Benoit family deaths a possible murder-suicide

The death of pro wrestler Chris Benoit, whose body was found next to his wife Nancy and 7-year-old son Daniel at their home in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, may be the result of a murder suicide, authorities say.

Reuters reports the WWE superstar, known as the Canadian Crippler and the Rabid Wolverine, had canceled two appearances in Texas over the weekend, citing a family emergency. He then sent “several curious text messages” to friends early Sunday, prompting police to check on him at home and finding the grisly scene.

“We’re viewing it at the moment as a murder-suicide,” Fayette County D.A. Scott Ballard told CNN. “We aren’t foreclosing the possibility that it might be a triple murder but our belief at the present time is that there is no killer at large.”

UPDATE: TMZ quotes authorities as saying Benoit may have strangled his wife on Saturday, smothered his son the next day, then hanged himself in the home's weight room on Monday. A coroner's ruling is not yet available.

The site also quotes divorce papers and a request for a restraining order filed in 2003 in which Nancy says Benoit "lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home and personal belongings of the parties, including furniture." Nancy also was "in reasonable fear for petitioner's own safety and that of the minor child."

Nancy asked to have the papers dismissed three months later.

[Photo: AP]

Comments

[shawna]

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