Benoit Toxicology Report

Professional wrestler Chris Benoit had elevated levels of testosterone in his bloodstream when he apparently strangled his wife, suffocated their 7-year-old son and hanged himself, but there were no signs of additional anabolic steroids in his system, according to toxicology reports released today.

The tests also indicated that the couple's son, Daniel, was likely sedated with the prescription drug Xanax -- a drug rarely prescribed to children -- before he was killed in his bedroom, Dr. Kris Sperry, Georgia's chief medical examiner, said at an afternoon press conference.

"Specifically, I think they do show that Daniel Benoit was sedated at the time when he was murdered," Sperry said.

DEA Knew Of Benoit's "Excessive" Steroid Buys

Wrestler Chris Benoit was identified by Drug Enforcement Administration agents as an "excessive purchaser of injectable steroids" who, over the past year, was prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids every three to four weeks by a Georgia doctor who was indicted today on federal charges.

Benoit, who last week murdered his wife and son before committing suicide, came to the attention of DEA agents probing RX Weight Loss, a Marietta company. It was during that investigation, which is "currently being prosecuted in the Northern District of Georgia," that narcotics agents discovered the World Wrestling Entertainment performer's steroid purchases, according to a June 29 search warrant affidavit. The warrant was executed at the home of Phil Astin, Benoit's doctor.

In the affidavit, DEA Agent Anissa Jones reports that pharmacy records show that, from May 2006 to May 2007, Astin prescribed Benoit, on average, "a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids...every three to four weeks." Astin, the affidavit notes, has been the "subject of concern for excessive and/or suspicious prescribing activity" by local police and pharmacies.

Astin, 52, was named today in a seven-count indictment charging him with the illegal distribution of substances like Percocet and Xanax between April 2004 and September 2005.

A preliminary DEA review of Astin's prodigious prescription writing has revealed that he "authorized approximately one million dosage units of various pharmaceutical controlled substances in the last two years." These scrips included "significant quantities" of an injectable anabolic steroid, reported Jones.