EP. 161: GEORGIA - The Chris Benoit Story: WWE Superstar Turned Family Annihilator (Pt. 1) 01:14:29

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Warning, the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. We have all seen videos of WWE.

where wrestlers step into the ring and do all kinds of crazy moves like lift their opponent into the air and slam them down. Wrestlers will pin their opponents bodies in ways that make them completely immobile and they'll even use props like steel chairs that they'll slam down on their opponents body only for the crowd to go absolutely wild.

WWE fans are some of the most passionate fans of all time. Many will have a favorite wrestler that they really look up to.

one that they feel connected to. And back in the early 2000s, one of the most popular wrestlers of all time was a man named Chris Benoit, otherwise known as the Canadian Crippler. Chris Benoit quickly rose to fame in the wrestling world, earning 22 championships throughout his career. Millions of fans worldwide looked up to Chris Benoit, and he was described as one of the most beloved wrestlers to ever step foot in the ring.

That is until June of 2007. That year, everyone was shocked to learn that Chris's wife, Nancy, and his seven-year-old son, Daniel, were found dead in their Fayetteville, Georgia home.

And this wasn't some freak accident. Also found in the home was Chris Benoit, who had hanged himself on his workout equipment just days after murdering his family. This double murder suicide would forever change the community of WWE.

And this tragedy would bring about many conversations of steroid abuse in the industry and the physical trauma wrestlers go through to keep their fans entertained. So this is the story of the Canadian crippler turned family annihilator. I'm Courtney Browen, and we are so happy to finally be back after our summer break with a brand new episode of Murder in America. ♪♪

Christopher Michael Benoit was born on May 21, 1967, to Michael and Margaret Benoit. He was born in Montreal, a province of Quebec, Canada, but he spent most of his childhood in Edmonton, which is a city in Alberta, Canada. Growing up, Chris and his family would sit around the TV and watch Canada's Stampede Wrestling, and Chris was captivated by it. His eyes would light up watching the wrestlers in the ring.

At the age of 11, Chris would attend his first live show wrestling match, and from that moment on, he was even more obsessed with wrestling. Something about the atmosphere there, the energy of the crowd, and the charisma of the wrestlers, Chris was obsessed. After that show, he even helped take down the folding chairs at the event, something he would go on to do throughout the years. Chris just wanted to be a part of wrestling in any way he could, and he knew that one day, he would grow up to be a wrestler himself.

Outside of wrestling, Chris Benoit was your average kid. He was described as quiet and shy, and he mostly kept to himself, but he also was easy to get along with. Now, it was reported that he actually got into a car accident when he was younger where he struck the windshield with such force, he got a mild brain injury. Chris ended up having to stay in the hospital for three days, but he would make a full recovery.

and it didn't seem to have affected his childhood. However, as we know now, head injuries in children can sometimes lead to violence in adulthood. And Crispin Waugh would go on to live a life where hits to the head were pretty common, starting with football.

Before he was a wrestler, Chris played football for about five years when he was a teenager. However, there aren't any reports that he suffered any significant injuries. But one thing to note during this time is that Chris never once missed a game or a practice. He was very dedicated and disciplined in everything he did, something that would follow him throughout his life. But like we mentioned, football was not Chris's passion. He was a wrestler at heart.

Growing up, Chris's favorite wrestler was a man named Thomas Billington, otherwise known as the Dynamite Kid.

He was a British trailblazer who ultimately went on to change professional wrestling. The Dynamite Kid pushed the limits with his intensity and aggressive maneuvers, and he would go on to be a huge inspiration for Chris. Then in 1980, at the age of 13, Chris would finally get to meet his hero. He would later say, quote, "I just idolized him."

We had backyard wrestling matches or I would be in my room kicking my bed, trying to clone him. I remember how he and Bret Hart stood out above everyone else. Now a pretty big part of being a wrestler is being jacked. So Chris begged his father to buy him some weights so that he could start training.

And just like with football, Chris was extremely dedicated. After his dad bought him some equipment, Chris would spend hours every week lifting weights and pushing his body to the limit. He wanted to have a body just like his hero, the Dynamite Kid. And soon enough, the young scrawny teenager was packing on some serious muscle mass.

In an interview with ABC News, Chris's father, Michael, admitted he was pretty much driven from the age of 12, 13 to get in the wrestling industry. Chris lifted weights every day. He was 13 years old, breaking records in high school and our basement. Chris dedicated his teenage years to his dream of becoming a wrestler. His ideal weekend wasn't going to parties and hanging out with friends.

Instead, he spent his time volunteering at wrestling shows, working out and practicing his wrestling moves with his friends. And after a few years, it really paid off. In 1985, when Chris was 18 years old,

he finally decided to reach out to Stu Hart, the owner of Stampede Wrestling. The Hart family was one of the most famous wrestling families of all time. Chris had been watching the wrestling matches since he was 11 years old, and now he wanted in on the action. So Chris asked Stu if he could come try out to see if he was a good fit for them, and Stu agreed. Soon enough, Chris showed up at Stu's mansion,

And downstairs in the basement, they had this huge gem that was called the dungeon. Chris was excited to get started, but Stu wasn't going to take it easy on him. In fact, that first day, he put him through a ton of hard wrestling holds and stunts to really show him what he was getting himself into. - Chris would later say, "It was barbaric. I'm glad when I came in, Stu wasn't in his prime, but he could still take you down and make you scream."

Stu Hart was really impressed with Chris's determination. He had passed the test that not many aspiring wrestlers passed, and soon enough he would become a regular there. Throughout his early training, Chris developed his own style, like all wrestlers do, and he took most of his inspiration from his idol, the Dynamite Kid.

Specifically, his infamous wrestling moves, which were called the diving headbutt and the snap suplex. And according to the people that knew him, Chris was a pretty shy guy outside of the ring. But as soon as he stepped in, he was a whole different person who exuded confidence.

