Yet for some reason, we seem to have full details of what happened to who and during what timeframe within hours of the discovery of the crime scene. Before midnight EST, less than an hour after RAW's tribute show had ended, details were already being released that Chris was the murderer of Nancy and Daniel, and that the bodies were found in separate rooms. Immediately a flag gets raised - with all three victims dead, no witnesses, and the believed causes of death, there could be speculation of who killed who, but nothing obvious. While it's unlikely that a seven year old would have killed his mother, it is possible that an adult woman could be physically capable of killing her child. But since there was a strong male and his death appeared to be a suicide (meaning he was the last to die), then he becomes the lead suspect. Or, as many of the media outlets wrote, the murderer.

As Monday rolls into Tuesday, the reported stories and snippets coming from various sources become some real-life macabre version of Clue: Chris killed Nancy first on Friday then his son on Saturday, and himself on Sunday. Chris killed his son first on Friday, his wife on Saturday, and himself later Saturday. Chris killed his wife on Saturday, watched the wrestling event he was supposed to be performing at on television with his son on Sunday, then killed him later that night, killing himself early Monday morning. Garbage bags, alarm clock cords, weight belts - and none of it is "wrong" because the media outlets that report it state that the police are "investigating the possibility" of it. Of course they're investigating the possibility of it. They're investigating the possibility that Kevin Sullivan, still bitter over losing Nancy and having to put over Chris in WCW, came in through an unlocked door, killed Nancy and Daniel, waited for Chris to come home, killed him, then hung him from his weight room to make it look like a suicide. They threw it out in a few minutes, but they investigated it. I think. But you get the point.

The point was that we had Chris Benoit convicted of the crime before the police made any kind of official announcement except that the three of them were dead, in separate rooms, and weren't shot or stabbed. In an effort not to get scooped, especially on a high profile case like this, news outlets will throw out every scenerio they can possibly report legally so that if by chance somewhere down the line one of their reports turns out to be accurate, they can say that they were the first to report the breaking news.

And then there's Scott Ballard. The Fayette County District Attorney seems to enjoy the spotlight, granting seemingly any interview possible that gets his name in the paper or a little TV face time. Starting the drama immediately by being quoted that the murder of a child "tore my guts out", he then - almost in pro wrestling-like fashion - built the suspense by saying "the details, when they come out, are going to prove a little bizarre."

OH BOY OH BOY I CANT WAIT

Building to a Tuesday 3PM press conference, AP got info from "a law enforcement source speaking on condition of anonymity" that gave causes of death to all three (strangle - Nancy, smothered - Daniel, hanging - Chris), and reported that Chris did it. Still without any timeframe though. AP would later speak with "people close to the investigation" and give a vague timeframe and weapons used to commit the crimes: Nancy, electrical cord, Saturday; Daniel, bag, Sunday; Chris, hanging (no more detail than that), Monday. At the same time, a gossip website somehow managed to scoop thesmokinggun.com by releasing the documentation of Nancy's petition for divorce and request for an order of protection back in 2003. The petition and the order were both rescinded by Nancy a few months later, but BANG - we have motive now. Mind you, there were no reported events of domestic violence on the record and that the divorce petition and order of protection mentioned threats that Chris made and that he destroyed property in the house, but made no mention of there ever being any physical contact.

Now, I'm not saying that Nancy wasn't justified in filing what she did or that her concerns weren't legit at the time. But the problem with that is that there are people who would use something like this unethically for whatever reason - more of a financial allowance, a new car, a rewrite of the will, etc. Again, not saying that Nancy would do that, but unfortunately the actions of others in the past has to leave the shadow of doubt over the validity of any kind of claim like this. There's no proof needed to file that claim (physical abuse could be backed up by medical records or police records), just a sworn affidavit. And when filed against a professional wrestler who is (obviously) much stronger than she is and works in a profession where violence and rage are common? No judge in the country would question that. The problem there is that the document essentially means nothing, but the fact that it exists automatically makes it true, and paints a violent history, whether deserved or not.

