killed her before killing Daniel. And then there was Chris himself. With the cryptic text messages, strange stories about his family's food poisoning, and then finding him hanged in the basement, this was clearly a double murder-suicide.

As you know, yesterday afternoon, approximately around 2:30, the Sheriff's Department received a call for a welfare check here at the Benoit residence. That call came from Mr. Benoit's employers. Apparently he had missed some engagements earlier this weekend out of state. They became concerned for his health and well-being.

The deputies arrived on scene. Once searching the house, they were able to locate three bodies inside of the home here. Those bodies were Mr. Benoit himself, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel. All three subjects were deceased.

But the motive on why he did it was still unclear. After the bodies were discovered, Detective Harper rushed down to the Fayette County Justice Center and obtained a search warrant from Judge Christopher Edwards. The warrant was executed and signed almost immediately, and from there, the crime scene unit could start taking their photos and gathering evidence. And there was a lot of it.

credit card statements, tax documents, medical reports, and even notes from Chris's fans. Inside a small refrigerator located in Chris's office were bottles of a growth hormone from Gene Science Pharmaceutical Company. They were titled "Recumbent Human Growth Hormone."

They also found multiple syringes and other medications prescribed by a doctor named Phil Astin to both Chris and Nancy. The prescriptions seized were muscle relaxers, hydrocodone, Xanax, naproxen, Zoloft, Ambien, and Cymbalta.

Shockingly, even more steroids were found in Chris and Nancy's master bedroom closet, tucked away in a suitcase. Chris's father, Mike, would later speak to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and admit that a suicide note had been found inside the house, although most sources do not mention this. Located in a drawer in the home, investigators found another Bible, and inside of it was a note from Chris that read, "...I'm preparing to leave this earth."

Now, this wouldn't be found until later, when that Bible was sent to Chris' first wife, Martina. So she was actually the one that found the letter. However, it wasn't dated, so it's unclear when Chris exactly wrote that.

But as investigators were tearing through the Benoit household, trying to make sense of this awful tragedy, the WWE event in Houston was still going strong. Now keep in mind, everyone was blissfully unaware that Chris and his family were dead. All they knew was that Chris had a family emergency. So they had to replace him with another wrestler.

something the fans weren't very happy about. In fact, they were so upset that Chris wasn't there to fight. They started chanting, we want Benoit.

As a lot of you probably know, Courtney and I's time is already really stretched thin. We have multiple projects that we're working on. I'm working on a documentary. We're posting a video every week on YouTube, a podcast, a second podcast. So we don't have a lot of extra time in our lives, especially when it comes to cooking. I know that for myself at the end of a long workday, the last thing that I want to do is get in the kitchen and cook myself something. And meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking can be a huge hassle.

But Hungry Root makes it possible to spend less time doing all of that and more time doing what you love. Hungry Root is simply the easiest way to eat healthy. They send you fresh, high-quality groceries, simple, delicious recipes, and essential supplements.

It's like having someone else do all the planning and shopping so you don't even have to think about it. And something that Courtney and I love is that Hungry Root gets to know your personal health goals, dietary restrictions, favorite foods, how much time you want to spend cooking, and more. Then they build you a personalized cart with all your grocery needs for the week, including easy four-ingredient recipes to put those groceries to use. Each order is free,

fully customizable so you can take their suggestions or just choose anything you want. They've got fresh produce, high quality meat and seafood, healthy snacks, smoothies, sweets, ready to eat meals, kids snacks and meals, vitamins and supplements, and much more. The groceries that Courtney and I received from Hungry Root were of the highest quality and the meals that we made from them not only were quick and easy, but they were delicious to boot. And that's because everything from Hungry Root follows a simple standard.

It's got to taste good, be quick to make, and contain whole trusted ingredients. Right now, Hungry Root is offering Murder in America listeners 40% off your first delivery and free veggies for life. Just go to HungryRoot.com slash MIA to get 40% off your first delivery and get your free veggies. That's HungryRoot.com slash MIA. Don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. Anyways, let's get back to today's episode.

Go to your happy place for a happy price. Go to your happy price, Priceline.

This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Whether you're selling a little or a lot, Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. From the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the we just hit a million orders stage. No matter what stage you're in, Shopify's there to help you grow. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash special offer, all lowercase. That's shopify.com slash special offer.

