- 06/06/2009 (3:12:52 pm)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
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The name Chris Benoit has been in the papers a lot lately. All this coming upon the anniversary of the murder - suicide from June 22 - 25, 2007. This had to be one of the most horrific deaths in wrestling history.
Ban on performance enhancing drugs needed
I was surprised that Philip Wolf doesn't care what athletes put in their bodies, but I'm not sure I care either.
If Michael Phelps needs 12,000 calories to swim and rasta Ross Rebagliati sparks a joint to snowboard, so be it.
What would be nice is if some of the performance-enhancing stuff made it to the grey matter. Mike Tyson, Michael Vick and assorted NFL and NBA players serve as reminders.
If 'roid rage' was a factor in wrestler Chris Benoit's wife and son's murder and his suicide, I say keep the ban.
I recalled John Henry the American folklore hero, had his heart explode after he beat the steam machine.
Is there a chance that he, Paul Bunyan and other legends may have had there exploits enhanced by alcohol? On the other hand Babe Ruth's record and battle with the bottle are well-documented.
Grant Maxwell
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Man shoots himself at traffic stop
Last Modified: Friday, June 5, 2009 at 8:04 p.m.
NOKOMIS - James P. Keenan was driving erratically on State Road 681 Friday morning when a deputy working a traffic crash flagged him down.
Keenan, 60, stopped his sport utility vehicle about a mile east of the U.S. 41 junction.
When Deputy Chuck Flint asked for a driver's license, Keenan told the lawman it had been suspended.
Likely about to be arrested and taken to jail, a moment later Keenan pulled out a gun.
As the deputy stepped back, Keenan fired a single round and killed himself. Traffic ground to a halt as detectives looked for clues about the suicide.
Records suggest that Keenan was in the midst of a personal crisis: He had been evicted from his home, and he had threatened suicide in the past.
Keenan grew up in New Jersey and had worked as a cable installer. He had two children -- a boy, 8, and a girl, 6 -- with an ex-girlfriend with whom he had lived in North Port before she had him evicted.
The ex-girlfriend went to court for a restraining order against him two years ago, saying he had been acting irrationally.
In the court paperwork, she said he once had threatened to "do a Chris Benoit" -- a reference to the murder-suicide of a famed wrestler.
Also included in the paperwork seeking the restraining order was Keenan's handwritten will. In it he said that people were trying to poison him and that, should he die suddenly, he wanted police to order an autopsy.
"So please check into this," he wrote in the will. "I would never try to kill myself."
