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

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I have battled and lost.

I've had victory and defeat.

I am Chris Benoit.

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 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' 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' life is when his best friend Eddie Guerrero passed

away.

So in addition to Chris' 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He was angry, paranoid, and withdrawn.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 Brown.

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, I don't have a character for Chris to do anything like

this.

He's missed two shows, one on Saturday and pay-per-view on Sunday.

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,

whether it's to the house to the left, I'm saying.

House to the left.

Yes.

And we don't know the neighbor.

They don't seem to be very worried because, you know, they get these messages at 3-36

o'clock in the morning.

Yeah, yeah.

And they said, when they spoke to him the other day, he seemed depressed, and he said

something about food poisoning.

And they, 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, I'll have a deputy swing out and see if they can

make contact with neighbors.

Okay.

And see what, see where we can go from there.

Okay.

Thank you.

You'll let me know.

Thank you, sir.

Yes.

No problem.

Bye.

Okay, 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 because...

What's your address?

I'm at 110 Green Meadow Lane, and they asked me to pop the fence because they have attack

dogs and I went in and someone, the little boy and the mom is 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?

Hold on just a moment.

I can, I know where the controls are, but I'm not going in there.

And so, yeah, tell the cops to come this way.

Okay, ma'am.

I did the cops call.

I mean, 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 them and they said, can you go put the attack dogs in the kennel?

And I did that.

And then I went upstairs.

I just, everything was open.

So I was yelling, Nancy, Daniel, that's a little boy.

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.

I just, okay.

Ma'am, he might be dead.

Oh, now there's more cops here, but those

what did the cop 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 got to come back out, we have got contact with our

cops.

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 mean, they just said, stay here in the driveway.

I just got nervous because they never came back out.

Have you had contact with your SOP people that have been in the basement?

Okay.

They do.

They, he, she, she's talked to the cops in the house.

Okay.

Okay.

I'm sorry.

I was nervous that he might be in there and do something to them.

I just don't know what the neighbor that was told by the police to get out

of the house, the one that found the murdered body.

And he said that the cops went down in the basement and he hasn't seen them

Your, your cops.

The SO, the SO dispatcher said he has contact with them and they're okay.

Okay.

They're okay.

And they're okay.

Not the cops 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.

I just wanted to make.

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 miss 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's 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.

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 Ben Wall

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, quote,

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.

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.

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 PM, 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. And fortunately 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 Munchnick 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 quote, if anything happens to me,

make sure people know that Chris did it. End quote.

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.

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 quote 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.

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.

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 925 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 932 PM.

Then a minute later at 933 PM and then the last one about

30 minutes later at 10 PM.

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.

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?

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, yet 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 opponent's son 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.

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 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.

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.

Um, so I'm brushing away man, trying to find out what happened.

I heard a signal one of the production crews, um,

two guys on the, uh, flight home into Atlanta.

So you kind of got shafted over and that really fucking sucks. Um,

but you know, if there's anything I can do at all, man,

please give me a call and let me know. And, um,

you know, fuck man, you know, nothing,

uh, you know, I'm just talking about, I'm talking to you right now.

I don't know what the details are off the top of my head,

if you can't even when you get the chance, give me a call. Take care, man.

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