The latest on the Benoit Doctor's case:

Wrestler's doctor gets new lawyer

ATLANTA — A new lawyer was appointed Thursday to represent the personal physician of Chris Benoit, the Canadian professional wrestler who killed his family and then himself last June under circumstances that some suggest may have been linked to steroid abuse.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell Vineyard appointed Natasha Perdew Silas of the federal defender’s office to represent Dr. Phil Astin after Astin’s private lawyer, Manny Arora, asked to be removed from the case because Astin can no longer pay his legal bills.

Astin currently faces U.S. federal charges of overprescribing medication, but prosecutors have said they are moving forward with its plans to seek a superseding indictment bring more charges.

Vineyard granted Arora’s motion to withdraw. Afterward, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Horn told the court that the government will present the case to a grand jury to seek additional charges against Astin.

Horn did not detail the new charges or say when the superseding indictment would be sought.

At present, Astin has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of improperly prescribing painkillers and other drugs to two patients other than Benoit.

Prosecutors have said Benoit, 40, strangled his wife with a cord, used a choke hold to strangle his seven-year-old son, placed Bibles next to the bodies and hanged himself on a piece of exercise equipment the weekend of June 22.

Authorities have said Astin prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids to Benoit every three to four weeks between May 2006 and May 2007. But Astin currently faces no charges related to those prescriptions.

Steroid use has lingered as a theory behind the killings, since anabolic steroids were found in Benoit’s home and tests conducted by authorities showed Benoit had roughly 10 times the normal level of testosterone in his system when he died.

Some experts believe that use of testosterone can contribute to paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as “roid rage.”

Benoit’s father believes years of head trauma his son suffered while in the ring contributed to the killings.

Doctors affiliated with the Sports Legacy Institute, who examined Benoit’s brain, have said that repeated concussions could have contributed to the killings, but they don’t know for sure.

Since being placed under house arrest in the case, Astin has been unable to work and foreclosure notices and other liens have been placed on his real estate interests, Arora said Wednesday in filing his motion to withdraw from the case.

As a result, Astin is indigent and unable to pay his legal bills, Arora said, adding that the cost of defending Astin is expected to be high. Copying and scanning medical documents at issue in the case could run into the tens of thousands of dollars alone, he said.

Prosecutors did not object to the appointment of a public defender to represent Astin.

Arora said after court Thursday that he is unsure whether Astin will need to file for bankruptcy. Astin declined to comment to reporters as he left court.

“My No. 1 concern is that Dr. Astin gets a good defense,” Arora told reporters.