The Last Days of Chris Benoit

By Michael Lewis

No one knows exactly what precipitated the events that evening. At some point after the pool cleaner left, Chris and Nancy Benoit struggled in the second floor den of their home. The 220-pound Chris took his 5'4" wife by surprise, first overpowering her, then binding her hands and feet with duct tape. Because police later found blood under her face, they believe Chris may have smashed her head into the floor. Pinning his knee into her back, he then wrapped a TV cable around her neck, drawing it tight until she stopped breathing.

Three weeks prior Nancy had bought her husband a silver cross to wear, a sign of his recent religious devotion. Now Chris Benoit wrapped his wife in a blanket and placed a Bible next to her corpse.

Benoit’s son probably had no idea what happened to his mom; his room was on the opposite side of the 7,500-square-foot house. Police believe that sometime in the next few hours Benoit walked into Daniel’s room while the seven-year-old was still asleep.

Daniel was the happiest little boy around. He loved Cheerios, school, and wrestling. He was slightly small for his age but full of life. He could bust out a perfect imitation of his grandma Maureen Toffoloni, and his bond with Nancy was so great that relatives joked she would have to buy a prom dress one day.

Daniel’s bedroom was a shrine to his daddy. On one shelf there was a foot-high action figure of Chris. To the right of his tiny bed was a chair holding two replica championship belts. On the walls were posters of his dad. One in particular stood out. It showed Benoit executing his finishing move, the Crippler Crossface. With an assassin’s precision, Benoit would kneel down next to a rival grappler. He’d lock his hands around his opponent’s face and pull back to stretch his neck.

As Daniel slept, Benoit approached his bed. Police believe he gently woke him, then convinced his son to swallow some Xanax, an antianxiety drug he himself was taking. The act was remarkable in its kindness, considering that shortly after drugging Daniel, Chris Benoit strangled him. He then placed another Bible next to his body.

Police were later confused by the bruising pattern on Daniel’s face, until one investigator saw footage of Benoit in the ring and realized that it matched the application of the Crippler Crossface. Benoit, it appears, took his son’s life as if he were an opponent in just another simulated fight.

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