Chris Benoit Dead - Toxicology results released

[Downhome 0]

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfu...ry.asp?ID=94333

 

The Associated Press - ATLANTA

 

Federal drug agents and sheriff's officials raided the office of pro wrestler Chris Benoit's personal physician in search of records and other items listed in a warrant, an official said Thursday.

 

The raid at Dr. Phil Astin's office in Carrollton, in West Georgia, began Wednesday night and concluded early Thursday morning, said agent Chuvalo Truesdell, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta.

 

Truesdell said a search warrant obtained by the Fayette County Sheriff's Department in connection with the Benoit investigation was executed there.

 

He said records and other items were being sought, but he said he could not immediately be more specific. Truesdell also was unable to say what was seized. No arrests were made.

 

Among other things, investigators were looking for Benoit's medical records to see if he had been prescribed steroids and, if so, whether that prescription was appropriate, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because records in the case remain sealed.

 

Astin did not return repeated calls to his cell phone from The Associated Press on Thursday.

 

Benoit had been under the care of Astin, a longtime friend, for treatment of low testosterone levels. Astin said Wednesday the condition likely originated from previous steroid use.

 

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit in the past but would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed when Benoit visited his office on Friday.

 

Also Thursday, there was another bizarre twist to the case involving a posting to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

 

At 12:01 a.m. Monday, about 14 hours before authorities say the bodies were found, someone updated Benoit's page on the Wikipedia site stating that the reason he missed a match Saturday night was "stemming from the death of his wife Nancy."

 

The posting was made by someone using an IP address registered in Stamford, Conn., where World Wrestling Entertainment is based, said Cary Bass, a representative of Wikimedia Foundation of St. Petersburg, Fla., the parent company of Wikipedia.

 

It was not known where the posting was actually sent from, however, Bass said.

 

The Fayette County District Attorney's Office was made aware of the posting by reporters on Thursday and forwarded the information to sheriff's investigators who are looking into it, a legal assistant said in an e-mail to AP.

 

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said to his knowledge, no one at the WWE knew Nancy Benoit was dead before her body was found Monday afternoon. Text messages released by officials show that messages from Chris Benoit's cell phone were being sent to co-workers a few hours after the Wikipedia posting.

 

McDevitt said WWE employees are given WWE e-mail addresses, though he did not know if Chris Benoit had one assigned to him.

 

"I have no idea who posted this," McDevitt said. "It's at least possible Chris may have sent some other text message to someone that we're unaware of. We don't know if he did. The phone is in the possession of authorities."

 

Over the weekend, authorities said, Benoit killed his wife and son and then killed himself at their home in Fayetteville.

 

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the slayings. Some experts believe steroids cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

 

Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard issued a statement Thursday saying he could not comment on the raid at Astin's office, but added that he might have something to say later in the day.

 

Also Thursday, Ballard told the AP that 10 empty beer cans were found in a trash can in the Benoit home. An empty wine bottle was found a few feet from where Benoit hanged himself, Ballard said.

 

It could take several weeks for toxicology tests to be completed on Benoit to see what medications, if any, were in his system.

 

A "closed" sign hung on the front door of Astin's office Thursday. On the side door was another sign saying, "Our office is closed until further notice and Dr. Astin cannot be reached for comment."

 

Several patients who arrived for Thursday appointments left disappointed.

 

One of them, Amanda League of Carrollton said she knew nothing about Astin's connection to Benoit or about the search.

 

"Oh my goodness, I don't know what to think," League said. "He's always been a great doctor to me. Very nice. The staff is nice. There's great treatment here."

 

In the days before the killings, Benoit and his wife argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, according to an attorney for the WWE wrestling league.

 

The child suffered from a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism.

 

Over the past weekend, authorities said, Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine cable in the couple's suburban home. No motive was offered for the killings, which were discovered Monday.

 

The WWE attorney, McDevitt, said Thursday that a motive remains elusive because Benoit did not leave a lot of clues to his state of mind as far as the league knows. He did say that Benoit requested and received four months off from work in 2006 for undisclosed personal reasons.

 

"He was feeling depressed, that kind of thing," McDevitt said.

 

Ballard said Thursday that while investigators continue to search for a motive, at this time they could only speculate.

 

"I don't think there will ever be a motive that will satisfy me for killing a 7-year-old child," Ballard said.

[Ripper 0]

Possible side effects of steroids (along with withdrawal symptoms) include depression and paranoia. Anyone who denies steroids could have played a part in this needs to do some research, both on the effects of steroids, and the story itself.

