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What caused Chris Benoit to do the unspeakable, killing his young son, his wife and himself on a tragic Atlanta weekend less than eight months ago?
Was it depression? Steroid rage? A cocktail combination of pills, drugs and untreated concussions?
Or all of the above?
Tonight, on the CBC investigative series The Fifth Estate, the life and death of the Canadian wrestling icon -- along with the convoluted and troubled life of so many of his ring colleagues -- is examined by former CFLer turned reporter Bob McKeown.
The answers aren't certain. The theories remain just that. But the story of how it happened -- Sun Media obtained a copy of the script -- why it happened, and quite possibly what caused this tragedy of life, sport and entertainment to occur in the backdrop of so many other catastrophes at least offers explanations.
"Benoit's brain looked like the brain of an individual suffering from a specific type of dementia normally seen in people in their 80s or 90s," Dr. Bennett Omalu tells The Fifth Estate. "We don't think it (the murders) was steroid rage. We think it's a different syndrome."
The investigation of Benoit's brain began with a strange call. Mike Benoit, Chris' father, picked up the phone and the voice on the other end asked: "Could he have Chris Benoit's brain?"
Mike Benoit was stunned. "And I kept looking at the phone thinking, 'is this is the National Enquirer? Like, who is this?' "
The brain made its way to Dr. Julian Bailes, the former neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and to his colleague, Omalu.
The doctors believe an abnormal protein, usually found in the brains of elderly people with dementia -- but rarely in middle-aged men -- led to the murder/suicide. They also believe Benoit was not responsible for his actions.
WWE boss Vince McMahon rejects the doctors' argument, saying Benoit could not have functioned as well as he did if he was suffering from dementia.
What is clear is that Benoit was the beneficiary, then the victim of his lifestyle and desire for success.
The fact pro wrestlers die young isn't new. What's startling is the fact their death rate is 7-10 times higher than the general population of similar age.
"If you read their life story, you'll see a very common thread," Bailes says of athletes who die young. "A failure in their personal life, failure in their business life, depression, suicide attempts and then suicide completion."
Chris Benoit's father needs something to hope for.
"I can't bring my son back, can't bring my daughter-in-law back, can't bring my grandson back. But I can make changes going forward," he says. "The wrestling industry will change and they'll change dramatically because of what happened to Chris Benoit."
He believes that. Maybe he needs to believe that. History suggests otherwise
A mental Illness where he doesn't control the thinking part of the brain. Where he becomes so delusional or Paranoid that he kills his Child does not make him evil. It makes it a terrible tragedy. Ignoring Benoit is ignoring some of the greatest moments in wrestling. So we ignore Orton's first title reign because he beat benoit, we ignore the Owen Tribute match because benoit is in it. We ignore the end of Wrestlemania 20 with Eddie and Chris celebrating in the middle of the ring. We will never know what really happened that weekend, but because of the result does not make it a reason to say that Chris Benoit was evil. Until that weekend if he died we all would have acclaimed him the greatest ever. Simple as that. Three actions do not take away all that he gave to Wrestling. If you ignore the last weekend. Paranoid delusions can result in the guy thinking that he is being attacked by those that are closest to him. All the plausible options are ignored for why in which we can partially forgive or let go what he did. It is a case of leaving an Open mind to Why as opposed to being closed minded with What happened.
How the hell do you know he killed people in Cold Blood. You don't in a Psychotic episode he could have been killing them in Hot blood. You don't know. The suicide most likely came when he came back to normal and realised what he did.
Well one problem there what Benoit did in Wrestling was great. Simple as that.
You can't watch a John Wilkes Booth performance so you don't know that he was a good actor. Some of the greatest Poetry written in the English language is written by Men who served on the Western Front in WW1 they killed. You don't here condemnation for it. JRR Tolkien served in WW1 he killed yet he is praised for his Writing. So do not tell me that Because you killed it takes away what you do.
80 year old brain is a figure of speech. His Mental capacity would have been severely damaged. Thereby meaning he would have the decision making ability of someone 80 years old with Dementia. As for not being able to work at the level he did look at it this way he had wrestled since he was 18/19. It would be hardwired into his brain. Same thing happens all the time with certain people they do a job so long that it is second nature so even if their mind is deteriorating they still do their job properly.
Even if his mind was so far gone that he had no idea what he was doing. You call him a monster.
I find it hard to accept this theory because Benoit was amazing in the ring, definitely one of the greatest of all time. I'd have to agree with McMahon because there's no way Benoit could have performed the way he did with an 80-year old brain.
You can't watch a John Wilkes Booth performance so you don't know that he was a good actor. Some of the greatest Poetry written in the English language is written by Men who served on the Western Front in WW1 they killed. You don't here condemnation for it. JRR Tolkien served in WW1 he killed yet he is praised for his Writing. So do not tell me that Because you killed it takes away what you do.
Just because somebody wasn't in control of their actions, does it wipe them free of blame? In my opinion, no. Whether they're of a sane mind or not, someone's actions are their actions, their choices are their choices. The facts are that nobody would commit acts such as one Chris Benoit did in a sane mind, as they are not sane actions. So, in my opinion, he's still fully responsible for what he did.