4. Storyline

[00:00:19] Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Murder Link. I'm really excited about this episode because we are less than a week away from when my parents arrive in the UK and I cannot wait to see them. How are you feeling about coming across the pond, Dad?

[00:00:36] Oh, I can't wait. It's great. I love it over in London. And welcome to everybody, I'd like to say.

[00:00:42] Well, make sure that you bring a coat because I think it's going to be really cold. But yeah, really looking forward to you coming.

[00:00:47] And we have our first podcast studio booked in London. We're going to be meeting in King's Cross to record an episode with my friend Claire, who has her own Murder Link.

[00:00:59] Super excited for this next milestone in our journey. I feel like we've been sharing our own personal stories. And when I say our own, I mean my dad's.

[00:01:08] And now we get to bring someone else on the podcast to give their own Murder Link. So it's the next chapter for us.

[00:01:14] I'm just super excited about the experience.

[00:01:18] Yes, and if you send us your story, we may use it and we may actually have you on our show.

[00:01:24] That's right. We started Murder Link because we thought it was an interesting concept for a podcast.

[00:01:30] But we only have so many Murder Links ourselves. So we would love to hear from you if you have your own Murder Link.

[00:01:36] And the way that you can share that with us is you can simply email hello at murderlink.com.

[00:01:41] You can also leave a voicemail on our website or you can find us on Instagram.

[00:01:45] So get in touch and let us know your own Murder Links and then you can be the next Claire.

[00:01:50] So I'm really excited about the weeks ahead.

[00:01:53] But today we have another Murder Link to bring to everyone that's listening.

[00:01:58] And I think this story just goes to show the different ways in which links to murder can show up.

[00:02:04] Some of the episodes that we've had are quite in depth and some of them are more passing encounters.

[00:02:10] And so, Dad, I'd like to hand over to you to share today's Murder Link.

[00:02:15] Well, thank you, baby.

[00:02:17] Today's show is a very horrific story.

[00:02:21] It starts out with a friend of mine that I've known since high school.

[00:02:26] We both went to North Clayton Senior High back in 1979.

[00:02:30] He and his wife at this time had lived in Peachtree City.

[00:02:35] It was off of Robinson Road on Pemberton Court.

[00:02:39] It was somewhere in 2006.

[00:02:42] I believe it was the summer.

[00:02:44] And I had gone to visit them.

[00:02:46] As I turned into their neighborhood, I immediately turned onto Pemberton Road.

[00:02:52] This road kind of slightly curves to the right.

[00:02:55] And then immediately you would see Randy's and Jeannie's house on the left.

[00:03:00] So you have to really almost come to a stop before you turn into their driveway.

[00:03:05] As I did this, I turned to my right.

[00:03:09] I noticed a man standing like four feet from my car at his mailbox.

[00:03:15] He was giving me the meanest look I'd ever seen in my life.

[00:03:20] We made eye contact together for just a moment.

[00:03:23] I immediately turned my head and pulled into the driveway.

[00:03:27] I went inside and told Randy and Jeannie what had happened.

[00:03:32] Both of them just kind of laughed and said, oh, that's Chris Benoit, the wrestler.

[00:03:37] And I was like, who's Chris Benoit?

[00:03:40] They were looking at me like I would know exactly who he was.

[00:03:43] Which I hadn't watched wrestling since I was a kid.

[00:03:46] So I had no idea who the man was.

[00:03:48] But they told me how their daughters knew his son Daniel.

[00:03:53] How they had been trick-or-treating together and had gone on other trips with each other and such.

[00:04:00] He even told me how they had a chest upstairs in one of the bedrooms filled with autographed memorabilia.

[00:04:08] From posters to t-shirts to toys and such.

[00:04:12] After that visit, a couple other times I'd go to visit Randy and Jeannie and I would see Chris and Nancy in the yard.

[00:04:19] They were always up close to their house.

[00:04:22] After that, though, I really never thought much of them until the day I heard the sad news of their death.

[00:04:29] This is the story of the murder of Nancy and Daniel Benoit.

[00:04:52] Nancy Toffolini began her wrestling career in the state of Florida.

[00:04:56] Where Kevin Sullivan, a well-known wrestler, spotted her.

[00:05:00] She started wrestling for him under the name Fallen Angel.

[00:05:06] After a while, her and Kevin Sullivan headed off.

[00:05:09] So she divorced her first husband.

[00:05:12] And in 1992, she married Kevin Sullivan.

[00:05:16] While she was working for World Championship Wrestling.

[00:05:19] Which is also known as WCW.

[00:05:23] Kevin eventually became in charge of a group of wrestlers known as the Four Horsemen.

[00:05:28] Which he made Nancy a member of.

