TLDR
Anchorage police say 61-year-old comedy club owner Mathew Thomas Becker shot at his ex-wife outside her salon, killed her father inside his Anchorage home, and then was found dead in nearby woods as detectives and the medical examiner continue investigating.
On March 14th, 2026, a domestic dispute in Anchorage moved from a business parking lot to a quiet residential street. By the end, the father was dead, his daughter had survived gunfire, and the suspected gunman had disappeared.
Police later identified the suspect as Mathew Thomas Becker, a 61-year-old who had been living in Arizona and owned a comedy club there. Investigators say Becker targeted his ex-wife outside her hair salon before her father, Romaine Clark, was fatally shot inside his nearby Alder Drive home.
Manhunt Follows Salon Attack
According to the Anchorage Daily News, a criminal complaint alleges Becker drove up beside his ex-wife as she arrived for work, stepped from his vehicle, and fired at her as she tried to unlock the salon door. She was able to hide and call 911, telling dispatchers she feared for her father’s safety.
Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case said evidence pointed to shots fired from behind the house, through a plate-glass window, into Clark’s home. “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, according to KTUU.
Charges, Complaint, and Family Alarm
The criminal complaint cited by local reporting states Becker faced first-degree murder and third-degree assault charges in connection with the shootings. In that account, investigators said the assault charge stemmed from the salon confrontation, where bullets were allegedly fired in his ex-wife’s direction as she stood at the locked door.
In the same report, Becker’s ex-wife told investigators she had not known he was back in Alaska after moving to Arizona following their divorce. Fox News reported that Becker’s brother said he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and that he owned a comedy club called Chuckleheads in Arizona, where he had been living.
Unanswered Questions on Motive and Death
The shootings prompted a manhunt across Anchorage, and police later found Becker’s body in a wooded area near Eagle River around 10:30 a.m. on March 15th, 2026. KTUU reported that officials are still determining the cause and manner of his death. Anchorage police have not publicly discussed a possible motive, and the department did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
The inquiries into Clark’s killing, the salon shooting, and Becker’s death remain open, grounded for now in the criminal complaint and early forensic work. As investigators review autopsy results and witness accounts, official records will ultimately define the case.
