0:00

Warning, the following podcast is not suitable for

0:02

all audiences. We go into great detail with

0:04

every case that we cover and do our

0:07

best to bring viewers even deeper into the

0:09

stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.

0:12

Trigger warnings from the stories we

0:14

cover may include violence, rape, murder,

0:16

and offenses against children. This

0:18

podcast is not for everyone. You have

0:20

been warned. We

0:24

have all seen videos of

0:26

WWE where wrestlers step

0:28

into the ring and do all kinds

0:30

of crazy moves like lift

0:32

their opponent into the air and

0:34

slam them down. Wrestlers

0:38

will pen their opponent's bodies in ways

0:40

that make them completely immobile and

0:44

they'll even use props like steel

0:46

chairs that they'll slam down on

0:48

their opponent's body only

0:51

for the crowd to go absolutely wild.

0:55

WWE fans are some of the most

0:57

passionate fans of all time. Many

1:00

will have a favorite wrestler that they really

1:02

look up to, one

1:04

that they feel connected to. And

1:07

back in the early 2000s, one of

1:09

the most popular wrestlers of all time

1:11

was a man named Crispin Waugh, otherwise

1:14

known as the Canadian Crippler.

1:17

Crispin Waugh quickly rose to fame in

1:19

the wrestling world, earning 22 championships

1:22

throughout his career. Millions

1:25

of fans worldwide looked up to Crispin

1:27

Waugh and he was described as one

1:29

of the most beloved wrestlers to ever

1:31

step foot in the ring. That

1:34

is until June of 2007. That

1:38

year, everyone was shocked to learn that

1:40

Cris's wife Nancy and his

1:42

7-year-old son Daniel were found dead

1:44

in their Fayetteville, Georgia home. And

1:47

this wasn't some freak accident. Also

1:50

found in the home was Crispin Waugh, who

1:53

had hanged himself on his workout

1:55

equipment. Just days after

1:57

murdering his family, this double

2:00

murder suicide would forever change the

2:02

community of WWE. And

2:05

this tragedy would bring about many

2:07

conversations of steroid abuse in the

2:10

industry and the physical

2:12

trauma wrestlers go through to keep

2:14

their fans entertained. So

2:16

this is the story of

2:18

the Canadian Crippler turned family

2:20

annihilator. I'm Courtney Browan,

2:22

and we are so happy to

2:24

finally be back after our summer

2:26

break with a brand new episode

2:28

of Murder in America. Christopher

3:28

Michael Benoit was born on

3:30

May 21, 1967, to Michael

3:33

and Margaret Benoit. He

3:43

was born in Montreal, a province of

3:45

Quebec, Canada, but he spent most of

3:47

his childhood in Edmonton, which is a

3:49

city in Alberta, Canada. Growing

3:51

up, Chris and his family would sit

3:54

around the TV and watch Canada's stampede

3:56

wrestling and Chris was captivated by it.

3:58

His eyes would light up watching. wrestlers in the ring.

4:01

At the age of 11, Chris would attend his

4:03

first live show wrestling match, and from that

4:05

moment on, he was even more obsessed with

4:08

wrestling. Something about the atmosphere there,

4:10

the energy of the crowd, and the

4:12

charisma of the wrestlers, Chris was obsessed.

4:14

After that show, he even helped take down the

4:17

folding chairs at the event, something he would go

4:19

on to do throughout the years. Chris

4:21

just wanted to be a part of wrestling in any

4:23

way he could, and he knew that one day, he

4:25

would grow up to be a wrestler himself. Outside

4:29

of wrestling, Chris Benoit was your

4:31

average kid. He was described

4:33

as quiet and shy, and he

4:35

mostly kept to himself, but he also was

4:37

easy to get along with. Now,

4:40

it was reported that he actually got

4:42

into a car accident when he was

4:44

younger, where he struck the windshield with

4:46

such force. He got a mild

4:48

brain injury. Chris ended up

4:51

having to stay in the hospital for three

4:53

days, but he would make a full

4:55

recovery, and it didn't seem

4:57

to have affected his childhood. However,

5:00

as we know now, head

5:02

injuries in children can sometimes lead

5:05

to violence and adulthood, and

5:07

Chris Benoit would go on to live a

5:09

life where hits to the head were pretty

5:11

common, starting with football. Before

5:14

he was a wrestler, Chris played football

5:16

for about five years when he was

5:18

a teenager. However, there aren't

5:21

any reports that he suffered any

5:23

significant injuries. But one thing

5:25

to note during this time is that

5:27

Chris never once missed a game or

5:29

a practice. He was very

5:31

dedicated and disciplined in everything he

5:33

did, something that would follow him

5:36

throughout his life. But like

5:38

we mentioned, football was not Chris'

5:40

passion. He was a

5:42

wrestler at heart. Growing up,

5:44

Chris' favorite wrestler was a man

5:46

named Thomas Billington, otherwise

5:49

known as the Dynamite Kid. He

5:51

was a British trailblazer who ultimately

5:54

went on to change professional wrestling.

5:56

The Dynamite Kid pushed the limits

5:58

with his intensity. and aggressive maneuvers,

6:00

and he would go on to

6:03

be a huge inspiration for Chris.

6:06

Then in 1980, at the age of 13, Chris

6:09

would finally get to meet his hero. He

6:12

would later say, quote, I just

6:14

idolized him. We had

6:16

backyard wrestling matches or I would be

6:18

in my room kicking my bed, trying

6:20

to clone him. I

6:22

remember how he and Bret Hart stood out

6:24

above everyone else. Now, a

6:26

pretty big part of being a wrestler

6:29

is being jacked. So Chris

6:31

begged his father to buy him some weights

6:33

so that he could start training. And

6:36

just like with football, Chris was

6:38

extremely dedicated. After his

6:40

dad bought him some equipment, Chris

6:43

would spend hours every week lifting

6:45

weights and pushing his body to

6:47

the limit. He wanted to

6:49

have a body just like his hero, the

6:51

dynamite kid. And soon enough,

6:53

the young, scrawny teenager was packing

6:56

on some serious muscle maths. In

6:59

an interview with ABC News, Chris's father

7:01

Michael admitted, he was pretty much driven from

7:03

the age of 12, 13 to get

7:05

in the wrestling industry. Chris lifted

7:08

weights every day. He was 13 years

7:10

old, breaking records in high school and our

7:12

basement. Chris dedicated his

7:14

teenage years to his dream of becoming

7:17

a wrestler. His ideal weekend

7:19

wasn't going to parties and hanging out

7:21

with friends. Instead,

7:23

he spent his time volunteering at

7:26

wrestling shows, working out and practicing

7:28

his wrestling moves with his friends.

7:31

And after a few years, it really paid

7:33

off. In 1985, when

7:36

Chris was 18 years old, he

7:38

finally decided to reach out to Stu

7:41

Hart, the owner of Stampede

7:43

Wrestling. The Hart family was

7:45

one of the most famous wrestling families of

7:47

all time. Chris had been watching

7:49

the wrestling matches since he was 11 years old. But

7:53

now he wanted in on the action. So

7:56

Chris asked Stu if he could come try out to

7:58

see if he was a good friend. fit for them.

8:01

And Stu agreed. Soon enough,

8:03

Chris showed up at Stu's mansion.

8:06

And downstairs in the basement, they had

8:08

this huge gem that was called the

8:11

dungeon. Chris was excited to

8:13

get started, but Stu wasn't going to take

8:15

it easy on him. In

8:17

fact, that first day, he

8:19

put him through a ton of hard

8:21

wrestling holds and stunts to

8:24

really show him what he was getting himself into.

8:27

Chris would later say, it was barbaric.

8:30

I'm glad when I came in, Stu wasn't in

8:32

his prime, but he could still take you down

8:34

and make you scream. Stu

8:36

Hart was really impressed with Chris's

8:38

determination. He had passed

8:40

the test that not many

8:42

aspiring wrestlers passed, and

8:45

soon enough, he would become a regular there.

8:48

Throughout his early training, Chris developed

8:50

his own style, like all wrestlers

8:52

do, and he took most of

8:54

his inspiration from his idol, the

8:56

Dynamite Kid. Specifically,

8:59

his infamous wrestling moves, which

9:01

were called the Diving Headbutt

9:03

and the Snap Suplex. And

9:05

according to the people that knew him, Chris

9:08

was a pretty shy guy outside of the

9:10

ring. But as soon as he stepped

9:12

in, he was a whole

9:15

different person who exuded confidence. Now,

9:18

in the beginning of his wrestling career, it

9:20

wasn't always easy. He had just graduated from

9:23

Archbishop O'Leary Catholic School in Edmonton, and he

9:25

still had to pay the bills. So,

9:27

he ended up getting a job at his

9:29

father's business to earn a living. But every

9:31

Friday, after he clocked out of work, he

9:34

would immediately get on a Greyhound bus to

9:36

make the 200-mile journey over to Stu's house

9:38

for training. And he would

9:40

spend the entire weekend there for hours

9:42

on end, training to become Stampede's next

9:44

hotshot wrestler. Stu Hart was definitely

9:46

a huge mentor for Chris. He would later

9:48

attribute all of his success to him. And

9:51

luckily for Chris, his hard work would eventually

9:53

pay off. Before he knew it,

9:55

he was traveling throughout Western Canada with Stampede,

9:57

and really showing off his talent in the

9:59

world. the ring. His first tag team

10:01

match was on November 22nd, 1985. He and Rick Patterson,

10:06

also known as The Remarkable, were paired

10:08

up against Mike Hammer and Butch Moffat.

