Sheriffs following up on bizarre online post

Fri, 06/29/2007 - 10:54am
By: John Munford

Anonymous poster claims death reference was coincidental

An anonymous person is apologizing for editing an online biography of pro wrestler Chris Benoit to indicate that his wife was dead some 14 hours before the family’s bodies were found in their central Fayette home.

Meanwhile, Fayette County sheriff’s deputies are trying to get access to the poster’s computer to confirm that the posting was indeed mere speculation as the poster has said, according to lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope.

The poster has been positively identified by police, Pope said, although he or she has chosen to remain anonymous online.

“Hopefully, we will be able to truly confirm his story,” Pope said, adding that Connecticut law enforcement officials are helping with the investigation.

Wikipedia officials have confirmed that the apology came from the same IP address in Stamford, Conn., which also happens to be the home of the World Wrestling Entertainment organization for whom Benoit worked. Benoit, his wife Nancy and their 7-year-old son Daniel were all killed, and authorities have said all evidence points to Chris Benoit killing his family and then himself.

The posting, which just came after midnight, was an “edit” to the Benoit page, adding to a note that Chris Benoit missed a weekend WWE performance for personal issues: “stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.”

In a detailed apology, the anonymous poster said it was merely “coincidence” and that he posted the item after “reading rumors and speculation about this matter online, and one of them included that his wife may have passed away, and I did the wrong thing by posting it on wikipedia to spite (sic) there being no evidence.”

The poster also said they had no connection to WWE or Chris Benoit in any way.

“I am from Stamford as the IP address shows, and I am just an everyday individual who posted a wrongful remark at the time that received so much attention because it turned out to actually happen. ... It was a terrible coincidence that I never saw coming.”

A Wikipedia spokesperson confirmed that the apology came from the same IP address that the initial edit came from, but no one from the company has spoked with the poster.

Wikipedia officials contacted law enforcement to report the posting as a possible lead in the investigation, and the company is content to let police handle the matter, said spokesperson Sandra Ordonez.

Wikipedia has locked the Chris Benoit page temporarily to prevent vandalism. The web site is an online encyclopedia that allows anonymous users to update, edit, change and add to publicly accessible web pages for information sharing purposes.

The anonymous poster, in his online apology, said he or she will never vandalize anything on Wikipedia or post wrongful information.
The Citizen has also learned that questions have been raised about the timing of entries in a WWE chat room. A Texas resident told The Citizen in an e-mail that he saw several postings Sunday night including “Benoit killed his wife” and also “Benoit killed his wife and son.” Police have been made aware of those allegations also.
Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said Thursday afternoon the WWE has been very cooperative with him and has volunteered information, but he was unaware of this recent development.

Benoit may have killed his 7-year-old son by applying a choke hold, Ballard said Thursday afternoon.

The autopsy on Daniel Benoit stated that his throat had internal injuries, although there were no bruises or markings on the exterior of his neck that would have been present had Benoit’s hands or a cord been used to choke Daniel, Ballard noted.

Chris Benoit’s wife, Nancy, had a coaxial-type cable wrapped around her neck, and she was also bound at the wrists and ankles, Ballard has said.

The family’s bodies were discovered by sheriff’s deputies Monday afternoon when World Wrestling Entertainment officials asked them to check on Benoit after he failed to show for two events and return several messages left for him, officials and the company have said.

All of the evidence so far points to Chris Benoit having committed the killings, Ballard said, noting that the wrestler had a piece of cloth wrapped around his neck, underneath the cable that killed Benoit when some weights attached on the other end.

The part Ballard said will stick with him most is when he entered Daniel’s room after the boy’s body had already been removed. The walls were covered with Chris Benoit wrestling posters, Ballard said.

On a chair next to the bed were two toy championship wrestling belts, and on a shelf was a foot-tall wrestling doll.

“It was as if this kid worshipped his daddy,” Ballard said, adding that it also could have been his parents chose to decorate the room in that manner.

Ballard said he was initially struck at how clean the home appeared when he first got to the scene.

“It looked as if someone had just stepped out to go to the grocery store,” Ballard said.

Ballard added that Nancy Benoit must have struggled when she was attacked just before she was killed.

Although Nancy Benoit was killed in an upstairs family room and Daniel Benoit was killed in his upstairs bedroom, there was no apparent way to cross from one of the rooms to the other, Ballard noted.

The investigation is ongoing as detectives try to piece together where the family was before the killings began and what messages and information they might have received or sent on devices such as cell phones and computers, Ballard said.

