The Georgia Bureau of Investigation released lab results today indicating that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star Chris Benoit had steroids, painkillers, and anti-anxiety drugs in his body when he killed his wife and 7-year-old son last month–before committing suicide.
Although the steroid found in Benoit’s body was the hormone testosterone, the extremely high levels indicated he had injected it shortly before he murdered his wife, Nancy. Dr. Kris Sperry, chief medical examiner, however, refused to draw any conclusions as to whether that may have contributed to Benoit’s behavior, since testosterone is a naturally occurring hormone and it’s possible Benoit was taking it for a “testicular deficiency.” Sperry also noted that Nancy’s body was much more decomposed than her son Daniel’s, who was found to have a high level of the sedative Xanax in his system.
Though Sperry did not go into detail on this, to me the finding may indicate that a significant amount of time went by before Benoit murdered Daniel and that perhaps he took his wife’s life out of anger, and then, knowing he was going to take his own life, took the life of his son first. But first he made sure he was drugged up so that he couldn’t feel what was happening to him.
However, Sperry would probably not agree with my “rage” theory. He said, “There is no reliable scientific data that says excessive testosterone leads to excessive rage.”
Doctors and scientists have argued for years over whether ‘roid rage’ actually exists. But I would argue that most, if not all, murderers are mentally unstable in some form, and that taking any kind of drug–steroid or otherwise–would only further aggravate their chemical imbalances.
As I noted in my earlier Idol Chatter post, “Who’s to Blame for the Wrestler Murder/Suicide?” the WWE also needs to take responsibility for encouraging, or at the very least, turning a blind eye toward, steroid use among its wrestlers.
I’m not saying every person who uses steroids is a walking time bomb–I personally know people who take them or have taken them for a variety of purposes and who are productive members of society–but I do believe that for someone like Chris Benoit, it might have made the difference between life and death.