10:10

The match ended in a win, when Chris

10:12

was able to pin Butch on the mat

10:14

after a successful sunset flip. The energy of

10:16

the crowd during that match was unlike anything

10:19

Chris had ever experienced, and he knew then

10:21

that he had chosen the right path for

10:23

his life. Chris

10:25

Benoit quickly rose to success, winning

10:28

British Commonwealth Championships and

10:31

International Tag Team Championships. He

10:34

was really proving himself to be a

10:36

talented and dedicated wrestler, so

10:38

much so, in the late 80s, his

10:41

hero, the Dynamite Kid, would pass

10:43

down his wrestling boots to Chris

10:46

himself. Why do I like

10:48

to dedicate these boots to a young

10:50

man who I will believe, or I

10:52

do believe will be the superstar of

10:54

the 90s? That's Chris Benoit. I

10:59

will pass them on. I'm a

11:01

little overwhelmed. Thank you, Dynamite. But

11:06

Chris also knew he had room for

11:08

improvement. In the beginning, there

11:10

were still plenty of wrestlers that overshadowed

11:12

him, like Stampede's superstar

11:15

Owen Hart. And

11:17

Chris really wanted to make a name for himself.

11:20

So in 1987, he left Canada for Japan. While there, he joined

11:25

a new Japan Pro Wrestling, which

11:28

was a whole different ballgame than what he was

11:30

used to. For about a

11:32

year, Chris spent all of his time in

11:34

the training facility called the Dojo. The

11:37

training was extremely demanding, even

11:40

more so than what he was used to

11:42

in Stu Hart's This

11:44

time, it was paired with a lot of busy

11:46

work. Veteran wrestlers

11:48

would target the newbies and make

11:51

them do things like run errands,

11:53

sweep the floors, clean the toilets.

11:55

Similar to what you see in

11:57

Hazing Rituals. The veterans would

11:59

also fit physically pushed the newcomers to

12:01

the point of exhaustion, making

12:04

them do an absurd amount of

12:06

push-ups and other intense exercises. But

12:09

it was all a part of the gig, and

12:12

Chris never complained. During

12:14

his time at the dojo, he

12:16

really perfected his Japanese-style wrestling

12:18

moves. And finally, after

12:21

proving himself, he adopted

12:23

the name Dynamite Chris. However,

12:26

he didn't really like this title

12:28

and eventually changed it to The

12:30

Pegasus Kit. The name also

12:33

came with a new look, where

12:35

Chris would wear this blue mask that had

12:37

gold wings on it. During

12:40

his time in Japan, Chris developed

12:42

a pretty big fanbase, after winning

12:44

matches against wrestling powerhouses like Shinjiro

12:46

Otani, Jush and Thunder Liger, El

12:48

Samurai, and Black Tiger. From

12:50

1993 and 1995, Chris

12:52

won the Best of the Super Juniors

12:55

tournament, which is a huge accomplishment for

12:57

junior heavyweight wrestlers. He also reinvented himself,

12:59

changing his name yet again to Wild

13:02

Pegasus. Chris's time in Japan really

13:04

took a turning point when he went up against

13:06

Eddie Guerrero, who would go on to be a

13:08

huge name in the wrestling world. During

13:10

the match, Chris knocked Eddie out after kicking him

13:12

in the head, but following it, the two would

13:15

form a really good friendship both inside and outside

13:17

of the ring. Chris had a

13:19

deep respect for Eddie and would later say,

13:21

he was almost, I'd say, like the Michael

13:23

Jordan or Wayne Gretzky of his profession. He

13:26

was that good. He influenced many, many wrestlers

13:28

all around the world for 22 years and

13:30

almost kind of changed the style of pro

13:32

wrestling in this country because he spent a

13:35

lot of time in Japan and kind of

13:37

ingratiated the Japanese style, the Mexican style, and

13:39

the hard-hitting Calgary style into the WWE and

13:41

the WCW, the former company that he worked

13:43

for. Eddie Guerrero would end up

13:46

playing a huge role in Chris's life, and he'll

13:48

come back into play later on in the story.

13:50

But for now, the two were best friends working

13:52

their way to the top. Due

13:54

to Chris's popularity and talent, he

13:57

was no longer just wrestling in Japan

14:00

but all over the world, except

14:02

the United States. He

14:05

would later admit that the United States wasn't

14:07

interested in him at first, because

14:09

he was only 5'11", and there

14:11

eyes, he was too small to

14:13

make it big. So

14:15

instead, Chris went to Mexico,

14:18

which ended up being a really great experience

14:20

for him. Chris would

14:22

later say, I enjoyed my time down

14:25

there. It's a different style of wrestling, a different

14:27

brand of wrestling, which I think helped better myself

14:29

in terms of working in the international scene at

14:31

the time. In

14:37

the early 1990s, while

14:39

climbing the ladder in Mexico's

14:41

Universal Wrestling Association, Chris

14:44

eventually garnered attention from other

14:46

agencies and Europe. And

14:48

one day while working in Germany, he

14:50

would cross paths with a woman named

14:53

Martina. The two were clearly

14:55

into each other, and it wouldn't be

14:57

long until they were married. Chris

15:00

and Martina would end up having two children

15:02

together, a son named

15:04

David and a daughter named Megan.

15:06

But from the outside looking in, Chris

15:08

Benoit had it all. He

15:11

was a huge star in the wrestling world,

15:14

and now he had a family. And

15:16

although their family started in Germany,

15:18

they would eventually move back to

15:21

his hometown of Edmonton, in Canada.

15:23

And from there, Chris would only get

15:25

more successful in his career. In

15:29

1992, Chris's talent finally brought him to

15:31

America when he made an appearance in

15:33

America's World Championship Wrestling. But

15:35

during the NWA World Tag Team Championships

15:38

tournament, he and his partner had been

15:40

defeated, and Chris was really hard on

15:42

himself. In fact, there was one

15:44

time when he made a mistake in the ring

15:46

that no one even really noticed. Afterward, he

15:48

went back to the locker room and did like 500

15:51

squats to punish himself for the mistake. That's

15:53

the kind of person Chris was. He wanted to give

15:55

110% in everything he did. And

15:58

after this defeat in America, Chris was in the ring. He knew, if

16:01

he was going to break into the

16:03

mainstream wrestling organizations, he needed to really

16:05

perfect his intensity in the ring, just

16:07

like his idol, the Dynamite Kid. So

16:10

in 1994, he did just that. While

16:13

he was in between tours with

16:15

New Japan Pro Wrestling, Chris joined

16:17

a Philadelphia based organization called Extreme

16:19

Championship Wrestling. And while there,

16:21

he was originally named the Rabbit Wolverine,

16:23

but would later change his name to

16:25

the Crippler. Which was pretty

16:28

fitting, because on November 5th, 1994, while

16:30

in Philadelphia, Chris would go up against

16:32

a wrestler named Sabu. And

16:35

during the match, Chris would accidentally break

16:37

the guy's neck. And

16:57

he faced Crippler Chris Benoit here in the

16:59

United States. Sabu

17:07

dropped across the top rope.

17:12

Benoit feeling very confident early on

17:14

in this matchup. Sabu's

17:17

manager Paul the Dangerous Leader inside along with

17:19

his handler 911. Oh

17:21

my god! Did

17:31

you see him land on his head? I

17:36

think he broke his neck. Paul

17:41

the Dangerous leader 911 attending to Sabu.

17:46

He's not getting up. Referee John Finnegan there as

17:48

well. Oh

17:51

my god! I think

17:53

he broke his neck! And

17:56

he indeed broke his neck. Now

17:59

they were only seconds into their match

18:01

when the accident occurred. Chris

18:03

threw him down thinking he would land

18:06

face first, but at the

18:08

last second, Sabu twisted his body so he

18:10

could land on his back. And

18:13

sadly, he landed directly on his

18:15

head, ending the match

18:17

immediately. After it was confirmed that

18:19

his neck was broken, Chris

18:22

felt horrible. When he

18:24

got back to the locker room,

18:26

he broke down crying, thinking he

18:28

might have paralyzed his opponent. But

18:31

he didn't. Sabu would

18:33

make a recovery. Following

18:35

this, Chris's new name, the

18:37

Canadian Crippler, would soon be

18:39

known all around the world.

