Powell's Blog A murder case stirs up a mix of emotions relating to the Benoit family tragedy By Jason Powell Mar 3, 2008 - 09:55 AM CLICK FOR BIO Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing Monday, MARCH 3 - 9:55 A.M. Last Sunday night, I was waiting on hold for a radio appearance on the “Crime and Punishment” show when I heard host Mike McIntyre plug an upcoming segment. He teased listeners with a story about an elderly man who confessed to killing his wife, yet would not face prison time. My first thought was that it had to be a mercy killing. I assumed the woman had been suffering physical pain or was in a vegetative state, and her husband chose to end her life because he couldn’t stand to sit by and watch her suffer. Rather, McIntyre stated the man was suffering from dementia. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given a conditional sentence of two years with three years of probation. You can find a full story at the Edmonton Journal website. This story made me feel sad that Chris Benoit will always be remembered as a monster by so many people even though he could have been suffering from similar issues when he took the lives of his wife and son and then committed suicide. Do you consider the elderly man a monster or do you feel pity him for him because he was mentally ill when he killed his wife? If you feel pity for elderly man, then should you also feel pity for Benoit if there’s a chance the brain damage he suffered drove him to murder his wife and child? I understand the anger people feel toward Chris Benoit. I also understand that we’ll never know what triggered his horrible actions. We’ve heard all the theories, including the possibility that the numerous concussions he suffered over the years caused permanent damage and played a part in his actions that night. I’m not trying to defend Benoit. The mere mention of his name conjures up a wide variety of emotions inside me. Anger is certainly one of them and, yes, pity is another. A few years ago, an industry source told me he asked Chris Benoit why he was still performing the top rope headbutt after undergoing neck surgery. I’m paraphrasing, but Benoit told this person that he performed the move because the fans wanted to see it. The most tragic aspect of this story is unquestionably the loss of Nancy and Daniel Benoit and nothing will change that. Yet it also saddens me to think there’s a chance Chris Benoit lost his mind and committed those horrific acts because he gave everything he had to the industry he loved and to the fans he wanted to please. And if the concussions are to blame for these acts, how sad is it that the industry is trying to erase his name from its history books, while most of the fans he wanted to please are now too ashamed to admit they ever followed his career. BOOKMARK DOT NET AND ADD US TO YOUR RSS • HELP DOT NET: TAKE OUR ADVERTISER DEMO SURVEY CLICK TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY Powell's Blog Latest Twelve Articles WWE's latest talent cut, no room for managers in pro wrestling, Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor, the newest wrestler on the ECW roster, traditional Survivor Series matches Brock Lesnar is the new UFC Heavyweight Champion, but he faces an uphill battle in a quest to earn the respect of MMA followers Thoughts on UFC 91 at the box office, the Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar main event, and the weak undercard WWE cuts five wrestlers in four days, Jeff Hardy shows a mean streak, lame duck Ring of Honor pay-per-view event WWE cracking down on marijuana use, internal frustration over a TNA cut continues, Vladimir Kozlov fan reaction, one week away from Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture I lost my precious sticker, more on WWE Raw including thoughts on Stephanie and Shane McMahon, Vladimir Kozlov, the same old Jeff Hardy, and the strangest voter ever