McMahon Addresses Media; Wikipedia Entry Of Nancy Benoit Death Before Bodies Were Found; WWE Removes Benoit Matches From 24/7; Several Alcoholic Items Found Near Body (Chris)
Here are a few quick news items surrouding the tragic deaths of the Benoit family:
This morning, Vince and Linda McMahon made several media appearances. Both are trying to push across that noone should assume steroids played a role in the tragic double murder-suicide. WWE's press release however specifically claimed steroids didn't play a role despite toxicology reports not completed. Both stated that the release was their attempt to address media sensationalism that was focusing on steroids and insinuating it played a role.
Vince during his interview with The Today Show labeled Chris Benoit as a 'monster'.
Linda focused more on the medical condition of their son Daniel, who may have been suffering from Fragile X syndrome.
WWE's lawyer is also claiming Chris and Nancy Benoit were under alot of stress and having problems over the situation of their son.
We will speak about this quite candidly during tonight's hotline report and Monday's Minority Report Webcast for sure. It's going to be quite controversial, but I believe the majority of our listeners will wholeheartedly agree with out comments.
There are a few reports going around that several empty cans of beer and an empty bottle of wine were found near the body of Chris Benoit. It was also noted that they found that Benoit dropped 240 pounds of weights from a makeshift noose when he committed suicide.
Now on to this matter which is quite intriguing. On the surface, I believed the following was a hoax. However the fact that Wikipedia claims they had staff confront the comments 'in real time', is facinating. Here's an article from FOX News on the matter. For those that want a better verbal understanding of what happened, call our hotline tonight (718-303-4444). The call is free and the hotline runs 30 minutes. Here's the article:
An anonymous user operating a computer traced to Stamford, Conn. — home to World Wrestling Entertainment — posted an entry to pro wrestler Chris Benoit's biography on Wikipedia.org announcing the death of his wife Nancy at least 13 hours before police in suburban Atlanta said they found her body along with her husband's and that of their 7-year-old son, FOXNews.com has learned.
Employees at Wikipedia.org said the posting went live on their site on Monday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Police, however, said they found the bodies Monday at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
The posting reads: “Chris Benoit was replaced by [[Johnny Nitro]] for the ECW Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.”
According to a Wikipedia.org report published after FOXNews.com made inquiries, the edit was reversed just under one hour later with the comment:
"Need a reliable source. Saying that his wife died is a pretty big statement, you need to back it up with something."
The posting apparently was made in reference to Benoit's scheduled appearance on Sunday night at an Extreme Championship Wrestling event in Texas.
An employee from Wikipedia.org told FOXNews.com that he called and left a message with investigative authorities in Fayetteville, Ga., at around 11 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, after the posting was brought to the attention of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Web site.
“I chat with other editors on IRC — Internet relay chat — and somebody pointed it out to me on a relay chat and that it came from a Stamford connection, and that it took place at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Monday morning,” said Wikipedia.org volunteer coordinator Cary Bass. “I called and left a message with the police department.”
The computer-generated time and date stamp of the Benoit entry are listed as 4:01, 25 June 2007. Wikipedia.org lists its entries according to Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time.
Further investigation, according to Wikipedia.com, shows that one hour after the first edit reversion, another anonymous edit by 125.63.148.173 using unwiredAustralia.com.au, a wireless Internet service provider, was made adding about the aforementioned personal issues: "which according to several pro wrestling websites is attributed to the passing of Benoit's wife, Nancy."
That edit was reverted less than 20 minutes later, with the following comment: "Saying 'several pro wrestling websites' is still not reliable information." The second edit was made by a computer in Australia from a wireless network, according to Wikipedia.org.
A message left by FOXNews.com with Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department was not immediately returned.
Investigators so far have ruled the Benoit killings as a double homicide-suicide.
Wikipedia.org claims to be one of the largest reference Web sites, and is written collaboratively by users from around the world. Approved users can make submissions and change entries that are posted on the site almost immediately. Bass said the site is constantly monitored to correct inaccuracies.
Bass said when there is a high-profile case, such as the Benoit killlings, Wikipedia.org limits postings to registered users, which is now indicated at the top of the Benoit entry. According to the listed history on the Benoit entry, the computer used to post the 12:01 a.m. entry had a Stamford, Conn., Internet Protocol — or IP — address, a numeric designation that is assigned to every computer with an Internet connection, and that same address has been used to post about a dozen other messages on the site, dating back to May 16, 2007.
Regarding this months WWE 24/7 programming, WWE has removed three items featuring the Benoit family:
- This months History of ECW TV episode (featuring Nancy aka Woman)
- Wrestlemania 23 (Chris Benoit Match)
- Monday Nitro episode (featured both Chris and Nancy Benoit)
Programming scheduled for next month that also featuring the Benoit family will be removed as well.
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