According to a report by News1130, a news radio station in Vancouver, Canada, a woman whose child suffers from fragile X said her late husband spoke with Chris Benoit about five years ago about trying to start a support group in British Columbia and Canada for fragile X because Daniel Benoit also suffered from the condition.

“My husband was struggling when we got diagnosed with our son, and Chris was struggling with his,” Pam Winthrope told the radio station. “They talked for a few minutes and then he said he didn’t want to be a public face for fragile X, he juts wanted to keep it really, really quiet.”

Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of inherited mental impairment, which ranges from learning disabilities to more severe cognitive or intellectual disabilities according to the National Fragile X Foundation.

Parents can have a hard time finding help and support for their children who suffer from fragile X, Winthrope told the radio station, which quoted her as saying: “You as a parent have to go out there and find what’s available and it’s not easy — they don’t tell you.”

The condition is the most common known cause of autism or autistic-like behaviors and can also cause characteristic physical and behavioral features and delays in speech and language development, according to the foundation.

The foundation’s web site notes that the condition can be passed on to family members by persons who have no apparent signs of the genetic condition.

Meanwhile, the World Wrestling Entertainment has published an account from “a source close to Benoit” who recalled Chris Benoit describing Daniel’s condition “as a learning disability much like autism.”

The unnamed source quoted by WWE said Chris Benoit had said Daniel “wasn’t capable of interacting with other children and was afraid of other children” and Daniel also “had a hard time making eye contact with everyone.”

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sweetpea8870's picture
Submitted by sweetpea8870 on Sun, 07/01/2007 - 10:49pm.

There is something new going on with this story everytime I turn the news on. A good friend of mine met Mr. Benoit when she was at Publix in PTC getting a prescription filled. He said he was waiting on one as well. She told me that he played with her two boys while they were waiting and that he was very friendly. It's hard to believe that someone that seems that nice can just snap.


Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Mon, 07/02/2007 - 7:28am.

Why is it hard to believe?
Do you expect every mad animal human to go through the aisles at Publix growling at everyone, especially children?
They are masters of deception and you are gullible judging someone by a chance meeting, and also hearsay.

Submitted by tonto707 on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 5:23pm.

lets's get off the rassler, he was a piece of S**T and it's time to move on.

Submitted by snitch on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 10:47am.

Coincidence or not that his former tag team partner (Beef) Biff Wellington died this past weekend and also Sheri Martel (pro wrestler)also died in June. This all stinks!

nuk's picture
Submitted by nuk on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 2:35pm.

Pro wrestlers and those associated with the business die "early" at a very alarming rate. Try about 50 or so in the last decade and there are several well-known each year these days. It's a profession where longevity and living to a ripe old age rarely happen.

NUK


Emmyjune's picture
Submitted by Emmyjune on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 8:41am.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who believe that "he had to be such a great man because he was an incredible wrestler", and therefore couldn't be capable of killing his family, but everything I've heard just isn't adding up. I've been told that Chris and his wife bought a new Hummer on Saturday, and spoke with their insurance agent in order to add it to their policy. Now, mind you, this is second-hand knowledge, so I know the information could have gotten mixed-up a bit. And I've also heard that people saw them both on Saturday. It just makes me wonder not only how accurate that information is, but also how accurate the investigators' timeline is. And if it's the timeline that's screwed up, then what else do they not know...?


Submitted by BIGMACK on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 9:42pm.

WELL SAID. Lets wait and see, i was in the ring in 64, never took anything, not a big name, but seen it all, so god bless them all live and let live, was she not married to another wrestler at one time, from wcw, was he ?? I WONDER..THANKS ,,joe bigmack enjoy your weekend folks.

Submitted by Lady Wrestler on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 4:08am.