18:42

In 1994 and 1995, Chris would

18:44

really make a name for himself

18:46

here in the United States. But

18:49

unfortunately for him, his work visa

18:52

wasn't renewed in time, so

18:54

he was forced to leave the United

18:56

States and return back to Japan. While

18:59

there, he would continue wrestling with

19:01

New Japan Pro Wrestling, but

19:04

it wouldn't be long until he was

19:06

offered the opportunity of a lifetime. At

19:09

28 years old, Chris was

19:11

asked to join the infamous wrestling

19:13

group called the Four Horsemen. The

19:16

group originated in 1986, and

19:18

one of its members, Arne Anderson, would later

19:20

say, Being a Horseman isn't something you put

19:22

on in the morning and take off at

19:24

night. It's a state of mind. It's excelling

19:27

to the best of your ability. It's

19:29

four individuals thinking singularly, acting

19:31

collectively. The new

19:33

group now consisted of Chris, Nature

19:35

Boy Rick Flair, Brian Pillman, and

19:37

Arne Anderson. Here's a video of

19:39

Chris after he joined. That

19:51

you're not aware of who you're dealing with. Your

19:54

arrogance will not be

19:56

tolerated by the Horsemen. Your

19:59

ignorance... and taking advantage

20:01

of a situation in which one

20:04

of the horsemen were involved will

20:06

not be tolerated. You're

20:08

a marked man, Sting, and

20:10

you're going to find out exactly why

20:12

they call me the Crippler. Now,

20:22

anyone familiar with Chris's wrestling career

20:24

knows that his start with the

20:27

four horsemen was a turning point

20:29

in his life. Because

20:31

soon after Chris joined, his group

20:33

would form an alliance with a

20:35

wrestler named Kevin Sullivan. And at

20:38

the time, Kevin was married to

20:40

a woman named Nancy, one

20:42

of the victims of this story. Now,

20:45

like we mentioned, Chris Benoit was

20:47

already married to a woman named

20:49

Martina, and the couple had two

20:51

kids together. But as soon

20:53

as Chris met Kevin's wife Nancy, there

20:56

was an undeniable spark between the

20:58

two. Now, like her husband, Nancy

21:01

was very well known within the

21:03

wrestling world. She was a valet,

21:06

which meant she would accompany male

21:08

wrestlers and the ring. And everyone

21:10

knew her as either fallen angel

21:12

or woman. Now,

21:15

valets are typically very attractive,

21:17

and they can either serve

21:19

as the wrestler's spokesperson or

21:21

manager. And other times,

21:23

they're just there to add a bit of a

21:26

sex appeal. But Chris and Nancy's

21:28

budding affair would soon be a pretty

21:30

big scandal in the world of wrestling.

21:33

Nancy Elizabeth Sullivan was born Nancy Tafalani

21:35

on May 17, 1964, in Boston, Massachusetts.

21:41

And like Chris Benoit, Nancy had

21:43

grown up watching and enjoying professional

21:45

wrestling. When she was younger,

21:47

her family moved to Florida, and after

21:49

high school graduation, Nancy traveled to Orlando

21:51

and started working for Championship Wrestling,

21:54

selling programs for their events. The

21:57

owner of Championship Wrestling was a man

21:59

named Eddie Graham. And when he spotted

22:01

Nancy, he knew she would be perfect

22:03

for bikini modeling for a certain type

22:05

of wrestling magazine dubbed Apartment House Wrestling.

22:07

The magazine featured photographs of women in various

22:10

states of undress as they wrestled each other.

22:13

According to Ervin Mucchnik's book, Chris and

22:15

Nancy, he stated, "... these were soft-core

22:17

porn depictions catering to the fantasies of

22:19

young men and boys, of attractive women

22:22

groping each other in street clothes, which

22:24

were often shed in stages of the

22:26

midst of matches, said to be privately

22:28

staged for an exclusive clientele. They

22:30

weren't wrestling bouts at all, of course,

22:32

just cheesy still photo shoots." The

22:35

magazine started making a lot of money.

22:38

And soon enough, Nancy began playing the

22:40

role of a housegirl named Para. During

22:43

one photo shoot, Nancy was introduced to

22:45

a wrestler by the name of Kevin

22:48

Sullivan, who was 15 years

22:50

her senior. Now, Nancy

22:52

was actually married at the time to

22:54

her high school sweetheart named Jim. But

22:57

soon after meeting Kevin, she would divorce

22:59

him. And following that,

23:01

she began traveling the world with her

23:03

new wrestler boyfriend. Now, at

23:06

the time, Kevin was known by his

23:08

wrestling name, The Prince of Darkness. And

23:10

soon after, Nancy would start going

23:13

by her valet name, Fallen Angel.

23:16

As you know, the satanic panic was

23:18

rampant in the 80s. So

23:20

Kevin Sullivan and Nancy really took

23:23

on this satanic persona, where they

23:25

would use the powers of darkness

23:27

to win their matches. Nancy's

23:29

first televised debut was on July 7, 1984,

23:32

at the Lakeland Civic Center. Before

23:37

long, everyone knew her name. She

23:39

and Kevin would eventually get married in 1985. And

23:44

from then on, they had very successful

23:46

careers in the WCW. Here

23:49

is Nancy, who is in her

23:51

persona of the Fallen Angel, talking

23:53

about her husband. guys

24:00

but today what I'm gonna try to

24:02

do is talk to you if I possibly can. I'm gonna

24:06

try to communicate with the angel sometimes

24:09

known as the fallen angel but what I

24:11

want to know is I've known Kevin Sullivan

24:14

I've known the Purple Hays for a

24:16

long time and what is it that

24:18

makes you believe that Kevin Sullivan is

24:20

so right about what he is doing.

24:22

He tells me so it's just

24:24

the way that he says it it's

24:27

his body language you know you know

24:29

how it is Jack. No I really

24:31

don't because I'm not into Kevin Sullivan's body

24:33

and the only thing I'm not to be

24:35

doing to his body is slamming it on

24:37

the mat and dropping some elbows on it.

24:39

Do you know does your mama know where

24:41

you at is what I want to know

24:43

does your mama care where you at? I

24:46

don't know about that I take care of

24:48

myself my master takes care of me I

24:50

don't worry about who's your master

24:52

Kevin Sullivan is my master. That's

24:55

exactly what I'm talking about do you understand young

24:57

lady do you your daddy your mom and daddy

24:59

don't they care about what you're doing where you

25:01

at? I don't know I don't

25:03

care I just worry about my master

25:07

doing everything that he does

25:09

you know you

25:11

know how it is Jack I've told

25:13

you many times

25:16

remember those dreams he used to

25:18

have. So

25:21

as you can tell from that video they

25:23

really played these roles and

25:25

that goes for everyone in wrestling it isn't

25:28

just fighting it's performing

25:30

and entertainment Nancy

25:32

was so good at her role it was

25:34

even said that people would come up to

25:36

her in public and ask to pray for

25:38

her thinking she was

25:41

this Satanist when she wasn't.

25:43

Now after a few years her

25:45

husband Kevin Sullivan would become a

25:47

booker for the WCW he

25:50

still fought in the ring from time to

25:52

time but he slowly started moving towards that

25:54

role while Nancy stayed on

25:56

television with the new name woman.

26:00

In 1989, Nancy became the valet

26:02

for a tag team duo called Doom,

26:04

which consisted of two wrestlers named Butch

26:06

Reed and Ron Simmons. One

26:09

year later, in 1990, Nancy became a valet

26:11

for Ric Flair, who was one of the

26:13

original members of the Four Horsemen. Nancy

26:16

was really good at her role, and she was

26:18

widely known throughout the industry. But

26:20

unbeknownst to everyone, Nancy and her

26:22

husband Kevin Sullivan had been having problems

26:24

around this time. According to

26:26

Kevin himself, I was living in

26:29

the Florida Keys. She was living in Daytona

26:31

Beach. We were separated, heading to a divorce.

26:33

The only time I saw her was if we were on

26:35

the same plane or the same building together. There

26:38

were also some allegations of domestic violence.

26:41

In fact, towards the end, Nancy had been

26:43

arrested and jailed for three days after stabbing

26:45

Kevin with a knife. Kevin

26:47

would later admit that he bailed Nancy out of

26:49

jail, but it was obvious that their relationship had

26:52

run its course, so he moved out

26:54

of their Daytona home. Now,

26:56

even though, in the eyes of the

26:58

law, Nancy was the abuser, her family

27:01

said otherwise. Nancy's sister

27:03

Sandra said that Kevin was the

27:05

aggressive one. And in

27:07

the mid-90s, he even gave Nancy a

27:09

black eye. But he denied

27:11

the allegations, saying, quote, Well, I was

27:14

living in the Keys. I hadn't seen

27:16

Nancy for about four months. If

27:19

she had a black eye, I don't know how she

27:21

got it. But I think maybe

27:23

Sandra got her timeline wrong. I

27:25

never gave her a black eye. End

27:28

quote. It was also later revealed

27:30

that Nancy kept a diary of the abuse

27:32

that she suffered at the hands of her

27:34

husband. But in early

27:37

1996, Nancy and Kevin were separated,

27:39

but they still work together from

27:41

time to time. In

27:44

fact, Kevin was still wrestling in

27:46

the WCW, but he was ready

27:48

to retire soon. So he

27:50

came up with this wild idea to really

27:52

end his career with a bang. Chris

27:55

Benoit had just joined the Four Horsemen.

