PDA

View Full Version : Benoit murders to wiki 14 hours before bodies found



MERRYKISSMASS2U
06-28-2007, 03:38 PM
http://digg.com/world_news/Benoit_s_Death_Posted_to_Wikipedia_14_Hours_Before _Bodies_Found

courtesy of "GameCop"

Here is the link in question which shows the revision: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chris_Benoit&diff=prev&oldid=140442953

The person added ", stemming from the death of his wife Nancy."

The revision was made 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Or 14 and a half hours before the bodies were reported discovered.

The IP address (69.120.111.23) originates from Stamford, Connecticut ... coincidently, it's the same location as WWE Headquarters.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chris_Benoit&diff=prev&oldid=140679736
http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?showtopic=86875&st=630


Blane Bachelor:

An anonymous user operating a computer traced to Stamford, Conn. — home to World Wrestling Entertainment — posted an entry to pro wrestler Chris Benoit's biography on Wikipedia.org announcing the death of his wife Nancy at least 13 hours before police in suburban Atlanta said they found her body along with her husband's and that of their 7-year-old son, FOXNews.com has learned.

Employees at Wikipedia.org said the posting went live on their site on Monday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Police, however, said they found the bodies Monday at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

The posting reads: “Chris Benoit was replaced by [[Johnny Nitro]] for the ECW Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.” According to a Wikipedia.org report published after FOXNews.com made inquiries, the edit was reversed just under one hour later with the comment:

"Need a reliable source. Saying that his wife died is a pretty big statement, you need to back it up with something."

The posting apparently was made in reference to Benoit's scheduled appearance on Sunday night at an Extreme Championship Wrestling event in Texas.

An employee from Wikipedia.org told FOXNews.com that he called and left a message with investigative authorities in Fayetteville, Ga., at around 11 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, after the posting was brought to the attention of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Web site.

“I chat with other editors on IRC — Internet relay chat — and somebody pointed it out to me on a relay chat and that it came from a Stamford connection, and that it took place at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Monday morning,” said Wikipedia.org volunteer coordinator Cary Bass. “I called and left a message with the police department.”

The computer-generated time and date stamp of the Benoit entry are listed as 4:01, 25 June 2007. Wikipedia.org lists its entries according to Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time.

Further investigation, according to Wikipedia.com, shows that one hour after the first edit reversion, another anonymous edit by 125.63.148.173 using unwiredAustralia.com.au, a wireless Internet service provider, was made adding about the aforementioned personal issues: "which according to several pro wrestling websites is attributed to the passing of Benoit's wife, Nancy."

That edit was reverted less than 20 minutes later, with the following comment: "Saying 'several pro wrestling websites' is still not reliable information." The second edit was made by a computer in Australia from a wireless network, according to Wikipedia.org.

A message left by FOXNews.com with Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department was not immediately returned.

Investigators so far have ruled the Benoit killings as a double homicide-suicide.

Wikipedia.org claims to be one of the largest reference Web sites, and is written collaboratively by users from around the world. Approved users can make submissions and change entries that are posted on the site almost immediately. Bass said the site is constantly monitored to correct inaccuracies.

Bass said when there is a high-profile case, such as the Benoit killlings, Wikipedia.org limits postings to registered users, which is now indicated at the top of the Benoit entry. According to the listed history on the Benoit entry, the computer used to post the 12:01 a.m. entry had a Stamford, Conn., Internet Protocol — or IP — address, a numeric designation that is assigned to every computer with an Internet connection, and that same address has been used to post about a dozen other messages on the site, dating back to May 16, 2007.

In related news, FOXNews.com also has learned, through widely posted Web reports, that former pro wrestler Sherri Martel, who was found dead on June 15, was linked to former wrestler Kevin Sullivan — ex-husband of Nancy Benoit.

Click here to read more about the death of Sherri Martel.

Martel, who had a reputation as one of the top managers in pro wrestling, was found dead at her mother’s home in near Birmingham, Ala., on June 15. She was 49.

Investigators, who have not yet determined Martel's cause of death, say foul play is not suspected but that Martel did not die of natural causes.

MERRYKISSMASS2U
06-28-2007, 03:50 PM
Also,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:AN#Chris_Benoit_and_wikipedia_announcing_the_de ath_of_Nancy_Daus_before_it_was_announced

Little Texan
06-28-2007, 11:16 PM
This story keeps getting more bizarre by the day!

sadaist
06-29-2007, 12:31 AM
This is weird.

