Chris Benoit and family found dead

Authorities believe wrestler Benoit killed wife, son then himself

Authorities believe a professional wrestler, his wife and son ‑ found dead in their central Fayette County home Monday afternoon ‑ died in a murder-suicide.

District Attorney Scott Ballard said Monday night that he felt confident that Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy, their 7-year-old son and then himself.

Ballard declined to release the cause of death, but said that earlier news reports that the Benoits died of gunshots were false. The crime lab is in the process of confirming the cause of death, but Ballard said there was enough evidence on scene to make him confident that the Benoits were not killed by another person.

Ballard said sheriff's deputies were called to the Benoit home around 2:30 p.m. after another wrestler called the sheriff's department asking them to check on the family because Benoit had failed to show up for an event in another state. When deputies got to the Benoit home off Quarters Road, they smelled the odor of decaying bodies, Ballard said.

The family's bodies were found inside the home, Ballard confirmed.

"Every indication is that this is a murder-suicide," Ballard said, adding that additional investigation still has to take place before a final determination can be made.

Ballard said when he heard that a young child was killed, it "just tore my guts out."

Benoit made his WWE debut in January 2000, following a stint in ECW and WCW and he was at one time world heavyweight champion, world tag team champion and intercontinental champion.