27:58

So Kevin decided that he was going to

28:00

book a fight between him and Chris, and

28:03

to make it even more tense for the viewers,

28:06

he was going to use his wife Nancy

28:09

as a playing card of sorts. Now,

28:12

even though Chris was married at

28:14

the time, Kevin wanted to create

28:16

this fictitious affair between Chris and

28:18

Nancy to increase the ratings, and

28:20

to push this narrative even further,

28:23

Kevin instructed Chris and Nancy to hold

28:26

hands out in public, and

28:28

even share hotel rooms so

28:30

that the public would believe it's real.

28:32

And that's exactly what they did. In

28:35

the eyes of the viewers, this was

28:37

a huge scandal. Chris

28:39

was married with two children. In

28:42

fact, his wife Martina had just given

28:44

birth to their daughter, Megan. And

28:47

here he is publicly going on

28:49

dates with Nancy Sullivan. And

28:51

I'm not sure what Martina thought about this.

28:54

She obviously couldn't have been happy about it, but

28:56

I'm sure Chris told her that it was all

28:58

fake. They were just doing

29:00

this to increase ratings, and that

29:02

she had nothing to worry about. However,

29:05

that wouldn't be the case. Regardless

29:08

of Chris's intentions in the beginning,

29:10

he and Nancy would eventually fall

29:12

in love. And not

29:14

long after, Chris would divorce Martina,

29:17

and Nancy would divorce Kevin. Kevin

29:20

Sullivan would later admit he was shocked that

29:22

Chris and Nancy actually fell in love, saying,

29:24

that was the furthest thing from my mind.

29:26

He had a pregnant wife, he was a

29:28

quiet guy, and her and I weren't getting

29:30

along. But I think Chris was

29:32

gonna leave his family? No, and I

29:34

actually don't think his friends thought that either. But

29:37

that's exactly what happened. The

29:40

affair was huge news in the

29:42

wrestling world, especially because Kevin and

29:44

Chris still had fights together. During

29:47

them, there was obvious tension between the

29:49

two that went beyond your

29:52

average wrestling fights, and Chris and

29:54

Nancy really played into it. Here

29:57

they are in an interview, directly

29:59

called calling out Nancy's ex-husband.

30:30

Not enough. But

30:32

the whole dungeon of doom wasn't enough

30:34

to get rid of one man. Sullivan,

30:41

look into my eyes, into

30:44

my soul. What

30:46

do you see? Your

30:48

former self? You

30:51

see the hunger, the desire,

30:53

the need? There's

30:56

two ways out of this, Sullivan. The

31:00

man's way and the coward's way.

31:02

Oh, I'm well aware of your

31:04

corporate ties in WCW. I'm

31:06

well aware of the fact that you know

31:09

exactly what strings to pull to have me

31:11

shipped out of here. But

31:14

do you want to go out being

31:16

remembered as a coward? To

31:19

be honest with you, Sullivan, after

31:21

this last Saturday night in Baltimore, I

31:25

couldn't answer that. Tell them, woman. Woman,

31:27

you know, I've got to say, you're

31:29

looking at this man a little differently. Kevin, I

31:31

told you that if you kicked him one more

31:34

time, that that was it. It was over. You

31:36

said that it's been over a long time.

31:38

Well, I'm making the decision. It's

31:41

over. All right.

31:43

Thank you very much, woman. Chris

31:45

Benoit. My goodness, ladies and gentlemen.

31:48

In 1997, Chris and Kevin would have their

31:50

final fight in which Chris won. And

31:53

afterwards, Kevin Sullivan would go into retirement

31:55

from wrestling. And instead focused

31:57

on the booking aspect. In

32:00

the match, Nancy moved in with Chris and

32:02

an inside joke at WCW was that Kevin

32:04

had officially scripted his own divorce with Nancy.

32:07

It was reported that Kevin was furious with Chris and

32:09

blamed him for the demise of his marriage.

32:12

But from there, Chris Benoit would continue

32:15

to dominate in the industry. Now

32:17

the year 2000 was a huge

32:20

year for Chris Benoit. In

32:22

a fight against said vicious,

32:24

Chris would win the WCW

32:26

World Heavyweight Championship. Not

32:29

long after that, he would move

32:31

on from the WCW and joined

32:34

the World Wrestling Federation, which

32:36

we now know is called the WWE. And

32:40

as soon as he started there, he

32:42

started making a lot of money. More

32:45

than he ever had before. And

32:47

as if he couldn't get any luckier. About

32:50

a month after he started in WWE,

32:53

Chris and Nancy would have a child together.

32:56

A son named Daniel Christopher

32:59

Benoit, born on February 25th, 2000.

33:03

Then later that year in November,

33:05

Chris and Nancy decided to get

33:07

married. By then, Nancy had

33:10

taken a step back from the wrestling world.

33:13

While her husband moved up in his career,

33:15

she decided to focus on building their

33:17

family in Georgia. But even

33:20

though she was no longer on screen, she

33:22

did continue to manage her husband's

33:24

career behind the scenes. It

33:27

was reported that Nancy was happy with this

33:29

change of scenery. And

33:31

she was a great mother to their son. As

33:34

Daniel grew older, his family said

33:36

that he was always at Nancy's

33:38

side. Her family even joked

33:40

that she would have to find a prom

33:42

dress to wear one day, because

33:44

Daniel would never love another woman as much

33:47

as he loved his mom. And

33:49

together at home, while Chris was on the

33:51

road, they would spend their days

33:53

watching him on TV. As

33:56

you can imagine, Daniel thought he had the

33:58

coolest dad in the world. Nancy

34:01

would always tell Daniel stories of

34:03

his dad's wrestling career, and

34:05

he would just sit there listening in

34:07

awe. Daniel even had

34:09

a wall in his room with all of these

34:11

pictures of his dad in the ring. Chris

34:14

was his hero, and together

34:16

they seemed to be the perfect family.

34:19

They had good careers, money, a loving

34:22

home. What more could you want?

34:25

With the birth of their son Daniel, Chris

34:28

was even more motivated to succeed within his

34:30

field. After only a few

34:32

months into the WWF, he won his first

34:34

fight. Then in July of

34:36

that year, he went against The Rock. According

34:39

to Joseph Finnegan, between April 2000

34:41

and January 2001, Chris won the Intercontinental Championship

34:45

three times. This was only

34:47

the beginning. Chris Benoit's

34:50

entire WWF-slash-E career is filled

34:52

with accolades and fantastic matches.

34:55

Unfortunately, in 2001,

34:57

Chris would suffer from a neck injury during

34:59

one of his matches that would later require

35:01

surgery, and because of this, he had to

35:03

take a year off of wrestling. It

35:06

was discouraging at first, but he was determined to

35:08

come back better than ever. Here's what

35:10

Chris would say about this time in an

35:12

interview with Off the Record. When

35:14

I was sitting in the doctor's office in San

35:17

Antonio, which Dr. Youngblood, who

35:19

Stone Cold Steve Austin referred me to,

35:21

and he told me what needed to

35:23

be done that evening, I

35:26

cried. I called home and cried. I said, I

35:29

don't know if I'll ever be able to wrestle

35:31

again. I

35:34

was afraid for the first time whether

35:36

I'd be able to pursue

35:38

what I love doing. After

35:41

that, the next day, I'm like, okay, we got to do it. It's

35:43

got to be done. Let's do it. Let's

35:45

go on with it. From

35:48

there, it's about thinking positive and

35:50

being positive and rehabbing it. Since

35:53

I've been back knocking wood, I haven't had

35:55

anything questionable happen in the ring. I'm like,

35:58

oh, what was that? Nothing. So

36:01

people ask me, they say, how's your neck? My

36:03

neck's fine, my knees hurt, my elbows hurt, you

36:05

know, my shoulder joints hurt. Neck's fine though. You

36:07

know, it's like everything else hurts. When

36:10

Chris did return back to wrestling, everyone

36:12

really admired his strength. And

36:14

one thing that everyone said about him was that

36:16

he never complained. WWF slash

36:19

E champion John Cena also spoke highly

36:21

of Chris on an episode of Larry

36:23

King Live saying, he was real quiet,

36:26

kept to himself. He had

36:28

ultimate respect for his workplace. He was a

36:30

model employee. In

36:32

2004, Chris once again proved himself during

36:34

the Royal Rumble, during which he outlasted

36:36

29 other wrestlers, including

36:38

the seven foot giant Big Show. The

36:41

Royal Rumble win secured Chris's spot at

36:43

WrestleMania XX at Madison Square Garden, which

36:45

is one of the biggest opportunities you

36:47

can have as a wrestler. And

36:49

during a three-way match with Shawn Michaels and

36:51

Triple H, Chris secured his

36:54

victory after delivering the Crippler cross face

36:56

on a bloodied Triple H. The

36:59

winner of this match, and

37:03

new World Heavyweight

37:05

Champion, Chris

37:09

Benoit! The stolen

37:11

crowd at Madison Square Garden has

37:14

erupted. Chris

37:16

Benoit's 18 year odyssey

37:19

has culminated by

37:21

winning the World Heavyweight title

37:24

at WrestleMania XX. It

37:32

was so many times, it's

37:35

so close, year after

37:37

year, aisle

37:39

after aisle, nothing left to cut.

