Duane Chapman
Encyclopedia
Duane Lee "Dog" Chapman, Sr. (born February 2, 1953)
is an American
bounty hunter
and a former bail bondsman
. He stars in Dog the Bounty Hunter
, a weekly reality television
program which is broadcast on the A&E Network
(USA), FOX8
and GO!
(Australia
), OLN and A&E Network
(Canada
), MAX
(Norway) and RTL II
(Germany
).
Chapman claims he has made more than 6,000 captures in his 27-year career. As an ex-con, he says: “I am what rehabilitation stands for.”
Cherokee
ancestry, on his mother's side. While a member of the Devils Diciples
, an outlaw motorcycle club, Chapman reportedly gained the nickname "Dog" ("God" spelled backwards) from another gang member, because of his relationship with God. His mother was a minister for the First Assembly of God church and passed her faith onto her son. He quit school after junior high.
laws also preclude anyone else on the team from carrying firearms as long as Chapman is nearby, as well.
who fled the United States in the middle of his trial for drugging and raping a number of women, and was convicted in absentia
on 86 counts including multiple rape charges connected to assaults in 1996, 1997 and 2000. Chapman was assisted by his "hunt team", consisting of his son Leland
and Tim Chapman. The three bounty hunters captured Luster in Puerto Vallarta
, Mexico
, where he had been living under an assumed name. On their way to California, while still in Mexico, they were pulled over by Mexican police, and all four of them were jailed. Once the authorities confirmed Luster's identity, he was sent to California to face his 124 year sentence.
Chapman and his team, still in the Mexican jail, were initially denied bail, but after Beth alerted the media and aroused public opinion in the United States, they were granted bail. Once out of jail on bail, they decided to flee the jurisdiction, thereby becoming international bail-jumpers. On September 14, 2006, days before the expiration of the statute of limitations
, Chapman, along with his son Leland Chapman
and associate Tim Chapman, were arrested by United States Marshals and jailed in Honolulu on behalf of the Mexican government. Mexican authorities had charged all three with deprivation of liberty, involving the 2003 apprehension of Andrew Luster, because bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico. Because they did not obtain permission to leave the country while out on bail in 2003, the Mexican Government declared Duane, Leland and Tim Chapman fugitives from justice and tried to get them extradited to Mexico for sentencing. After spending one night in the federal detention center in Honolulu, Chapman told reporters: "The federal marshals
treated us with great respect. But let me tell you, you never want to go to a federal prison, because it's terrible."
The next day, September 15, 2006, Chapman appeared in a packed Honolulu courtroom with his ankles shackled. Although the judge agreed that the men were not a significant flight risk, he ordered that each wear an electronic monitoring device around the ankle. The three men were released on bail ($300,000 for Duane Chapman, $100,000 each for Leland Chapman and Tim Chapman). They were also ordered to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for house arrest. Beth Chapman was detained and had a hearing after she was caught wearing an A&E
body microphone when entering the courthouse for their bond hearing; electronic recording devices are prohibited by law from being carried into federal courthouses. She was released after explaining that she "didn't know they had the mic and transmitter"; the judge was satisfied that no recording was done. Chapman's lead attorney, Brook Hart, reportedly planned to argue that although the charge Chapman faced is a misdemeanor in Mexico, when translated into English it became a felony (kidnapping) under American law. Mexican authorities dismissed Hart's claim as the desperate efforts of an American lawyer trying to free his client. They insisted that Chapman had, in fact, been charged with a felony. An extradition hearing was set for November 16, 2006, where both sides were to present evidence and witnesses.
Chapman has speculated that his arrest was due in part to a possible prisoner exchange agreement between the Mexican and American authorities. According to Chapman, the federal agents 'sold him out', by trading him in for a convicted Mexican drug lord
. Duane, Leland, and Tim had their ankle bracelets removed so they could work. On October 11, 2006, reports surfaced of an open letter dated September 26, 2006, sent on Chapman's behalf by 29 Republican Congressmen to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
. The letter stated the authors' opposition to Chapman's extradition and requested that Rice deny Mexico's
request for same. Subsequently on October 20, 2006, lawyers for Chapman said that the Mexican federal court had granted them an order that halted the criminal case against the bounty hunter until further evidence and witness testimony were gathered. A court hearing was held on December 23, 2006. The original hearing was postponed because a report from a lower court was not yet received. The court heard both sides of the story, and then decided to recess. Then court proceedings started on January 16, 2007 and the court had up to Tuesday, February 6, 2007 but the deadline was extended.