 

 

And someone that just smoked crack could have had a heart attack because of their eating habits, but chances are, it was the fucking crack.

 

POSSIBLE side effects of prolonged steroid use vs. Definite side effects of multiple concussions. I am sure steroids didn't help any, but wrestlers more than anyone cycle the things now (unlike in the 80's when they were constantly on them) and are far less likely to suffer from the side-effects. Plus with implementing things like HGH into it, its almost a little antiquated to still be considering ROIDED UP JUICER GOING CRAZY as the cause when there is a much much much MUCH MUCH more probable excuse staring you right in the eyes. You have numerous examples of the exact same symptoms manifesting themselves in people who have been frequently concussed and not treated.

 

People keep talking about all the wrestlers that died but ignore the fact that most of them were a product of 80's juicing. Most of them weren't educated in the "safe" way to utilize steroids then. Most of the designer steroids that are around today weren't invented yet. They did more damage to themselves in 5 years than a new user today would do in 20 utilizing cycling.

 

Not condoning steroid use in anyway, but this after school special belief that you take a shot and turn into the incredible hulk is just a little dated now. Now, you are still damaging your body to some degree, but not nearly as bad as you did before.

 

Getting clocked in the head over and over is just as dangerous today as it was 20 years ago, and beniot has been getting clocked in the head for that long. The paranoia, the obviously out of character psychotic episode he had, all point with big flashing neon lights towards chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

 

I will acknowledge that there is a slight chance that steroids played a bigger part in this. But the media wanting to jump on the steroid angle are missing the more painfully obvious alternative that really needs more attention.

 

[haVoc 0]

Only thing that can make this weirder is if DNA from a fourth person is found on Nancy and Daniels body.

 

Oh, and the FBI should have raided a WWE event a long time ago. I have a feeling it's coming soon.

[StrapFinlay 0]

As far as the steroid part, I don't know what to think. The media is right to go after WWE in regards to steroids and their dubious testing process, but it likely doesn't apply to Benoit killing his family (well maybe as one of a dozen factors).

 

Couldn't agree more.

[Downhome 0]

Only thing that can make this weirder is if DNA from a fourth person is found on Nancy and Daniels body.

 

Oh, and the FBI should have raided a WWE event a long time ago. I have a feeling it's coming soon.

 

 

Yep, this isn't looking good for WWE at all right now. Even if the Wiki entry is totally fake, which it more than likely is (although it's an absolute HUGE coincidence), there's going to be more questions aimed at WWE than ever. I'm halfway expecting a raid of WWE headquarters any time now.

 

I wonder how many papers WWE might be shredding right about now.

[haVoc 0]

A little more on the Doc.

 

http://www.tmz.com/2007/06/28/benoits-doc-...tion-practices/

 

Benoit's Doc Has History of Shady Prescription Practices

Posted Jun 28th 2007 3:24PM by TMZ Staff

 

Filed under: Celebrity Justice

 

TMZ has learned that the personal physician who saw Chris Benoit just hours before the wrestler killed his wife and son once had his medical license suspended for "repeatedly prescribing several controlled substances to patients in excessive quantities or for excessive periods of time and prescribing for other than legitimate purposes."

 

According to records from the Georgia State Board of Medical Examiners, Phil Carroll Astin was found guilty of engaging in "unprofessional conduct" in 1992 by overprescribing a plethora of pills including amphetamines, antidepressants, tranquilizers and narcotics to various patients. Chris Benoit was not among those mentioned in the case.

 

As a result, the medical board suspended Astin's license for 30 days, put him on 5 years probation and fined him $2000. Astin was reinstated in 1997, following the completion of his sentence.

 

Astin's offices were located in Carrollton, Georgia -- a small college town about 50 miles from Benoit's home.

 

TMZ has also obtained Medical Board records which show that Dr. Astin was suspended again in 2001 for "reasons related to competence or character."

 

Early Thursday morning, authorities raided Dr. Astin's office in connection with Benoit investigation. Officials claim they seized medical records, but no arrests were made. According to the AP, Astin has admitted to prescribing testosterone to Benoit in the past, but has not commented on what, if anything, he prescribed to the wrestler on Friday.

 

Calls to Dr. Astin were not immediately returned

 

Credit: Gerweck

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I suspected that the doctor might be a little shady. I can't think of one reason why Benoit would have a prescription for anabolic steroids.

[k thx 0]

I will acknowledge that there is a slight chance that steroids played a bigger part in this. But the media wanting to jump on the steroid angle are missing the more painfully obvious alternative that really needs more attention.

