Chris Beniot Slot Machine

Before her grisly death, Chris Benoit's wife once told a judge that she was, 'intimidated by threats of violence' from her 220 lb. In divorce papers filed in 2003, Nancy Benoit included a. ATLANTA, June 26 — Chris Benoit, a professional wrestler known as the Canadian Crippler, killed his wife and 7-year-old son in their house in Fayetteville, Ga., over the weekend before taking. World Wrestling Entertainment has released a timeline and five cryptic text messages related to the Chris Benoit tragedy. Between 3:53 and 3:58 a.m. Sunday morning, after he’d asphyxiated his.

FAYETTEVILLE, Georgia (CNN) -- The discovery of anabolic steroids in pro-wrestler Chris Benoit's home has raised speculation that the performance-enhancing drugs may be linked to his death and the killings of his wife and young son.

The 40-year-old champion strangled his wife, Nancy Benoit, and suffocated his 7-year-old son Daniel, authorities said, before he hanged himself on a portable weight machine inside his lavish home outside Atlanta. Police have said no motive has been determined.

Benoit Machine Shop

'A lot of prescription medication' was found in the home, including anabolic steroids, said Fayette County Sheriff Lt. Tommy Pope. (Watch the house where Chris Benoit, police say, killed his wife and son)

But authorities were still waiting on toxicology reports, which could take several weeks, to determine what, if any, medication was found in the bodies.

Chris Benoit was a pro-wrestler for 22 years and star of World Wrestling Entertainment, which strongly denounced any suggestion that steroid use could be connected to the tragedy.

The WWE said Benoit tested negative for drugs during an independently administered evaluation on April 10.

CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Wednesday that it may never be known whether the deaths were linked to steroids or so-called 'roid-rage.'

'The drugs said to be found in the home are a synthetic form of testosterone,' Gupta said. 'A lot of people use it to build muscle mass, but there are longstanding known relationships between the steroids and roid rage. It could lead to psychosis and anti-social behavior and depression.'

But the WWE said evidence gathered in the investigation indicates 'deliberation, not rage.'

'The wife's feet and hands were bound and she was asphyxiated, not beaten to death,' said a statement posted on the company's Web site. 'By the account of the authorities, there were substantial periods of time between the death of the wife and the death of the son, again suggesting deliberate thought, not rage.'

Investigators found the bodies of Nancy and Daniel Benoit with Bibles placed next to them, authorities have said. 'The presence of a Bible by each is also not an act of rage,' said the WWE.

Former professional wrestler Del Wilkes said athletes use steroids to gain strength and size, which are key to success in the wrestling world. But he warned that the drugs sometimes come with 'moments of uncontrollable rage.'

'You can feel it coming on but there's nothing you can do about it,' Wilkes said. 'The next thing you know, a minor argument has gone into a full-fledged rage, when you've got your hands around somebody's neck. You're in a fight and doing things you wouldn't normally do.'

Wilkes also said the drugs can also cause 'tremendous' depression 'when guys are coming off steroids after they've been on it for a long period of time.'

An official who is part of the investigation told CNN that Benoit's name was on receipts that indicated he had purchased shipments of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones from Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando, Florida, facility that is at the center of a nationwide investigation into the sale of illegal steroids.

As the investigation unfolded Wednesday, details about events inside the home began to emerge.

Needle marks were found in Daniel's arm, said Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard. He said authorities suspect 'that the boy had been taking growth hormones for quite some time,' and are hoping to prove that with toxicology. The boy, Ballard said, was diagnosed with a form of dwarfism.

Daniel was found face down on his bed, but authorities said they do not know whether he was sleeping when he was killed. Ballard said authorities believe the child was asphyxiated using a choke hold. Benoit hung himself using the cord on a portable weight machine, Ballard said.

Chris Benoit Slot Machines

Ballard said Nancy Benoit's body was found face down on the floor in an upstairs family room, wrapped in a blanket with her feet and wrists bound and blood under her head.

Two days before Benoit and his family were found dead, the wrestler told co-workers by phone his wife and son were sick with food poisoning and he had been having a stressful day, according to the WWE.

Chris Benoit left no suicide note, Pope said, but had sent text messages to a co-worker early Sunday, which was received several hours later. He refused to divulge the contents of the messages.

The WWE, however, said the five text messages were sent to co-workers between 3:51 a.m. and 3:58 a.m. using both Chris Benoit's and Nancy Benoit's cell phones. Four of them were the Benoits' address; the fifth said that the family's dogs were in the enclosed pool area and noted a garage side door was open.

The WWE said it made numerous attempts to contact Chris Benoit at his home and at Atlanta-area hospitals. At 12:30 p.m. on Monday, it learned of the text messages and contacted police, the statement said.

'In a community like this, it's just bizarre to have a murder-suicide, certainly involving the death of a 7-year-old child,' Ballard told reporters. 'I think that's what I'm struck by most ... there's a 7-year-old boy who is dead.'

Chris Benoit once had been arrested on a charge of driving under the influence in another Fayette County jurisdiction, authorities said, but had no other criminal record.

CNN learned that divorce papers for the couple were filed in Fayette County in 2003, but the divorce never took place. Ballard said it was his understanding that a protection order was sought in 2003, but later dismissed. He had he had not seen the filings.

