Anchorage police launched a manhunt Saturday for 61-year-old Mathew Thomas Becker after he allegedly shot at his ex-wife outside her hair salon and then gunned down her father inside his home. One day later, Becker was found dead in a wooded area in Eagle River.

Officials say his cause and manner of death have not yet been determined.

Becker, described as a comedy club owner, faced first-degree murder and third-degree assault charges in connection with the shootings, which unfolded on the morning of Saturday, March 14. His brother reportedly said Becker had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

What Happened on Saturday Morning

According to Fox News, the violence began when Becker allegedly attempted to shoot his ex-wife outside her self-owned hair salon. She survived and called 911. Shortly after her 9:30 a.m. phone call, officers located Romaine Clark, Becker's former father-in-law, inside Clark's Alder Drive home with an apparent gunshot wound. Clark was dead.

Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case described the preliminary evidence:

"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."

Clark's body was discovered not by officers on patrol but by friends who had been waiting to meet him. When he didn't come out, they went inside. Chief Case explained the grim sequence:

"And they discovered the body, and then they notified us."

Imagine going to meet a friend for a Saturday morning outing and finding him shot dead in his own home. That is what those people walked into.

A Manhunt That Ended in the Woods

After the shootings, Anchorage police launched a full manhunt for Becker. That search ended Sunday morning. Around 10:30 a.m., Becker was found dead in the woods in Eagle River, roughly one day after the attacks.

How he died remains an open question. Officials are still working to determine both the cause and manner of death. No additional details about the circumstances of his discovery have been released.

Terminal Diagnosis, Deadly Choices

The reported terminal cancer diagnosis adds a layer to this case that is difficult to ignore but important to handle carefully. A man who believes he has nothing left to lose is a uniquely dangerous man. That does not explain away what happened. It does not excuse it. A 61-year-old man allegedly hunted two people, killed one of them, and terrorized a community on a Saturday morning. The "why" matters less to the victims than the "what."

Romaine Clark did not get to choose how his life ended. He was in his own home. He was shot through a plate-glass window. His friends found him. Whatever Becker was going through, Clark and Becker's ex-wife were not responsible for it, and they should never have been made to pay for it.

A Pattern That Keeps Repeating

This is not a gun control story. This is a story about a man who allegedly made a calculated decision to destroy lives on his way out. The instrument matters far less than the intent. And the intent, based on the sequence of events police have described, was deliberate and targeted.

Domestic violence that escalates to homicide remains one of the most preventable yet persistently deadly categories of violent crime in America. The solutions are not fashionable. They involve enforcing restraining orders, taking threats seriously before they become body counts, and refusing to treat domestic disputes as private matters that will sort themselves out. They rarely sort themselves out.

What Comes Next

With Becker dead, there will be no trial. There will be no cross-examination, no victim impact statements read to a defendant's face, no sentence that might offer even the cold comfort of accountability. The criminal charges that were prepared now lead nowhere.

What remains is a family shattered. A woman who survived a shooting outside her own business. A father who didn't survive one inside his own home. Friends who walked into a scene no one should ever have to witness.

Anchorage is left with questions that may never get full answers, and a community is reminded that the most dangerous moment in a domestic situation is often long after the relationship has ended.