[00:05:30] This is where Chris Benoit enters the story.

[00:05:34] Chris was a wrestler from Canada.

[00:05:36] He was hired by Kevin Sullivan to also become a member of the Four Horsemen.

[00:05:41] I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that wrestling is actually acting.

[00:05:47] Where a storyline is created to make an interesting plot.

[00:05:52] Kevin Sullivan made the storyline of the Four Horsemen.

[00:05:56] In this storyline, Nancy would be stolen from Kevin by Chris Benoit.

[00:06:05] Remember, this is all just acting.

[00:06:09] Kevin actually had Nancy and Chris travel together.

[00:06:13] Stay in the same hotel.

[00:06:14] And even hold hands in public.

[00:06:17] They were shown on television, cozying up to one another.

[00:06:21] We all know it didn't take long before life was imitating art.

[00:06:25] And Chris and Nancy had a real life affair.

[00:06:29] In 1997, Nancy divorced Kevin.

[00:06:33] But Chris, Nancy, and Kevin still had to work together in the ring.

[00:06:37] Finally, Kevin lost a match to Chris.

[00:06:41] After this, Kevin retired and the storyline was over.

[00:06:45] Can you believe?

[00:06:47] I mean, you couldn't find this in a movie.

[00:06:49] I mean, this is so real.

[00:06:52] I mean, literally.

[00:06:54] You've got the love affair.

[00:06:55] You've got the wrestling.

[00:06:56] You've got...

[00:06:57] I mean, there's so much going on here.

[00:06:59] It's unbelievable.

[00:07:00] And we haven't even got to the murders yet.

[00:07:03] Yeah.

[00:07:03] And also with wrestling being what it is, you know, it's physical touch.

[00:07:08] There's lots of emotions involved.

[00:07:10] I imagine that tensions are high.

[00:07:13] I know that it's acting.

[00:07:14] But again, this is acting and then it's also happening in real life.

[00:07:18] And it's been fabricated in a way for this relationship to exist.

[00:07:21] And now it does.

[00:07:23] So it must have been a really painful experience for Kevin to go through this

[00:07:27] and to see what he created become a reality.

[00:07:30] And for him to basically lose Nancy.

[00:07:34] For all the world to see.

[00:07:38] Literally, this is international when this was out.

[00:07:41] You know, when wrestling was at its height.

[00:07:44] Oh, yeah.

[00:07:44] I remember how big wrestling was.

[00:07:46] I actually went to a match probably around this time.

[00:07:49] You know, Jessica and John, their mom's boyfriend paid for us to go.

[00:07:55] And I remember it being so hyped up.

[00:07:56] It was something that all the kids were into.

[00:07:59] Yes.

[00:08:00] I didn't think about that as well.

[00:08:02] About how shameful is not the right word.

[00:08:05] I guess embarrassing.

[00:08:06] Embarrassing it was for this to happen.

[00:08:08] And what it must have done for the ratings as well.

[00:08:12] Oh, yeah.

[00:08:13] I bet it did send the ratings skyrocketing.

[00:08:16] Right.

[00:08:16] So I'm curious to know what happened next.

[00:08:19] Even though Kevin may have been down, he still kept rolling.

[00:08:23] After Kevin Sullivan retired in 1997, he continued to work with WCW in promotions until 2001 when WCW was sold.

[00:08:35] Chris Benoit eventually joined World Wrestling Federation in 2000 as part of a group known as the Radicals, along with his friend Eddie Guerrero.

[00:08:44] Chris was making $400,000 a year plus with other compensation.

[00:08:49] In 2000, he and Nancy married.

[00:08:52] And I'm sure they thought it was going to be bliss.

[00:08:55] But just three years later, Nancy filed for divorce.

[00:08:58] She also filed a protective order claiming he had destroyed furniture and threatened her.

[00:09:04] When the day came to extend the order, Chris and Nancy showed up holding hands.

[00:09:11] And Nancy eventually dropped the order and the divorce request.

[00:09:15] During this time, Chris's career continued to skyrocket, with Chris making it all the way to WrestleMania 20 at Madison Square Garden.

[00:09:25] This is, I mean, the top echelon where you can get with wrestling at that time.

[00:09:31] He actually won the WWE title in 2004.

[00:09:35] His best friend Eddie Guerrero retained the title too.

[00:09:40] Yeah, I've seen a picture of this dad.

[00:09:42] It's the WrestleMania 20.

[00:09:44] So we'll put a picture of them together on our Instagram.

[00:09:48] Very good.

[00:09:49] Sadly, a year and a half later, Eddie died at the age of 38 of acute heart failure.

[00:09:56] Eddie and Chris had both won WWE championships in 2004 and were at the top of the world.

