Matthew Becker, a 61-year-old stand-up comedian from Arizona, traveled to Alaska and attempted to shoot his ex-wife outside her salon in Anchorage before killing her 87-year-old father. Becker, who had terminal cancer, died the next day in Eagle River woods. Police charged him posthumously with murder and assault.
On a Saturday in Anchorage, Matthew Becker, 61, a stand-up comedian and owner of Chuckleheads comedy club in Bisbee, Arizona, parked a silver Nissan Altima next to his ex-wife's car outside her hair salon. The ex-wife, unaware of his presence in Alaska since their 2020 divorce, approached the door but found her key would not unlock it, suspecting tampering, according to a criminal complaint cited by KTUU, an NBC affiliate. As Becker exited his vehicle and advanced, she backed away; he then fired multiple shots from a pistol as she fled in fear, hiding until he left in the Altima. She called police, reporting the attempt on her life, but Becker had fled before officers arrived. Concerned for her father, Romaine Clark, 87, living with her in Airport Heights, she prompted a welfare check. Officers found Clark dead from multiple gunshot wounds through a rear plate-glass window; friends waiting for an outing with him discovered the body first. Police believe Becker went directly there after the salon incident. Facing first-degree murder and third-degree assault charges, Becker was found dead the next day 'in the woods' of Eagle River. His cause of death remains undisclosed, though his brother told KTUU and Arizona's Family of a recent terminal cancer diagnosis. Online videos show Becker performing stand-up.