While you're right about the media overplaying the steroids angle, I don't thiink you can say any one of the possible factors (steroids, concussions, drink/drug abuse, history of domestic violence etc) is any more likely to be the cause than any of the others.

[k thx 0]

I suspected that the doctor might be a little shady. I can't think of one reason why Benoit would have a prescription for anabolic steroids.

If there's one thing that's apparent, it's that we have no idea about the facts here. Benoit may have had a legitimate reason he was keeping quiet, they may have been for Daniel or Nancy or they could be a falsified reason to get a legitimate perscription.

[Downhome 0]

I don't have a problem with the media mentioning it as a possibility. Heck, I wish something would be done to end the rampant steroid use in professional wrestling (as well as other sports, general use, etc.). What I do have a problem with is when a report starts with a crazy headline like ROID RAGE DOUBLE MURDER-SUICIDE, as if it's already a fact.

 

Talk about it, question it all you want, but don't act like you already know it to be true.

 

I don't think that there's a single doubt that they'll find something in Benoit, but even that doesn't mean that it was a case of roid rage or anything like that.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Roid Rage is basically out of the question given the circumstances surrounding the killings. Nancy being tied up and choked with a cord does not suggest a killing in the heat of the moment. Neither does waiting 12-24 hours and killing your son, then yourself. There's a good chance steroids had some part to play in this, but it was likely not anything short-term like roid rage. If anything, it was a gradual effect due to long-term abuse.

[Enigma 0]

TMZ.COM UNCOVERS PREVIOUS SUSPENSION OF PRACTICE ON BENOIT'S DOCTOR

 

http://www.tmz.com/2007/06/28/benoits-doc-...hady-practices/

 

TMZ has learned that the personal physician who saw Chris Benoit just hours before the wrestler killed his wife and son once had his medical license suspended for "reasons related to competence or character."

 

In 2001, the Georgia state medical board suspended Phil C. Astin, M.D.'s license to practice medicine for three months and fined him $500.

 

Early Thursday morning, authorities raided Dr. Astin's office in connection with Benoit investigation. Officials claim they seized medical records, but no arrests were made. According to the AP, Astin has admitted to prescribing testosterone to Benoit in the past, but has not commented on what, if anything, he prescribed to the wrestler on Friday.

 

Ironically, Dr. Astin's father also had also run into trouble with the state medical board. According to records from the Georgia State Board of Medical Examiners, Phil Carroll Astin Sr. was found guilty of engaging in "unprofessional conduct" in 1992 by over-prescribing a plethora of pills including amphetamines, antidepressants, tranquilizers and narcotics to various patients.

 

As a result, the medical board suspended the father's license for 30 days, put him on 5 years probation and fined him $2000. Astin Sr. was reinstated in 1997, following the completion of his sentence.

 

Astin's offices were located in Carrollton, Georgia -- a small college town about 50 miles from Benoit's home.

 

Calls to Dr. Astin Jr. were not immediately returned.

[bob_barron 0]

Hey let's post every newsbit 5 times!

[dubq 0]

It's now forever drilled into my brain that "Astin's offices were located in Carrollton, Georgia -- a small college town about 50 miles from Benoit's home." *nods*

[Atticus Chaos 0]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070628/ap_on_...s/wrestler_dead

 

Also Thursday, Ballard told the AP that 10 empty beer cans were found in a trash can in the Benoit home. An empty wine bottle was found a few feet from where Benoit hanged himself, Ballard said.

 

 

 

 

[Craig Th 0]

WHY do some of you have RIP Benoit in your sigs or avatars? HE KILLED HIS WIFE AND CHILD, he should get NO peace where he is.

[Ripper 0]

Sigh, so there is this other douce on CNN right now who is a expert because he used to take Anabolic steroids there fore he knows that "definately, no doubt about it that steriods played a role in this".

 

Its sad, because steroids are such a fucked up drug, you aren't going to get many people arguing the real truth behind them because it would come off like arguing drunk driving isn't really THAT bad.

[Downhome 0]

I can't even begin to imagine just how pissed off Steve Austin is right now.

 

Anyway:

 

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/13589422/detail.html#

 

 

Channel 2 Obtains Picture Of Benoit At Doctor's Office

 

POSTED: 3:55 pm EDT June 28, 2007

UPDATED: 3:59 pm EDT June 28, 2007

 

ATLANTA -- WSB-TV Channel 2 has obtained a photograph of a a smiling Chris Benoit at his doctor's office Friday afternoon just hours before he went home and killed his wife and son and then committed suicide.

