Chris Benoit seemed to have everything. The murder-suicide perpetrated by Chris Benoit in 2007 shocked the world. First, he killed his beautiful pro-wrestler wife and 7-year-old son and then proceeded to kill himself. Chris Benoit, according to District Attorney Ballard and the city sheriff, committed suicide by hanging. Benoit used a weight machine cord to hang himself by creating a noose from the end of the cord on a pull-down machine from which the bar had been removed. Benoit released the weights, causing his strangulation. World Wrestling Entertainment has released a timeline and five cryptic text messages related to the Chris Benoit tragedy. Between 3:53 and 3:58 a.m. Sunday morning, after he’d asphyxiated his.

'Chris Benoit' is a song written by Insane Clown Posse and Mike E. Clark for the duo's 2012 album The Mighty Death Pop! A music video was filmed in June 2012, directed by the Deka Brothers. The album's concept 'teaches us to respect the life we’ve been given and do our best to avoid an early death.'^[2] The song was named after the professional wrestler, who died in a murder-suicide after killing his wife and son.^[3] A remix of the song appeared on the remix albumMike E. Clark's Extra Pop Emporium, and featured rappers Ice Cube and Scarface.

Music and lyrics[edit]

Inspiration for the song came from wrestler Chris Benoit, who murdered his wife and son before committing suicide. Insane Clown Posse broadly alluded to the murders in the song's lyrics, but the focus of the song is not the murders themselves, but of suddenly losing one's sanity, and eclipsing in violence.^[3] The song pertains to the album's overall concept, which 'teaches us to respect the life we've been given and do our best to avoid an early death.'^[2] The song was remixed by Kuma for the remix album Mike E. Clark's Extra Pop Emporium. The remix featured additional verses by Ice Cube and Scarface.^[4][5]

Music video[edit]

The music video for 'Chris Benoit' was filmed in June 2012, 5 years after the Chris Benoit murders took place. It was the first music video from The Mighty Death Pop!^[6] Violent J allowed French directors the Deka Brothers to exercise creative control over the video, with ICP's only input being a request for 'minimal wrestling scenes' and 'plenty of slow-motion, blur and artsy abstraction'. Also in the video there were a few stock picture flashes of Chris Benoit himself.^[6] Violent J wanted the video to look like those made by Nirvana and was impressed with the Deka Brothers' work on Skrillex's First of the Year (Equinox).^[6] The music video aired on July 26–27, 2012 during a live episode of Violent J's 'The Witching Hours' on Psychopathic Radio. The music video was later released on the Psychopathic Records YouTube channel.

Reception[edit]

The Houston Press criticized the song, suggesting that it glorified the wrestler's murders.^[7]Spin said that the song uses the wrestler's psyche 'to stare into the void'.^[8] Graveside Entertainment cited 'Chris Benoit' as a standout of the Mighty Death Pop!, calling it one of Insane Clown Posse's darkest songs, writing 'ICP wisely took a more subtle approach focusing on the mind state someone like Benoit may have had during and after the act and it works extremely well.'^[9]

References[edit]

1. ^The Mighty Death Pop (CD booklet). Insane Clown Posse. Detroit, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. 2012.CS1 maint: others (link)
2. ^ ^ab'Hatchet Herald'. Psychopathicrecords.com. 2012-05-04. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
3. ^ ^ab[1]^{[dead link]}
4. ^'Hatchet Herald'. Psychopathicrecords.com. 2012-06-01. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
5. ^'Hatchet Herald'. Psychopathicrecords.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-25. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
6. ^ ^abc[2]Archived July 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
7. ^http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2012/08/insane_clown_posse_benoit.php
8. ^Soderberg, Brandon (August 15, 2012). 'Insane Clown Posse, 'The Mighty Death Pop!''. Spin. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
9. ^'Insane Clown Posse The Mighty Death Pop Album Review'. Graveside Entertainment. August 15, 2012. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.

External links[edit]

Chris Benoit Slot Machines

FAYETTEVILLE, Georgia (CNN) -- The discovery of anabolic steroids in pro-wrestler Chris Benoit's home has raised speculation that the performance-enhancing drugs may be linked to his death and the killings of his wife and young son.

The 40-year-old champion strangled his wife, Nancy Benoit, and suffocated his 7-year-old son Daniel, authorities said, before he hanged himself on a portable weight machine inside his lavish home outside Atlanta. Police have said no motive has been determined.

