Police have announced that William Billy Jack Haynes, a former WWE star, was charged with the murder of his wife.
The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said that on February 8, inside their Portland, Oregon home, Haynes (70) shot and killed his wife, Jannette Becraft (85). He was additionally charged with murder in the second degree for the unauthorized use of a firearm. Before his transfer to the Multnomah County Detention Center, Haynes was receiving treatment at a nearby hospital for an unrelated medical issue.
Reports of gunfire in the area led police to Haynes’ residence just after 9:50 a.m. on February 8. Authorities said that a male whom they sought to speak with inside the building had not cooperated and could have been armed. A two-hour standoff ensued between Haynes and Portland’s SWAT team before he was reportedly brought into custody.
An eyewitness told local media that dementia was a constant battle for Becraft. In addition, he said that Haynes had just gone home from the hospital, claiming that he had fractured ribs in a fall right before the suspected murder.
The source states that Haynes had a fifteen-year professional wrestling career, during which he competed in several circuits until signing with the WWE in 1986. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair and Randy Savage were two of his most memorable opponents in the ring.
Haynes was reportedly scheduled to appear in court at the end of February.
In a social media message addressed to her mother, Becraft’s daughter wrote that her mother was flying with angels and that she loved her.
Haynes was once a plaintiff in a failed class action case that accused WWE of not doing enough to prevent traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
A group of fifty former wrestlers, including several stars from the ’80s and ’90s, filed a lawsuit against the WWE, claiming that they had sustained chronic brain ailments due to concussions and other head traumas. They claimed that WWE was aware of the dangers of head injuries yet did nothing to protect its athletes.
