Former WWE Star Billy Jack Haynes Charged With Murder

After being arrested earlier this month following the death of his wife, William Albert Haynes III - known to wrestling fans as Billy Jack Haynes - has now been officially charged with second degree murder.

KOIN 6 was the first to report this news, with Haynes released from hospital yesterday and booked into Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland, Oregon. In addition to being charged for the murder of his wife, Janette Becraft, Haynes was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon.

Thursday 8 February saw police respond to reports of gunfire at 6000 SE 100th Avenue, Portland shortly before 10am, where a two-hour standoff took place with a man later identified as William Albert Haynes III. Upon entering the property, the body of 85-year-old Janette Becraft was discovered, with a local medical examiner confirming the cause of death as homicide by gunshot wound. In the time since then, Haynes has spent time hospitalised, in police custody, for a medical condition not related to this incident.

The 70-year-old Haynes began his wrestling career in 1982, having trained in Stu Hart's Dungeon. Making a name for himself across the Pacific Northwest as Billy Jack Haynes throughout the early '80s, his most notable run came when he signed with the then-World Wrestling Federation in 1986. After two years with the market leader - including a rivalry with Hercules Hernandez that saw the two face off at WrestleMania III - Haynes would later work for Herb Abrams' doomed UWF, have a spell in WCW under a mask as Black Blood, and eventually retired in 1996.