[00:10:03] And now Eddie was dead.

[00:10:05] This sent Chris into a state of depression.

[00:10:08] This depression came at a time where Chris had already been showing signs of mental health issues before Eddie's death.

[00:10:17] He was claiming his family was being stalked.

[00:10:21] And he began to take different routes when he was driving, in case he was being followed.

[00:10:26] He was even changing his cars.

[00:10:29] I believe this is when I saw Chris Benoit standing at his mailbox.

[00:10:35] Because shortly afterwards, within a matter of months, he moved to a different neighborhood and bought a gated mansion.

[00:10:43] And I don't mean a gated neighborhood.

[00:10:45] I mean his mansion was gated.

[00:10:48] It was protected by two German Shepherd guard dogs.

[00:10:52] Chris was booked to fight CM Punk on June 24, 2007 in Beaumont, Texas.

[00:11:00] Chavo Guerro, Eddie Guerro's son, was scheduled to pick him up at the Beaumont airport.

[00:11:06] But Chris had called Chavo and told him he would not make it to the show in Beaumont.

[00:11:12] Chavo and referee Scott Armstrong began receiving bizarre text messages later that day.

[00:11:18] The messages were saying the strangest things like they were given Chris's physical home address where he lived right there.

[00:11:27] And there was another one that stated how the dogs were in the pool area and that the side door was open.

[00:11:33] It was as if letting them know if you came there, you could gain access to the side of the house and the dogs would not be a threat.

[00:11:41] He was letting people know how to get into the house.

[00:11:46] After sending these text messages, Chris Benoit committed suicide.

[00:11:52] He hanged himself by the cord of his lat pull-down weight machine.

[00:11:56] Lat pull-down weight machines are the type that you stand and pull a handlebar with a wire attached.

[00:12:03] As you pull the handlebar down, the weights go up.

[00:12:09] Chris had attached himself to the machine before releasing the weight, which hoisted him off the ground.

[00:12:16] After receiving the bizarre text messages from Chris, members of the wrestling family contacted local police.

[00:12:25] Upon doing a welfare check, Chris, Nancy, and their son Daniel were found dead in their house.

[00:12:32] Nancy was found with her hands and feet bound by tape.

[00:12:36] An electrical cord was tied around her neck.

[00:12:40] Chris had placed his knee on her back and pulled on the cord, choking her to death.

[00:12:46] They were able to verify this by the bruise that was in the small of her back.

[00:12:52] Sadly, his son Daniel was found dead in his bed.

[00:12:55] He had been sedated with Xanax and died by asphyxiation.

[00:13:01] Chris had placed Bibles next to each body before taking his own life.

[00:13:07] Later, the medical examiner found that Chris had 10 times the amount of testosterone in his body that was prescribed to him by his doctors.

[00:13:19] His medical records indicated that his endocrine system did not essentially function from the steroid abuse.

[00:13:27] His body had pretty much ceased producing any testosterone.

[00:13:32] After his death, Chris was found to have CTE, a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries.

[00:13:40] It causes the death of nerve cells in the brain.

[00:13:43] This condition can only be diagnosed through an autopsy.

[00:13:46] This information was shared by Chris Benoit's son from his first marriage, David, who stated that he would like to see his father inducted into the Hall of Fame.

[00:13:57] I would like the WWE to remember him, at least for the good times.

[00:14:02] Nancy Benoit has not been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, but some have advocated for such.

[00:14:11] Nancy's stepson, David Benoit, has said that she deserves recognition and that many fans have been supportive of women being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

[00:14:22] Chris Jericho has also advocated for Nancy's induction, calling her a pioneer.

[00:14:29] However, sadly, the WWE has essentially cut Nancy out of its history by association with her husband, Chris Benoit.

[00:14:39] Wow.

[00:14:40] So the thing that she lived for, it sounds like wrestling, which was her career that took her through Kevin and led to her getting with Chris,

[00:14:49] has essentially been erased from the history books because of the choices that Chris Benoit made.

[00:14:56] Oh, yes.

[00:14:57] That's exactly what happened.

[00:15:00] Once again, I don't think his storyline meant to go that far, Kevin's.

[00:15:06] Oh, absolutely.

[00:15:07] I mean, when I heard you were going to do this story and you had this connection,

[00:15:11] I did a little search online and she's got a lot of fans that think that the wrestling that she did,

[00:15:19] even way back when with Kevin, as she was operating under the name Woman and Fallen Angel,

[00:15:26] was amazing, especially for her being a female wrestler in that time period.

[00:15:33] You can't name another that made it to her level.

[00:15:37] Oh, really?

[00:15:38] I don't know anything about wrestling, Dad.

[00:15:40] Oh, I don't either.

