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Chris Benoit's Final Days

Originally posted Thursday July 05, 2007 12:35 PM EDT

Benoit and his son Daniel trick-or-treating in Peachtree City, Ga., on Halloween, 2005. Photo by: DAVID COPPAGE

But the search for a motive behind the crimes, about which Benoit, 40, left no suicide note or other explanation, has only intensified. Did Daniel, 7, secretly suffer from a serious medical condition – or was the idea that his health caused a family crisis merely an attempt by Benoit's employers at WWE to deflect attention away from the world of professional wrestling? Was the wrestler in the grips of a steroid-induced rage – or did his meticulous execution of the crimes suggest otherwise? And why would a loving husband and dad, described by numerous friends and relatives as kind, modest and quiet, destroy his own family? "I've never heard Chris say a cross word to anybody," recalls Armstrong. "The aggression was what he put on between the bells" of a match. Pending the results of toxicology reports (and a review, now under way, of the contents of a safe-deposit box rented by a member of the family), District Attorney Ballard says, "None of it makes any sense. Nobody's ever going to give me a reason that satisfies me for killing that boy."

One early clue proved to be a false start: a contributor to the Wikipedia Web site posted a mention of Nancy's death a full 14 hours before her body had been discovered by police. But the writer, who chose to remain anonymous, later apologized, saying he was repeating an idle rumor that, by a "huge coincidence," turned out to be true. Questions about Daniel's health remain central to the mystery. Two days after the bodies were discovered, the WWE suggested through its attorney that Benoit's son Daniel may have suffered from a medical condition known as Fragile X syndrome, a form of retardation often accompanied by autism. The DA originally speculated that the boy was undersized and that the needle marks were perhaps the result of injections of growth hormone.

But the child's maternal grandparents, speaking through their lawyer, said Daniel "was a normal child with no health problems that they could discern," and investigators subsequently said the boy's medical records showed no evidence of any serious illness. Still, the pro-wrestling organization, through its attorney Jerry McDevitt, insists the boy's health was an issue. "We have reason to believe, and we think the evidence will show, the situation with Daniel was a source of tension in the relationship between Chris and Nancy," McDevitt says.