Introducing CM Punk's opponent, the man who will be replacing Chris Benoit, Johnny Nitro! Well fans, this past week on ECW, both CM Punk and Chris Benoit won qualifying matches.

and we're supposed to face one another here for the ECW World Title, but because of personal reasons, Chris Benoit is not here tonight at Vengeance Night of Champions, so instead, Johnny Nitro, former two-time Intercontinental Champion. As you said, Chris Benoit, for personal reasons, from what we understand, unfortunately is not here, but a golden, golden opportunity for one Johnny Nitro right now. A success in our industry.

And I mentioned it this past Tuesday night on ECW on Sci-Fi, how important it is to be a champion, to your point. And if you are not here to be a champion, I don't care if you're in ECW, SmackDown, Raw, you need to get out. You want to be the top dog. And who's going to be the top dog in ECW? We'll see.

It's either going to be CM Punk or Johnny Nitro who came to ECW from Raw in the supplemental draft on WWE.com exactly one week ago today. A very nice underarm spin by Johnny Nitro. Tremendous athlete is that young athlete. Then, in the midst of the chaos, the WWE executives finally got word about what came of that welfare check.

And the news was not good. WWE's owner, Vince McMahon, gathered his wrestlers together at the Citizen Bank Center in Corpus Christi and delivered the devastating news. The Benoits were dead.

However, they didn't know how they died. They assumed it was some sort of freak accident. So disturbingly, WWE officials put together a three hour long memorial video for Chris. Now eerily enough, WWE had already had this fake stage event for the evening where they were pretending that Vince McMahon had passed away.

There were a ton of people at the event dressed like they were at a funeral, and there was even a casket on the stage. But at 8 p.m., Vince McMahon entered an empty arena, and he spoke into the camera about the news of Chris Benoit's death. Good evening. Tonight, this arena here in Corpus Christi, Texas, was to have been filled to capacity with enthusiastic WWE fans. Tonight's storyline was to have been the...

alleged demise of my character, Mr. McMahon. In reality, WWE superstar Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel are dead. Their bodies were discovered this afternoon in their new suburban Atlanta home. The authorities are undergoing an investigation. We here in the WWE can only offer our condolences to the extended family of Chris Benoit. And the only other thing we can do at this moment is tonight pay tribute to

Chris Benoit. We will offer you some of the most memorable moments in Chris's professional life and you'll hear tonight comments from his peers, those here, his fellow performers, those here who loved Chris and admired him so much. So tonight will be a three-hour tribute to one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time. Tonight will be a tribute to Chris Benoit.

Now, clearly in hindsight, making a tribute to a man who just murdered his whole family was not the best move. The three hour long memorial included pictures from his childhood, his past wrestling matches, his achievements and career highlights. Here is a little clip from the tribute. ♪ This time ♪

I've heard it all. You'll never win the big one. You'll never be able to do this. Yes! Benoit! Benoit has done it! And yes, Chris Benoit's dream, the headline, WrestleMania, has come true! A lot of critics, they said, never. I proved them wrong. Benoit ripping it over! It's over! Chris Benoit's 18-year odyssey has come to an end!

by winning the world heavyweight title at WrestleMania 20. Eerily enough at the end of that, they played a highlight video of Chris's win at Madison Square Garden. And they showed the video where he hugged his wife Nancy and son Daniel. Also in the tribute video were comments from famous wrestlers. Here is what Stone Cold Steve Austin had to say about Chris Benoit.

I think that Chris Benoit is one of the most talented individuals I've ever known in my life. Anytime I've ever seen the guy work, it didn't matter if there's 15 people in the building or if there's 30,000 people in the building. Anytime Chris Benoit went to the ring, he gave it 120% every single night of the week. And I'm

I didn't get a chance to wrestle Chris a whole lot of times, but one of my favorite matches my whole career was wrestling Chris Benoit in his hometown of Edmonton, Canada. One of my favorite matches with the guy. The guy is probably one of the most honest people I've ever met in my life. One of the most hardest working people I've ever known in my life. I'm going to miss the guy. He's one of those guys that

Here is what John Cena said in the tribute:

I firmly believe this is the most difficult thing that I've ever had to do. I'm sure you'll hear from plenty of people tonight and you'll see some fantastic moments. This has just been a very, uh, a very sudden occurrence and I don't necessarily know how to react to it. And that's what makes it difficult. My first instinct tells me that we should, uh, we should celebrate the life of Chris Benoit. And, uh, and I think that's the right thing to do. Chris was, Chris was the type of guy you'd want to go to war with.

