Over a three-day period from June 22 to 24, 2007, Chris Benoit, a 40-year-old Canadian professional wrestler employed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and living in Fayetteville, Georgia, murdered his wife Nancy and their 7-year-old son, Daniel, before hanging himself. Autopsy results showed that Benoit's wife was murdered first as she was bound at the feet and wrists and died of asphyxiation on the night of June 22.[1] On June 25, Nancy was found wrapped in a towel with blood under her head, although Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard reported no other signs of a struggle.

The couple's son, Daniel Christopher Benoit, who also died of asphyxia, was killed as he was lying sedated in his bed on the morning of June 23. Then, on the evening of June 24, Benoit killed himself in his weight room, when he used his lat pulldown machine to hang himself. He placed Bibles near the bodies of his wife and son.[2][3] Since Benoit's suicide, numerous explanations for his actions have been proposed, including severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE),[4] steroid use, and alcohol use disorder,[5] leading to a failing marriage and other personal problems.[6] The incident led to numerous media accounts, and a federal investigation into steroid misuse in professional wrestling.