by Irvin Muchnick
I have now acquired what I am fairly confident is the complete set of calls from the Fayette County E911 Center on the Benoit emergency of June 25, 2007. There is a total of eight calls — the three previously uploaded here, plus five new ones.
I’ll save for another day the inside baseball of how I came to believe that there was still more important audio evidence than that discussed in “Benoit 911 Call: WWE Security Chief Gave Wrong Day of Wrestler’s Last Message” (March 28, http://muchnick.net/babylon/2008/03/28/benoit-911-call-wwe-security-chief-gave-wrong-day-of-wrestlers-last-message), and “More Benoit 911: Calls From WWE Security Chief and VP Hering” (April 22, http://muchnick.net/babylon/2008/04/22/more-benoit-911-calls-from-wwe-security-chief-and-vp-hering).
For right now, let’s focus on the content of the evidence itself. In the next post, I will advance some tentative broad conclusions based on my first listens. Below are listed the links to the calls themselves and some brief factual notes.
The first call is at 1:10 p.m.
This is the original call from Dennis Fagan of Andrews International, WWE’s security consultant, which we already had. (I am also keeping the old links for this and the other previously acquired calls for the convenience of those who might come across them while browsing old blog items.)
The second call is at 1:39 p.m.
The 911 dispatcher leaves a message for Fagan. The dispatcher says the gate is locked and the officers on the scene need the pass code, and also that they are being inhibited by two aggressive canines.
The third call is at 1:41 p.m.
Fagan calls back. He sounds surprised to hear that the gate is locked because Chris Benoit’s message had said “the gate’s open.” (Fagan is wrong; Benoit’s message said only that the side garage door was open, not the main gate.) Fagan says he will check around and call back.
The fourth call is at 2:13 p.m.
Fagan says “they just called back” and he has more information. “They” clearly include Chavo Guerrero but not Scott James (Armstrong). (Fagan also says at one point, “The gentleman I’m dealing with is a retired judge in New York.” If anyone knows who that is or might be, please email [email protected].) Fagan now says he has learned of two text messages from Benoit. (Actually there was a total of five texts to Guerrero and James.) In a strange comment, Fagan says, “They don’t seem to be very worried.” [My mistake: Fagan actually says, “They all seem to be very worried.”] Through Guerrero, Fagan is able to direct them to the neighbor who can secure the German shepherd guard dogs.
The fifth call is at 2:48 p.m.
This is the most disturbing call, though it has no real forensic value. Holly Schrepfer, the neighbor, has just emerged from the house screaming upon finding Daniel and Nancy’s dead bodies. The sheriff’s deputies then went inside and were in the basement, where they found Chris’s dead body. Using her cell phone while standing in the driveway, Ms. Schrepfer, in hysterics, calls 911 to make sure the cops inside are OK.
The sixth call is at 3:15 p.m.
Fagan checks back in. He is put on hold and then told no one is sure exactly what is going on.
The seventh call is at 4:19 p.m.
This is the second of three calls previously reported here. It is Fagan yet again. He is told there is a shift change and he will be called back shortly.
The eighth call is at 4:41 p.m.
This is the last of the three calls previously reported here. It is Rich Hering, WWE vice president for governmental relations, leaving a message for Lieutenant Tommy Pope, who Hering says wants certain information.
My comments are in the next post.