'Roid rage' questions surround Benoit murder-suicide
POSTED: 5:29 p.m. EDT, June 27, 2007
? Performance steroids found in wrestler's home; toxicology report pending
? Physician: Steroids linked to psychosis, anti-social behavior, depression
? Benoit's wrestling group discounts suggestions of so-called "roid rage"
? Police: Wrestler strangled wife, suffocated his 7-year-old son, hanged himself
FAYETTEVILLE, Georgia (CNN) -- The discovery of anabolic steroids in pro-wrestler Chris Benoit's home has raised speculation that the performance-enhancing drugs may be linked to his death and the killings of his wife and young son.
The 40-year-old champion strangled his wife, Nancy Benoit, and suffocated his 7-year-old son Daniel, authorities said, before he hanged himself on a portable weight machine inside his lavish home outside Atlanta. Police have said no motive has been determined.
"A lot of prescription medication" was found in the home, including anabolic steroids, said Fayette County Sheriff Lt. Tommy Pope. (Watch the house where Chris Benoit, police say, killed his wife and son Video)
But authorities were still waiting on toxicology reports, which could take several weeks, to determine what, if any, medication was found in the bodies.
Chris Benoit was a pro-wrestler for 22 years and star of World Wrestling Entertainment, which strongly denounced any suggestion that steroid use could be connected to the tragedy.
The WWE said Benoit tested negative for drugs during an independently administered evaluation on April 10.
CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Wednesday that it may never be known whether the deaths were linked to steroids or so-called "roid-rage."
"The drugs said to be found in the home are a synthetic form of testosterone," Gupta said. "A lot of people use it to build muscle mass, but there are longstanding known relationships between the steroids and roid rage. It could lead to psychosis and anti-social behavior and depression."
But the WWE said evidence gathered in the investigation indicates "deliberation, not rage."
"The wife's feet and hands were bound and she was asphyxiated, not beaten to death," said a statement posted on the company's Web site. "By the account of the authorities, there were substantial periods of time between the death of the wife and the death of the son, again suggesting deliberate thought, not rage."
Investigators found the bodies of Nancy and Daniel Benoit with Bibles placed next to them, authorities have said. "The presence of a Bible by each is also not an act of rage," said the WWE.
Former professional wrestler Del Wilkes said athletes use steroids to gain strength and size, which are key to success in the wrestling world. But he warned that the drugs sometimes come with "moments of uncontrollable rage."
"You can feel it coming on but there's nothing you can do about it," Wilkes said. "The next thing you know, a minor argument has gone into a full-fledged rage, when you've got your hands around somebody's neck. You're in a fight and doing things you wouldn't normally do."
Wilkes also said the drugs can also cause "tremendous" depression "when guys are coming off steroids after they've been on it for a long period of time."
An official who is part of the investigation told CNN that Benoit's name was on receipts that indicated he had purchased shipments of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones from Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando, Florida, facility that is at the center of a nationwide investigation into the sale of illegal steroids.