Former WWF wrestler arrested in wife’s murder

William Albert “Billy Jack” Haynes Jr., who in the 1980s competed in the World Wrestling Federation, was arrested in the killing of his wife at a home in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday after a standoff with police.

Authorities publicly identified Haynes, 70, on Saturday, days after police said he shot and killed his wife, Janette Becraft, 85, in the Lents neighborhood of southeast Portland.

At the peak of his career, wrestling as Billy Jack Haynes, he faced Randy “Macho Man” Savage and in 1987 went against Hercules Hernandez in WrestleMania III.

After his arrest, the Portland Police Bureau said Haynes was taken to a hospital to get treatment for a medical condition that was “unrelated to the homicide or his contact with law enforcement,” adding that his stay could last “days”.

He was expected to be booked into jail and formally charged upon his release from the hospital, police said Saturday. It was unclear if Haynes had obtained a lawyer.

Just before 10 am on Thursday, police responded to a report of a shooting at the home. Officers made contact with Haynes, who was inside the home and was uncooperative, they said. After negotiations, officers arrested him and found Becraft dead inside.

Sargent Kevin Allen, a spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau, said there were no updates Sunday evening and declined to elaborate on the nature of Haynes’ medical condition.

Brelynn Matthieu, a neighbor, told Fox 12 Oregon that she knew the couple well and that she had recently been staying with Becraft, who had dementia, while Haynes recovered in the hospital from a rib injury sustained during a fall.

Haynes, of Portland, debuted in the WWF, which is now called World Wrestling Entertainment, in 1986, according to the book WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment.

Haynes was a plaintiff in a federal class-action lawsuit filed against the WWE in 2016. The suit claimed that the organization had mistreated its wrestlers by denying and concealing medical research about the traumatic brain injuries they suffered.

The suit further claimed that the WWE had “disavowed, concealed and prevented” medical care for such injuries.