37:41

But Benoit never gave up, never

37:44

gave up. Benoit has got it.

37:48

Benoit is living his dream. Finally,

37:52

finally, my God, finally

37:55

Chris Benoit has become

37:57

my Heavyweight Champion.

38:00

of this world. As

38:05

confetti rained down on the ring, Tyr

38:07

streamed down Chris's face. That victory

38:09

was something he had wanted since

38:11

he was a little boy. And

38:14

finally, after all these years, his

38:16

hard work had paid off. This

38:19

was the peak of his career. As

38:22

the crowd continued to cheer, Chris's

38:24

best friend and co-worker, Eddie Guerrero,

38:26

came out to congratulate him on

38:28

his victory. And next

38:31

to walk into the ring was

38:33

Chris's wife, Nancy, and two sons,

38:35

David and Daniel. Here

38:37

is what Chris had to say after

38:39

the victory in an interview with Off

38:41

the Record. March the

38:43

14th, Madison Square Gardens, WrestleMania 20. You've been

38:45

working at this since you were 18 years

38:48

of age. And all of a

38:50

sudden now, you're holding the belt after winning. Tell

38:52

me what you're feeling as you look at it

38:54

right there. Anything we look

38:56

at, we think, maybe it's a work. Maybe you're just

38:58

acting. No, I mean, this is, you

39:01

know, I'd said before that match that,

39:03

you know, this is going

39:05

to be the defining moment of 18 years of work. And

39:09

it truly was. It's like after

39:11

that happened, it's like everything, like I could see

39:13

the people clapping, like... It

39:16

was some surreal. It was

39:18

beyond anything that I've ever experienced. And

39:20

I could see, like, you know,

39:23

I had thoughts of being down in the

39:25

dungeon training. Let's do my first match in

39:27

Calgary, going over to Japan, going over... Like

39:30

my whole career flashed before me. Now,

39:32

do you feel like your company has made a

39:34

push to giving the belt and giving pushes to

39:36

guys who are smaller, right? And was that like

39:38

the key sort of change in philosophy for you?

39:41

Because you've always been known as a guy who

39:43

was probably the greatest wrestler on the planet, but

39:45

too small to be champion. You know, I

39:47

don't... I've never looked at it like that way. A lot of

39:50

people have, and I've heard it over and

39:52

over again. To me, you

39:54

know, I've always been told too, it's like, well,

39:56

you don't... You don't politic enough.

39:58

You don't, you know, I'm very cool. I'm somewhat

40:00

of an invert, so I'm not very outgoing. It's

40:02

like, but I am me. I am who I

40:04

am. I'm doing what I love

40:06

to do. This is my passion. I consider

40:09

myself an artist, like a sculptor, a painter,

40:11

a rock and roll singer. What

40:13

I do is art, and it's my passion.

40:15

And it's like, no matter where I am, I'm

40:18

going to be happy because I'm doing what I love to do. This

40:21

is a great honor to be a publicist. And when he says this,

40:23

you're pointing to the belt. Yes. Yeah. But

40:26

whether you had the belt or not, you're first

40:28

and foremost a wrestler, right? First and foremost, a

40:31

wrestler. And first and foremost, to go out there

40:33

and wrestle and entertain the fans. Chris

40:36

also reflected on his win, saying,

40:38

quote, 100 years

40:40

from now, at WrestleMania 120, they'll

40:43

look back and see Chris Benoit

40:45

made Triple 8 tap out at

40:47

Madison Square Garden. It was

40:49

such a huge event that carried so much

40:52

meaning. It's hard to find the

40:54

accurate words to describe it. End

40:56

quote. Now, in hindsight,

40:58

this statement is a bit eerie.

41:00

Because 100 years from now, when Chris'

41:03

name is brought up, people won't

41:05

be thinking about his win at Madison

41:07

Square Garden. Despite all of

41:09

his success in his career, the

41:12

main thing people think about when his name is

41:14

brought up today is that

41:16

he's a family annihilator. But

41:19

for now, he was soaking up

41:21

his success as one of the

41:23

best wrestlers of all time. But

41:25

even though things seemed to be going well

41:28

on the outside, there were

41:30

growing problems in Chris' life, especially

41:33

between him and Nancy. If

41:35

you watch his victory at Madison

41:37

Square Garden, you'll see Nancy and

41:39

Daniel run on stage to celebrate

41:41

his win. Chris and

41:43

Nancy shared an emotional hug. And

41:46

it was clear that she was really proud of

41:48

her husband. But it took a lot

41:50

to get there. Like many

41:52

wrestlers at the time, Chris had

41:54

been using anabolic steroids to gain

41:57

muscle. Throughout his career,

41:59

he'd always been... on the smaller side

42:01

compared to other people in the industry.

42:04

And steroids is just what everyone did

42:06

at the time to get big. But

42:08

his steroid use started to become a

42:10

problem and he had Nancy's marriage. She

42:14

felt like it made him angry and

42:16

violent. Now

42:20

according to the mental health commission, steroid

42:22

use can cause a lot of problems

42:24

in relationships. Some people

42:26

who take steroids recall experiencing

42:28

mood changes, violent behavior, depression,

42:31

anger, addiction, or dependence, increased

42:33

aggression, roid rage, frustration, over

42:35

competitiveness, and irrational in behavior.

42:38

Nancy could tell that her husband

42:41

was exhibiting some of these behaviors.

42:43

And something else that really upset her

42:46

was that Chris seemed to be addicted

42:48

to steroids. Like

42:50

we mentioned earlier, Chris had to take

42:52

that year off when he had that

42:54

pretty serious neck injury. And

42:56

he even took steroids during that time

42:59

when Nancy felt like he should

43:01

have been prioritizing recovery. But Chris

43:03

knew that if he didn't take

43:05

them, he would lose muscle mass,

43:08

which would really set him back once

43:10

he was recovered and ready to start

43:12

wrestling again. But the

43:14

steroids were causing problems in their marriage.

43:17

So to Nancy, it seemed

43:20

like he was prioritizing his career

43:22

over their family and their relationship

43:24

started to crumble. In

43:26

fact, just a few months before

43:28

his victory at WrestleMania, at the

43:30

height of his career, Nancy

43:33

had filed for divorce. She

43:35

said that she had been treated cruelly and

43:37

that her marriage was broken. Then

43:40

a few days after that, she

43:42

filed a protective order against Chris.

43:45

Nancy spoke with her attorney about the

43:48

abuse, and she said that

43:50

Chris was extremely unpredictable and

43:52

would randomly fly into a rage, screaming

43:55

and throwing furniture around. And

43:57

the fact that she even put a protective order on her marriage, she said, that she order

44:00

in place, shows that she was

44:02

truly scared for her and her son Daniel.

44:06

According to the court documents, in April

44:08

2003, Chris had lost his temper and

44:10

threatened to strike the petitioner and cause

44:13

extensive damage to the home and personal

44:15

belongings of the parties, including furniture. So

44:17

for the next few months, Nancy and

44:20

Chris were officially separated, taking some time

44:22

apart. But for whatever reason,

44:24

they got in contact again and decided to

44:26

give their marriage another chance. Soon

44:28

enough, the protective order was dropped and she and

44:31

Chris seemed to have been doing better. But

44:34

people that knew Chris and Nancy

44:36

were very familiar with their toxic

44:38

relationship. Some people said that

44:40

they used to be very social. When

44:43

they first got together, Chris and Nancy

44:45

lived in Peachtree City, near all of

44:47

their friends and family. And

44:50

when Chris wasn't working, he would often

44:52

go out to fancy dinners with everyone

44:54

or have barbecues at his friends' houses.

44:57

And a lot of the time, those

44:59

friends would witness he and Nancy's explosive

45:01

fights. So when the couple initially told

45:03

everyone that they were separating, it didn't

45:06

really come as a surprise. But

45:09

then, Chris and Nancy got back together.

45:11

From the outside looking in, things seemed

45:14

to be better, but there were subtle

45:16

clues that Chris wasn't doing well. For

45:18

one, he randomly decided that

45:21

he didn't want to live in Peachtree

45:23

City anymore. Even

45:25

though that's where their social circle was.

