Brain Study: Concussions Caused Benoit's Rage POSTED: 7:21 am EDT September 5, 2007 UPDATED: 12:00 pm EDT September 5, 2007
NEW YORK -- A new study suggests that a series of concussions may have caused the rage that led wrestler Chris Benoit to murder his wife, his son and commit suicide.
Benoit's father, Michael Benoit, turned over part of the wrestler's brain to researchers at West Virginia University and the Sports Legacy Institute. "I was grasping for anything. The world was very black. We didn't even know how to deal with this," said Michael Benoit. Dr. Julian Bailes, head of neurosurgery at WVU, said the results of tests on Chris Benoit's brain were striking.
Showing a slide of Benoit's brain tissue Wednesday morning on ABC's Good Morning America Bailes pointed out what he called abnormalities. "These are dead brain cells," said Bailes.
When asked how much of that he found Bailes replied, "It was extensive, throughout Chris's brain. It was striking and maybe shocking in the extent." The researcher said Benoit's brain scan looked similar to those of Alzheimer's patients. He described Benoit's brain as "very abnormal, something you should never see in a 40-year old."
Bailes has done similar research on the brains of former professional football players who committed suicide. He said he found similar brain damage in their cases.
Bailes theroizes that repeated concussions can lead to dementia which can contribute to severe behavioral problems. In the case of the former NFL players he said he found a recurring "theme of failure in their personal lives and their business lives, depression and then ultimate suicide."
Benoit's father suggests that brain damage could have lead his son to murder his family. "We have no understanding of how this could have happened. So it was important to us to investigate to see if something went terribly wrong," said Michael Benoit.
He said his son suffered dozens of concussions during his wrestling career.
Investigators have said that Benoit killed his wife, then his son and then himself in his Fayetteville, Ga. home the weekend of June 22. Michael Benoit said Wednesday that he agreed to the testing because murder-suicide was out of character for his son. He also disclosed that after the killings, he discovered a diary written by his son that showed his son was having problems.
"After reading the diary, I would have thought it was written by someone who was extremely disturbed at the time," Michael Benoit said. He did not elaborate, but he did say a friend told him that prior to the murder-suicide, Chris Benoit had been wearing a rosary, which he said was also out of character.
"I think it's the extreme that is in the wrestling industry today," he told reporters. "The human skull is not built to get hit by a chair or something."
Copyright 2007 by WSBTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
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