Billy Jack Haynes Arrested For Murdering His Wife, Portland Police Issue Statement

The Portland Police Bureau in Oregon has announced that they have arrested Billy Jack Haynes on suspicion of murdering his wife, Janette Becraft. Haynes, real name William Albert Haynes, is currently in custody at a local hospital, being treated for a medical condition. The statement reads:

“The suspect in the Thursday Lents Neighborhood homicide investigation is identified as William Albert Haynes, Jr, 70, of Portland. Haynes is Janette Becraft’s husband. He is in police custody at a local hospital while he is being treated for a medical condition unrelated to the homicide or his contact with law enforcement. Once he is released from the hospital, which may be days from now, he is expected to be booked into jail. Haynes’ charges will be released once he is booked.”

On Thursday, KOIN in Portland reported that a shooting happened in the Lents neighborhood around 9:52 AM that morning. Officers attempted to contact the man, now confirmed to be Haynes, but he had “not cooperated with officers” and was believed to be armed. It was later noted by a tactical team that Haynes “eventually came out” and was arrested two hours later. When police went inside, they found Becraft, who was 85. After Haynes’ arrest, police began a homicide investigation.

Sgt. Kevin Allen said in a statement to PWInsider: “I can confirm that the man we detained last night remains in police custody this morning. He has not been booked into jail or charged with a crime, so we are not releasing his name at this time. I’m in communication with detectives and we will update the news release as soon as there is a development to report.”

KPTV in Portland spoke with a neightbor, who said: “It’s a tragedy all around. Finally, being able to process the severity of the proximity of how close we were in nature. It’s my dad and I live and help take care of them. Recently, I was just taking care of his wife who had ongoing dementia. I was pretty decently close to both of them and loved them very much.”

It was only today that Haynes had been identifed by Portland police, as media reports prior to this simply called him a former professional wrestler.