On February 16, 2007, a Mexican Federal court cleared the way for Duane Chapman to be extradited, ruling there was no reason not to try him with the charge of deprivation of liberty in Mexico. In response, on February 23, Hawaii State Representatives Gene Ward, Karen Awana, Rida Cabanilla, Lynn Finnegan, Barbara Marumoto, Colleen Meyer, Kymberly Pine, Joe Bertram, Ken Ito, Marylin Lee, and John Mizuno introduced 'House Concurrent Resolution 50', "Requesting the President of Mexico and the Second District Court of Guadalajara
to drop extradition charges against TV Bounty Hunter, Duane 'Dog' Chapman". The resolution was passed by the International Affairs committee on March 7.
During this time, Chapman, along with his new attorney, William C. Bollard, appeared on numerous media shows. Some of these include: Larry King Live
, Greta Van Susteren
, Mark and Mercedez Morning Show on Mix 94.1 KMXB
in Las Vegas, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
on WFLD, Fox 6 News San Diego, The Glenn Beck Program, and THE 9 on Yahoo!
. Honolulu news outlet KHNL
reported on August 1, 2007 that the arrest warrant issued for Chapman and his associates might be invalidated, as a Mexican court had found that the statute of limitations regarding the arrest had expired. The 15-page legal order was released in Spanish and was translated and verified for legal acuity. On September 29, 2006, Chapman received permission to have the electronic monitoring device removed temporarily so that he could travel to the East Coast for previously planned appearances. On August 2, 2007, the First Criminal Court in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, dismissed all criminal charges pending against Duane, Leland and Tim Chapman on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired. The order effectively cancelled all pending charges. The prosecution appealed the ruling; this is standard practice in Mexico, according to A&E. The prosecution's argument was twofold: first, the Court was rewarding the Chapmans for having evaded capture and fighting extradition, and second, that in the United States the issuance of an arrest warrant tolls the statute of limitations. Had the Mexican rule been applied to Luster, he too would have been let go. On November 5, 2007, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren dismissed the extradition attempt, saying that even though the cases were appealed, the trio are no longer charged with any offenses.
cosmetics heir Andrew Luster
, in Puerto Vallarta
, Mexico
.
broadcast via the TruTV network. Chapman had come to the attention of the American public, and in the midst of the media attention, A&E decided to base an ongoing reality series around Chapman's bounty hunting. Dog The Bounty Hunter
made its television debut on August 30, 2004.
His second book, "Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given" debuted in 2010. In it Chapman continues the story of his adventures and his embracing Christianity, which he considers his "redemption".
On November 2, 2007, A&E announced it was removing the show from their schedule "for the foreseeable future."
On December 21, 2007, Roy Innis
, the chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality
, one of the first to call the A&E network to have the show taken off the air, met with Alicia Colon of The New York Sun and Chapman. Innis stated for the daily newspaper, "After meeting with him and his wife, Beth, and hearing his side of the story, we realized that the controversy had unjustly spiraled out of control without context."
He went on to say, "Duane has taken ownership of the damage of his words and has taken on the responsibility of being a racial healer for our country... I have been with this man several times and had extensive dialogues with him. I consider him and his wife good friends. Duane is a changed man and has a higher purpose. Popular television is a wasteland of meaningless titillation and degradation. The Dog's potential to take his celebrity and turn it into something redeeming for our culture and society is immense. It is for these reasons that we want his television show back on the air." On February 19, 2008, A&E announced that the show would return to production.
