Web page about wrestler was updated to mention wife's death before bodies were found

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2007/06/28/wwes_mcmaho
n_dont_assume_steroids_played_role_in_deaths/

Web page about wrestler was updated to mention wife's death before bodies
were found


By Harry R. Weber, Associated Press Writer  |  June 28, 2007

ATLANTA --Investigators are looking into who altered pro wrestler Chris
Benoit's Wikipedia entry to mention his wife's death hours before
authorities discovered the bodies of the couple and their 7-year-old son.

Benoit's Wikipedia entry was altered early Monday to say that the wrestler
had missed a match two days earlier because of his wife's death.

A Wikipedia official, Cary Bass, said Thursday that the entry was made by
someone using an Internet protocol address registered in Stamford, Conn.,
where World Wrestling Entertainment is based.

An IP address, a unique series of numbers carried by every machine connected
to the Internet, does not necessarily have to be broadcast from where it is
registered. The bodies were found in Benoit's home in suburban Atlanta, and
it's not known where the posting was sent from, Bass said.

Benoit strangled his wife and son during the weekend, placing Bibles next to
their bodies, before hanging himself on the cable of a weight-machine in his
home, authorities said. No motive was offered for the killings, which were
discovered Monday.

Also Thursday, federal drug agents said they had raided the west Georgia
office of a doctor who prescribed testosterone to Benoit.

The raid at Dr. Phil Astin's office in Carrollton began Wednesday night and
concluded early Thursday, said agent Chuvalo Truesdell, a spokesman for the
Drug Enforcement Administration. No arrests were made.

Hours before the raid, Astin told The Associated Press he had treated Benoit
for low testosterone levels, which he said likely originated from previous
steroid use.

Among other things, investigators were looking for Benoit's medical records
to see whether 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 prescribed testosterone for Benoit, a longtime friend, in the past but
would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed when Benoit visited
his office Friday.

State medical records show that Astin's privileges were suspended for three
months in 2001 at a Georgia hospital for "reasons related to competence or
character."

Astin did not return calls to his cell phone from the AP on Thursday.

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

Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said in a statement Thursday
that he could not immediately comment on the raid.

Benoit's page on Wikipedia, a reference site that allows users to add and
edit information, was updated at 12:01 a.m. Monday, about 14 hours before
authorities say the bodies were found. The reason he missed a match Saturday
night was "stemming from the death of his wife Nancy," it said.

Reporters informed the Fayette County district attorney's office of the
posting Thursday, and the agency forwarded the information to sheriff's
investigators, who are looking into it, a legal assistant said in an e-mail
to the AP.

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said that 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.

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

"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."

On Thursday afternoon, the Wikipedia page about Benoit carried a note
stating that editing by unregistered or newly registered users was disabled
until July 8 because of vandalism.

In other developments 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 substances, if any, were in his system.

Benoit took four months off from work in 2006 for undisclosed personal
reasons, McDevitt said.

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

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

Chris Benoit's father, Michael Benoit, declined to comment on the slayings
when reached Thursday by telephone in Alberta, Canada. Funeral arrangements
were incomplete.

------

Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo in Washington contributed to this story.
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