Now, in the beginning of his wrestling career, it wasn't always easy. He had just graduated from Archbishop O'Leary Catholic School in Edmonton, and he still had to pay the bills. So, he ended up getting a job at his father's business to earn a living. But every Friday, after he clocked out of work, he would immediately get on a Greyhound bus to make the 200-mile journey over to Stu's house for training.

And he would spend the entire weekend there for hours on end Training to become Stampede's next hotshot wrestler Stu Hart was definitely a huge mentor for Chris He would later attribute all of his success to him And luckily for Chris, his hard work would eventually pay off Before he knew it, he was traveling throughout Western Canada with Stampede And really showing off his talent in the ring

His first tag team match was on November 22, 1985. He and Rick Patterson, also known as "The Remarkable", were paired up against Mike Hammer and Butch Moffat. The match ended in a win, when Chris was able to pin Butch on the mat after a successful sunset flip. The energy of the crowd during that match was unlike anything Chris had ever experienced, and he knew then that he had chosen the right path for his life.

Chris Benoit quickly rose to success, winning British Commonwealth Championships and International Tag Team Championships. He was really proving himself to be a talented and dedicated wrestler. So much so, in the late 80s, his hero, the Dynamite Kid, would pass down his wrestling boots to Chris himself.

But Chris also knew he had room for improvement. In the beginning, there were still plenty of wrestlers that overshadowed him, like Stampede superstar Owen Hart.

And Chris really wanted to make a name for himself. So in 1987, he left Canada for Japan. While there, he joined New Japan Pro Wrestling, which was a whole different ball game than what he was used to. For about a year, Chris spent all of his time in the training facility called the Dojo. The training was extremely demanding.

even more so than what he was used to in Stu Hart's dungeon. Only this time it was paired with a lot of busy work,

Veteran wrestlers would target the newbies and make them do things like run errands, sweep the floors, clean the toilets, similar to what you see in hazing rituals. The veterans would also physically push the newcomers to the point of exhaustion, making them do an absurd amount of push-ups and other intense exercises. But it was all a part of the gig, and Chris never complained.

During his time at the dojo, he really perfected his Japanese style wrestling moves. And finally, after proving himself, he adopted the name Dynamite Chris. However, he didn't really like this title and eventually changed it to the Pegasus Kid. The name also came with a new look, where Chris would wear this blue mask that had gold wings on it.

during his time in japan chris developed a pretty big fan base after winning matches against wrestling powerhouses like shinjiro otani josh in thunder liger a samurai and black tiger in 1993 and 1995 chris won the best of the super juniors tournament which is a huge accomplishment for junior heavyweight wrestlers he also reinvented himself changing his name yet again to wild pegasus

Chris's time in Japan really took a turning point when he went up against Eddie Guerrero, who would go on to be a huge name in the wrestling world. During the match, Chris knocked Eddie out after kicking him in the head, but following it, the two would form a really good friendship both inside and outside of the ring. Chris had a deep respect for Eddie, and would later say, "He was almost, I'd say, like the Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky of his profession. He was that good. He influenced many, many wrestlers all around the world for 22 years.

and almost kind of changed the style of pro wrestling in this country because he spent a lot of time in japan and kind of ingratiated the japanese style the mexican style and the hard-hitting calgary style into the wwe and the wcw the former company that he worked for

Eddie Guerrero would end up playing a huge role in Chris's life and he'll come back into play later on in the story but for now the two were best friends working their way to the top due to Chris's popularity and talent he was no longer just wrestling in Japan but all over the world except the United States he would later admit that the United States wasn't interested in him at first

because he was only 5'11". In their eyes, he was too small to make it big. So instead, Chris went to Mexico, which ended up being a really great experience for him. Chris would later say, I enjoyed my time down there. It's a different style of wrestling, a different brand of wrestling, which I think helped better myself in terms of working in the international scene at the time.

In the early 1990s, while climbing the ladder in Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association,

Chris eventually garnered attention from other agencies in Europe. And one day while working in Germany, he would cross paths with a woman named Martina. The two were clearly into each other and it wouldn't be long until they were married. Chris and Martina would end up having two children together, a son named David and a daughter named Megan. But from the outside looking in, Chris Benoit had it all.

He was a huge star in the wrestling world. And now he had a family. And although their family started in Germany, they would eventually move back to his hometown of Edmonton in Canada. And from there, Chris would only get more successful in his career. - In 1992, Chris's talent finally brought him to America when he made an appearance in America's World Championship Wrestling.

but during the nwa world tag team championships tournament he and his partner had been defeated and chris was really hard on himself in fact there was one time when he made a mistake in the ring that no one even really noticed but afterward he went back to the locker room and did like 500 squats to punish himself for the mistake

That's the kind of person Chris was. He wanted to give 110% in everything he did. And after this defeat in America, he knew if he was going to break into the mainstream wrestling organizations, he needed to really perfect his intensity in the ring, just like his idol, the Dynamite Kid. So in 1994, he did just that. While he was in between tours with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Chris joined a Philadelphia-based organization called Extreme Championship Wrestling.

And while there, he was originally named the Rabid Wolverine, but would later change his name to the Crippler. Which was pretty fitting, because on November 5th, 1994, while in Philadelphia, Chris would go up against a wrestler named Sabu. And during the match, Chris would accidentally break the guy's neck. Benoit, one of the finest wrestlers in the world. Promethe is the finest wrestler in the sport today. Extensive experience in Japan, Mexico.

as well as here at the US, in fact his extreme championship wrestling that first showcased crippler Chris Benoit here in the United States. Sabu dropped across the top rope. Benoit feeling very confident early on in this matchup. Sabu's manager Paulie Dangerous later inside along with his handler 911. Oh my gosh!

And he indeed broke his neck. Now, they were only seconds into their match when the accident occurred.

Chris threw him down thinking he would land face first, but at the last second, Sabu twisted his body so he could land on his back. And sadly, he landed directly on his head, ending the match immediately. After it was confirmed that his neck was broken, Chris felt horrible. When he got back to the locker room, he broke down crying, thinking he might have paralyzed his opponent, but he didn't.

