Following news that police found anabolic steroids in the home of World Wrestling Entertainment star Chris Benoit after the murders of his wife and son, WWE said late Tuesday that there’s no proof that "roid rage" led to the deaths.
While police in Georgia said Tuesday that investigators found anabolic steroids in Benoit’s home following the asphyxiation deaths of his wife and son, WWE noted in a prepared statement that Benoit -- who hung himself after his wife and son were killed -- had a prescription for the steroids.
“The physical findings announced by authorities indicate deliberation, not rage. The wife’s feet and hands were bound and she was asphyxiated, not beaten to death,” WWE said in the statement. “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.”
Police also said Benoit apparently placed a bible next to the bodies of his wife, Nancy, and seven-year-old son, Daniel, after they were killed. That’s further evidence that steroid use didn’t prompt the murders, WWE suggested in the statement.
“The presence of a bible by each is also not an act of rage,” WWE said.
WWE said Benoit tested negative following a drug test administered by WWE April 10. “Toxicology tests have not even been completed, so there is no current evidence that Benoit even had steroids or any other substance in his body,” the company added.
Fayette County, Ga., Sheriff’s Department Lt. Tommy Pope said authorities believe Benoit choked Nancy to death Friday night in an upstairs family room before asphyxiating Daniel in the boy’s upstairs bedroom Saturday morning.
Investigators said Benoit hung himself in his basement weight room Saturday afternoon using the cord of a weight machine that contained a pulley.
Nancy, who was wrapped in a towel, was found with her wrists and feet bound, police said in a press conference broadcast live nationally on Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC.