He was just a just a hard-nosed son of a bitch But if he knew you meant business he would look out for you And he took care of a lot of the people you're gonna hear from tonight formed formed bonds with those people very very very close bonds some Some are gonna talk to you like they were his brother. He was a good man. He just he he truly lived for the business He just uh, he did he did everything for it, you know, and he really respected he respected everything Everything about this business. He was uh

His set of ideals towards this business was something that I looked up to. God, just he took no and I appreciate everything that he's done. And as I talk to all of you tonight watching, I hope as you watch this, you appreciate that everything that Chris Benoit has done, because I know every single second he spent under those lights and every single second he spent riding in the next town or going on the next show or catching the next flight he did because

He busted his ass for everybody like you watching. And tonight you're going to see some of his greatest moments, his greatest achievements. I think it's only fitting because he's a man who lived with a business. That's something that you have no idea how much I respect that. And like I said, Chris was like John Wayne, man. He was just, for me, he was too tough to ever open up to, to ever talk to. But you just, you could tell by the look in his eye, you know.

Here's a message from CM Punk.

I just can't get that out of my head because Chris Benoit was my hero and I was privileged enough to be able to work with him and to know him as a person and to call him my friend. And even though I'll never get to wrestle him, he taught me a lot. And I just hope that I can do his memory good by always being the best I can be and always thinking of him over my shoulder being really hard on me and just...

And then finally, after the tribute had played for three whole hours,

WWE got word that these deaths were no accident. Chris Benoit had murdered his wife and son. As the news spread, some of his fans still found it hard to believe. However, after more news networks started covering the story, they had to come to terms with the fact that their favorite wrestler was a murderer.

This is To The Point. I'm Greg Sansoni. Authorities in Fayetteville, Georgia have confirmed that the deaths of pro wrestler Chris Benoit and his family were a result of a double murder-suicide. Benoit murdered his wife Nancy by asphyxiation sometime on Friday. Then apparently Saturday morning he smothered his seven-year-old son Daniel while he was in bed. Benoit then killed himself. He was found hanging by a pulley used for weightlifting.

Soon after the news broke, WWE began scrambling to fix their mistake, removing all of Chris' wrestling videos and fan merchandise from their online store.

Vince McMahon would give another statement before an episode of ECW was aired on June 26th. And this would actually be the very last time WWE would ever mention Chris Benoit's name. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE presented a special tribute show recognizing the career of Chris Benoit. However, now some 26 hours later, the facts of this horrific tragedy are now apparent.

Therefore, other than my comments, there will be no mention of Mr. Benoit's name tonight. On the contrary, tonight's show will be dedicated to everyone who has been affected by this terrible incident. This evening marks the first step of the healing process. Tonight, WWE performers will do what they do better than anyone else in the world. Entertain you.

But everyone who knew and loved Chris, along with the rest of the world, wanted to know why. Why on earth would somebody with so much talent and notoriety, so much money, wealth, happiness, from the outside at least, murder his family?

Well, after the bodies were removed from the home and taken to the medical examiner's office, they were hoping that their autopsies would answer some of those questions. Chris's autopsy report stated, "This 40-year-old man, Chris Benoit, died as a result of hanging himself."

After review of scene photographs, discussions with investigators, and autopsy findings, the decedent hanged himself using a rope from his exercise machine. The ligature furrow around the neck, in conjunction with no other significant trauma, supports the manner of death as being suicidal.

Postmortem toxicology revealed blood levels of alprazolam at 50 micrograms per liter and hydrocodone at 45 micrograms per liter, both of which are within the therapeutic range, with an elevated testosterone to epitestosterone ratio, signifying an exogenous source of testosterone.