 

The picture was snapped by a wrestling fan at Dr. Phil Astin's office in Carrollton.

 

Federal drug agents and sheriff's officials raided that office Wednesday night in search of records and other items in a warrant.

 

The fan who took the picture described Benoit as soft-spoken and "nice." He signed an autograph for the woman.

 

Agent Chuvalo Truesdell, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta, said Thursday that the raid at Astin's office in Carrollton began Wednesday night and concluded early Thursday morning.

 

Truesdell said a search warrant obtained by the Fayette County Sheriff's Department in connection with the Benoit investigation was executed there.

 

He said records and other items were being sought, but he said he could not immediately be more specific. Truesdell also was unable to say what was seized. No arrests were made.

 

Benoit had been under the care of Astin, a longtime friend, for treatment of low testosterone levels. Astin said yesterday the condition likely originated from previous steroid use.

 

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit in the past but would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed when Benoit visited his office on Friday.

 

Over the weekend, Benoit killed his wife and son and then killed himself at their home in Fayetteville.

 

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the slayings. Some experts believe steroids cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Here's some fun facebook groups to join:

 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2396024293 - "Burn in Hell"

 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2425151237 - "Benoit didn't do it"

 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2436061467 - "Benoit Family "Double Homicide Suicide" is a cover up"

 

 

[Atticus Chaos 0]

ignore

[Ripper 0]

Austin should have a statement saying beer had nothing to do with this. Beer only makes you beat your wife not kill'em, right Steve?

[Downhome 0]

From Meltzer:

 

Monday's issue is done. It will be about the Benoit case. There will be a tremendous amount in there that I don't believe has been reported anywhere else. I believe that while in the end, there is no way to not be outraged at the situation, nor any valid excuse whatsoever, you will see what is a very complex, sad and horrifying story. I don't believe it's a roid rage story. I don't rule out steroids being one of numerous aspects that could have played a part in the story. There were numerous stresses, personal, professional, and Chris had a dark side.

[mysterious_w 0]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070628/ap_on_...s/wrestler_dead

 

Also Thursday, Ballard told the AP that 10 empty beer cans were found in a trash can in the Benoit home. An empty wine bottle was found a few feet from where Benoit hanged himself, Ballard said.

 

I guess the assmuption you're trying to make is that Benoit had alcohol problems. If the trash hadn't been cleared since he arrived home on Wednesday from SD tapings, then he had 5 days to drink 10 cans. 3 or so a night is not problematic, and half of those cans could easily have been Nancy's.

[cbacon 0]

WHY do some of you have RIP Benoit in your sigs or avatars? HE KILLED HIS WIFE AND CHILD, he should get NO peace where he is.

 

I thought God loves us all and was all about forgiveness and everything :/ :\

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Also in the WO update were Dave's thoughts on the wikipedia thing:

 

--In a really bizarre story regarding the story going around everywhere about Wikipedia at 4:01 a.m. on Monday posting that Nancy Benoit had passed away, long before authorities knew, and it was removed 20 minutes later due to a lack of confirmation, my belief is that it was nobody who knew anything. The edit came from Connecticut, but not from WWE headquarters. My feeling is that this is just a bizarre coincidence. The WWE later found that on its chat line at 8:41 p.m., during the PPV, after Benoit missed the show, someone on a WWE chat said that he missed the show due to his wife dying. Later, when the person was asked where he heard the story, he said, "Meltzer reported it." An hour later after the Wikipedia entry was taken down, someone from Australia edited it and again put that Nancy Benoit had passed away, attributing it to "several pro wrestling web sites." I didn't know of this until today when questioned by WWE who asked if Benoit had called me, which he hadn't, nor did I report it or know anything until Monday afternoon, after the WWE wrestlers were told. It appears it was a hoax started by someone and given credibility by usage of my name, no more than the daily fake stories people make up on MMA and pro wrestling chat boards, the appear to have led to the Wikipedia edit, this become a big story, and it may be nothing more to the story other than an eerie irony.

 

[bob_barron 0]

I hope Dave offers a special deal for that issue- I don't know if I want to subscribe to the WON, but I really want to read the issue

[Downhome 0]

I think Linda did a much better job on Good Morning America than Vince did on The Today Show.

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Wikipedia edit I first traced to Stamford makes headlines: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287194,00.html

[Downhome 0]

Here's the shirt Benoit is wearing in the above picture, if any of you care:

 

[dubq 0]

And WWE.com's "maintainer's" continue to prove why they're a bunch of colossal boobs. All of the Benoit stuff is down, except this:

http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/superstars/chrisbenoit/bio/