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View Full Version : Benoit's wife may have been planning to leave him



JohnCenaFan28
02-16-2008, 01:31 AM
Recently released details may have shed new light as to why professional wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his family, and that information could prove critical in any potential wrongful death suit against World Wrestling Entertainment.

According to documents released this week by the Fayette County Sheriff's Office, Nancy Benoit suspected her husband was having an affair with a WWE "diva," a scantily clad female who appears ringside.

A friend of hers told investigators that Nancy Benoit was contemplating leaving him when Chris Benoit killed her and Daniel, the couple's 7-year-old son, before taking his own life at the family's Fayetteville home in late June.

"She told me to promise her that if anything ever happened to her, make sure that Chris was investigated," Pamela Hildebrand Clark testified in an affidavit. "She said she had a bad feeling that something was going to happen, and she just couldn't shake it."

The revelations provide the first insight of any kind as to what may have triggered the tragedy that has grabbed both national and international headlines.

They could also make it much more difficult for the estates of both Chris and Nancy Benoit to paint the WWE, Chris Benoit's employer, as negligent or somehow responsible.

"I think this absolutely, positively proves this was a domestic dispute," WWE attorney John Taylor said. "There is a clear motive for murder here. This is not the product of concussions or steroids."

The report also stated that Chris Benoit and his wife had also been arguing over a life insurance policy he had that covered Daniel and two other children from a previous marriage.

Nancy Benoit had also complained of her husband being unable to perform in the bedroom, her sister, Sandra Toffoloni, told investigators. Chris Benoit was found to have abnormally high levels of testosterone in his body at the time of his death.

The Chris and Nancy Benoit estates are considering wrongful death suits against the WWE that could be filed as early as this spring, attorneys for the two sides have said.

Michael Benoit, the deceased wrestler's father and the administrator of his estate, has charged the professional wrestling organization was at fault for not properly taking care of the numerous concussions his son suffered while performing over the years.

Rick Decker, the Atlanta attorney who represents the Toffolonis, Nancy Benoit's family, said he wasn't surprised by the results of the investigation and took the news in stride.

"I don't think anything in the report changes what we're doing for the Toffoloni family or anything we're doing in the case," he said.

Source: AJC