'A lot of prescription medication' was found in the home, including anabolic steroids, said Fayette County Sheriff Lt. Tommy Pope. (Watch the house where Chris Benoit, police say, killed his wife and son)

But authorities were still waiting on toxicology reports, which could take several weeks, to determine what, if any, medication was found in the bodies.

Chris Benoit was a pro-wrestler for 22 years and star of World Wrestling Entertainment, which strongly denounced any suggestion that steroid use could be connected to the tragedy.

The WWE said Benoit tested negative for drugs during an independently administered evaluation on April 10.

CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Wednesday that it may never be known whether the deaths were linked to steroids or so-called 'roid-rage.'

'The drugs said to be found in the home are a synthetic form of testosterone,' Gupta said. 'A lot of people use it to build muscle mass, but there are longstanding known relationships between the steroids and roid rage. It could lead to psychosis and anti-social behavior and depression.'

But the WWE said evidence gathered in the investigation indicates 'deliberation, not rage.'

'The wife's feet and hands were bound and she was asphyxiated, not beaten to death,' said a statement posted on the company's Web site. 'By the account of the authorities, there were substantial periods of time between the death of the wife and the death of the son, again suggesting deliberate thought, not rage.'

Investigators found the bodies of Nancy and Daniel Benoit with Bibles placed next to them, authorities have said. 'The presence of a Bible by each is also not an act of rage,' said the WWE.

Former professional wrestler Del Wilkes said athletes use steroids to gain strength and size, which are key to success in the wrestling world. But he warned that the drugs sometimes come with 'moments of uncontrollable rage.'

Chris Benoit Wife

'You can feel it coming on but there's nothing you can do about it,' Wilkes said. 'The next thing you know, a minor argument has gone into a full-fledged rage, when you've got your hands around somebody's neck. You're in a fight and doing things you wouldn't normally do.'

Wilkes also said the drugs can also cause 'tremendous' depression 'when guys are coming off steroids after they've been on it for a long period of time.'

An official who is part of the investigation told CNN that Benoit's name was on receipts that indicated he had purchased shipments of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones from Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando, Florida, facility that is at the center of a nationwide investigation into the sale of illegal steroids.

As the investigation unfolded Wednesday, details about events inside the home began to emerge.

Needle marks were found in Daniel's arm, said Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard. He said authorities suspect 'that the boy had been taking growth hormones for quite some time,' and are hoping to prove that with toxicology. The boy, Ballard said, was diagnosed with a form of dwarfism.

Daniel was found face down on his bed, but authorities said they do not know whether he was sleeping when he was killed. Ballard said authorities believe the child was asphyxiated using a choke hold. Benoit hung himself using the cord on a portable weight machine, Ballard said.

Ballard said Nancy Benoit's body was found face down on the floor in an upstairs family room, wrapped in a blanket with her feet and wrists bound and blood under her head.

Two days before Benoit and his family were found dead, the wrestler told co-workers by phone his wife and son were sick with food poisoning and he had been having a stressful day, according to the WWE.

Chris Benoit left no suicide note, Pope said, but had sent text messages to a co-worker early Sunday, which was received several hours later. He refused to divulge the contents of the messages.

The WWE, however, said the five text messages were sent to co-workers between 3:51 a.m. and 3:58 a.m. using both Chris Benoit's and Nancy Benoit's cell phones. Four of them were the Benoits' address; the fifth said that the family's dogs were in the enclosed pool area and noted a garage side door was open.

The WWE said it made numerous attempts to contact Chris Benoit at his home and at Atlanta-area hospitals. At 12:30 p.m. on Monday, it learned of the text messages and contacted police, the statement said.

'In a community like this, it's just bizarre to have a murder-suicide, certainly involving the death of a 7-year-old child,' Ballard told reporters. 'I think that's what I'm struck by most ... there's a 7-year-old boy who is dead.'

Chris Benoit once had been arrested on a charge of driving under the influence in another Fayette County jurisdiction, authorities said, but had no other criminal record.

CNN learned that divorce papers for the couple were filed in Fayette County in 2003, but the divorce never took place. Ballard said it was his understanding that a protection order was sought in 2003, but later dismissed. He had he had not seen the filings.

CNN's Rusty Dornin and Adam Reiss contributed to this report.

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