Sabu would make a recovery. Following this, Chris's new name, the Canadian Crippler, would soon be known all around the world. In 1994 and 1995, Chris would really make a name for himself here in the United States.

But unfortunately for him, his work visa wasn't renewed in time. So he was forced to leave the United States and return back to Japan. While there, he would continue wrestling with New Japan Pro Wrestling. But it wouldn't be long until he was offered the opportunity of a lifetime. At 28 years old, Chris was asked to join the infamous wrestling group called the Four Horsemen.

The group originated in 1986 and one of its members, Arne Andersen, would later say: "Being a horseman isn't something you put on in the morning and take off at night. It's a state of mind. It's excelling to the best of your ability. It's four individuals thinking singularly, acting collectively." The new group now consisted of Chris, Nature Boy Rick Flair, Brian Pillman, and Arne Andersen. Here's a video of Chris after he joined:

Look into that crystal ball at your fate! Enter the fourth horseman, the crippler Benoit! Sting, it's quite obvious that you're not aware of who you're dealing with. Your arrogance will not be tolerated by the horsemen. Your ignorance in taking advantage of a situation in which one of the horsemen were involved will not be tolerated.

You're a marked man sting and you're going to find out exactly why they call me the crippler. Get out while you can. All of you, the life you save may be your own. Now, anyone familiar with Chris's wrestling career knows that his start with the Four Horsemen was a turning point in his life.

Because soon after Chris joined, his group would form an alliance with a wrestler named Kevin Sullivan. And at the time, Kevin was married to a woman named Nancy, one of the victims of this story. Now like we mentioned, Chris Benoit was already married to a woman named Martina, and the couple had two kids together. But as soon as Chris met Kevin's wife Nancy, there was an undeniable spark between the two.

Now, like her husband, Nancy was very well known within the wrestling world. She was a valet, which meant she would accompany male wrestlers in the ring

and everyone knew her as either fallen angel or woman. Now, valets are typically very attractive and they can either serve as the wrestler's spokesperson or manager, and other times they're just there to add a bit of a sex appeal. But Chris and Nancy's budding affair would soon be a pretty big scandal in the world of wrestling.

Nancy Elizabeth Sullivan was born Nancy Toffolani on May 17, 1964 in Boston, Massachusetts. And like Chris Benoit, Nancy had grown up watching and enjoying professional wrestling. When she was younger, her family moved to Florida, and after high school graduation, Nancy traveled to Orlando and started working for Championship Wrestling.

selling programs for their events. The owner of Championship Wrestling was a man named Eddie Graham, and when he spotted Nancy, he knew she would be perfect for bikini modeling for a certain type of wrestling magazine dubbed "Apartment House Wrestling." The magazine featured photographs of women in various states of undress as they wrestled each other.

According to Ervin Muchnick's book, Chris and Nancy, he stated, "...these were softcore porn depictions catering to the fantasies of young men and boys, of attractive women groping each other in street clothes, which were often shed in stages of the midst of matches, said to be privately staged for an exclusive clientele. They weren't wrestling bouts at all, of course, just cheesy still photo shoots."

The magazine started making a lot of money. And soon enough, Nancy began playing the role of a house girl named Perra.

During one photoshoot, Nancy was introduced to a wrestler by the name of Kevin Sullivan, who was 15 years her senior. Now, Nancy was actually married at the time to her high school sweetheart named Jim. But soon after meeting Kevin, she would divorce him. And following that, she began traveling the world with her new wrestler boyfriend.

Now at the time, Kevin was known by his wrestling name, The Prince of Darkness. And soon after, Nancy would start going by her valet name, Fallen Angel.

As you know, the satanic panic was rampant in the 80s. So Kevin Sullivan and Nancy really took on this satanic persona where they would use the powers of darkness to win their matches. Nancy's first televised debut was on July 7th, 1984 at the Lakeland Civic Center. Before long, everyone knew her name. She and Kevin would eventually get married in 1985.

And from then on, they had very successful careers in the WCW. Here is Nancy, who is in her persona of the fallen angel, talking about her husband. Most of the time, I'm interviewing big, sweaty hunks of wrestlers out here, mean guys, rough guys. But today, what I'm going to try to do is talk to, if I possibly can,

I'm gonna try to communicate with the angel sometimes known as the fallen angel But what I want to know is I've known Kevin Sullivan I've known the purple haze for a long time and what is it that makes you believe that Kevin Sullivan is so right about what he is doing?

He tells me so. It's just the way that he says it. It's his body language, you know. You know how it is, Jack. No, I really don't because I'm not into Kevin Sullivan's body and the only thing I'd like to be doing to his body is slamming it on the mat and dropping some elbows on it. Do you know? Does your mama know where you're at is what I want to know. Does your mama care where you're at?

I don't know about that. I take care of myself. My master takes care of me. I don't worry about... Who is your master? Kevin Sullivan is my master. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Do you understand, young lady? Your daddy, your mom and daddy, don't they care about what you're doing, where you're at? I don't know. I don't care. I just worry about my master and what he's doing.

So as you can tell from that video, they really played these roles. And that goes for everyone in wrestling.

It isn't just fighting, it's performing and entertainment. Nancy was so good at her role, it was even said that people would come up to her in public and ask to pray for her, thinking she was this Satanist when she wasn't. Now after a few years, her husband Kevin Sullivan would become a booker for the WCW.

He still fought in the ring from time to time, but he slowly started moving towards that role while Nancy stayed on television with the new name Woman.

In 1989, Nancy became the valet for a tag team duo called Doom, which consisted of two wrestlers named Butch Reed and Ron Simmons. One year later, in 1990, Nancy became a valet for Ric Flair, who was one of the original members of the Four Horsemen. Nancy was really good at her role, and she was widely known throughout the industry.