Chapman married LaFonda Sue Honeycutt on April 1, 1972, in Texas; they divorced October 27, 1977, while he was in prison. They had two children together, Duane Lee Chapman
and Leland Chapman
. Although the boys were not allowed to see their father for several years, they began rebuilding a relationship when the boys were 11 and 8 years old. Later, when they began getting into trouble as teenagers, Chapman obtained custody of them.
Chapman married Anne M. Tegnell on August 22, 1979, in Colorado. They were divorced, according to court records, on August 5, 1982. Three children resulted from this marriage; Zebediah Duane Chapman, Wesley Chapman, and J.R. "James" Chapman. Zebediah died shortly after birth in 1980. Wesley and J.R. were raised by their mother in Utah.
Chapman married Lyssa Rae Brittain on June 22, 1982. They were divorced on November 20, 1991. They have four children: Barbara Katie Chapman, (1982-2006) Tucker Dee Chapman, Lyssa Rae Chapman a.k.a. Baby Lyssa, and Nicholas Chapman. Chapman retained custody of the children as they grew up, although the girls went to live with their mother as young teenagers. Barbara Katie, a.k.a. B-K, died in a car accident in Fairbanks, Alaska in 2006 the day before her father's wedding to Beth Smith.
Chapman and Tawny Marie were married in 1992, but filed for divorce in 1994. Court records show they were officially divorced in 2002. Tawny helped him raise his children and bury his mother. They moved to Hawaii after having spent one week as guests at an Anthony Robbins Mastery program in 1991. They had no children together. Chapman later said:
Chapman met his fifth wife Alice Elizabeth (Smith) Barmore (a.k.a. Beth) in 1988, when she was 19. Throughout the next decade, they had an on and off romantic relationship, even marrying others. Beth has two children from previous relationships, Dominic Davis (taken into state custody when Beth was 17 years old) and Cecily Barmore-Chapman (from her previous marriage to her first husband, who was Duane's best friend in high school). In 1995, Chapman and Beth joined forces in business and life, finally blending their families and moving in together. Beth runs the bail bonds office and goes bounty hunting with her husband, often counseling the detainees. After 16 years together, they made it official, marrying on May 20, 2006, at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Hawaii. Besides Beth's daughter Cecily, whom Chapman has adopted, they have two children together, Bonnie Joanne Chapman and Garry Chapman. Dominic rejoined the family as an adult, when Chapman located him for Beth.
Currently, Duane Chapman, Beth Chapman, his sons Leland Chapman
and Duane Lee Chapman, II
, and his daughter Lyssa Chapman all work together as bail bondsmen and bounty hunters. Their work is the subject of the Dog the Bounty Hunter show, currently in its seventh season on A&E
.
Government site
News articles
Television links
is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
and a former bail bondsman
Bail bondsman
A bail bond agent, or bondsman, is any person or corporation that will act as a surety and pledge money or property as bail for the appearance of persons accused in court...
. He stars in Dog the Bounty Hunter
Dog the Bounty Hunter
Dog the Bounty Hunter is a reality television show on A&E which chronicles Duane "Dog" Chapman's adventures as a fugitive recovery agent, or bounty hunter...
, a weekly reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
program which is broadcast on the A&E Network
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
(USA), FOX8
FOX8
Fox8 is an Australian cable and satellite channel available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television's subscription platforms...
and GO!
Go! (Australian TV channel)
GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
(Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), OLN and A&E Network
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
(Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), MAX
MAX (TV channel)
MAX is a Norwegian television channel designed for a mostly male audience.The first program on MAX was the movie Wild Hogs, followed by the premiere of Breaking Bad...
(Norway) and RTL II
RTL II
RTL II is a privately owned, commercial, general-interest German television channel.It was founded as a second-generation commercial broadcaster in 1993. It quickly became infamous for its perceived "trash programming", comprising lots of soft porn as well as shows such as Peep and many...
(Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
).
Chapman claims he has made more than 6,000 captures in his 27-year career. As an ex-con, he says: “I am what rehabilitation stands for.”