45:28

Instead, Chris wanted to move to

45:30

a more secluded and quiet spot

45:33

out of the city. And they ended

45:35

up in that infamous house in Fayetteville,

45:37

Georgia. Now obviously moving

45:40

isn't super alarming in and of

45:42

itself. Chris was getting older.

45:45

And as people age, they usually like

45:47

a quieter and simple life. But

45:50

he was definitely more distant and

45:52

detached. He didn't enjoy hanging

45:54

out with friends like he used to. And

45:57

he was very withdrawn. One

46:00

friend that was always by Chris's side

46:02

through the ups and the downs was

46:05

his best friend, Eddie Guerrero. Like

46:07

Chris, Eddie had struggled throughout his life.

46:10

Although he too was a very

46:12

successful wrestler, he had his vices

46:15

like substance abuse and alcoholism.

46:18

Here is Chris talking about Eddie's journey

46:20

and that off the record interview. Eddie,

46:23

he had a few accidents. He had some vehicle

46:25

accidents along with what we do to our bodies.

46:29

With the pain medication and what not and

46:31

between that and the alcohol,

46:34

it consumed him as a

46:36

person. It

46:39

became a bad habit that he couldn't control. And

46:42

he fell. If anyone has ever

46:44

fallen as deep, I've never seen

46:46

anyone fall as deep as he

46:48

has. I was very concerned for him.

46:52

But he's the most influential person

46:54

that I've ever met in my

46:56

life because of the comeback

46:58

that he has made within himself and with around

47:01

his life, within the people in his life. I mean,

47:04

it's amazing. I mean, he's put everything

47:06

back together. He's very, very

47:08

happy, very focused, very at peace with

47:10

himself right now. Chris

47:12

had been by Eddie's side since the

47:15

very beginning. They were best

47:17

friends, which is why Eddie joined

47:19

him in the ring after Chris's

47:21

victory at Madison Square Garden. In

47:24

that off the record interview, Chris talked

47:26

about how Eddie had made a comeback

47:28

and was doing well for himself. But

47:31

the following year in November of 2005, Eddie Guerrero would

47:35

be found dead on the bathroom floor at the

47:38

Marriott City Center Hotel in

47:40

Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was

47:43

only 38 years old. It

47:45

would later be determined that Eddie died

47:47

from a heart condition that was worsened

47:49

by the use of recreational drugs and

47:52

steroids. The news of

47:54

his passing was devastating for the world

47:56

of wrestling. And Chris Benoit,

47:59

who was at the height of the his

48:01

career would never be the same after his

48:03

death. In an email

48:05

exchange between him and a journalist named

48:07

Greg Oliver, Chris admitted, I

48:09

do not believe that I will ever find someone

48:11

that I will bond with and be able to

48:14

understand and be understood as I was with Eddie.

48:16

I'm not looking forward to going back on the

48:18

road. Not that I ever did. I hate the

48:20

road, but I look forward to Eddie's company and

48:22

camaraderie. Both of us hated the road,

48:24

being away from our families, but both of us

48:27

lived for that in-ring bell to bell time. My

48:29

wife Nancy bought me a diary and I have

48:31

started to write letters to Eddie. That may sound

48:33

crazy, but that is how I am coping. After

48:37

his sudden death, Chris would release a public

48:39

statement about his friend. Eddie

48:41

Guerrero is my best friend and I'm

48:44

sure there's a lot of people that he knew that would

48:47

be able to say the same thing about

48:49

him. He was such a

48:52

beautiful person, such a kind-hearted

48:54

person. I

48:56

couldn't find the right, I couldn't find

48:58

the words. I couldn't describe what

49:01

kind of a human being Eddie truly

49:03

was. I've

49:06

known Eddie for just about 15 years and spent

49:09

a good portion of them 15 years with

49:11

him on the road. We

49:13

laughed together, cried together, fought

49:16

each other. We've been

49:18

up and down each and every mountain, each

49:21

and every highway. Eddie

49:27

was led by example. He

49:31

was the one friend that I had that

49:33

I could go to and

49:35

pour my heart out to. If I

49:38

was going through something, if I had

49:40

a personal issue or a personal problem,

49:42

he was the one guy that

49:44

I could call and talk to

49:46

and know that he would

49:48

understand and he would

49:51

talk me out of it because of all

49:54

the experiences that he'd been through. I

49:57

believe in leading by example and Eddie

49:59

always. was led by

50:01

example through his life, through the obstacles

50:03

that he went through and conquered

50:07

and became a better person. And

50:09

he'd often use that as an example. We

50:14

never left each other without telling each other

50:16

that we loved each other. I

50:20

truly can say that I love

50:23

Eddie Guerrero. He's

50:26

a man that I

50:28

can say I love and I love his family. And

50:31

my heart and

50:33

my thoughts and my prayers go

50:35

up to his wife Vicki, Shaul,

50:37

Cheryl Lynn and Kaylee. I

50:42

can't imagine the sorrow

50:44

that they're going through right now

50:47

and the emotions that they're feeling.

50:51

But I want them to know that my prayers

50:53

and my thoughts are with

50:55

them. And

50:59

Eddie, I

51:01

know that you're in a better place and I

51:04

know that you're looking down on me right now.

51:08

I don't even know that I love you. I

51:10

miss you. Eddie,

51:33

you made such a great impression on all my

51:36

life and I want to thank

51:38

you for everything you've ever given me. I

51:42

want to thank you for my heart and tell you

51:44

that I love you and I'll never forget you and

51:48

I will see each other again. I

51:50

love you, Eddie. Sadly,

51:55

something changed within Crispin Waugh

51:57

after Eddie's death. He

51:59

was absolutely amazing. absolutely devastated, making

52:02

him even more withdrawn from his friends

52:04

and family. Many people

52:06

believe it to be the event that

52:08

sent Chris Benoit into madness. But his

52:10

wife Nancy was really trying to help

52:12

him in his grief by signing him

52:15

up for counseling sessions, and she even

52:17

bought him that journal so he could

52:19

write letters to Eddie. So

52:21

he seemed to be taking steps in the right

52:23

direction. During Eddie's

52:25

death, Chris also leaned into a

52:28

new spiritual journey, where he started

52:30

memorizing specific passages from the Bible,

52:33

something he had never really done before.

52:36

In one email, Chris compared his late

52:38

friend Eddie Guerrero to Job, a chosen

52:41

prophet known for his resilience and faith

52:43

after he suffered from loss and numerous

52:45

other afflictions. He said, he

52:47

was somewhat of a spiritual guide for me.

52:50

I do not know if you read the Bible at all

52:52

or what your beliefs are, and I will respect you

52:54

for whatever your beliefs are. But if

52:56

you ever get the opportunity to read about Job, it

52:58

reminds me so much of Eddie. At

53:00

one point after coming out of rehab, he had nothing

53:02

but the clothes on his back. He had

53:05

physically, mentally, emotionally, and monetarily

53:07

hit rock bottom. He

53:09

lost his family, his wife and children had left.

53:12

But he never lost faith, and through it was

53:14

able to overcome the odds. It

53:16

was clear that Chris was trying to find

53:18

some meaning in something we all have to

53:20

face in life, which is

53:22

death. And a lot of

53:25

the time, religion can help people find comfort

53:27

in death, knowing you will see

53:29

that person again. But even

53:31

though Chris was coping in his own ways,

53:34

he was still really struggling. He,

53:37

Nancy, and Daniel were socially isolated

53:39

out in Fayetteville, Georgia, all while

53:41

trying to grieve a significant loss.

53:43

And when Chris would go back

53:45

on the road to travel for

53:47

work, everyone noticed that

53:49

he just wasn't himself. It

53:52

was weird for Chris to continue on

53:54

with his career without his best friend.

53:57

So he started staying home more, and he was still in the middle of the road.

53:59

In a newspaper article for The

54:02

Calgary Sun, Chris even stated, quote,

54:05

quality time with my family is a big

54:07

vice. It's something I'll

54:09

fight for and crave, end

54:12

quote. But sadly, his

54:14

home life wasn't doing well either.

54:17

Nancy and Chris continue to fight

54:19

about his steroid use and aggressive

54:21

behaviors. And in the

54:23

summer of 2006, the Benoit's next door

54:25

neighbor, Holly

54:28

Schreffer, was driving down Quarters

54:30

Road in Lafayette, Georgia, when

54:33

she spotted Nancy Benoit on the side

54:35

of the road in distress. When

54:37

Holly pulled over to make sure she was

54:40

okay, Nancy started venting to

54:42

her about how Chris had thrown her

54:44

up against a wall. Nancy

54:46

was terrified that Chris was going to hurt

54:49

her, so she left the

54:51

house in a hurry. The incident

54:53

was so scary for Nancy, she ended up

54:55

staying in a hotel for a couple of

54:57

days to get away from him. And

54:59

Nancy knew exactly why her husband

55:02

was so aggressive. It

55:04

was the fight they had been having for years,

55:07

his steroid use. In

55:09

January of 2007, it was

55:11

reported that she had found a stash of

55:13

his steroids hidden in the house. So

55:16

she threw it away. And

55:18

when Chris found out he was so

55:20

angry, he left the house and didn't

55:23

speak to Nancy for two whole weeks.