But unbeknownst to everyone, Nancy and her husband Kevin Sullivan had been having problems around this time. According to Kevin himself, "I was living in the Florida Keys. She was living in Daytona Beach. We were separated, heading to a divorce. The only time I saw her was if we were on the same plane or the same building together." There were also some allegations of domestic violence. In fact, towards the end, Nancy had been arrested and jailed for three days after stabbing Kevin with a knife.

Kevin would later admit that he bailed Nancy out of jail, but it was obvious that their relationship had run its course, so he moved out of their Daytona home. Now, even though in the eyes of the law, Nancy was the abuser, her family said otherwise. Nancy's sister Sandra said that Kevin was the aggressive one.

And in the mid 90s, he even gave Nancy a black eye. But he denied the allegations saying quote, "Well, I was living in the Keys. I hadn't seen Nancy for about four months. If she had a black eye, I don't know how she got it. But I think maybe Sandra got her timeline wrong. I never gave her a black eye." End quote. It was also later revealed that Nancy kept a diary of the abuse that she suffered at the hands of her husband.

But in early 1996, Nancy and Kevin were separated, but they still worked together from time to time. In fact, Kevin was still wrestling in the WCW, but he was ready to retire soon. So he came up with this wild idea to really end his career with a bang. Chris Benoit had just joined the Four Horsemen. So Kevin decided that he was going to book a fight between him and Chris.

And to make it even more tense for the viewers, he was going to use his wife Nancy as a playing card of sorts.

Now, even though Chris was married at the time, Kevin wanted to create this fictitious affair between Chris and Nancy to increase the ratings. And to push this narrative even further, Kevin instructed Chris and Nancy to hold hands out in public and even share hotel rooms so that the public would believe it's real. And that's exactly what they did. In the eyes of the viewers, this was a huge scandal.

Chris was married with two children. In fact, his wife Martina had just given birth to their daughter Megan. And here he is publicly going on dates with Nancy Sullivan. And I'm not sure what Martina thought about this. She obviously couldn't have been happy about it, but I'm sure Chris told her that it was all fake.

They were just doing this to increase ratings and that she had nothing to worry about. However, that wouldn't be the case. Regardless of Chris's intentions in the beginning, he and Nancy would eventually fall in love. And not long after, Chris would divorce Martina and Nancy would divorce Kevin.

Kevin Sullivan would later admit he was shocked Chris and Nancy actually fell in love, saying, But that's exactly what happened. The affair was huge news in the wrestling world, especially because Kevin and Chris still had fights together.

During them, there was obvious tension between the two that went beyond your average wrestling fights. And Chris and Nancy really played into it. Here they are in an interview, directly calling out Nancy's ex-husband. Joining me, woman, and Chris VanWaal, what a weekend it was for you, sir. Take a look. Sullivan, take a good look. I'm still here.

You didn't get rid of your problem, Sullivan. You made it worse. One man. One man. Not only was your best not enough, but the whole Dungeon of Doom wasn't enough to get rid of one man. Sullivan, look into my eyes. Into my soul. What do you see? Your former self? You see the hunger?

The desire, the need. There's two ways out of this, Sullivan. The man's way and the coward's way. Oh, I'm well aware of your corporate ties in WCW. I'm well aware of the fact that you know exactly what strings to pull to have me shipped out of here. But you want to go out being remembered as a coward? To be honest with you, Sullivan, after this last Saturday night in Baltimore,

I couldn't answer that. Tell him, woman. Woman, you know, I've got to say, you're looking at this man a little differently. Kevin, I told you that if you kicked him one more time, that that was it. It was over. You said that it's been over a long time. Well, I'm making the decision. It's over. All right. I thank you very much, woman. Chris Benoit. My goodness, ladies and gentlemen.

In 1997, Chris and Kevin would have their final fight in which Chris won And afterwards, Kevin Sullivan would go into retirement from wrestling And instead focused on the booking aspect Soon after the match, Nancy moved in with Chris And an inside joke at WCW was that Kevin had officially scripted his own divorce with Nancy It was reported that Kevin was furious with Chris and blamed him for the demise of his marriage But from there, Chris Benoit would continue to dominate in the industry

Now, the year 2000 was a huge year for Chris Benoit. In a fight against Sid Vicious, Chris would win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. And not long after that, he would move on from the WCW and joined the World Wrestling Federation, which we now know is called the WWE. And as soon as he started there, he started making a lot of money, more than he ever had before.

And as if he couldn't get any luckier, about a month after he started in WWE, Chris and Nancy would have a child together. A son named Daniel Christopher Benoit, born on February 25th, 2000. Then later that year in November, Chris and Nancy decided to get married. By then, Nancy had taken a step back from the wrestling world.

While her husband moved up in his career, she decided to focus on building their family in Georgia. But even though she was no longer on screen, she did continue to manage her husband's career behind the scenes. It was reported that Nancy was happy with this change of scenery and she was a great mother to their son. As Daniel grew older, his family said that he was always at Nancy's side.

Her family even joked that she would have to find a prom dress to wear one day because Daniel would never love another woman as much as he loved his mom. And together at home, while Chris was on the road, they would spend their days watching him on TV. As you can imagine, Daniel thought he had the coolest dad in the world. Nancy would always tell Daniel stories of his dad's wrestling career and he would just sit there listening in awe.

Daniel even had a wall in his room with all of these pictures of his dad in the ring. Chris was his hero, and together they seemed to be the perfect family. They had good careers, money, a loving home. What more could you want? With the birth of their son Daniel, Chris was even more motivated to succeed within his field. After only a few months into the WWF, he won his first fight.

Then in July of that year, he went against The Rock. According to Joseph Finnegan, between April 2000 and January 2001, Chris won the Intercontinental Championship three times. This was only the beginning.

