World Wrestling Entertainment is providing more details about the shocking turn of events leading to the deaths of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and son Daniel.
WWE officials were first notified this weekend by Benoit that he would be unable to appear at a scheduled Smackdown/ECW House Show in Beaumont, TX on Saturday and the Vengeance PPV the following Sunday in Houston, TX (where he was scheduled to compete for the vacant ECW World Title against CM Punk). Benoit informed WWE officials that he had a serious family emergency and left it at that.
WWE's VP of Government Relations Richard Hering was then made aware of several curious text messages sent by Benoit to WWE employees and wrestlers on Sunday morning. WrestleView.com has spoken with at least one strong source about this situation stating that Benoit's text messages almost had a "thank you and goodbye" theme to them causing many to be alarmed and concerned. As a result, Hering contacted Fayette County sheriffs on Monday and requested that they check out the Benoit residence when he was not getting back to WWE officials.
Authorities then responded to the Benoit residence and reportedly had a difficult time entering their new home on Monday afternoon, which was guarded by two large German Shepards roaming around the property. When authorites entered the home, they immediately located the bodies of Benoit, Nancy and Daniel. World Wrestling Entertainment was then notified of the discovery at approximately 4:00pm Eastern on Monday. A press conference was held Monday night by Lt. Pope officially ruling the findings as a double muder-suicide within the home.
As reported earlier , it is believed that Benoit killed his wife Nancy and 7-year-old son Daniel over the weekend and then killed himself on Monday. All three bodies have been received by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime lab in Decatur, GA. Autopsies will be performed Tuesday morning, while toxicology reports will not become available for two weeks. It is interesting to note that WWE.com is currently reporting that further information relating to the investigation and cause of death are known at this time, but the Fayette County Sheriff?s Department has requested that information not be released by WWE at this time.