Prosecutor investigating case of Chris Benoit says not to file state charge against anyone

The Georgia prosecutor investigating the case of professional wrestler Chris Benoit said he will not file state charge, although federal charges are possible.

Federal drug agents have taken over the probe into whether Benoit's personal physician, Dr. Phil Astin, improperly prescribed testosterone and other drugs to the wrestler before he went on his killing spree in his suburban Atlanta home two weekends ago.

"From our standpoint, I have no reason to believe there will be any criminal charges at the current time," Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told The Associated Press. "What the federal government is going to do, it will be up to them."

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta, Patrick Crosby, declined to say Monday whether federal prosecutors were planning to file criminal charges. Authorities twice raided Astin's office in west Georgia last week

Among other things, investigators were looking for Benoit's medical records to see whether he had been prescribed steroids and, if so, whether that prescription was appropriate, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because records in the case are sealed.

Attorney Manny Arora said he was trying to speak with federal prosecutors about their investigation of Astin, and was taking his client to the federal courthouse to be prepared in case charges are filed against him.

"It looks like we'll get some results as to arrest, bail, all of those issues today," Arora told The Associated Press. "It may be today, we're not 100 percent sure."

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit, a longtime friend, in the past but has not said what, if any, medications he prescribed when Benoit visited his office June 22 the Friday before the weekend when the killings occurred.

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the killings. Some experts believe steroids can cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

Toxicology tests on Benoit's body have not yet been completed, Ballard said.

Authorities have said Benoit strangled his wife and 7-year-old son, placing Bibles next to their bodies, before hanging himself on the cable of a weight-machine in his home.

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Author`s name Angela Antonova
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