But before we dig further into Chris's autopsy, there were a few things found with Nancy and Daniel that are important to mention. Medical examiner Dr. Jonathan Eisenstadt found that with Nancy, there was hemorrhaging in her upper back and chest area, which is why they believe Chris used his knee to press down on her back while he strangled her. There was also blood found underneath her head, which suggested she had attempted to fight back, and Chris forced her head onto the floor during the struggle.

In her toxicology report, Nancy tested positive for hydrocodone, Xanax, and hydromorphone, but the levels were considered safe for therapeutic treatment. And we do know that before her death, Nancy had confided in her neighbor that she struggled with alcohol and pill use to cope with all the problems she had been facing in her life.

Now, as for Daniel, his toxicology reports showed that he had Xanax in his system, which Chris had given him before he was murdered. And based on the amount that was found, it's likely that Daniel was unconscious at the time he was killed. Which I guess is one good thing about this horrible tragedy. He likely never saw it coming, unlike his mother. Daniel's autopsy showed that he had internal injuries to his throat, but there was no apparent bruising on the outside.

Now, there was a lot of conversation surrounding Daniel's death.

Because in the beginning, it was reported that Daniel had what appeared to be needle marks on his arm. The district attorney at the time even came out and theorized that Chris and Nancy had injected their son with growth hormones and that Daniel Benoit had suffered from a condition known as Fragile X syndrome. Fragile X is a genetic disorder that impairs a child's brain development. DA Scott Ballard even stated, quote,

The boy was small, even dwarfed. Now, this theory actually evolved from a woman in Canada named Pamela Winthrop. She herself was an activist within the Fragile X Research Foundation of Canada as her son, Jamie, also suffered from the condition. And she claimed that her late husband had spoken with Chris Benoit

and that Chris confirmed that Daniel had fragile X. But apparently Chris and Nancy never went public with this information because they didn't want their son to be publicly associated with it. According to Pamela, quote, "My husband was struggling when we got diagnosed with our son.

and Chris was struggling with his. They talked for a few minutes, and then he said he didn't want to be a public face for Fragile X. He just wanted to keep it really, really quiet." So after Pamela heard the news about the murders, she contacted a radio station and was apparently recorded without her consent talking about Daniel's Fragile X syndrome. And from there, the media started reporting on it.

In fact, a couple of days after the murders, WWE's Vince McMahon's wife stated, quote, "We found out literally over the last 48 hours about Daniel's illness, which we did not know." That's what the focus of this is really turning more to, the tension of what must have been happening between a husband and wife over the management and the schooling and the rearing of this child with mental R-word.

End quote. So basically, they were trying to say that Chris killed his family because Daniel had this syndrome and that he and Nancy were so overwhelmed with it all that he just decided to kill everyone. But in the end, Daniel didn't even have fragile X syndrome. It was all a rumor. So for this woman to come out and say that this is why Chris must have killed his family is pretty absurd. Now,

Now the rumor was that Daniel had this syndrome, which made him really small for his age. So Chris and Nancy were injecting him with hormones so he could grow. But again, none of that was true.

On July 2nd, the Toffoloni family attorney Richard Decker spoke to ESPN and indicated that there were no medical records that stated Daniel suffered from fragile X. To further prove this, DA Ballard argued that during Daniel's autopsy, the medical examiner found no evidence to suggest he had the condition, nor did his kindergarten teacher observe any intellectual defects in the young boy.

There also had not been any needle marks on Daniel's arm, and it's still unclear how that rumor started. So District Attorney Ballard would later have to release an apology after putting that information out there. But soon enough, the Fragile X theory all but disappeared, and the emergence of steroid abuse became the main topic of conversation.

You see, throughout Chris' career, it was known that he abused steroids. It was one of the main arguments that he and his wife Nancy had throughout their marriage. But in 2006, after Chris' best friend Eddie Guerrero passed away, WWE introduced their new wellness program. The purpose of the wellness program was to make sure their wrestlers were prioritizing their mental health and that they weren't abusing prescription medication and performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids.

So in the last year of his life, because of this new wellness program, Chris was no longer able to use the steroids that he had been using for years, which was a problem. By then, his body was dependent on them. And according to the book, Chris and Nancy, Chris had used steroids for so long that his body could no longer produce testosterone on its own, but he was able to find a way around it.