Ballard, not surprisingly, was the key man when the 3PM press conference took place. He stated that law officials believed the asphyxiation theory (never stating with what, however) with a timeframe of Nancy on Friday night, Daniel on Saturday morning, and Chris' hanging on Saturday night (instead of Sunday, which had been reported an hour earlier). He mentioned signs of a struggle with Nancy, with Nancy's hand and feet bound with tape and blood under her head. He mentioned Nancy was found in an upstairs living area, while Daniel was found in his bedroom, both with bibles placed next to their bodies. Ballard mentioned that Benoit hung himself with a cord.

He brought up that steroids were found in the house, along with "lots" of what is believed to be legal prescription medication was found in the house. What kind of medication? Don't know - that may be released to the media at a later date. Important to mention during the press conference, but potentially not important enough to give details about. Maaaaaaaybe something bad. Maaaaaaaybe something good.

OH BOY OH BOY I CANT WAIT

Text messages were sent by Benoit to one of Benoit's co-workers. What did they say? We can't get into that right now.

OH BOY OH BOY I CANT WAIT

[The WWE knew the details of the text messages and were going to release them on their website, but were asked not to by local law officials. Ballard would later state in an EXCLUSIVE~! interview with ESPN.com that one of the two "alarming" text messages stated that his wife and son were sick. "Of course, they were dead," Ballard was quoted as saying. Yet when WWE.com would later post the five (not two) text messages that were sent from Chris and Nancy's phones, none of them had anything to do with any illness excuse; four were similar messages stating the Benoit family's physical address, while the fifth mentioned that their dogs were in an enclosed area and that the garage side door was open, presumably to give whomever received the messages instructions on where to find the crime scene, and how to enter the house without force. More on Ballard and ESPN.com in a minute.]

It was mentioned that Benoit had been previously arrested (for DUI) but had no prior history of domestic violence. It was also mentioned that there was no suicide note.

The final note from the press conference goes back to Ballard, who weighed in on the bizarreness (is that a word?) and to remind us, once again, his feelings about Daniel.

"In a community like this, it's bizarre to have a murder/suicide, especially involving the death of a seven-year-old child. That's what struck me the most in all this: There's a seven- year-old little boy who's dead. I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my mind around that completely."

"It struck me as somewhat bizarre that he would even be in the home with their deceased bodies all that time... I'm baffled why anyone would kill a seven year old. I don't have any idea at all about a motive."

SEVEN YEARS OLD. IF YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN, DANIEL WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD. SEVEN IS A NUMBER BETWEEN SIX AND EIGHT. IT IS AN ODD NUMBER. SEVEN YEARS OLD. DEAD SEVEN. SEVEN SEVEN SEVEN.

I mean come on, people. There's a lady upstairs that was bound at the head and feet and was strangled with... well, something. An electrical cord, I guess. But meh - shit happens, you know? SEVEN YEARS OLD.

I'm sure that Ballard, at that very moment, wished he had seven fingers on his hand just so he could hold them all up as he was making that point. Holding up both hands just looks kind of dumb, and after all could potentially block someone's camera shot.

Ballard would later speak to ESPN.com, as I mentioned above, about the supposed text message (to clarify, Benoit did contact WWE to tell them that his wife and son were sick, but that had nothing to do with the text messages that were sent that raised suspicion to the company that led them to contact authorities) and about some new information about SEVEN YEAR OLD Daniel, whom is SEVEN YEARS OLD. Ballard mentioned that Daniel had needle marks on his arm, and stated that he believed that he was being given human growth hormone by his parents because of concerns that he was undersized for his age. He knew this because he found a note that said "Nancy, can you give Daniel the growth hormone tonight? I won't be in until later, and I'm a bit concerned that if he misses this dosage that he'll remain this size."

Just kidding - Ballard guessed. A person later came out in a news story to say that she had been in contact with Benoit years prior and learned that Daniel had Fragile X Syndrome, but that didn't stop Ballard to make a generalized assumption - and state it to a national media outlet - without a toxicology report or any other information. Again, not saying that it's not possible that what Ballard is assuming is true, but for a DA to state that he believes this to be true in an interview so early into the investigation is irresponsible and makes him look like he's taking the Nifong route.