Chris Benoit's entire WWF/e career is filled with accolades and fantastic matches Unfortunately, in 2001, Chris would suffer from a neck injury during one of his matches that would later require surgery And because of this, he had to take a year off of wrestling

It was discouraging at first, but he was determined to come back better than ever. Here's what Chris would say about this time in an interview with Off The Record. When I was sitting in the doctor's office in San Antonio, which Dr. Youngblood, who Stone Cold Steve Austin referred me to, and he told me what needed to be done,

That evening, I cried. I called home and cried. I said, "I don't know if I'll ever be able to wrestle again." It was very... I was afraid for the first time whether I'd be able to pursue what I love doing. But after that, the next day, I'm like, "Okay, we got to do it. It's got to be done. Let's do it. Let's go on with it."

And from there, it's about thinking positive and being positive and rehabbing it. And since I've been back, knock on wood, I haven't had anything questionable happen in the ring where I'm like, oh, what was that? Nothing. So people ask me this, how's your neck? I say, my neck's fine. My knees hurt, my elbows hurt, my shoulder joints hurt. My neck's fine, though. It's like everything else hurts.

When Chris did return back to wrestling, everyone really admired his strength. And one thing that everyone said about him was that he never complained.

WWF/E Champion John Cena also spoke highly of Chris on an episode of Larry King Live, saying: "He was real quiet. He kept to himself. He had ultimate respect for his workplace. He was a model employee." In 2004, Chris once again proved himself during the Royal Rumble, during which he outlasted 29 other wrestlers, including the 7-foot giant Big Show.

The Royal Rumble win secured Chris' spot at WrestleMania XX at Madison Square Garden, which is one of the biggest opportunities you can have as a wrestler. And during a three-way match with Shawn Michaels and Triple H, Chris secured his victory after delivering the Crippler Crossface on a bloodied Triple H. The winner of this bout, you, and me, and me, and me, and me, Benoit! The Stuntman crowd at Madison!

has erupted Chris Benoit's 18 year odyssey has culminated by winning the world's heavyweight title at WrestleMania 20. Benoit's so many times have been so close year after year, mile after mile after continent but Benoit never gave up and Benoit has done it

Benoit is living his dream! Finally! Finally! My God! Finally! Chris Benoit has become the heavyweight champion of this world!

As confetti rained down on the ring, tears streamed down Chris's face. That victory was something he had wanted since he was a little boy. And finally, after all these years, his hard work had paid off. This was the peak of his career. As the crowd continued to cheer, Chris's best friend and coworker, Eddie Guerrero, came out to congratulate him on his victory.

And next to walk into the ring was Chris's wife, Nancy, and two sons, David and Daniel. Here is what Chris had to say after the victory in an interview with "Off the Record."

March the 14th, Madison Square Garden's WrestleMania 20. You've been working at this since you were 18 years of age? Yep. And all of a sudden now, you're holding the belt after winning. Tell me what you're feeling as you look at it right there. Anything we look at, we think maybe it's a work, maybe you're just acting. No, I mean, I'd said before that match that,

this is going to be the defining moment of 18 years of work. And it truly was. After that happened, it's like everything, I could see the people clapping. It was something surreal. It was beyond anything that I've ever experienced. And I could see, I had thoughts of being down in the dungeon, training with Stu, my first match in Calgary, going over to Japan, my whole career flashed before me.

Now, do you feel like your company has made a push to giving the belt and giving pushes to guys who are smaller, right? And was that like the key sort of change in philosophy for you? Because you've always been known as a guy who was probably the greatest wrestler on the planet, but too small to be champion. You know, I never looked at it like that way. A lot of people have, and I've heard it

over and over again. To me, I've always been told too, it's like, well, you don't politic enough. I'm very quiet. I'm somewhat of an invert, so I'm not very outgoing. But I am me. I am who I am. I'm doing what I love to do. This is my passion. I consider myself an artist, like a sculptor, a painter, a rock and roll singer. What I do is art, and it's my passion. And it's like, no matter where I am,

I'm gonna be happy because I'm doing what I love to do. This is a great honor to be able to accomplish this. And when he says this, you're pointing to the belt, right? Yes, yeah. But whether you had the belt or not, you're first and foremost a wrestler, right? First and foremost a wrestler, and first and foremost to go out there and wrestle and entertain the fans.

Chris also reflected on his when, saying, quote, 100 years from now, at WrestleMania 120, they'll look back and see Chris Benoit made Triple Eight tap out at Madison Square Garden. It was such a huge event that carried so much meaning, it's hard to find the accurate words to describe it.

Now in hindsight, this statement is a bit eerie because a hundred years from now when Chris's name is brought up, people won't be thinking about his win at Madison Square Garden. Despite all of his success in his career, the main thing people think about when his name is brought up today is that he's a family annihilator.

But for now, he was soaking up his success as one of the best wrestlers of all time. But even though things seemed to be going well on the outside, there were growing problems in Chris's life, especially between him and Nancy. If you watch his victory at Madison Square Garden, you'll see Nancy and Daniel run on stage to celebrate his win. Chris and Nancy shared an emotional hug,

and it was clear that she was really proud of her husband. But it took a lot to get there. Like many wrestlers at the time, Chris had been using anabolic steroids to gain muscle. Throughout his career, he'd always been on the smaller side compared to other people in the industry. And steroids is just what everyone did at the time to get big. But his steroid use started to become a problem in he and Nancy's marriage.

She felt like it made him angry and violent. Now, according to the Mental Health Commission, steroid use can cause a lot of problems in relationships. Some people who take steroids recall experiencing mood changes, violent behavior, depression, anger, addiction or dependence, increased aggression, roid rage, frustration, over competitiveness, and irrational behavior.

Nancy could tell that her husband was exhibiting some of these behaviors. And something else that really upset her was that Chris seemed to be addicted to steroids.

Like we mentioned earlier, Chris had to take that year off when he had that pretty serious neck injury. And he even took steroids during that time when Nancy felt like he should have been prioritizing recovery. But Chris knew that if he didn't take them, he would lose muscle mass, which would really set him back once he was recovered and ready to start wrestling again. But the steroids were causing problems in their marriage.

