Family Tragedy Bring 3 Deaths, U.S. Worker Kills Son, Wife and Self
Happy Family Life Disrupted as Father Opens Fire in East Side Home
Portland Oregonian September 7, 1938
A homicidal rage and deadly blasts from a rifle yesterday blotted out the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Becraft and their son, Raymond Jr., 17, in an unexplained tragedy in their home at 1933 Northeast Forty-eighth avenue.
A 4-year-old tot fled the death house, screaming in terror, and two other members of the family were away to school.
The elder Becraft, 45, a United States forest service empolye [sic], in an action which may forever by a puzzle, fatally wounded his son, murdered his wife, Ireta, 40, and locked himself in an upstairs room and committed suicide by firing a bullet into his brain.
Neighbors Call Police
Stunned neighbors called police, who sent the three victims to Portland sanitarium. The son, Raymond, died several hours later, with a bullet in his head and another in his spine.
Nancy, a 4-year-old daughter, was in the house at the time of the shooting but, sobbing in childish grief and terror, raced to the nearby home of a friend.
Two other daughters, Marion, 16, and Helen, 10, had left the residence earlier, the former to register at Grant high and the latter to enroll at Rose City grade school. Neither could explain the homicidal outbreak of their father.
Son Wounded First
Becraft, in the opinion of police, first wounded his son and shot his wife when she rushed to the youth's aid.
First hint of the tragedy was given when Mrs. Becraft leaned out of an upstairs window and screamed to Mrs. O.V. Breese, who lives next door at 1925 Northeast Forty-eighth avenue, "I'm shot! I'm shot!"
Mrs. Breese ran into the Becraft home and encountered the wounded woman. As she reached out to help her, Becraft, carrying the .22-caliber rifle, appeared and fired another shot, the pellet striking his wife in the chest.
Woman Falls on Porch
Still screaming and leaving a trail of blood in her wake, Mrs. Becraft staggered to the front porch and collapsed. The terrified neighbor fled to her own home and notified police.
Patrolman R.K. Phillips responded to the frantic call and, after breaking down a bedroom door, found the dying man and his badly wounded son, a graduate of Grant high.
In the basement were a tub filled with clothes and a line strung with cleansed garments, indicating that Mrs. Becraft had been busy with the family washing when the shooting started.
Becraft Ex-Professor
A graduate of the Utah State Agricultural college at Logan, Becraft worked in the recreation and lands division of the forestry service and formerly was professor of forestry at the University of Idaho.
A brother of Mrs. Becraft, D.E. Harris, was unable to supply any motive for the murder and suicide, describing the group as a contented and congenial household. The family, it was learned, had resided in the Hollywood district home since August of last year.
The bodies were taken to the Merrill mortuary pending funeral arrangements.