After the press conference, the rumors seemed to die down somewhat. The focus turned more towards reaction - what Vince McMahon and WWE would do on Tuesday night with their show tapings, and the eventual outpouring of generalized steroids=this hyperbole from columnists and talking heads looking to be topical or to (in the case of some sports writers) take the focus off of their sports (which have been facing heavy scrutiny from the federal government) and towards wrestling. And, of course, no mention of any death in wrestling can go by without some chart or statistic mentioning the mortality rate of professional wrestlers compared to other sectors of society.

But the following day, Ballard was at it again, using his expert forensics experience to appear on Good Morning America and state that he believed Daniel was killed by a choke hold. Of course, this plays perfectly into Benoit's profile, being a wrestler. It allows for a stereotype to be fit - violent wrestler uses violent wrestling move to kill. Whether true or not, it doesn't matter at this point; the Benoits are dead, so unlike say... oh, I don't know, maybe a couple of lacrosse players, Ballard can use his junior detective kit and get on TV as much as possible. That way, when election time rolls around again, everyone will know his name. Hey - do you know who your county's district attorney is?

Had I written this post at 10PM yesterday, it would have been different from that one.

Had I written this post at 1AM this morning, it would have been different from either of those.

At 8AM, at 10AM, even as I write this now, I'm not sure how to write this.

There are constants. Chris Benoit is one of the wrestlers that got me back into watching the product back in the mid 90s. The story is similar to a lot of the "hardcore" group that were drawn in by ECW - disappointed in the cartoonish crap that Vince McMahon was presenting and finally angered by the direction WCW had taken (going more towards the "family friendly" product that the WWF was producing and away from the traditional product that made Jim Crockett's sector of the NWA the show to watch), the hardcore fans were willing to take pretty much anything that they could see on TV and had the things they wanted - blood feuds and workrate. Along came ECW, which had been working just the same as a hundred other indy feds in front of a handful of people in South Philadelphia who were a bit smarter than your average mark, but bigger marks at the same time.

It was lightning in a bottle - the fanbase was unusual in that it was overly strong in both their support and fickleness. Given the right product, there was money to be made for all involved as long as it was done right. Do it wrong, and you could lose that fanbase in just a few shows, a luxury that the major promotions didn't have to worry about. Eddie Gilbert saw it, and when Paul Heyman got control, he ran with it. Since Paul could easily view things from the fan's perspective (most managers are just that - fans of the product who happen to get an in with one of the workers) he could identify with what the fans wanted. Additionally, he got to live through the WCW product as a manager to see firsthand the things that the company was doing right and what the company was doing wrong. From that, Paul built, taking the smart route of building his roster with familiar workers that the casual fan knew (Jimmy Snuka, Doink) and his own original workers. But the company grew - and thrived - when Paul signed the workers who fit inbetween those two classifications. With contacts and past experience working with many people in WCW, Paul signed people who might have been somewhat familiar to fans of the major promotions, but who got misused or buried in the undercard where they were silently putting over less qualified talent. It's similar to the small market baseball team using extra scouting to find what castoffs really were worth the time, while at the same time scouting the farm systems and foreign leagues to find talent.

Ask any "smart" fan to tell you three traditional breeding grounds of pro wrestlers outside of the United States and they'll give you three areas: Japan, Mexico, and Canada. Heyman hit all three with success.

It was Canada - Calgary, specifically - that brought Chris Benoit to ECW. Benoit was an incredible worker who was a student of the industry, skilled enough technically to thrive in Japan, a country whose professional wrestling tastes leaned more towards the 45 minute match than to the 12 minute fireworks show. In America, interviews built the character. In Japan, your ringwork developed the character. Benoit thrived in the environment, and Japan loved him. So why was he unheard of in the United States by all but a handful of people?