So to Nancy, it seemed like he was prioritizing his career over their family and the relationship started to crumble.

In fact, just a few months before his victory at WrestleMania, at the height of his career, Nancy had filed for divorce. She said that she had been treated cruelly and that her marriage was broken. Then a few days after that, she filed a protective order against Chris. Nancy spoke with her attorney about the abuse and she said that Chris was extremely unpredictable and would randomly fly into a rage.

screaming and throwing furniture around. And the fact that she even put a protective order in place shows that she was truly scared for her and her son, Daniel,

According to the court documents, in April 2003, Chris had lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home and personal belongings of the parties, including furniture. So, for the next few months, Nancy and Chris were officially separated, taking some time apart. But for whatever reason, they got in contact again and decided to give their marriage another chance. Soon enough, the protective order was dropped and she and Chris seemed to have been doing better.

But people that knew Chris and Nancy were very familiar with their toxic relationship. Some people said that they used to be very social. When they first got together, Chris and Nancy lived in Peachtree City, near all of their friends and family.

And when Chris wasn't working, he would often go out to fancy dinners with everyone or have barbecues at his friends' houses. And a lot of the time, those friends would witness he and Nancy's explosive fights. So when the couple initially told everyone that they were separating, it didn't really come as a surprise. But then Chris and Nancy got back together. From the outside looking in, things seemed to be better, but there were subtle clues that Chris wasn't doing well.

For one, he randomly decided that he didn't want to live in Peachtree City anymore, even though that's where their social circle was. Instead, Chris wanted to move to a more secluded and quiet spot out of the city. And they ended up in that infamous house in Fayetteville, Georgia. Now, obviously moving isn't super alarming in and of itself. Chris was getting older.

and as people age they usually like a quieter and simple life but he was definitely more distant and detached he didn't enjoy hanging out with friends like he used to he was very withdrawn however the one friend that was always by chris's side through the ups and the downs was his best friend eddie guerrero

Like Chris, Eddie had struggled throughout his life. Although he too was a very successful wrestler, he had his vices, like substance abuse and alcoholism. Here is Chris talking about Eddie's journey in that Off the Record interview. Eddie, he had a few accidents. He had some vehicle accidents along with what we do to our bodies and, you know, with the pain medication and whatnot. And between that and the alcohol, you know, it...

you know consumed him, you know as a person and Became became a bad habit that he couldn't control and and he fell I mean if anyone has ever fallen as deep I've never seen anyone fall as deep as he has and I was very concerned for him but he's the most influential person that I've ever met in my life and

because of the comeback that he has made within himself and around his life, within the people in his life. I mean, it's amazing. I mean, he's put everything back together. He's very happy, very focused, very at peace with himself right now.

Chris had been by Eddie's side since the very beginning. They were best friends, which is why Eddie joined him in the ring after Chris's victory at Madison Square Garden. In that off-the-record interview, Chris talked about how Eddie had made a comeback and was doing well for himself.

But the following year in November of 2005, Eddie Guerrero would be found dead on the bathroom floor at the Marriott City Center Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was only 38 years old.

It would later be determined that Eddie died from a heart condition that was worsened by the use of recreational drugs and steroids. The news of his passing was devastating for the world of wrestling. And Chris Benoit, who was at the height of his career, would never be the same after his death.

In an email exchange between him and a journalist named Greg Oliver, Chris admitted,

"My wife Nancy bought me a diary and I have started to write letters to Eddie. It may sound crazy, but that is how I am coping." After his sudden death, Chris would release a public statement about his friend. "Eddie Guerrero is my best friend and I'm sure there's a lot of people that he knew that would be able to say the same thing about him. He was such a beautiful person, such a kind-hearted person. I couldn't find the right, I couldn't find the words, words couldn't describe

what kind of a human being Eddie truly was. I've known Eddie for just about 15 years and spent a good portion of them 15 years with him on the road. We've laughed together, cried together, fought each other. We've been up and down each and every mountain, each and every highway. Eddie always led by example. He was

He was the one friend that I had that I could go to and pour my heart out to. If I was going through something, if I had a personal issue or a personal problem, he was the one guy that I could call and talk to and know that he would understand and he would talk me out of it because of all the experiences that he'd been through. I believe in leading by example, and Eddie always...

led by example through his life, through the obstacles that he went through and conquered and became a better person. And he'd often used that as an example. We never left each other without telling each other that we loved each other. And I truly can say that I love Eddie Guerrero. He's a man that I can say I love, and I love his family, and my heart, and my thoughts, and my prayers.

go out to his wife Vicky, Shaul, Sherilyn and Kaylee. I can't imagine the sorrow that they're going through right now and the emotions that they're feeling, but I want them to know that my prayers and my thoughts are with them. And Eddie, I know that you're in a better place and I know that you're looking down on me right now. I want you to know that I love you. I miss you.

Eddie, you made such a great impression on my life. And I want to thank you for everything you've ever given me. And I want to thank you from my heart and tell you that I love you and I'll never forget you. And that we'll see each other again. I love you, Eddie.

Sadly, something changed within Chris Benoit after Eddie's death. He was absolutely devastated, making him even more withdrawn from his friends and family. Many people believe it to be the event that sent Chris Benoit into madness. But his wife Nancy was really trying to help him in his grief by signing him up for counseling sessions, and she even bought him that journal so he could write letters to Eddie, so

So he seemed to be taking steps in the right direction. Following Eddie's death, Chris also leaned into a new spiritual journey, where he started memorizing specific passages from the Bible, something he had never really done before.

In one email, Chris compared his late friend Eddie Guerrero to Job, a chosen prophet known for his resilience and faith after he suffered from loss and numerous other afflictions. He said, "He was somewhat of a spiritual guide for me. I do not know if you read the Bible at all or what your beliefs are, and I will respect you for whatever your beliefs are. But if you ever get the opportunity to read about Job, it reminds me so much of Eddie. At one point after coming out of rehab, he had nothing but the clothes on his back.

