Garmon, you'll find that Daniel Benoit was 7. Whether or not he was just out of kindergartent I couldn't say for sure, but my guess is that's not right.
As a wrestling person (a fan of WWE and actually involved locally) I've been riding the roller coaster of this story since Tuesday morning Australian time. It's only been today that I heard about Daniel being Fragile X - and apparently showing a lot of Autistic symptoms.
It has been alleged that there were needle marks in Daniel's body - and steroids were found at the house. The media has been speculating that the incident was Roid rage on the part of Chris, but WWE had denied that saying that Chris was clean when he was last tested in April. The awful thing may be that the steriods were in fact for Daniel in order to bulk him up - the toxicology results will prove if that is true or not.
It looks like this may be another case of parents of an Autistic child going over the edge. It may be that Chris Benoit (who had often stated that wrestling was his "mistress" - he loved it that much) was confronted with having to spend so much time helping to look after his son he just couldn't take it. That's not an excuse of course (there is NO excuse for taking the life of a child) but that explanation only furthers the need to look after everyone who struggles like this. And there are a lot of parents and adult ASD people who are struglling in various ways.
I wonder if WWE would be approachable about ASD's and support - given this development. Some support for the memory of Daniel Benoit.
Excellent post, Max. Someone should let WWE know about that event.
There's a news story about this tragedy at Crime Library, written by David Lohr. In short it says that "police has made public a time line of the events at the Benoit home, stating that they find the time line bizarre."
Tomas
If you mean the timeline published on WWE.com, Tomas - what was bizarre about it were the text messages sent (four of them exactly the same) and Benoit's out of context remark on the Saturday of the house show he missed the day before the Vengeance pay per view.
You might be right, Kylo. Chris did take five months off last year, and that may be one of the reasons behind it.
Oh - and I left a message on Jim Ross's blog about the idea I suggested. I don't have an address or email for WWE so that was the only way I could do it.
Doesn't prove anything, Kylo. Chris Benoit admitted to the person who was the subject of the article seen on WWE.com that he had Fragile X - and further it was also said that he was hiding it. So of course it wouldn't have shown up in medical records.
At least the "undersized" argument has been eliminated (first I've heard of that - except in passing when talking about the possibility of Daniel being given steroids to overcome it).
No they wouldn't have, Kylo. Benoit was an intensely private person. The woman WWE.com spoke to said that he didn't want anyone else to know about it - it fits.
And just because Daniel "looked fine" doesn't automatically mean he's not Fragile X. I look fine, and yet I'm an Aspie (as an example).
No, Kylo, they have been serious about drugs since the death of Eddie Guerrero. That gave WWE a huge fright. Their commentary regarding steroids is true and correct.
And don't use the "Death of a Chairman" storyline as an example. There's a big difference between wrestling storylines and and real life.
Anyway - the toxicology reports will tell us plenty when they come out. That should be in the next couple of days.
Warrior is an idiot. Don't listen to a word he says - he has no respect within the industry of professional wrestling at all.
At the present moment, I believe WWE - because the teachers and the doctors DID NOT KNOW. They should have, but Chris Benoit kept it quiet. Deliberately because he was trying to handle the whole thing himself. A bad mistake on his part - and when his psych fell apart when Eddie Guerrero died (it's partly why he took five months off in 2006) he didn't go for the help he needed.
Like I said - the toxicology reports will tell us for sure.
Not if it's hidden from them, Kylo. They don't. I know plenty of teachers and doctors who are dumb as stumps when it comes recognising anything wider than "a bit thick" (as an example - and I've copped that myself).
Believe me, it's possible.
And lawsuits from who?
He was in kindergarten until this year, Callista. And he was already 7. What does that tell you? It is possible that they figured he was slow. And I suspect if anyone had suggested a medical examination they would have been told (most likely by Chris) to not do any such thing. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the fights that Chris and Nancy allegedly had could have been because of that decision not to tell (Nancy for it and Chris against it).
Benoit's wife's family could sue the WWE for millions if steroids are found in his system, because they have a "drug test".
Benoit was tested in April after Wrestlemania - and he was negative. Anyway, it wasn't roid rage. There were bibles found alongside the bodies of Daniel and Nancy. That's deliberate thought, not roid rage.
Before an announcement was even made the first thing Vince stated was that there were no steroids involved. He was thinking of his business first.
No, that statement was made only after it was announced that steroids had been found in the house, and speculation began about roid rage. The drug tests done by WWE since November 2005 are serious and real - and were done as a result of the death of Eddie Guerrero. Be careful when you make statements like that, Kylo. Wait for the toxicology reports before saying things like that. Should Chris's report be the same as WWE's in April you'll have egg on your face.
However, if it turns up positive that will be a different matter. But let's wait shall we? If any positive report on steroids shows up - I'm betting it will be in Daniel's, not Chris's.
You would definitely be able to tell if a child has something like Fragile X. Doctors would as well.
(I hate the lack of an edit button here!)
I already explained why the doctors wouldn't have known in my reply to Callista. And no, you could not tell if a child had Fragile X. You could tell something was amiss, but not specifics like that. Teachers have no such qualifications. And there is no guarentee that they would do anything about it anyway - again as I indicated to Callista.
Kylo, I'm involved in the business locally. It was shaken up big time by the death of Eddie Guerrero. I'm afraid you are making assumptions based on a rather large dose of misplaced scepticism. Vince WAS into that sort of stuff. The death of Eddie woke him and everyone else up.
If you choose not to believe me, then it's not my problem.
Let's wait until the toxicology reports are released before saying anything else. If Chris Benoit shows up positive on steroids - I'll apologise. But if he turns up negative and Daniel turns up positive - I expect an apology from you.
PS - there are a lot of dumb teachers and doctors in this world. They would have missed Fragile X. It happens. It would be naive of you to assume that everyone can see a Fragile X child just like that.
If it can, Pakrat, it will come up in the toxicology report.
Just on that, the WWE lawyer handling the whole thing said on Larry King the other night that the reports are still a few weeks off.
I missed the actual show, but the recap I read showed that everyone pretty much thought along the same lines I did and still do. And it was good to see a current roster member (John Cena) being allowed to speak. Everyone else had nothing invested in WWE - except maybe for Chris Jericho who is rumoured to be making a comeback.
Fragile X is pretty easy to diagnose. If their son had it, and he was tested for it, they probably knew about it. (The exception would be mosaicism or a badly done test.)
I've read a book about Fragile X, because I got curious; and actually it's possible for a boy with Fragile X to have an IQ as high as 80. (Girls with Fragile X are often normal intelligence with learning problems in specific areas.)
Him being in kindergarten till age 7 doesn't say much; integrated kindergarten classes are pretty normal, even for severely delayed kids. Helps the typical kids, too, because they figure "different is still OK".
So what's it like for the wrestler? Does he have a lot of stress to deal with, that could lead to this sort of thing? Surely he made some very bad choices; but the initial depression/stress... Could that have to do with being in such a demanding, high-profile job?
Read my lips;
TESTOSTERONE does NOT equal STEROIDS
Are we clear yet, Kylo? I've got a high level and I've never taken any steroids in my life. *rolls eyes*