MERRYKISSMASS2U
06-29-2007, 05:13 PM
breaking: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Chris_Benoit_mystery_editor_confesses:_Claims_%22t errible_coincidence%22

Little Texan
06-29-2007, 10:16 PM
Chris Benoit mystery editor confesses: claims "terrible coincidence"
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Jump to: navigation, search
June 29, 2007

This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Please note that Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.


Chris Benoit, performing for the Coalition troops at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq.The anonymous individual responsible for suggesting, 14 hours before police discovered the body, that WWE wrestler Chris Benoit's wife was dead is saying his/her comment was a "terrible coincidence."

... I feel incredibly bad for all the attention this got because of the fact that what I said turned out to be the truth. Like I said it was just a major coincidence, and I will never vandalize anything on wikipedia or post wrongful information. I've learned from this experience. I just can't believe what I wrote was actually the case, I've remained stunned and saddened over it.... ...
—Continued »

In a post made at 12:26 AM EDT Friday morning to the talk page of a Wikinews article headlined as the "Death of Nancy Benoit rumour posted on Wikipedia hours prior to body being found", the user admitted to writing that Nancy Benoit was dead at the Wikipedia article page for Benoit came from information that was garnered from "rumors and speculation online." Freakishly, the post turned out to be true.

The IP Address of the individual making the apology was identical to that of the one who posted the Nancy Benoit rumor, a strong confirmation of the admission's authenticity. The lengthy apology was not signed, with the individual claiming, "I am just an everyday individual who posted a wrongful remark at the time that received so much attention because it turned out to actually happen."

Wikinews originally broke the story about the suspicious edit after receiving a tip from Wikipedia administrators. The fact the edit originated from a computer in Stamford, CT (the site of WWE headquarters) appears to be another coincidence.

The anonymous editor left a lengthy apology to the Wikimedia community, explaining, "I hope this puts an end to this speculation that someone knew about the tragedy before it was discovered."

Wikinews is continuing to follow the story, but the anonymous user has declined an interview.

Below is the full, unedited apology:

... Hey everyone. I am here to talk about the wikipedia comment that was left by myself. I just want to say that it was an incredible coincidence. Last weekend, I had heard about Chris Benoit no showing Vengeance because of a family emergency, and I had heard rumors about why that was. I was reading rumors and speculation about this matter online, and one of them included that his wife may have passed away, and I did the wrong thing by posting it on wikipedia to spite there being no evidence. I posted my speculation on the situation at the time and I am deeply sorry about this, and I was just as shocked as everyone when I heard that this actually would happen in real life. It is one of those things that just turned into a huge coincidence. That night I found out that what I posted, ended up actually happening, a 1 in 10,000 chance of happening, or so I thought. I was beyond wrong for posting wrongful information, and I am sorry to everyone for this. I just want everyone to know it was stupid of me, and I will never do anything like this again. I just posted something that was at that time a piece of wrong unsourced information that is typical on wikipedia, as it is done all the time.

Nonetheless, I feel incredibly bad for all the attention this got because of the fact that what I said turned out to be the truth. Like I said it was just a major coincidence, and I will never vandalize anything on wikipedia or post wrongful information. I've learned from this experience. I just can't believe what I wrote was actually the case, I've remained stunned and saddened over it.

I wish not to reveal my identity so I can keep me and my family out of this since they have nothing to do with anything. I am not connected to WWE or Benoit at all in anyway. I am from Stamford as the IP address shows, and I am just an everyday individual who posted a wrongful remark at the time that received so much attention because it turned out to actually happen. I will say again I didn't know anything about the Benoit tragedy, it was a terrible coincidence that I never saw coming.

I hope this puts an end to this speculation that someone knew about the tragedy before it was discovered. It was just a rumor that I had heard about from other people online who were speculating what the family emergency Chris was attending to. I made a big mistake by posting this comment on his page, since all we had were what we thought was going on and nothing about what actually was going on yet, and sadly what happened turned out to be my speculation at the time. I assumed wiki would edit out my information, which they did, so thats why I didn't go back to edit it out myself.

I know I keep repeating it but I feel terrible about the mainstream coverage this has received, since it was only a huge coincidence and a terrible event that should of never happened. I am not sure how to react, as hearing about my message becoming a huge part of the Benoit slayings made me feel terrible as everyone believes that it is connected to the tragedy, but it was just an awful coincidence. That is all I have to say, I will never post anything here again unless it is pure fact, no spam nothing like that. Thank you, and let this end this chapter of the Benoit story, and hopefully one day we will find out why this tragedy ever actually happened.
...