His doctor, Dr. Phil Astin, had been prescribing him testosterone injections and other steroids, but he was able to disguise it as testosterone replacement therapy. It was basically a way to continue taking steroids while still following the rules of WWE's wellness program.

In fact, WWE actually tested Chris for steroids just months before the murders in April of 2007. And the results were negative.

But again, he was still finding ways around it with these injections. And you've probably heard the term "roid rage." It's this idea that people who take steroids are prone to violence and aggression. So when the news of Chris' steroid abuse hit the media, many people speculated that steroids are what caused him to murder his family. But WWE was quick to respond.

saying, "steroids were not and could not be related to the cause of death. WWE strongly suggests that it is entirely wrong for speculators to suggest that steroids had anything to do with these senseless acts."

But the media continued to report on Chris's "roid rage" with headlines that read: "WrestleManiacs Roid Rage: Inside a Killer's Doomed Love Tale" "Wrestler May Have Had Roid Rage" and "Steroid Rage at Work: Inside the Wrestler Murder Mystery"

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt spoke to MSNBC and defended Chris's use of testosterone, saying that many people who have abused steroids in the past are prescribed testosterone since their bodies can't produce it on their own. Now, in the end, the toxicology report indicated that Chris had synthetic testosterone in his system, and at the time of his death, his body had about 10 times the normal amount of testosterone.

The medical examiner, Dr. Chris Sperry, also stated that it appeared he had injected more sometime before his death, but the toxicology did come back negative for illegal anabolic steroids. Therefore, this theory of roid rage wasn't plausible because they weren't found in his system.

But there is a bit of conflicting information here. Like we mentioned, in April of 2007, Chris was tested for steroids and it came back negative. But at that same time, his wife Nancy had been texting him to get off the steroids. In fact, just one month before the murders, she texted Chris, quote, "...get off the stuff. It's obvious."

I'm probably not the only one who can see it. And we both know the wellness program is a joke." And the wellness program she's talking about is the program that is supposed to prevent wrestlers from using steroids. So if he wasn't taking steroids, then why was Nancy texting him that?

Even further, after the murders, steroids were found within their home. So some people speculate that Chris was still taking steroids in the month before the murders or was weaning himself off and that he had somehow cheated the wellness program's drug test. But nonetheless, at the time of Chris's death,

The amount of testosterone found in his body was a huge point of concern. During the investigation, it was found that Chris and Nancy's doctor, Dr. Phil Aston, had prescribed Chris 10 months worth of injectable testosterone every few weeks. Other evidence shows he also prescribed him Xanax, Adderall, Hydrocodone, and he was known to give his patients very high volumes.

Interestingly, Dr. Astin's name had been on prescription bottles found beside the body of wrestler Johnny Grunge. Now Dr. Astin would later say that it wasn't his fault that Grunge took a bunch of medicine in one sitting, but still it wasn't a good look for him and he would actually get in a lot of legal trouble for all of the medication he prescribed Chris Benoit.

on tuesday january 29 2009 dr aston pled guilty to 175 charges including the illegal distribution of prescription drugs and was sentenced to 10 years in prison his attorney natasha silas stated in chronic pain cases more often than not he would simply accede to the patient's request that they needed strong or stronger medicine to handle their pain dr aston became more and more willing to bend the rules

Now, this is an interesting fact, but Dr. Astin actually passed away a couple of years ago from a heart attack on June 24th, 2022, which was the 15th anniversary of the double murder-suicide. But back to 2007. In the end, even though Chris did not have illegal anabolic steroids in his system, his death prompted many discussions on the role of steroids and drug abuse inside the world of professional wrestling.

Because many wrestlers have passed away due to steroid abuse and or other health issues associated with past use, the list includes Eddie Guerrero, the British Bulldog, the Ultimate Warrior, Mr. Perfect, and Macho Man Randy Savage, to name a few.

And according to Chris's autopsy, his heart was very enlarged at the time of his death, which is associated with people, particularly wrestlers who have abused human growth hormones. Just to put it in context,

A normal heart usually weighs about 289 grams, while Chris's weighed 620 grams. Now, Nancy's sister Sandra actually spoke with a professional and they told her that if Chris wouldn't have killed himself, he likely would have been dead within a year because of his heart condition. In another huge discussion after Chris's death,

was the topic of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, which more than anything is what people think most likely contributed to Chris murdering his family. CTE is a brain condition that occurs after repeated blows to the head. And you see it a lot in contact sports like football, boxing, hockey, and of course wrestling.

