Portland woman's estate accuses ex-wrestler husband, murder suspect of elder abuse
In a complaint filed with the Multnomah County Circuit Court on May 23, Janette Elaine Becraft's estate accused William 'Billy Jack' Albert Haynes Jr. of elder abuse. Haynes, who started his career as a professional wrestler in 1982, was 70 years old when his 85-year-old wife died in the Lents neighborhood last year.
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In February 2024, the Portland Police Bureau ordered a shelter-in-place in the Lents neighborhood after a fatal shooting at 6000 SE 100th Ave. Authorities later identified Becraft as the shooting victim, and revealed that Haynes was arrested as the potential suspect .
He has with second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.
The new lawsuit against Haynes alleges he abused his disabled wife mentally, physically and financially in the five years leading up to her death. Plaintiffs claimed the suspect isolated Becraft from friends and family, coerced her into abandoning treatment from her own medical providers and influenced her to consume substances like heroin and methamphetamine.
'Defendant even deprived her of normal nutritional support, even when her family attempted to arrange food deliveries and prevented such interventions, and refused to allow her to spend her own funds on appropriate food,' Portland-based attorney Daniel Lorenz wrote.
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Plaintiffs also alleged Haynes coerced his wife into withdrawing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her bank accounts and accessing a firearm he couldn't legally own due to his criminal record, among other claims. Becraft's estate is seeking $750,000 in damages.
Earlier this month, Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Angela Lucero ruled Haynes was unfit to help in his own defense 'due to a qualifying mental disorder.' He is now being held in Oregon State Hospital.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Oregon jury convicts former NBA player Ben McLemore of raping incapacitated woman at team party
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CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Oregon jury convicts former NBA player Ben McLemore of raping incapacitated woman at team party
Former NBA player Ben McLemore has been found guilty of raping a 21-year-old woman during a lake house party attended by many of his then-teammates from the Portland Trail Blazers, a jury ruled Thursday. The jury in Clackamas County, located directly south of Portland, found McLemore, 32, guilty of rape, unlawful sexual penetration and one count of sexual abuse. He was found not guilty on another count of sexual abuse, Portland television station KGW reported. Sentencing was scheduled for Wednesday. 'We recognize there are those who fear individuals with celebrity status or a position of prominence can avoid prosecution. Not in Clackamas County. This case demonstrates my office prosecutes criminal acts regardless of the offender's community status,' District Attorney John Wentworth said in a statement. The charges stemmed from a party Oct. 3, 2021, at the Lake Oswego home owned by his Trail Blazers teammate Robert Covington. Prosecutors claimed during the trial that the sexual encounter was rape, while McLemore's attorney countered it was consensual sex. The woman said she was incapacitated after a night of heavy drinking and was unable to give consent. Prosecutors submitted photos of the woman hovering over a toilet and then passed out on a couch, The Oregonian/Oregon Live earlier reported. She said she woke up at one point during the rape and froze in terror. 'I don't know who this person is,' she testified. 'This is a random person that is doing something like this to me.' The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sexual assault. At one point, she said she let her body slide to the floor in an effort to stop the assault. The woman testified McLemore pulled her back onto the couch and continued. Covington earlier testified he saw the woman flirting with McLemore while they sat on a couch. McLemore testified he was also drinking but claimed the sex was consensual. He also said he and the woman did not have a conversation before, during or after the act, after which he immediately left the home. One of his attorneys, Kris Winemiller, said McLemore left after receiving an angry message from this then-wife, who tracked him and wanted to know why he wasn't in their own Lake Oswego home. Clackamas County prosecutor Scott Healy said there was no confusion. 'When you look at all the surrounding circumstances and you assess the evidence in this case, I submit to you that the defendant is guilty,' he said during closing arguments Tuesday. Another defense attorney, Lisa Maxfield, argued for McLemore's acquittal. 'The only reasonable verdict in a case where two people get drunk and have sex and the man is drunker than the woman, the only reasonable verdict in a case like that is not guilty,' she said. The woman said she did not hire an attorney to sue McLemore and didn't seek money from him. Instead she pursued the criminal case because 'you can't do that to somebody, let alone somebody that you don't know.' McLemore, who played college at Kansas, was the seventh pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. He also played for Memphis, Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers before his last NBA season with Portland in 2021-2022. Since then, he has played in Europe and China. Last August he signed with a team in Turkey.
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Oregon jury convicts former NBA player Ben McLemore of raping incapacitated woman at team party
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