CNN's Rusty Dornin and Adam Reiss contributed to this report.

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Chris Benoit Slot Machine Parts

• Recruiting suicide bombers(2:50)
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Chris Benoit Slot Machine Jackpots

Professional wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife and smothered his 7-year-old son, placing bibles at their sides, before hanging himself from a pulley in his weight room, authorities said Tuesday.

Police ruled the death a double homicide-suicide and are investigating whether steroids may have been a factor in the deaths.

Authorities said they found prescription anabolic steroids in the home among other legal prescriptions. Steroid abuse has been linked to depression, paranoia, and aggressive behavior or angry outbursts known as 'roid rage.'

'There was a lot of prescription medication that he had received from doctors with what we believed to be at this time legal prescriptions,' said Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.

• Click here to view video report from MyFoxAtlanta.com.

Police said that Nancy Benoit died of asphyxiation on Friday, said Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard. She was found in an upstairs family room with her legs and wrists bound and blood under her head, perhaps indicating a struggle, he said.

The Benoits' son, Daniel, died of asphyxiation sometime Saturday morning, Ballard said. He was found in his bed upstairs. Both mother and son had bibles placed at their sides.

Authorities found the pro wrestler dead in the basement, hanging from the pulley of a weight machine. He died sometime late Saturday or Sunday, Ballard said.

'In a community like this, it's bizarre just to have a murder suicide -- certainly involving the death of a 7-year-old child,' Ballard said.

Nancy Benoit filed for a divorce in May 2003, saying their three-year union was irrevocably broken and alleging 'cruel treatment.' But she later dropped the complaint, as well as a request for a restraining order in which she charged that Benoit had threatened her and had broken furniture in their home.

In the divorce filing, she said Benoit made more than $500,000 a year as a professional wrestler and asked for permanent custody of Daniel and child support. In his response, Benoit sought joint custody.

'He was like the dad you always wanted to have,' Bill Apter, a pro-wresting writer and friend of Benoit, told FOX News. 'I just don't get this.'

Apter called Benoit pensive and quiet, adding: 'Chris Benoit was not the type of guy that you would profile to do anything of what is being alleged to have happened.'

• Click here to view video report from MyFoxAtlanta.com.

The World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler canceled a pay-per-view appearance at the 'Vengeance' event in Houston because of 'personal reasons' a day before the trio were found dead.

The bodies were found Monday afternoon in three separate rooms of the house, off a gravel road about two miles from the Whitewater Country Club.

• Click here for full coverage on the WWE Web site.

Neighbors said the Benoits led a low-key lifestyle.

'We would see Chris walking in his yard from time to time. He wasn't rude, but he wasn't really outwardly warm,' said Alaina Jones, who lives across the street.

Jimmy Baswell, who was Benoit's driver for more than five years, placed a white wreath at the Benoits' gate. 'They always seemed like they were the happiest people,' he said.

Whiteside said toxicology tests could take up to a week or longer to complete.

Text messages from the wrestler seem to have prompted the police to visit the home.

'The sheriff's department will only confirm that he sent one text message sometime around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, and I know that the WWE is saying that he sent several others, which is what prompted them to contact the sheriff's office to go do a welfare check at the house,' Saeed Ahmed of the Journal-Constitution told FOX News.

World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Web site that it asked authorities to check on Benoit and his family after being alerted by friends who received 'several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning.'

The WWE, based in Stamford, Conn., said it had been asked by authorities not to release further information on the deaths.

Benoit was born in Montreal. He was a former world heavyweight champion, Intercontinental champion and held several tag-team titles over his career. He was known by several names including 'The Canadian Crippler.'

Chris Benoit Wife

'WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family's relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy,' the company said in a statement on its Web site.

Benoit had maintained a home in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the defunct World Championship Wrestling. The Fayette County Tax Assessors Office lists the value of the house, situated on more than 8.5 acres, at nearly $900,000.

The WWE canceled its live 'Monday Night RAW' card in Corpus Christi, Texas, and USA Network aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast on June 25.

Benoit's wife managed several wrestlers and went by the stage name 'Woman,' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

They met when her then-husband, Kevin Sullivan, drew up a script that had them involved in a relationship as part of an ongoing story line on World Championship Wrestling.

Sullivan spoke to FOXNews.com late Tuesday and expressed shock and sadness over the death of his ex-wife, who he married in 1985.

From his home in Tavernier, Fla., Sullivan said he had not spoken to his ex-wife since their split.

“It’s surreal,” said Sullivan, who did not have children with Nancy Benoit. “She was a nice person. We just went our separate ways. She was nice and very loving and I’m sure she was a good mother.”

Sullivan said he did not know Benoit well outside the ring. “I never associated with him, so I really don’t know his personality,” he said. … “[But] I’m sad for all three, especially the child.”

Benoit, who has two other children from a prior relationship, became a standout at an early age among wrestling prospects who trained in the dungeon basement of the house where fellow Canadians and professional wrestlers Owen and Bret Hart trained. Owen Hart was killed during a wrestling event in 1999.

'He was like a family member to me, and everyone in my family is taking it real hard,' said Bret Hart, a five-time champion with the now-defunct World Wrestling Federation.

Blane Bachelor and The Associated Press contributed to this report.