Comedy Club Owner with Cancer Tries to Execute His Ex and Kills Her Father

Anchorage woke up to a nightmare that played out in broad daylight — a sudden burst of gunfire outside a woman’s business, a frantic 911 call, and a chilling race against time to protect the person she feared would be next.

By the time it was over, an elderly man was dead, the suspected shooter was gone, and authorities were searching the woods for answers.

Here’s the disturbing timeline investigators have laid out so far.

It started Saturday morning, March 14, outside a hair salon in Anchorage.

Police say Mathew Thomas Becker, 61 — a man described in reports as a comedy club owner who had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer — showed up without warning. His ex-wife had no idea he was even back in Alaska after reportedly moving to Arizona following their divorce.

She arrived at her salon expecting a normal workday. Instead, she noticed something that instantly raised alarms: the lock on the business had apparently been tampered with.

Then, she said, Becker appeared beside her in a vehicle.

According to the criminal complaint described by local reports, Becker got out and started shooting at her as she tried to unlock the door and get inside.

The scene was chaotic and terrifying — gunshots in a commercial area, a woman scrambling for cover, and the sickening realization that this wasn’t just a threat. This was an attempt to kill her.

She managed to escape. Investigators say she hid between buildings, trying to stay out of sight, then called 911 — shaken, terrified, and convinced she knew exactly what would happen next.

During that call, she reportedly told dispatchers she feared for her father’s safety.

That fear wasn’t abstract. It wasn’t paranoia. It was a warning.

And police say it was a warning that came true within minutes.

after the salon attack, police say he went straight for her father

Authorities allege that after the attempted shooting outside the salon, Becker went to a nearby home on Alder Drive.

Inside was Romaine Clark — the ex-wife’s father.

Police later found Clark dead with an apparent gunshot wound. Investigators believe he was shot through a plate-glass window from the rear of the residence.

It’s the kind of detail that makes your stomach drop: a man allegedly circling a home, moving to the back, taking aim through glass — and firing.

Friends reportedly arrived to meet up with Clark and became worried when he didn’t come to the door. Police said those friends ended up discovering his body and alerting authorities.

In other words: people who expected to spend time with him that day walked into a death scene.

With Clark dead and Becker allegedly fleeing, Anchorage police launched an urgent manhunt.

The message was clear: they were looking for a suspect believed to be armed, dangerous, and willing to shoot again.

It wasn’t just about catching a man.

It was about stopping what many feared could turn into an even worse outcome — because Becker’s ex-wife had already been targeted, and the violence was escalating fast.

Police searched. Investigators worked the timeline. The public was on edge, waiting for updates. Somewhere out there, authorities believed, was a man suspected of murder — and of trying to carry out a second killing.

The next day, Sunday, March 15, the manhunt came to a sudden, grim halt.

Authorities said Becker was found dead in a wooded area near Eagle River — roughly a short drive from Anchorage.

Officials initially said they were working to determine the cause and manner of death. Later, state authorities confirmed he died by suicide.

That ending only deepened the shock.

Because it meant there would be no arrest.

No courtroom.

No cross-examination.

No answers from the person police say set all of this in motion.

Instead, the case ends the way so many tragedies do — with survivors left holding the questions, and a family left trying to understand how a normal morning became a horror story.

Investigators say the ex-wife did not know Becker had returned to Alaska. That detail has fueled a wave of fear and speculation: was he watching her? Did he plan the encounter? Was the tampered lock a sign he’d been there before she arrived?

Authorities have not publicly detailed a motive beyond what’s been reported in initial documents and statements. But the alleged sequence is brutal in its simplicity: a failed attack on his ex-wife, followed by a successful killing of her father — and then a disappearance into the woods.

It’s a terrifying chain of events that suggests a fast-moving, targeted rampage.

who was mathew thomas becker?

Reports say Becker was living in Arizona and owned a comedy club called Chuckleheads in Bisbee.

His brother reportedly said Becker had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Investigators have not suggested that an illness caused the violence — but the detail has drawn intense attention because of what it implies: a man facing the end of his life, allegedly deciding to settle scores in the most violent way possible.

Even with Becker dead, the investigation doesn’t just vanish.

Police and prosecutors still have to complete the case file, confirm timelines, process evidence, and document what happened — including how Becker traveled, where he went, and what he did in the crucial window between the salon shooting and Clark’s death.

And for the ex-wife at the center of it all, the trauma doesn’t end because the manhunt is over.

She survived an alleged attempt on her life. She then lost her father in the same series of events.

That kind of terror — the kind that turns an ordinary morning into a life-altering catastrophe — doesn’t fade quickly.

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. If you’re experiencing domestic violence or feel unsafe, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788 for confidential help.