[00:15:41] But what I've looked into it, I could not see anyone that made it to the level she did with the Four Horsemen.

[00:15:49] Maybe I'm incorrect there.

[00:15:51] And it sounds like once Chris's career began to take off,

[00:15:55] she kind of took a backseat and served more of the motherly role.

[00:16:00] But ultimately, the people that she met through this career, well, Chris, resulted in her death.

[00:16:08] And most importantly, her son's death.

[00:16:10] I mean, I really feel for her family, they've lost a daughter and a grandson.

[00:16:16] And from what I understand, that created a lot of tension between her and Chris Benoit was the son.

[00:16:22] He had medical issues, severe medical issues.

[00:16:26] I believe it was known as the Fragile X Syndrome.

[00:16:30] Oh, right.

[00:16:31] So Daniel may have had some medical issues that cause tension between the family.

[00:16:36] Oh, yes, most definitely.

[00:16:38] I base that on what you hear from other people discussing it.

[00:16:43] This is actually the second episode that we've done in just the four episodes that we've had

[00:16:48] that mention an increase in testosterone and potential steroid abuse.

[00:16:55] If you remember, Dad, in episode two, which was Henry the Marr, Jeff Cote titled The Show Bar,

[00:17:02] we talked about Officer James Batsall, who actually apologized for his crime

[00:17:08] and that he wasn't himself due to the prescriptions that he was taken.

[00:17:12] Do you see a link here with this and Christopher Benoit and his mental state?

[00:17:17] Well, there's clearly a link.

[00:17:19] If you look back at the history of them using steroids, particularly in wrestling itself,

[00:17:26] you know, so many people have died from heart attacks, cardiovascular issues, suicide,

[00:17:34] and young ages.

[00:17:36] I mean, people in their 20s and 30s that are connected with wrestling.

[00:17:40] It's a high number of people.

[00:17:41] Now, people argue and say that's not true.

[00:17:44] There's no proof of it.

[00:17:45] But it's just common sense.

[00:17:47] All these people doing one thing in common, steroids.

[00:17:52] It just seems to make sense.

[00:17:55] Yeah, it definitely seems like a dangerous profession in a way.

[00:17:58] I know it's acting, but injuries also happen.

[00:18:01] And you said that he had, I think it was CTE from trauma and that type of stuff as well.

[00:18:07] So, yeah, it's such a sad story.

[00:18:10] And I really feel for the family that they've left behind that has lost them and I'm sure

[00:18:15] grieves them terribly.

[00:18:18] Did you ever talk to Randy and Jeannie afterwards?

[00:18:21] Because I know you said that their daughter was a friend of Daniel's.

[00:18:26] Oh, yes.

[00:18:27] And one thing that stuck out with that conversation was asking him, how do you explain to your

[00:18:34] children that parents don't kill their children nor their other parent?

[00:18:41] You know, a lot of kids were watching wrestling.

[00:18:44] They were all into it back then.

[00:18:46] So when this happened, can you imagine everywhere people were trying to explain?

[00:18:52] It would be a hard thing to explain.

[00:18:55] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:18:57] I mean, death is a hard thing to explain to children.

[00:18:59] I don't know how old these daughters were.

[00:19:02] I think Daniel was around seven at the time of his death.

[00:19:07] But that in itself can be hard.

[00:19:09] And then you've got the trust factor and they're missing their friends.

[00:19:12] So I imagine it was a difficult time.

[00:19:15] Well, Dad, thank you so much for sharing this story.

[00:19:18] And I might have alluded to this in the beginning, but it just goes to show how

[00:19:21] a murder link can be something small, such as passing someone who's basically mean mugging

[00:19:28] you as they check their mail to something massive, such as someone overdosing at your house and

[00:19:35] there being a vendetta of that family against you.

[00:19:38] So we're here for them all.

[00:19:40] We're here to just see how it weaves into the fabric of ordinary lives.

[00:19:45] And so I really appreciate you sharing your stories with us, Dad.

[00:19:49] And I encourage anyone who has a story to share it with us as well.

[00:19:52] You can contact us at hello at murderlink.com.

[00:19:57] Thank you so much for listening and be sure to like, share and subscribe.

[00:20:03] Thanks, everyone.

[00:20:04] We'll speak to you soon.

[00:20:05] And by the time you hear this, I just want you to know that my dad will be in the UK.

[00:20:09] I'm so excited.

[00:20:10] And my mom, they'll both be in the UK.

[00:20:12] So can't wait till they're here.

[00:20:14] Keep following us for updates.

[00:20:16] We'll let you know how the live recording day goes.

[00:20:19] And thank you so much for your support.

[00:20:21] Speak to you soon.

[00:20:22] Bye.

[00:20:23] Bye.