A man who lived in Arizona made the trek all the way to Alaska to exact revenge before he died. Matthew Becker was dying from cancer and traveled many miles with the intention of ending the life of his ex-wife before he succumbed to the terminal disease. He showed up unexpectedly at her business and opened fire on the woman while she ran away. Thankfully, she survived, but her father wasn’t so lucky. Sadly, Becker set his sights on the older man after he failed to kill his ex-wife. He was able to kill his former father-in-law with the same gun. Now, he leaves behind a more complicated legacy.
Police never got a chance to make an arrest.
Officers from the Anchorage Police Department responded to a report of shots fired about 9:45 a.m. on March 14, 2026, they noted in a statement. They identified the victim as 87-year-old Romaine Clark.
About 12 hours later, around 10:24 a.m. March 15, Anchorage police officers found a dead male with a gunshot wound to his upper body in a wooded area near the Eagle River campground, a statement read. The body belonged to Becker, who police had been searching for in connection with Clark’s killing.
The older man wasn’t Becker’s only target.
According to charging documents reviewed by KTUU, Becker appeared at his ex-wife’s hair salon in Anchorage the morning of March 14. She told police it seemed like someone may have messed with the locks because she couldn’t get inside when she was preparing to open the salon.
The woman, who was not named, recognized Becker in the car. He got out and started shooting at her, causing her to run for her life. Then he got back in the car and sped away. No details were given about her injuries.
The woman told police that she worried about her elderly father’s safety if Becker was around. Officer Sean Case told KTUU that Becker likely went to the man’s home immediately after his encounter with his ex-wife.
“Based on preliminary evidence it appears the suspect went to the rear of the residence, fired a couple of rounds through a plate glass window, striking and killing the victim and then fleeing the scene,” Case said.
He told KTUU that Clark’s body was found by friends shortly before police arrived.
Becker had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer, according to his brother.
The brother also told KTUU that Becker moved to Arizona after his divorce. That was confirmed by AZ Family, which added that the 61-year-old owned Chuckleheads, a comedy club in Bisbee.
The club released a statement after Becker’s death, calling him a “complicated man to say the least.”
“The quote that has stuck with me through all of this has been: ‘His last actions ruined every positive memory I had of him,’” Whittles, the club’s social media manager, shared in the statement. “Matt ruined everything that the team at Chuckleheads ever tried to build.
“There’s no convoluted cancer-medicated-induced rational argument that will ever bring that dad back,” the statement continued. “It’s tragic that a person can enter someone’s life and monumentally alter its trajectory, scarring and traumatizing it forever. Rest in Peace Romaine Clark.”