I find it very strange. That WWE knew about the deaths before anyone else. And that it was reported to the Wikipedia site. I don't know about some of the people out there. But, this is beginning to stick of Vince McMahon again. I mean has anyone seen the bodies being taken out of the house and being transported to another location? And if the WWE was so "worried" about Chris why did they wait from the time of the last text message that was sent out. that was at 3:58 am Sun morning. Why did that person that received the message wait until 12:30 pm on Mon. to contact WWE officials? He sent out 5 text messages from 3:53am - 3;58 am Sun morning. To 3 different people. Telling them where he lived. 2 was from his phone the last 3 were from Nancy's phone. The first message. Said the dogs were in the pool area. the second said that the garage door was unlocked. The last just had the address. But, when the police got there the dogs were lose, and the house was locked. There is something about this that stinks. And it doesn't take a police person to figure that out. Maybe instead of right of the bat blaming everything on the "wrestler" for "roid rage". Maybe they need to entertain the idea of a 4th or maybe a 5th person being involved in it.
It was only an hrs flight from Tx. to Atlanta where all of the WWE people were staying. And late at nite no one would have been missed. Just think about it. Esp. since some of them knew where he lived and admitted on tv that they had spent the nite at his home last week. It would have been easy to steal a key and get a copy made and put the key back before it was noticed missing. They could have let themselves in done the damage, turned the air off in different rooms. To speed up the decomposing process. Made the calls. And let themselves out and back to Tx before they were even noticed they were missing. Or had someone else do it for them. Then again the world may never know the truth.
Peace to one and all,
Lady Wrestler

Submitted by Sparkey87 on Sat, 06/30/2007 - 10:41pm.

Alright, seriously...you watch too much Court TV.

Submitted by bankermom on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 8:29am.

If the Wiki site is correct and please note the Wiki spokesperson stated there are no glitches found at 12:01 am Monday.....then another person certainly knew about these horrific deaths prior to LE's knowledge. There was also another poster on The Citizen stating she saw both Chris and Nancy in a store at different times on Saturday. Too much coincidence in my opinion. I think LE's timeline is off. Way off.

I certainly hope Tommy Pope has his investigators look into the Wiki posting a bit more.

nuk's picture
Submitted by nuk on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 9:14am.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Chris_Benoit_mystery_editor_confesses:_Claims_%22terrible_coincidence%22

What an idiot. I sort of figured since it was announced on several rasslin sites Saturday that Benoit had flown home to take care of a family emergency that some clown must have taken that and run with it.

NUK


Submitted by jeff womack on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 3:51am.

I dont think chris did this. Why wait 3 day after killing your wife to kill your son and then kill your self? If it was a rage you would do it right then not wait days. The police need to look at all the thing around them and not just at chris, some one could have came in and held chris and done this to his family and then killed him. why tie nancy up just to choke her, as big as chris was he did not need any help from a rope to hold her, she was not that big. I think he loved his son to much to do something like this.

Submitted by mp1229 on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 2:17pm.

First off, if investigators get an "idea" on how the crime occurred, they are going to find any evidence they can to support their "idea" and overlook other evidence.

A suicide note or some type of a message would have been left, or an explination would have been discovered. It almost appears as a setup, like it appears to be a homicide-suicide on the outside, but deep down, something else really occurred.

He had no motive, or reason anyone is aware of. By this time, it is too late to discover much evidence since the crime scene is contaminated.

I belive that the fact that it is a "high profile" person, a lot of other facts and evidence has been overlooked.

nuk's picture
Submitted by nuk on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 2:31pm.

Some of the text messages that friends' received have been reported as containing biblical verses as well as parts of his will. The WWE hasn't released all the text messages they are aware of and simply said the police now have all the phones that received messages from Benoit or his wife's phone.

Anyway, the overwhelming majority of suicides are committed where they don't "leave a note" so the absense of a note means nothing.

NUK


Submitted by skeptical on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 1:46pm.

I am with you on this one.. tooo many things not right. I believe someone else was in that house, another wrestler? have you ever seen chris make the sign of the cross? get down on his knees and look up tp the lord? The text messages. Anyone could of used his wife's phone and sent those messages.. Can i use your phone text one of your friends does that mean you sent the text?? I believe chris was killed first then either the wife or his son.. His world was his son he loved him too much

Submitted by dawngermany on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 11:02am.

i'm with you on this one. why would he tie her up/smother his son/ and then wait to neatly hang himself???????so what if he is a wrestler,doesn't make him less human.i think the police are either keepin somethin back or they are just blind of what is in front of their eyes.if they find other info on who really killed them then they should be held accounable for the mess they put out;meaning give the family their due rights and appaulogize,you should never ASSUME the worst out of people.never judge a book by it's cover...

Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 11:18am.

From your comment about Chris Benoit, I can see why fans like you believe rasslin is real, people are killed and come back from the dead, real blood flows like water, and rasslers are fine, upstanding, intelligent, athletic, and potential Presidential candidates!
You would have bought every ticket P. T. Barnum ever sold to see two headed people, four-headed snakes, animal/people, hairy women, and the great egress.
I suppose the WWE will use this in some way to promote more weird tales on TV.

