The Supreme Court is allowing a lawsuit to proceed against Hustler Magazine over decades-old nude photographs of Nancy Benoit that were published after she was killed by her husband, WWE wrestler Chris Benoit.
The court turned down Hustler’s appeal Monday. Benoit killed his wife, 43-year-old Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel before committing suicide in June 2007.
According to police, the murders took place over a three-day period in June 2007 at the Benoit’s home near Atlanta. Investigators found that Chris Benoit bound Nancy and strangled her. He later drugged and strangled Daniel. Police believe he then committed suicide by hanging himself with a weight machine. A formal motive for the crimes was never discovered.
[popup url=”http://assets.longislandpress.com/photos/gallery.php?gazpart=view&gazimage=1169″]
Click here to view more photos of Nancy Benoit[/popup]
Hustler published 20-year-old nude photographs of Nancy Benoit in 2008, after the deaths gained international attention.
Her family filed a federal lawsuit against the Larry Flynt Publishing Group, Hustler’s publisher, claiming that the woman, a model and former professional wrestler herself, had asked the photographer to destroy the images immediately after they were shot.
A federal judge ruled in the magazine’s favor in October 2008, dismissing the lawsuit and concluding that the magazine had the right to publish the photos in part because her death was a “legitimate matter of public interest and concern.”
Last year, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judge’s ruling, saying the magazine had no right to publish the photos.
The magazine, backed by journalists’ groups, said it had a First Amendment right to publish the pictures.
With The Associated Press
Movie Review: Knucklehead