CTE is also known to be linked to violence and aggression. Now, like we mentioned in part one, Chris Benoit had a mild brain injury during childhood when he was in a car accident. So that was the first instance where he had a serious blow to the head. But for decades after, he was constantly being hit in the head.

I mean, back then, that was the sport of wrestling. Chris was known to do high flying stunts off the ropes, where he would crash down onto his opponents. There were times when he would be slammed into the ground. And other times, his opponents would slam steel chairs down onto his head. And Chris would take it like a champ.

In fact, there were countless times where he would come home from matches with black eyes. It was all a part of the industry at the time. Chris Benoit had been a professional wrestler since the age of 18. So he experienced 22 years of physical trauma.

But the hits to the head didn't seem to cause any problems until about 2003 when Nancy filed for divorce. Like we mentioned, she said that Chris had been getting violent with her and that she was scared for her life. In Chris's diaries that were found after his death, he wrote about feelings of depression and lapses in memory, which are also symptoms of CTE.

After his death, Chris's brain was examined and they found that it was, quote, so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer patient. The damage was so extensive, Dr. Bales admitted that it was the worst he had ever examined. Chris's father, Mike, later stated in an interview about his hesitation to have his son's brain examined.

"When Chris Nowinski contacted me about conducting tests on Chris's brain, I was extremely hesitant given the circumstances surrounding my son's death. I agreed to the testing after he explained their desire to expand knowledge about the potential brain damage that athletes can suffer from repetitive head injuries in contact sports.

When the results were explained to me by the SLI doctors, I was shocked to learn the extent of damage and saddened that he could have been suffering from this without anyone's knowledge. I hope the examination of Chris' brain leads to greater understanding and ultimately helps protect athletes of all ages.

Dr. Bennett Omalu of the Brain Injury Research Institute said that after repeated head trauma, the brain can no longer heal itself. In an interview with ESPN, he said, "...the tau impairs normal brain function and kills brain cells. The delicate balance of the neurotransmitters, which control moods and drives and maintains safety, can be destroyed."

In response to Chris's CTE diagnosis, WWE changed a lot of its rules. Before, it was common to have blood pouring down wrestlers' bodies after matches, but now that wasn't allowed. They also banned the act of slamming chairs onto wrestlers' heads. According to the organization, quote, "WWE has eliminated using folding metal chairs to, quote, 'strike an opponent in the head.'"

End quote.

Three weeks after their bodies were discovered, Nancy and Daniel Benoit were remembered in a funeral service held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Saturday, July 14, 2007. Nancy's sister, Sandra, gave the eulogy, and Elton John's song "Daniel" was played during the service.

WWE announcer Jim Ross stated, "Cute little kid. Great deal of energy. A fun kid. I always kidded him about looking like his mom. I think he wanted to look like his dad. Hopefully they're resting and he's playing in heaven. That's my only wish." As for Nancy, he said that she was always laughing and had a wonderful sense of humor.

Eddie Guerrero's widow, Vicky, walked somberly from the church doors and added, We miss her and love her. It was a beautiful service. There are two beautiful souls that should never have been taken so early from us. Both Nancy and Daniel were cremated and their remains were given to family. Chris Benoit had a separate, private service in Canada, and it was reported that no wrestlers from the WWE were in attendance. Chris' father, Mike, admitted,

It's a horrible, horrible event that's happened. We have no understanding why it happened. It's going to take us a long time to come to terms with this. And we may never come to terms with it.

As you can imagine, this story cast a huge dark cloud over the world of WWE. Many people wondered how the organization could allow Chris to have 10 times the average amount of testosterone in his body. And based on Chris's autopsy findings, some people blame the sport itself for the murders.

