Wrestler to be buried in Canada, wife in Florida

By KEVIN DUFFY The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 06/28/07 Professional wrestler Chris Benoit will have a private service in Canada, separate from the services for his wife and son, his father said Thursday.

Benoit's parents, Michael and Margaret Benoit, live in Ardrossan in the Canadian province of Alberta.

The bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy Benoit and their 7-year-old son, Daniel, are at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab.

Benoit killed his wife and his mentally handicapped son last weekend and then hanged himself at their exclusive Fayette County home near Peachtree City.

"It's a horrible, horrible event that's happened," Michael Benoit, the wrestling star's father said, speaking softly on the phone. "We have no understanding why it happened. It's going to take us a long time to come to terms with this, and we may never come to terms with it."

Nancy Benoit's parents, Paul and Maureen Toffoloni, live in Daytona Beach, Fla., where services for Nancy Benoit and Daniel probably will be held, Benoit said.

The plan is to cremate the mother and child in Georgia, according to Bee Huddleston of Carl J. Mowell and Sons Funeral Home in Peachtree City, which is assisting the families.

Mowell and Sons was scheduled to pick up the bodies of the mother and son late Thursday from the G.B.I. medical examiner's office in Decatur.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Nancy's family," Benoit said. "We're very concerned about the long-term affects on her family.

"There are no words to describe the loss we feel."