55:26

Then a couple months later, in March of 2007,

55:28

it was clear that Nancy was at her wits

55:30

end. She

55:33

even texted Chris's mom that Chris

55:35

quote, wasn't doing the right thing.

55:39

Margaret tried her best to reassure

55:41

Nancy. She even promised

55:43

her that she would speak to Chris when

55:45

he traveled to Canada that July. But

55:48

little did she know, she would never

55:50

get the chance. extremely

56:00

upset that Chris had made no effort or

56:02

plans with his children while they visited. The

56:05

two reportedly fought, yelled, and screamed the

56:07

entire time the children were there, and

56:09

it was reported that Nancy hit and

56:11

pushed Chris. The fights were so bad,

56:13

Chris's oldest son David even brought 7-year-old

56:15

Daniel upstairs to play, so that he

56:17

wouldn't have to hear his parents arguing.

56:20

In early May 2007, Chris was

56:22

out on the road again for

56:24

work, but based on he and

56:26

Nancy's text messages, they were

56:28

not in a great place. On May

56:30

5, 2007, Nancy was upset with Chris for

56:34

not calling home while he was on the road,

56:37

and that day she sent him a text message

56:39

that read, Daniel is called

56:41

twice today. What? You

56:44

can't bother with him either? Four

56:46

days later, on May 9, Nancy

56:48

texted Chris again. One

56:51

night you're texting, I love you, then during

56:53

the day you won't talk. Get

56:56

off the crap you're on. It's making

56:58

you passive aggressive and I don't need

57:00

the abuse. Nancy felt

57:02

as if Chris wasn't prioritizing his family, and

57:04

not just her and her son, but his

57:06

two kids from his previous marriage as well.

57:09

On the afternoon of May 9, Nancy texted

57:11

him again. Your big claim

57:14

is to ask anyone you work with

57:16

how you are, but no

57:18

one knows what goes on behind closed doors.

57:21

And the excuses about not being able to

57:23

see your kids is your failure in putting

57:25

no effort into them. Paying

57:27

out lots of money, sinning for them twice

57:29

a year is a far cry from being

57:32

a dad. You need to get

57:34

it together. I will not

57:36

accept this steroid-induced roller coaster

57:38

ride of emotional abuse. Ignoring

57:40

the problem or running away isn't going to

57:43

help you face it. You

57:45

need professional help, and only

57:47

if you're fully honest about all of it.

58:00

This has gone on long enough. I

58:03

tried to talk to you. You could have

58:05

been at home yesterday." Then

58:07

later that night, she sent another text. If

58:10

you haven't figured, Daniel knows how to

58:12

dial your cell by pushing the phone

58:14

book and scrolling to Chris's cell. He's

58:17

mad at me because you haven't called.

58:20

Be an adult and call. It

58:22

won't take much more for him to realize

58:25

it's not me he's mad at. He's

58:27

not a baby anymore. And a

58:29

message isn't going to be enough. Some

58:32

text messages sent by Nancy alluded to the fact

58:34

that his money was the only thing he could

58:36

offer his children at times, since he was so

58:38

absent. Instead of giving them his time

58:41

and love, he just sent money. On

58:43

May 26th, Nancy sent him this

58:45

text. Money orders

58:47

every month, can't give hugs. And

58:50

by this point, Chris's steroid use wasn't

58:52

his only problem. After his

58:55

best friend Eddie's death, he started taking

58:57

an antidepressant, but he was also mixing

58:59

it with other drugs like various painkillers,

59:01

altinum the grief, and pushed through his day. So

59:05

Chris was pretty dependent on substances. Anabolic

59:08

steroids alone can be harmful to your mental

59:10

health. In fact, according

59:12

to the Mental Health Commission,

59:14

it can cause anxiety, depression,

59:16

paranoia, and even psychosis. And

59:19

in the months before June of 2007, Chris

59:22

Benoit was definitely showing signs

59:24

of paranoia. In

59:26

the months before the tragedy, Chris started

59:29

telling his friends and family members that

59:31

there was this entity that was after

59:33

him and his family. But from what

59:35

I could tell, he never really went

59:38

into much detail on exactly what he

59:40

thought it was. But it

59:42

was negatively affecting his life. According

59:46

to his loved ones, Chris even

59:48

started taking different routes to places

59:50

he frequented. Like if

59:52

he was going to the gym, he would

59:54

take a completely different road than he normally

59:56

would. And then when

59:58

asked why, Chris would tell people that

1:00:01

he felt like someone was following him.

1:00:04

After a while, he even got

1:00:06

paranoid about his son Daniel playing

1:00:08

outside. He would get

1:00:10

nervous when Nancy left the house after

1:00:12

dark. He truly believed

1:00:14

with everything in him that he was

1:00:16

being stalked. So much so, he

1:00:19

would change cars when he was driving and he

1:00:22

was constantly checking their home

1:00:24

security cameras. He also had

1:00:26

two Rottweilers that recalled his

1:00:28

attack dogs to help protect

1:00:30

their home. But in

1:00:32

reality, no one was stalking Chris and

1:00:34

his family. He likely

1:00:36

was experiencing the extreme paranoia

1:00:39

that sometimes comes with steroid

1:00:41

abuse. And it's

1:00:43

also believed that Chris was in the midst

1:00:45

of a midlife crisis. In 2007, he was

1:00:47

40 years old and all of these new

1:00:50

younger and bigger wrestlers were rising up in

1:00:52

the industry. He knew that it wouldn't

1:00:54

be long until he had to go into retirement. After

1:00:56

decades of steroids and repeated beatdowns during

1:00:59

his matches, there was only so much

1:01:01

his body could take. But

1:01:03

I'm sure that made him feel uneasy. The

1:01:05

peak of his career was over and his mental health

1:01:07

was on a steep decline. Which

1:01:09

brings us to Monday, June

1:01:12

25th, 2007. That

1:01:14

day, Chris Benoit was supposed to

1:01:16

travel to Beaumont, Texas to

1:01:19

perform in a WWE event there.

1:01:21

But at the last minute, he

1:01:23

got into contact with his employers

1:01:26

and told them that his wife Nancy

1:01:28

and son Daniel were in the hospital

1:01:30

with severe food poisoning and

1:01:33

that he wasn't going to make the event. During

1:01:36

the call, Chris didn't seem like

1:01:38

himself. Then to make

1:01:40

matters even worse, Chris

1:01:42

sent them several ominous text messages

1:01:45

containing his home address followed

1:01:48

by directions on how to get inside

1:01:50

of his house. Which was weird. Why

1:01:53

would Chris be sending them this information

1:01:55

right after he no showed to this

1:01:58

wrestling event? The

1:02:00

WWE employees didn't know exactly what

1:02:02

was going on here, but

1:02:05

they were concerned about him, so

1:02:07

they decided to call the Fayetteville Georgia

1:02:09

Police Department so they could do a

1:02:11

welfare check. I

1:02:13

just spoke to one of the other officers there. My name

1:02:16

is Dennis Fagan. I'm retired detective in New York City. I

1:02:18

run the security for World Wrestling and one of our

1:02:21

wrestlers that lives down there is missing and

1:02:23

he told me just to say we need a welfare check

1:02:25

done. Okay, what's

1:02:27

the address? 130

1:02:30

Green Metal Lane. The

1:02:36

zip code is 30215. Alright,

1:02:41

Dennis what's your last name? Fagan. F-A-G-A-N.

1:02:46

And what's his name? Chris

1:02:48

Benoit. It's spelled

1:02:51

B-E-N-O-I-T. Okay,

1:02:54

and he's a wrestler? Yes,

1:02:56

he's a very religious gentleman and yesterday he was

1:02:58

supposed to show up at a pay-per-view and never

1:03:00

got on the plane, never showed up. They

1:03:02

tried to reach his wife Nancy, she doesn't answer, they tried

1:03:05

to call his house. It's

1:03:07

not a character for him. So

1:03:09

at 3 o'clock this morning there was a message

1:03:11

left for one of the other wrestlers and basically it

1:03:13

says the dogs are in

1:03:15

the backyard, the back door is open, goodbye and that

1:03:17

was it. Dogs

1:03:22

in the yard? Yes, and the

1:03:24

back door is open. He didn't say anything

1:03:26

else and that message was left at 3

1:03:28

o'clock this morning for another wrestler. Okay,

1:03:32

what does he look like? Chris is

1:03:34

about 6'1", very muscular, very

1:03:36

stocky, has a very wide neck,

1:03:39

looks like a wrestler. Okay. Black

1:03:44

male, black male? Yes, male, white. Okay.