Now the motives behind Chris Benoit's actions will most likely always be clouded in mystery. No one knows exactly what happened on that June weekend in 2007. And any answers we could have gotten died with Chris when he decided to hang himself after taking the lives of his 43-year-old wife and seven-year-old son. It's widely believed that the motive can be attributed to a mix of mental health struggles

substance abuse, and decades of head trauma leading to CTE. Chris's father Mike would later say, quote, I think if Chris Benoit had been anything other than a professional wrestler, he would still be alive. I would like people to have an understanding that the tragedy that took place in 2007 happened because of his career choice, end quote.

Since then, WWE has tried to make improvements, prioritizing the health of their wrestlers over entertainment. They've also done their best to remove themselves of Chris's name. In fact, after the tragedy, people within the industry were told to never speak his name again, hoping to erase his legacy. But no matter how hard they try to distance themselves from this tragedy, it's hard to forget

Chris Benoit was once considered one of the most beloved wrestlers of all time. But now, people know him as WWE's Canadian crippler turned family annihilator.

Hey, everybody. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Be sure to go check out The Conspiracy Files, our brand new podcast that has just been released. The new episodes are airing every single Wednesday. So if you love our show and you love what we're doing here, definitely go check out The Conspiracy Files.

want to thank some of our new patrons this week lafittaga fapuna cam cheeto best susan walker ophelia von ray dean terracore andrew benoit lindsay ryan coey jay bell channa hansen dasnam sean callanan jen fletcher brooke f peyton gibson suanne martin brianna kaburski brandon mcleod cherry graves juliana hoper and so many more

So guys, if you want to join the Patreon family, we have so many amazing people on there. For $5 a month, you get access to every episode of our show early and ad-free posted on Patreon. Then for $10 a month, you get that early ad-free access plus two full-length bonus episodes of Murder in America. And for $20 a month, you get four bonus episodes of Murder in America, one every single week.

Plus that early ad free access. And we talked to you guys on there. We have a lot of polls and questions and stuff. I actually just went on there and posted today. But yeah, it's a great way to help support the show if you want to.

We love doing this with y'all. We love going down these rabbit holes. We're so thankful that we have so many people out there listening. I definitely can tell you that I didn't expect the show to get this big. And we are just blessed, thankful, and humbled every single day of every single week of every year. Thank you. And yeah, y'all have a great weekend. And we will catch you on next week's episode. Well, well, well, a visitor.

Welcome to the Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings.

And odd goings on. I can smell your intestines. I'm scaring her, aren't I? If you are uncomfortable with the supernatural, the occult, or exploring other realms, I encourage you to stop listening to this immediately. It's the last in afternoon. I'm in my walk. I want to go home. Terrible things happen when we talk about him too much. Six. Six. Six.

And assume zero liability as per store policy. No exception. Thank you, and have a great day. Find the Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings online at bloody.fm and wherever you do come home to us.

Welcome to the All 80s Movies Podcast. I'm Bill. And I'm Jason. And this is the podcast where we talk about the blockbusters, the flops, and everything in between from one of the freshest decades for movies, the 1980s. So whether you're a brain, a jock,

a valley girl, or a Jedi, we've got some 80s classics for you. Do these movies stand the test of time? Are we discovering something new? Is there an 80s movie we are finally watching for the first time? Join us each week as we dive into the cinematic nostalgia that inspired and influenced a generation. From the hits to the cult classics, we'll discuss our earliest memories, favorite scenes, fun facts, and our not-so-favorite movie moments, too. You can find the All 80s Movies Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Please follow and happy listening. Hey there, are you in need of a new weekly fix of horror gaming discussions? Then look no further than Safe Room, Bloody FM's horror video gaming podcast. I'm your host Jay Krieger. And I am the other one, Neil Boat. And every week, Neil, myself, and the occasional guest get together to chat about classic and contemporary horror games and the elements that make them a standout amongst the hordes of horror games being released seemingly every day now.

In addition to celebrating anniversaries and new releases, we also interview influential horror developers such as Amnesia the Bunker's creative lead, Frederick Wilson, and even the maestro of lo-fi horror, Erdorf, the developer behind the Faith trilogy. And finally, on Thursdays, we release episodes of Horror Bytes, our bite-sized indie horror showcase in which Neil and I share a game that we discovered on Itch.io from an up-and-coming developer.

So if this sounds like the podcast for you, please consider checking out Safe Room on your preferred podcast platform and be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at Safe Room Pod for show updates.