The Portland Police Bureau in Oregon announced today that they’ve 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 where he’s being treated for a medical condition “unrelated to the homicide or his contact with law enforcement.”
The report states, “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.”
KOIN in Portland reported on Thursday that a shooting took place in the Lents neighborhood around 9:52 AM. As officers attempted to contact Haynes, he was “not cooperating” and was believed to have been armed. A SWAT team was eventually able to get Haynes to come out of the house and surrender. Upon entering the house, police located the body of Mrs. Becraft, who was 85. There is now a homicide investigation ongoing.
Sgt. Kevin Allen issued the following statement,
“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.”
Finally, KPTV in Portland spoke to a neighbor who said the following,
“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.”