Early life
Duane Lee Chapman was born on February 2, 1953, to Wesley Chapman and Barbara Chapman. He is the eldest of four children, having two younger sisters and one brother. According to Chapman, he is of Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
ancestry, on his mother's side. While a member of the Devils Diciples
Devils Diciples
The Devils Diciples Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle club that was founded in Fontana, California in 1967. The word outlaw carries a specific meaning which does not imply criminal intent, but rather means the club is not sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association and does not...
, an outlaw motorcycle club, Chapman reportedly gained the nickname "Dog" ("God" spelled backwards) from another gang member, because of his relationship with God. His mother was a minister for the First Assembly of God church and passed her faith onto her son. He quit school after junior high.
Legal issues
In 1976, Chapman and another gang member were buying marijuana in Texas, and Chapman was waiting in the car while the other gang member shot and killed the drug dealer. Chapman was charged with murder and sentenced to five years in prison. He served less than two of those years, at Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, TX. While Duane was in prison, Duane divorced his first wife LaFonda. While there, he did field work and served as the warden's barber. Because of this felony conviction, Chapman is not allowed to carry a firearm. Constructive possessionConstructive possession
Constructive possession is a legal fiction to describe a situation where an individual has actual control over chattels or real property without actually having physical control of the same assets...
laws also preclude anyone else on the team from carrying firearms as long as Chapman is nearby, as well.
Luster Case
On June 18, 2003, Chapman made international news capturing Andrew LusterAndrew Luster
Andrew Stuart Luster is the great-grandson of cosmetics giant Max Factor, Sr. and an heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune. He grew up in Malibu, California and attended Windward School in Santa Monica. Luster had been supported by a $3.1 million trust fund as he traveled and surfed at various...
who fled the United States in the middle of his trial for drugging and raping a number of women, and was convicted in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
on 86 counts including multiple rape charges connected to assaults in 1996, 1997 and 2000. Chapman was assisted by his "hunt team", consisting of his son Leland
Leland Chapman
Leland Blaine Chapman is an American bail bondsman and bounty hunter, boxer, kick boxer, extreme boxing and mixed martial arts fighter most noted for his role on A&E TV's Dog the Bounty Hunter, in which he, along with his father Duane "Dog" Chapman and various friends and family track down and...
and Tim Chapman. The three bounty hunters captured Luster in Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the sixth-largest city in the state of Jalisco...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where he had been living under an assumed name. On their way to California, while still in Mexico, they were pulled over by Mexican police, and all four of them were jailed. Once the authorities confirmed Luster's identity, he was sent to California to face his 124 year sentence.
Chapman and his team, still in the Mexican jail, were initially denied bail, but after Beth alerted the media and aroused public opinion in the United States, they were granted bail. Once out of jail on bail, they decided to flee the jurisdiction, thereby becoming international bail-jumpers. On September 14, 2006, days before the expiration of the statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
, Chapman, along with his son Leland Chapman
Leland Chapman
Leland Blaine Chapman is an American bail bondsman and bounty hunter, boxer, kick boxer, extreme boxing and mixed martial arts fighter most noted for his role on A&E TV's Dog the Bounty Hunter, in which he, along with his father Duane "Dog" Chapman and various friends and family track down and...
and associate Tim Chapman, were arrested by United States Marshals and jailed in Honolulu on behalf of the Mexican government. Mexican authorities had charged all three with deprivation of liberty, involving the 2003 apprehension of Andrew Luster, because bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico. Because they did not obtain permission to leave the country while out on bail in 2003, the Mexican Government declared Duane, Leland and Tim Chapman fugitives from justice and tried to get them extradited to Mexico for sentencing. After spending one night in the federal detention center in Honolulu, Chapman told reporters: "The federal marshals
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
treated us with great respect. But let me tell you, you never want to go to a federal prison, because it's terrible."
