Wrestling Superstar Billy Jack Haynes attends the Big Event at the LaGuardia Plaza on March 9, 2019 in Flushing, New York. (Credit: George Napolitano/MediaPunch /IPX). On Feb. 8, 2024, Haynes is a accused of shooting and killing his 85-year-old wife, Janette Becraft, at their home in Portland, Oregon. (Becraft: Portland Police Bureau)
A retired professional wrestler known as “Billy Jack” Haynes is accused of shooting and killing his 85-year-old wife at their home in Portland, Oregon.
Portland Police Bureau officers responded just before 10 a.m. Thursday to a report of a shooting at a house in the 600 block of Southeast 100th Avenue, a press release said. Police made contact with the suspect, later identified as 70-year-old William “Billy Jack” Haynes, Jr., but he did not cooperate and instead barricaded himself in the home, they said.
Cops called in the Special Emergency Reaction Team and the Crisis Negotiation Team to take the suspect into custody. The incident turned into an hours-long standoff with police asking neighbors to lock doors and shelter in place, but Haynes eventually gave himself up. Officers went inside the home where they found Haynes’ wife, 85-year-old Janette Becraft, dead from a gunshot wound.
Haynes is in police custody at a hospital for an unrelated medical condition. Once released he will be taken to the jail on formal charges, police said. Cops have yet to release the charges he’s facing.
“Billy Jack” Haynes performed as a professional wrester in the 1980s and 90s. He most notably wrestled in an undercard match dubbed “The Battle of the Full Nelsons” at the World Wrestling Federation’s WrestleMania III in 1987. He also competed regionally in the Pacific Northwest and Florida markets. Injuries mostly derailed career, though he wrestled into the mid-1990s. He tried unsuccessfully to sue the WWF in 2016, alleging the company ignored their wrestlers’ head injuries.
Neighbors were shocked to hear of the alleged murder. Steve Odri told local Fox affiliate KPTV that the Haynes and Becraft were a kind couple.
“He told me ‘Come on by anytime you’d like,’” Odri told the TV station. “We’ll sit down and have a beer. He was just your average Joe guy to me, and one of my favorite heroes when I was kid.”
He added: “He is a sweetheart of a guy,” Odri said.
Breelyn Matthieu said in an interview with KPTV she took care of Becraft who was suffering from dementia while Haynes was recently in the hospital for broken ribs after a fall.
“He said he came home because he couldn’t stand being away from her,” she said.
