ARCHIVE 5/15/08: Benoit, the Fayette County Sheriff, and Scott (Armstrong) James’ Non-Statement Statement

Benoit, the Fayette County Sheriff, and Scott (Armstrong) James’ Non-Statement Statement

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

At seven months and considerable cost (I’ll try to get numbers), the Chris Benoit double murder/suicide investigation had to be one of the longest and most expensive in the history of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.

Yet with respect to a linchpin source of information, former wrestler and current referee Scott James (Armstrong), the sum of what the taxpayers of suburban Atlanta got in return is in the following six sentences on pages 27 and 28 of the 52-page case summary:

“Chris Benoit also called his friend and travel partner Scott James, on Saturday, June 23, 2007, several times during the day.

In a statement made by Scott James, he advised he spoke with Chris Benoit several times on Saturday, June 23, 2007.

James advised they spoke about rental car and hotel room arrangements. James stated that Chris told him that Nancy and Daniel were sick and he may be late for the next show, but he would be there.

Scott James stated that Chris Benoit never made any comment that would have made him think something terrible had happened.

Scott James advised later that night (early Sunday morning), he began receiving text messages from Chris and Nancy Benoit’s cellular phones.”

A logical reading of the plain language “In a statement made by Scott James” is that James, like several other key interviewees, provided a detailed and verbatim account of pertinent issues in his purview.

But that turns out not to be the case, as Detective Ethon Harper told me yesterday through the sheriff’s open records attorney. (A month ago Harper seems to have begun finding it unbearable to continue direct dialogue with your humble blogger.)

There is no formal, dedicated document looking anything like what nine out of ten drunks in a bar would identify in this context as a “statement.” There are only cursory notes of a June 28, 2007, telephone interview of James by a Detective Lee. Here is the complete text of the account in Lee’s “supplemental”:

“6/28/07: Interview with Scott James [phone number redacted]

I called Scott to ask him several questions since he sent and received several cell phone calls and text messages to Chris Benoit near the time of his death. Scott said that he spoke to Chris several times on Saturday regarding their upcoming shows for the WWE. Scott said Chris called him and said that Nancy and Daniel were throwing up and very sick and he wasn’t sure that he would make the show, if he did he would be late. Scott said Chris asked him to call one of their bosses named “Fit” and tell him of his situation. Scott said he received several text messages from Chris telling Scott his home address and the dogs were in the back and the side door to the house would be open. Scott said he made several attempts to call and text Chris on Sunday and never received a response from Chris.

I asked Scott several questions about Chris and Nancy’s marriage and Chris’ health. Scott said he knew they argued but knew of nothing physical. He said he didn’t think Chris had any substance abuse or other addictions. Scott went on to say that Chris was a great father and “the man who did this, I don’t know him”. Scott said there were no statements that could have been a prelude as to what happened. Scott James [redacted]”

What — No questions about why WWE higher-ups were not alerted about the bizarre 4 a.m. Sunday text messages from Benoit until Monday afternoon?

No questions, much less explanations, about James’ 9:26 a.m. Sunday text to Benoit, “What time do u land?”

How do you spell “make that a baloney on rye and hold the pickles”?

Irv Muchnick