Pro wrestler Benoit passed drug test in April: WWE

Reuters

Professional wrestling star Chris Benoit, who killed his wife and son before
taking his own life earlier this week, passed a random drug test in April, the
head of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. said on Thursday.

Investigators
have said they found anabolic steroids among prescription drugs in Benoit’s
suburban

Atlanta
house where the three bodies were found on Monday, raising questions whether
they played a role in the deaths. There have been incidents where
muscle-building steroids have been linked by

U.S. health officials to
uncontrolled outbursts of anger or combativeness.

“The
last test that Chris Benoit took of a random nature was in April which he was
totally negative,” WWE Chairman Vince McMahon said on NBC’s
“Today” morning program. “That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t
taking prescription medication and perhaps even steroids when this happened. We
don’t know.”

Authorities
have said it could take weeks to receive the results of toxicology reports.
Benoit’s wife and 7-year-old son died of asphyxiation while he hung himself,
they said.

“Whether
or not there were other aspects involving his life that had something to do
with his behavior, hopefully we can find out in some way,” McMahon said.

Nicknamed
“The Rabid Wolverine” and “The Canadian Crippler,” Benoit,
40, missed an appearance in

Texas
on Saturday and was last in contact with the WWE to say that his family was ill
and to rearrange his travel.

He also
sent text messages early Sunday morning that were described by McMahon as
“very strange.”