If Chris had had a history of this kind of behaviour, if indeed its true, then with the media and internet the way it is, we would have known, so you have to assume it was something that caused him to snap rather than something ingrained into his personality. Maybe his wife had threatened to leave him and take his son, and being the totally devoted father he was, he couldnt handle it, and in an act of uncontrollable rage, he committed this horrible act as the only way he could keep them.
Chris was certainly not mentally ill, but something obviously would have pushed him over the edge to do this.
Originally Posted By: Pig Iran
Yeah, the fact that he did this (if indeed he did) doesn't make him a bad or evil person or make him any less of a man. It is highly probable he was suffering from a mental condition or something, and because of his private nature no one may have seen the symptoms as anything out of the usual. the fact is that he had apparently been sending weird and cryptic texts to his closest friends which is why the police showed up in the first place--so his friends knew his character well and noticed the sudden change.
I won't speculate on the exact occurrences, but he was probably been stricken with a mental/psychological breakdown of some type in the last few months and something triggered the actions as devastating and horrible as they were/are.
Originally Posted By: Nowhereman
Originally Posted By: Ultimate Jaburg53
Nobody truly knows what happened.
Thats the main thing. Even if it is confirmed (which it still isnt), how all three died, unless there is some kind of note or something, then any reasons or exactly who did what, will never truly be known.
Had it simply been a case of Benoit killing his wife by accident or in a moment of rage then losing his sanity through grief?
Or, as Jaburg said, had it been Nancy who killed their son, and Chris then killed her in anger, before killing himself because he cannot live without his family?
Was someone else involved?
Originally Posted By: thedoctor
More info that might put this into more perspective.
Pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his 7-year-old son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with the pulley of a weight machine, authorities said Tuesday.
Nancy Benoit filed for a divorce in 2003, saying the couple's three-year marriage was irrevocably broken and alleging "cruel treatment."
She later dropped the complaint, as well as a request for a restraining order in which she charged that the 5-foot-10, 220-pound Benoit had threatened her and had broken furniture in their home.
In the divorce filing, she said Benoit made more than $500,000 a year as a professional wrestler and asked for permanent custody of Daniel and child support. In his response, Benoit sought joint custody.
Originally Posted By: Pig Iran
....I also am not excusing the horrific act..i just can't see him knowingly doing it..the wife part maybe in a "roid rage" or something but not then premeditatedly killing his son a half day to day later--it doesn't make any sense, especially a bad or evil person. I think he was mentally damaged somehow at the time.
Originally Posted By: Beardguy57
Benoit had a son with physical and possibly mental defects.
Fathers have aspirations and expectations for their sons, whom they view as the physical embodiement of their own hopes and dreams.
Benoit may have had dreams of his son as going into the family business someday. All that was crushed when the son was born a less than perfect physical specimen.
Benoit may have been angry at his wife for not having the athletic son he had wanted.
edit for time-bastie
I don't pretend to know exactly why Benoit had murdered his family, I merely offer a possible explanation.
These are a few what I thought to be the more obvious examples of attempts to justify Benoit's actions. Admittedly, some quotes were from before more facts came out and most posts had the writer saying he wasn't trying to justify the tragedy. However an outsider like me sees these words as an attempt to let Benoit off the hook by giving scenarios or circumstances where his actions are understandable...
While looking for these quotes, I read many of the posts more thoroughly than on my first read thru...sue me, it's late and this thread is huge...
I'll ammend my earlier thoughts.
Maybe you guys aren't exactly trying to justify his actions. Perhaps it's looking for explanaitions where there aren't any available.
The only person who really knows why Benoit did what he did is dead.
Maybe you guys are looking for a sense of closure. But still, no matter what the intention...IMO, it seems that there is an effort to excuse his actions by looking for outside causes for the behaviour.
Wait...excuse is not the right word...Absolve works better.
Grimm...again, I'm not trying to start any shit. Nor am I pissing on anybody's genuine grief and concern. And I'm not calling the guy a scumbag even though his actions were reprehensible and deplorable. I'm just looking at this with an outsiders eye. And I don't understand it.
This is just how I see it.
Oderint, dum metuant.
You are a god damned idiot, you know that? You ought to be smacked upside your dumb-fuck head, even after all these years. Shame on you!