He had physically, mentally, emotionally, and monetarily hit rock bottom. He lost his family, his wife and children had left. But he never lost faith, and through it was able to overcome the odds. It was clear that Chris was trying to find some meaning in something we all have to face in life, which is death. And a lot of the time, religion can help people find comfort in death, knowing you will see that person again.

But even though Chris was coping in his own ways, he was still really struggling. He, Nancy, and Daniel were socially isolated out in Fayetteville, Georgia, all while trying to grieve a significant loss. And when Chris would go back on the road to travel for work, everyone noticed that he just wasn't himself. It was weird for Chris to continue on with his career without his best friend.

So he started staying home more. In a newspaper article for the Calgary Sun, Chris even stated, "Quality time with my family is a big vice. It's something I'll fight for and crave." But sadly, his home life wasn't doing well either. Nancy and Chris continued to fight about his steroid use and aggressive behaviors.

And in the summer of 2006, the Benoit's next door neighbor, Holly Schreffer, was driving down Quarters Road in Lafayette, Georgia, when she spotted Nancy Benoit on the side of the road in distress. When Holly pulled over to make sure she was okay, Nancy started venting to her about how Chris had thrown her up against a wall. Nancy was terrified that Chris was going to hurt her, so she left the house in a hurry.

The incident was so scary for Nancy, she ended up staying in a hotel for a couple of days to get away from him. And Nancy knew exactly why her husband was so aggressive. It was the fight they had been having for years. His steroid use. In January of 2007, it was reported that she had found a stash of his steroids hidden in the house.

So she threw it away. And when Chris found out he was so angry, he left the house and didn't speak to Nancy for two whole weeks. Then a couple months later, in March of 2007, it was clear that Nancy was at her wit's end. She even texted Chris's mom that Chris, quote, wasn't doing the right thing. Margaret tried her best to reassure Nancy, quote,

She even promised her that she would speak to Chris when he traveled to Canada that July. But little did she know, she would never get the chance.

That same month, Chris's children with Martina, David and Megan, came to Fayetteville to visit their father for a week. And apparently, Nancy was extremely upset that Chris had made no effort or plans with his children while they visited. The two reportedly fought, yelled and screamed the entire time the children were there. And it was reported that Nancy hit and pushed Chris. The fights were so bad, Chris's oldest son David even brought seven-year-old Daniel upstairs to play so that he wouldn't have to hear his parents arguing.

In early May 2007, Chris was out on the road again for work. But based on he and Nancy's text messages, they were not in a great place. On May 5th, 2007, Nancy was upset with Chris for not calling home while he was on the road. And that day she sent him a text message that read, Daniel is called twice today. What? You can't bother with him either?

Four days later, on May 9th, Nancy texted Chris again. One night you're texting, I love you. Then during the day, you won't talk. Get off the crap you're on. It's making you passive-aggressive and I don't need the abuse.

Nancy felt as if Chris wasn't prioritizing his family, and not just her and her son, but his two kids from his previous marriage as well. On the afternoon of May 9th, Nancy texted him again. Your big claim is to ask anyone you work with how you are.

But no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. And the excuses about not being able to see your kids is your failure and putting no effort into them. Paying out lots of money, sending for them twice a year is a far cry from being a dad. You need to get it together. I will not accept this steroid-induced rollercoaster ride of emotional abuse. Ignoring the problem or running away isn't going to help you face it.

A few days later, on May 12th, Nancy sent him another message. Then, later that night, she sent another text.

If you haven't figured, Daniel knows how to dial your cell by pushing the phone book and scrolling to Chris's cell. He's mad at me because you haven't called. Be an adult and call. It won't take much more for him to realize it's not me he's mad at. He's not a baby anymore. And a message isn't going to be enough.

Some text messages sent by Nancy alluded to the fact that his money was the only thing he could offer his children at times, since he was so absent. Instead of giving them his time and love, he just sent money. On May 26th, Nancy sent him this text. Money orders every month. Can't give hugs.

and by this point chris's steroid use wasn't his only problem after his best friend eddie's death he started taking an antidepressant but he was also mixing it with other drugs like various painkillers all to numb the grief and push through his day

So, Chris was pretty dependent on substances. Anabolic steroids alone can be harmful to your mental health. In fact, according to the Mental Health Commission, it can cause anxiety, depression, paranoia, and even psychosis. And in the months before June of 2007, Chris Benoit was definitely showing signs of paranoia.

In the months before the tragedy, Chris started telling his friends and family members that there was this entity that was after him and his family. But from what I could tell, he never really went into much detail on exactly what he thought it was. But it was negatively affecting his life.

According to his loved ones, Chris even started taking different routes to places he frequented. Like, if he was going to the gym, he would take a completely different road than he normally would. And then when asked why, Chris would tell people that he felt like someone was following him. After a while, he even got paranoid about his son Daniel playing outside.

He would get nervous when Nancy left the house after dark. He truly believed with everything in him that he was being stalked. So much so, he would change cars when he was driving and he was constantly checking their home security cameras. He also had two Rottweilers that were called his attack dogs to help protect their home.

But in reality, no one was stalking Chris and his family. He likely was experiencing the extreme paranoia that sometimes comes with steroid abuse.

And it's also believed that Chris was in the midst of a midlife crisis. In 2007, he was 40 years old, and all of these new, younger, and bigger wrestlers were rising up in the industry. He knew that it wouldn't be long until he had to go into retirement. After decades of steroids and repeated beatdowns during his matches, there was only so much his body could take. But I'm sure that made him feel uneasy. The peak of his career was over, and his mental health was on a steep decline.

Which brings us to Monday, June 25th, 2007. That day, Crispin Wall was supposed to travel to Beaumont, Texas to perform in a WWE event there. But at the last minute, he got into contact with his employers and told them that his wife Nancy and son Daniel were in the hospital with severe food poisoning and that he wasn't going to make the event.

