Pro wrestler Chris Benoit called his father a week before he killed himself, his wife, and his son to say that he missed his family, Michael Benoit said Friday.
"He called me up to wish me Happy Father's Day and he was on the road travelling to a wrestling venue and he said to me that he was disappointed that he couldn't be at home with his family," Michael Benoit told CTV's Canada AM.
On Wednesday, test results issued by the Sports Legacy Institute indicated that Chris Benoit suffered brain damage from his years in the ring. It was suggested that this finding could explain why the wrestler killed his wife, his son and himself at their suburban Atlanta home in June.
"This is totally out of character for the man we love," Michael Benoit told CTV's Canada AM. "We were searching for answers and we had no idea why this tragedy took place."
Benoit's father agreed to submit brain tissue after the president of the Sports Legacy Institute, Christopher Nowinski, who had himself retired from wrestling due to brain injuries he had sustained, approached him four days after his son's death.
"This brain of Chris Benoit as well as brains we've examined previously showed findings of chronic traumatic encephalopathy," Dr. Robert Cantu of the Sports Legacy Institute told CTV's Canada AM.
"They were very extensive abnormal protein deposits in the brain... which is a marker of brain damage. And of all the brains that we've examined to date with traumatic encephalopathy, Chris' brain by far was the most damaged."
The institute researches the long-term effects of concussions and co-ordinated its findings with brain tissue samples testing provided by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
However, Cantu said the test results could not conclusively prove that Benoit's concussions led to the murder-suicide.
A neurologist at Emory University who was not involved in the testing agreed that multiple concussions could cause long-term brain injuries but could not pinpoint what the causes of this condition could be.
Benoit's father said that his son had told him he suffered concussions but was not aware if the wrestling league maintained any records to document such a diagnosis. However the test results are helping Benoit's family to make sense of the tragedy.
"It's been a difficult process," Michael Benoit said. "We're lucky that we have a very strong daughter who's been very supportive. We're trying to cope with it."