1:03:48

He's got short

1:03:50

black hair. Okay,

1:03:54

alright, we'll go ahead and send somebody

1:03:56

out there to chat. check on it

1:03:58

if you want to call us back

1:04:00

in like 45 minutes or so. If

1:04:03

he's there, we'll tell him to give you a call, but if

1:04:05

you want to call back and check to see if we, you

1:04:07

know, if anybody was there or anything, just, just call us back

1:04:09

in about 30, 45 minutes. After

1:04:12

this call was placed, two officers

1:04:14

named Mundy and Alden quickly made

1:04:16

their way to the Benoit home

1:04:19

on 130 Green Meadow Lane in Fayetteville,

1:04:22

Georgia. The six bedroom,

1:04:24

five and a half bathroom estate was located

1:04:26

on 8.6 acres of land. It

1:04:31

was a beautiful home protected by a

1:04:33

large wrought iron gate. When

1:04:35

the officers first pulled up, I'm sure

1:04:37

they thought that the WWE star would

1:04:40

open the door and clear up any

1:04:42

confusion. Surely this was

1:04:44

all a big misunderstanding. And

1:04:47

while the officers were standing outside,

1:04:49

they were actually met by the

1:04:51

Benoit's neighbor, the woman we

1:04:53

mentioned earlier named Holly. The

1:04:55

officers asked Holly if she could help

1:04:58

put the Benoit's rut whilers away. And

1:05:01

since she was familiar with the dogs,

1:05:03

she hopped over the fence to grab

1:05:05

them. But while she did this, Holly

1:05:08

came across a site that will

1:05:10

forever be ingrained in her mind. It

1:05:13

was the bodies of Nancy Benoit and

1:05:16

seven year old Daniel. Shocked

1:05:18

by the gruesome image, Holly

1:05:20

came running out of the house screaming as

1:05:23

the officers finally made their way

1:05:25

inside. Hey,

1:05:34

can I 911? What is your emergency? Hi,

1:05:36

um, the cops came to my house and

1:05:39

I just want to make sure that they're

1:05:41

okay. Cause they sent me over to my

1:05:43

neighbor's house. What's your address? I'm

1:05:46

at 110 green metal lane and

1:05:48

they asked me to cop the fence because they have

1:05:50

attack dogs. And I went in and someone, the

1:05:54

little boy and the mom are dead. And

1:05:56

so I ran out to scream to them, but then they went

1:05:58

to the house and they haven't come out yet. Are

1:06:00

they okay? Have you heard from the law? Hold on just

1:06:02

a moment. I

1:06:06

can. I know where the controls are, but I'm

1:06:08

not going in there until... Garrett! Tell

1:06:10

the cops to come this way! Okay, ma'am.

1:06:12

I did the cops' cars. Listen to me.

1:06:14

What did the cops tell you to do?

1:06:17

They told me because this guy's a professional

1:06:19

wrestler and I'm friends with him and they

1:06:21

said, can you go put me a tax

1:06:23

dog for the McKenna and I did that.

1:06:25

And then I went upstairs.

1:06:27

Everything was open so I was yelling,

1:06:29

Nancy, Daniel, that's a little boy. And

1:06:32

I went up to the unknown's room

1:06:34

and she's been killed. And then I

1:06:36

went up to Nancy's where she sits

1:06:38

to watch TV and she had been

1:06:40

strangled and had tape on her face.

1:06:43

And then I didn't see Mr. Benoit. I

1:06:45

don't know where he is. I didn't want

1:06:47

to go down in the basement for some

1:06:49

reason. Okay, ma'am. She might be dead. Now

1:06:51

there's more cops here. Ma'am, listen to me.

1:06:53

What did the cops tell you to do?

1:06:56

Did they tell you to go to the

1:06:58

neighbor's house? Yes. Now they came when I

1:07:00

said everyone's been murdered and they went in

1:07:02

the house and I said, I looked in

1:07:04

every room but the basement and they went

1:07:06

in the basement and now they haven't come

1:07:08

back out. Okay. Listen,

1:07:10

we have got contact with

1:07:12

our cops. They're okay? Ma'am,

1:07:17

our cops are okay. They're okay. But if they

1:07:19

told you to go to the neighbor's house, you

1:07:21

need to stay over there, okay? No, I'm here.

1:07:23

I'm right outside the Benoit's house. No, I mean,

1:07:26

they just said stay here in the driveway. I

1:07:28

just got nervous because they never came back out.

1:07:30

You have contact with your SO people that went

1:07:32

in the basement? Okay, they do. She's talking to

1:07:35

the cops in the house. Okay. I'm sorry. I

1:07:40

was nervous that he might be in there and do something

1:07:42

to them. I just don't know what. This is the neighbor

1:07:44

that was told by the police to get out of the

1:07:46

house. She's the one that found the murdered

1:07:48

body. And she said when

1:07:50

the cops ran down in the basement and she hasn't

1:07:53

seen him, she's afraid something can happen to the cops

1:07:55

in the basement. Your cops,

1:07:57

she didn't listen to me. The

1:08:00

SO dispatcher said he has contact with them

1:08:02

and they're okay. Okay, they're okay. And they're

1:08:04

okay. I'm not a cop here. So I

1:08:06

just wanted to make sure your cops in

1:08:08

the basement were okay. Okay, everything's fine. Okay.

1:08:11

All right, thank you. Bye-bye. Thank

1:08:14

you. I just wanted to make. Inside

1:08:18

of the Benoit household, Deputy

1:08:21

Mundy and Lieutenant Alden first

1:08:23

came across the body of

1:08:25

seven-year-old Daniel Benoit. He

1:08:27

was found in his bedroom lying face down

1:08:29

on his bed. The cause

1:08:31

of death wasn't immediately clear at first,

1:08:34

but they could tell that he had

1:08:36

been dead for several days. There

1:08:38

was also a Bible lying next to him and

1:08:41

a butcher knife, even though

1:08:43

the knife had not been used in the murder. But

1:08:46

next, the officers found

1:08:48

Nancy. She was also

1:08:50

upstairs. Her ankles

1:08:52

and wrist had been bound and

1:08:55

she had a sheet covering her body. Around

1:08:57

her neck, there were two ligatures that had been

1:09:00

looped together and she too

1:09:02

had been dead for several days. And

1:09:05

then there was Chris. Downstairs

1:09:07

in the basement, officers found his

1:09:09

body hanging from his lap pull

1:09:11

down machine. It was also

1:09:13

clear that Chris hadn't been dead for that

1:09:16

long. After observing the

1:09:18

scene inside of the house, it

1:09:20

was clear that Chris Benoit murdered his wife

1:09:22

and son and then stayed

1:09:24

in the house with their bodies

1:09:26

for several days before finally deciding

1:09:28

to end his own life. But

1:09:31

there were still so many questions, like

1:09:34

what led a world-renowned wrestler to

1:09:36

murder his entire family? Chris

1:09:39

Benoit had it all. A

1:09:41

successful career, a nice home, a

1:09:44

loving wife, kids, money.

1:09:47

He had everything and many people

1:09:49

around the world considered him to

1:09:52

be the most beloved wrestler of

1:09:54

all time. That is up

1:09:56

until now. So where did

1:09:58

it all go wrong? The investigation

1:10:00

into the double murder suicide would

1:10:02

reveal a lot about Chris Benoit

1:10:05

and his family. So

1:10:07

next week, we are going to walk

1:10:09

you through exactly what happened in the

1:10:11

Benoit household that week. We

1:10:13

are also going to talk about the investigation,

1:10:16

the medical examiner's findings, and

1:10:18

the impact this had on the world

1:10:20

of wrestling. Hey

1:10:25

everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you so much

1:10:27

for listening to this week's episode of Murder

1:10:29

in America. Courtney and I are so glad

1:10:31

to be back sharing these episodes with you.

1:10:33

Thank you to all of our new listeners

1:10:35

and to everybody that listens to this

1:10:38

show. It's just crazy to know how many people

1:10:40

are out there tuning in every week. And Courtney

1:10:42

and I are so thankful from the bottom of

1:10:44

our hearts. We truly can't say

1:10:46

thank you enough. I want

1:10:48

to give a shout out to

1:10:51

some of our new patrons this

1:10:53

week, Jim, Dylan Haynes, Mariah Reynolds,

1:10:55

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1:10:58

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1:11:00

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1:11:05

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1:11:07

more. Guys, I can't even get to all of the

1:11:09

patrons like we used to do. If

1:11:11

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1:11:31

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closer to 100 episodes on there already. Just

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go sign up for Patreon today and you

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can get access to all of those episodes

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in the library. But we are going to

1:11:47

be back with part two of this series.

1:11:49

Make sure to listen to The Conspiracy Files,

1:11:51

our other new podcast that we just launched

1:11:53

last week. We're super excited about that. And

1:11:56

yeah, from Courtney and I both, everybody have a great

1:11:58

weekend, a great rest of your. week and we'll catch

1:12:00

you on the next one.