During the call, Chris didn't seem like himself. Then to make matters even worse, Chris sent them several ominous text messages containing his home address followed by directions on how to get inside of his house, which was weird. Why would Chris be sending them this information right after he no-showed to this wrestling event? Now, the WWE employees didn't know exactly what was going on here,

But they were concerned about him. So they decided to call the Fayetteville, Georgia Police Department so they could do a welfare check. I just spoke to one of the other officers there. My name is Dennis Fagan. I'm a retired detective in New York City. I run the security for World Wrestling. And one of our wrestlers that lives down there is missing. And he told me just to say we need a welfare check done. Okay, what's the address? 130 Green Meadow Lane. Okay, tell me the address.

The zip code is 30215. All right, Dennis, what's your last name? Fagan, F-A-G-A-N. And what's his name? Chris Benoit. It's spelled B-E-N-O-I-T.

And he's a wrestler? Yes, he's a religious gentleman. And yesterday he was supposed to show up at a pay-per-view and never got on the plane, never showed up. They tried to reach his wife, Nancy. She doesn't answer. They tried to call his house. It's out of character for him. So at 3 o'clock this morning, there was a message left for one of the other wrestlers. And basically it says, the dogs are in the backyard. The back door is open. Goodbye. And that was it.

Dogs in the yard? Yes, and the back door is open. He didn't say anything else, and that was it. That message was left at 3 o'clock this morning for another wrestler. Okay, what does he look like? Chris is about 6'1", very muscular, very stocky, has a very wide neck, looks like a wrestler. Okay. White male, black male? Yes, male, white. White male. Okay.

Okay. He's got short black hair. Okay. All right. We'll go ahead and send somebody out there to check on him. If you want to call us back in like 45 minutes or so. If he's there, we'll tell him to give you a call. But if you want to call back and check to see if anybody was there or anything, just call us back in about 30, 45 minutes.

After this call was placed, two officers named Mundy and Alden quickly made their way to the Benoit home on 130 Green Meadow Lane in Fayetteville, Georgia. The six-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom estate was located on 8.6 acres of land.

It was a beautiful home, protected by a large wrought iron gate. When the officers first pulled up, I'm sure they thought that the WWE star would open the door and clear up any confusion. Surely, this was all a big misunderstanding. And while the officers were standing outside, they were actually met by the Benoit's neighbor, the woman we mentioned earlier named Holly.

The officers asked Holly if she could help put the Benoit's Rottweilers away.

and since she was familiar with the dogs, she hopped over the fence to grab them. But while she did this, Holly came across a sight that will forever be ingrained in her mind. It was the bodies of Nancy Benoit and seven-year-old Daniel. Shocked by the gruesome image, Holly came running out of the house screaming as the officers finally made their way inside. Phone rings

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? Have you heard from the mom? Okay, hold on just a moment. I can. I know where the controls are, but I'm not going in there until... Garrett! Garrett!

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 went upstairs. Everything was open. So I was yelling, Nancy, Daniel, that's the little boy. And I went up to Daniel's room and he'd been killed. Okay.

Okay, ma'am. 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, but if they... They're okay? Yes.

Ma'am, our cops are okay. 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. Do you have contact with your 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. She's the one that found the murdered body. And she said when the cops ran down in the basement and she hadn't seen him, she was afraid something had happened to the cops.

Your cop, she didn't? Listen to me. The SO dispatcher said he has contact with them and they're okay. Okay, they're okay. And there's another cop here. So I just wanted to make sure your cops in the basement were okay. Okay, everything's fine. Okay. All right, thank you. Bye-bye. Thank you.

Inside of the Benoit household, Deputy Mundy and Lieutenant Alden first came across the body of seven-year-old Daniel Benoit. He was found in his bedroom, lying face down on his bed. The cause of death wasn't immediately clear at first, but they could tell that he had been dead for several days. There was also a Bible lying next to him and a butcher knife, even though the knife had not been used in the murder.

But next, the officers found Nancy. She was also upstairs. Her ankles and wrist had been bound, and she had a sheet covering her body. Around her neck, there were two ligatures that had been looped together.

and she too had been dead for several days. And then there was Chris. Downstairs in the basement, officers found his body hanging from his lap pull-down machine. It was also clear that Chris hadn't been dead for that long.

After observing the scene inside of the house, it was clear that Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son and then stayed in the house with their bodies for several days before finally deciding to end his own life. But there were still so many questions. Like what led a world-renowned wrestler to murder his entire family? Chris Benoit had it all.

A successful career, a nice home, a loving wife, kids, money?

He had everything. And many people around the world considered him to be the most beloved wrestler of all time. That is up until now. So where did it all go wrong? The investigation into the double murder-suicide would reveal a lot about Chris Benoit and his family. So next week, we are going to walk you through exactly what happened in the Benoit household that week.

We are also going to talk about the investigation, the medical examiner's findings, and the impact this had on the world of wrestling.

Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Courtney and I are so glad to be back sharing these episodes with you. Thank you to all of our new listeners and to everybody that listens to this show. It's just crazy to know how many people are out there tuning in every week and Courtney and I are so thankful from the bottom of our hearts.

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If you love Murder in America and you want to listen to additional episodes, we have, I want to say over 60, somewhere probably closer to 100 episodes on there already. Just go sign up for Patreon today and you can get access to all of those episodes in the library. But we're going to be back with part two of this series. Make sure to listen to The Conspiracy Files, our other new podcast that we just launched last week. We're super excited about that.

And yeah, from Courtney and I both, everybody have a great weekend, a great rest of your week, and we'll catch you on the next one.

Hey everyone! I'm Joe. And I'm Trace. And we're the HorrorQueers. Every week we do a deep dive into a different horror film and look at it through a queer lens. This could mean pointing out queer creatives that worked on the film. Or applying a queer reading to some of your favorite horror movie characters. Episodes can be serious and academic. Or fun and frivolous. It depends on the movie! And no movie is off limits. The film could have explicit queer themes. A high camp quotient. Or both. Or not at all!

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