The next day, September 15, 2006, Chapman appeared in a packed Honolulu courtroom with his ankles shackled. Although the judge agreed that the men were not a significant flight risk, he ordered that each wear an electronic monitoring device around the ankle. The three men were released on bail ($300,000 for Duane Chapman, $100,000 each for Leland Chapman and Tim Chapman). They were also ordered to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for house arrest. Beth Chapman was detained and had a hearing after she was caught wearing an A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
body microphone when entering the courthouse for their bond hearing; electronic recording devices are prohibited by law from being carried into federal courthouses. She was released after explaining that she "didn't know they had the mic and transmitter"; the judge was satisfied that no recording was done. Chapman's lead attorney, Brook Hart, reportedly planned to argue that although the charge Chapman faced is a misdemeanor in Mexico, when translated into English it became a felony (kidnapping) under American law. Mexican authorities dismissed Hart's claim as the desperate efforts of an American lawyer trying to free his client. They insisted that Chapman had, in fact, been charged with a felony. An extradition hearing was set for November 16, 2006, where both sides were to present evidence and witnesses.
Chapman has speculated that his arrest was due in part to a possible prisoner exchange agreement between the Mexican and American authorities. According to Chapman, the federal agents 'sold him out', by trading him in for a convicted Mexican drug lord
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
. Duane, Leland, and Tim had their ankle bracelets removed so they could work. On October 11, 2006, reports surfaced of an open letter dated September 26, 2006, sent on Chapman's behalf by 29 Republican Congressmen to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
. The letter stated the authors' opposition to Chapman's extradition and requested that Rice deny Mexico's
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
request for same. Subsequently on October 20, 2006, lawyers for Chapman said that the Mexican federal court had granted them an order that halted the criminal case against the bounty hunter until further evidence and witness testimony were gathered. A court hearing was held on December 23, 2006. The original hearing was postponed because a report from a lower court was not yet received. The court heard both sides of the story, and then decided to recess. Then court proceedings started on January 16, 2007 and the court had up to Tuesday, February 6, 2007 but the deadline was extended.
On February 16, 2007, a Mexican Federal court cleared the way for Duane Chapman to be extradited, ruling there was no reason not to try him with the charge of deprivation of liberty in Mexico. In response, on February 23, Hawaii State Representatives Gene Ward, Karen Awana, Rida Cabanilla, Lynn Finnegan, Barbara Marumoto, Colleen Meyer, Kymberly Pine, Joe Bertram, Ken Ito, Marylin Lee, and John Mizuno introduced 'House Concurrent Resolution 50', "Requesting the President of Mexico and the Second District Court of Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
to drop extradition charges against TV Bounty Hunter, Duane 'Dog' Chapman". The resolution was passed by the International Affairs committee on March 7.
During this time, Chapman, along with his new attorney, William C. Bollard, appeared on numerous media shows. Some of these include: Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, Greta Van Susteren
Greta Van Susteren
Greta Van Susteren is an American commentator and television personality on the Fox News Channel, where she hosts On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren...
, Mark and Mercedez Morning Show on Mix 94.1 KMXB
KMXB
KMXB is a commercial radio station located in Southwest Las Vegas, Nevada, broadcasting to the Las Vegas, Nevada area on 94.1 FM. KMXB airs a Hot adult contemporary music format.-History:...
in Las Vegas, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet is an American syndicated morning talk show. Produced by Fox, the show first aired on January 22, 2007 to a number of markets originally through Fox and MyNetworkTV, most in the Fox Television Stations Group...
on WFLD, Fox 6 News San Diego, The Glenn Beck Program, and THE 9 on Yahoo!
The 9 on Yahoo!
The 9 was a daily video compilation show, or vlog, on Yahoo! featuring the nine top "web finds" of the day. The 9 was launched on Yahoo!'s homepage on July 10, 2006...
. Honolulu news outlet KHNL
KHNL
KHNL is the NBC-affiliated television station for the state of Hawaii that is licensed to Honolulu. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 35 from a transmitter in Palehua...
reported on August 1, 2007 that the arrest warrant issued for Chapman and his associates might be invalidated, as a Mexican court had found that the statute of limitations regarding the arrest had expired. The 15-page legal order was released in Spanish and was translated and verified for legal acuity. On September 29, 2006, Chapman received permission to have the electronic monitoring device removed temporarily so that he could travel to the East Coast for previously planned appearances. On August 2, 2007, the First Criminal Court in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, dismissed all criminal charges pending against Duane, Leland and Tim Chapman on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired. The order effectively cancelled all pending charges. The prosecution appealed the ruling; this is standard practice in Mexico, according to A&E. The prosecution's argument was twofold: first, the Court was rewarding the Chapmans for having evaded capture and fighting extradition, and second, that in the United States the issuance of an arrest warrant tolls the statute of limitations. Had the Mexican rule been applied to Luster, he too would have been let go. On November 5, 2007, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren dismissed the extradition attempt, saying that even though the cases were appealed, the trio are no longer charged with any offenses.
