CHRIS BENOIT IS DEAD – UPDATE

As of 8:30am pacific time there are no new developments in the death of wrestling superstar Chris Benoit. Benoit, along with his wife and seven-year-old son, were found dead in their home in suburban Atlanta. Police are treating the case as a murder-suicide. It is believed Benoits wife and son were killed over the weekend and Benoit took his own life yesterday. The bodies were discovered yesterday around 2:30pm. Police gave few details but did say a gun was not used. The AP says:

Authorities were investigating the deaths at a secluded Fayette County home as a murder-suicide and were not seeking any suspects outside the home. Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "The details, when they come out, are going to prove a little bizarre." Those details may emerge after the completion of autopsies scheduled for Tuesday. Investigators believe Benoit killed his wife and son over the weekend and then himself sometime Monday. The bodies were found Monday afternoon in three different rooms of the house on Green Meadow Lane, in a subdivision off a gravel road about two miles from Whitewater Country Club.

WWE chairman Vince McMahon broke the current storyline – in which his character had been killed – to introduce a tribute for last nights telecast. The tribute, which now seems out of place especially as it shows Benoit hugging his wife and son, was aired before details were leaked indicating that Benoit killed his family. Wrestling site Rajah.com reports that WWE has pulled all Benoit merchandise from its online store and has begun to purge his name from the record books. Benoit's name has been removed from the DVD description of WrestleMania XX. It now says, "Triple H defends his World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels." In reality, that was a triple threat match between Triple H, Michaels and Benoit that Benoit won to become WWE Champion. Also that night a Phi Mu gave me a hand job. What a sexy story this turned out to be.

GRISLY UPDATE – TMZ says:

TMZ has learned more about the deaths of WWE wrestling superstar Chris Benoit, his wife and son — and the information is extremely disturbing.  Several Atlanta-based law enforcement sources have told TMZ Benoit may have strangled his wife on Saturday, then smothered his son in his bed a day later. Investigators refuse to officially comment, pending final confirmation by the coroner on the cause and time of the deaths.  The source told TMZ that Benoit was texting friends during Sunday's WWE "Vengeance" Pay-Per-View program — possibly watching the show with his son, who may have been alive at the time.  According to sources, Benoit then hanged himself Monday in a weight room inside the family home.

Yikes.