Benoit was 5'7", at best, and American major promotions booked size before talent for the mostpart. Add onto that Benoit lacked charisma; he wasn't traditionally attractive and didn't talk that well in interviews. The package made him unattractive to the major promotions who wanted to put their characters on lunch boxes and cartoons. Plus, Benoit's size made him difficult to book against larger opponents. Benoit might work in a tag team (where smaller workers tended to gravitate) or low on the card, but for someone who was working on top of the card in Calgary and making very good money in Japan where he was respected not only by other workers but the fanbase too, there really wasn't a reason for Benoit to work in America, and at the same time, America didn't really want him.

Until Paul Heyman. Heyman approached Benoit with something unique - a major push in a promotion with a strong (and growing) underground fanbase and a weekly television show. With ECW seemingly being "the" place to work, Benoit accepted. The fit worked since there were no Lex Lugers or Hulk Hogans in the ECW promotion. Most workers were smaller, and those who were bigger were kept in their own feuds with similar workers. Benoit didn't need to wear a cape or rename himself or try to be charismatic - he just had to be Chris Benoit.

Benoit thrived in ECW, and I caught him there at his peak. I knew Benoit through Apter mags but knew little about him except that he was a small guy. Benoit was presented to me in possibly the best way he could have been booked - this scary-looking bully who people, regardless of size, were a little concerned about because he could snap, and that he seemingly liked to hurt people without conscience. [Note: At the time I write this now (12:56PM 7/26) I can see the eerie coincidence of this] Two clips were shown over and over in regards to Benoit - his powerbomb of Flyboy Rocko Rock off the top rope through a table (unseen at the time - one of those jaw dropping moments) and him dropping Sabu on his head, breaking his neck (a blown spot, Sabu's neck was legit broken when Benoit backdropped Sabu but instead of landing on his back as the spot would normally go, Sabu fell directly on his head. Obviously unplanned, it was milked for as much as it could possibly be used.) He was grouped with Shane Douglas and Dean Malenko - Douglas the least skilled worker of the three but an awesome mouthpiece, and Malenko the quiet and calculated ring technician who could outwrestle anyone. There was tension though, as Benoit was thought to want Douglas' championship, and having no conscience there was the constant feeling that Douglas had to watch his back.

Benoit would later go on to WCW (as did most of ECW's mid-90s roster in an attempt to eliminate the competition) where he remained somewhat under the radar for several years (thanks to poor booking), then over to WWF(E) where he got booked properly, enjoyed several title reigns (including a hell of a main event at Wrestlemania 20 where he won one of the WWE World Titles - I don't know which one), and remained a major star for the length of his tenure, excluding a year he lost due to injury.

But all of that goes away. It's hard to explain, even as bits and pieces slip out from supposed close sources of what actually happened, how something like this could happen. This isn't Phil Hartman's wife having a drug issue and killing the two of them. This isn't some kind of Lifetime movie where the abusive husband eventually takes that final step, or even so many pro wrestling suicides where a career is ending (or over) and injuries and drugs cloud the brain so that something that seems so logical to them is in reality completely insane. This is a person without (to my knowledge) an arrest record, at least any time recently. No signs of alcohol abuse, no signs of recent marital issues (Benoit had been married previously when he got into his relationship with Nancy), no real sign that there was anything wrong. Maybe something will come out of this later (things always seem to), but if there was a history of violence it would have already come up - police records aren't that hard for the media to search and access.

What triggers something like that? What causes you to one moment be a friend to coworkers, the first call people make when they're in trouble or need help, and then the next moment be someone capable of taking the life of not just an adult, but a seven-year-old boy?

EDIT: And my answer is pretty much given for me - Benoit apparently did have a history of domestic violence, which led to Nancy filing for divorce and an order of protection in 2003, with an evaluation for drug/alcohol abuse and a batterer's intervention program. Nancy also sought sole custody of Daniel. While the petition never says that Chris ever hit either of the two of them (the complaint only states that Chris threatened to strike Nancy and caused damage to their possessions), the past history sets the tone. And while this could have very easily be viewed as essentially nothing concrete being used in order to have a reason to file for divorce (it would be difficult to prove or deny threats made, especially if made during an argument at home and not recorded), the profile (considering Benoit's usage of steroids) fits all too well.

Press conference in 4 minutes - I'm betting that I don't want to hear this.