Submitted by dawngermany on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 4:45pm.

first i'm not a fanatic. second some of it is real. go do a history lesson.i never said it wasn't rehearsed, most of the moves are.all i'm saying is he might not of killed them.....just because a steak looks like steak and smells like one;doesn't mean it is..............

nuk's picture
Submitted by nuk on Sat, 06/30/2007 - 6:54pm.

"just because a steak looks like steak and smells like one;doesn't mean it is........"

OK, I'm stumped.....what is it then since you just said it was a steak?

NUK


Submitted by dawngermany on Sun, 07/01/2007 - 9:36am.

ok i think you can figure that one out. but i will spell it out for you. everyone is dead and he hung himself after they were dead "THEREFORE HE MUST HAVE KILLED THEM". i guess if i find dog poo in my yard it must all be my dogs poo. lol..........i guess we will find out if he did it or not sooner or later... time will tell..

christi's picture
Submitted by christi on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 8:41am.

The man did fake fighting in a ring with other men in tights. It's FAKE! They are all big muscular bad actors. Why does this qualify him as a hero??? It's WRESTLING!!! Chris had the personality of a wet mop. At least that's the impression my husband and I got from him at our kid's graduations. We also got a very bad vibe from him. He killed his wife and a little boy. The professionals including the FBI know more than you people do. Deal with it. Why does his being a wrestler make any difference at all?

And Daniel did not have trouble dealing with other kids. He had lots of friends in his class. My daughter called him her boyfriend and said he used to protect her. He looked and acted like all the other kids in his class. This is hard enough to deal with and you people are getting on my nerves.


Submitted by dawngermany on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 11:12am.

well i'm not a fanatic but i have seen matches up close and yes there is alot of fake wrestling but alot of it is real.they do get injured and some accidently killed. he might not of been the wisest or smartest but it doesn't mean he killed his family.i think the answers are there but not so clear at the present moment;if he did kill them the n he will be punished by god. but if he didn't what then?not everyone acts like you wish them too.not everyone is on drugs because they have huge muscles,and act mean go and look up the history of wrestling and when it was not so glamourous. i might not of known him up close but the few times i have met him he was an ordinary man making money for his family,it's a job -just simply more entertaining than baseball or football or even golf.hope i didn't offend you.

John Munford's picture
Submitted by John Munford on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 10:59am.

Would you give me an e-mail if you don't mind? (jmunford@TheCitizen.com) I'd like to talk with you about Daniel.

To me that's been the worst thing about this. The poor kid, no matter his circumstances, didn't deserve to die.


Submitted by bankermom on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 2:26pm.

just so sad

Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 11:20am.

you must be kidding? The WWE will steal all your thunder on this poor kid!

Tug13's picture
Submitted by Tug13 on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 10:00am.

I don't know anything about wrestling and don't care to know.
I only hope and pray the truth comes out about what happened in that house.

My heart breaks thinking about that defenseless little boy. God bless his little heart.
I can only imagine how you feel, since you knew this little fella.

Tug


Submitted by Lady Wrestler on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 4:15am.

I also don't think Chris could do it. He loved that boy. Plus the keep changing the times on us. Plus they have not shown any bodies. Nor have they shown any bodies been removed from the house. Plus they are not thinking that there could be a outside person involved in it. There is just to many unanswered questions. That they seem to be ignoring. It is almost like a script. I'm starting to wonder if Vince had anything to do w/ it. Since his faked death blew up in his face.
Lady Wrestler

Submitted by Concerned Citizen on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 5:07pm.

I think Vince did it too. Chris was poised to take over WWE. He sure is a dangerous man. I also think Trump had something to do with it...

You need to take your medicine today.

TonyF's picture
Submitted by TonyF on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 5:22am.

If he was a bad rassler he would be guilty? Therefore he's a good rassler so he must be innocent? What the heck is this tripe? Wake up people and listen to what you're saying. It's a leftist, rightwing liberal, conservative, government, private sector religious conspiracy. (I think Ms. Clinton did it, in the library, with a wrench.)

"The memories of a man in his old age, are the deeds of a man in his prime.You shuffle in the gloom of the sick room,and talk to yourself as you die."
(R. Waters)


Submitted by Davids mom on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 6:11am.

I hope that Fayette County is using top-notch national forensic experts in this case. Something 'stinks' here. The posting of the wife's death before the bodies are found is terribly suspicious. I know nothing about the world of wrestling. . . .but is the way Chris died something that a wrestler would do?

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