Career
After decades of bounty hunting, Chapman was featured on Take This Job, a program about people with unusual occupations. He and the show's production company decided to do a spin off and draw attention to his efforts with a hunt and capture of Max FactorMax Factor
Max Factor & Company is a cosmetics company, founded during 1909 by Maksymilian Faktorowicz , Max Factor, a Polish-Jewish cosmetician. Max Factor & Company was a related, two-family, multi-generational international cosmetics company before its sale in 1973 for $500 million dollars...
cosmetics heir Andrew Luster
Andrew Luster
Andrew Stuart Luster is the great-grandson of cosmetics giant Max Factor, Sr. and an heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune. He grew up in Malibu, California and attended Windward School in Santa Monica. Luster had been supported by a $3.1 million trust fund as he traveled and surfed at various...
, in Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the sixth-largest city in the state of Jalisco...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Dog The Bounty Hunter
After Luster's jailing, Duane Chapman was interviewed for a documentary which was published on August 28, 2009 by Dominick Dunne on Power, Privilege, and JusticeDominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice
Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice was an American crime TV series that examined real-life cases of crime, passion, and greed involving privileged or famous people. The episodes were shown on truTV and on Star TV in Canada as well as Zone Reality in Europe and Bio. in Australia. The...
broadcast via the TruTV network. Chapman had come to the attention of the American public, and in the midst of the media attention, A&E decided to base an ongoing reality series around Chapman's bounty hunting. Dog The Bounty Hunter
Dog the Bounty Hunter
Dog the Bounty Hunter is a reality television show on A&E which chronicles Duane "Dog" Chapman's adventures as a fugitive recovery agent, or bounty hunter...
made its television debut on August 30, 2004.
Author
Chapman released his best- selling autobiography, " You Can Run But You Can't Hide" in 2007. In it he reveals all the roles of his past life: petty thief, felon, volunteer, doper, gang banger, boxer, biker, convict, champion vacuum salesman, evangelist, loving father, loving son, abused kid, prison inmate, bounty hunter, hero, homeless man, cellmate, barber, laundry worker, entrepreneur, counselor, bail bondsman, A&E star, father of twelve, grandfather, and five-time husband. The book appeared on every national bestseller list, including the New York Times, where it debuted at #1.His second book, "Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given" debuted in 2010. In it Chapman continues the story of his adventures and his embracing Christianity, which he considers his "redemption".
Racial slur and fall out
In 2007, Chapman also gained media attention when a private phone conversation between him and his son, Tucker, was leaked. The conversation implied that Chapman had a racist attitude, as he expressed his anger at his son for being in a relationship with a black girl and used a racial slur. After the tape was made public, A&E announced it was suspending production for the series pending an investigation. On October 31, 2007, Chapman issued a public apology.On November 2, 2007, A&E announced it was removing the show from their schedule "for the foreseeable future."
On December 21, 2007, Roy Innis
Roy Innis
Roy Emile Alfredo Innis is an African American civil rights activist. He has been National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality since his election to the position in 1968....
, the chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
, one of the first to call the A&E network to have the show taken off the air, met with Alicia Colon of The New York Sun and Chapman. Innis stated for the daily newspaper, "After meeting with him and his wife, Beth, and hearing his side of the story, we realized that the controversy had unjustly spiraled out of control without context."
He went on to say, "Duane has taken ownership of the damage of his words and has taken on the responsibility of being a racial healer for our country... I have been with this man several times and had extensive dialogues with him. I consider him and his wife good friends. Duane is a changed man and has a higher purpose. Popular television is a wasteland of meaningless titillation and degradation. The Dog's potential to take his celebrity and turn it into something redeeming for our culture and society is immense. It is for these reasons that we want his television show back on the air." On February 19, 2008, A&E announced that the show would return to production.
Personal life
Chapman's first child is Christopher Michael Hecht from a late-teens relationship with Debbie White. Chapman was not aware of the child's existence, and Christopher was adopted after White's suicide. Upon reaching adulthood, Christopher was reunited with his father when his grandmother contacted Chapman to tell him he had a grown son.Chapman married LaFonda Sue Honeycutt on April 1, 1972, in Texas; they divorced October 27, 1977, while he was in prison. They had two children together, Duane Lee Chapman
Duane Lee Chapman, II
Duane Lee Chapman II is an American bail bondsman and bounty hunter, most noted for his role on A&E TV's Dog the Bounty Hunter, in which he, along with his father Duane "Dog" Chapman, and various friends and family track down and capture wanted fugitives.-Personal life and career:Duane Lee Chapman...
and Leland Chapman
Leland Chapman
Leland Blaine Chapman is an American bail bondsman and bounty hunter, boxer, kick boxer, extreme boxing and mixed martial arts fighter most noted for his role on A&E TV's Dog the Bounty Hunter, in which he, along with his father Duane "Dog" Chapman and various friends and family track down and...
. Although the boys were not allowed to see their father for several years, they began rebuilding a relationship when the boys were 11 and 8 years old. Later, when they began getting into trouble as teenagers, Chapman obtained custody of them.
Chapman married Anne M. Tegnell on August 22, 1979, in Colorado. They were divorced, according to court records, on August 5, 1982. Three children resulted from this marriage; Zebediah Duane Chapman, Wesley Chapman, and J.R. "James" Chapman. Zebediah died shortly after birth in 1980. Wesley and J.R. were raised by their mother in Utah.
Chapman married Lyssa Rae Brittain on June 22, 1982. They were divorced on November 20, 1991. They have four children: Barbara Katie Chapman, (1982-2006) Tucker Dee Chapman, Lyssa Rae Chapman a.k.a. Baby Lyssa, and Nicholas Chapman. Chapman retained custody of the children as they grew up, although the girls went to live with their mother as young teenagers. Barbara Katie, a.k.a. B-K, died in a car accident in Fairbanks, Alaska in 2006 the day before her father's wedding to Beth Smith.
Chapman and Tawny Marie were married in 1992, but filed for divorce in 1994. Court records show they were officially divorced in 2002. Tawny helped him raise his children and bury his mother. They moved to Hawaii after having spent one week as guests at an Anthony Robbins Mastery program in 1991. They had no children together. Chapman later said:
"Tawny coerced me into marrying her. I told her I didn't want to marry her because I liked women too much to settle down ... I knew in my heart that marrying Tawny was a mistake. She was all wrong for me ... Despite my misgivings, I married Tawny ... It was a disaster from the start."
Chapman met his fifth wife Alice Elizabeth (Smith) Barmore (a.k.a. Beth) in 1988, when she was 19. Throughout the next decade, they had an on and off romantic relationship, even marrying others. Beth has two children from previous relationships, Dominic Davis (taken into state custody when Beth was 17 years old) and Cecily Barmore-Chapman (from her previous marriage to her first husband, who was Duane's best friend in high school). In 1995, Chapman and Beth joined forces in business and life, finally blending their families and moving in together. Beth runs the bail bonds office and goes bounty hunting with her husband, often counseling the detainees. After 16 years together, they made it official, marrying on May 20, 2006, at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Hawaii. Besides Beth's daughter Cecily, whom Chapman has adopted, they have two children together, Bonnie Joanne Chapman and Garry Chapman. Dominic rejoined the family as an adult, when Chapman located him for Beth.
Currently, Duane Chapman, Beth Chapman, his sons Leland Chapman
Leland Chapman
Leland Blaine Chapman is an American bail bondsman and bounty hunter, boxer, kick boxer, extreme boxing and mixed martial arts fighter most noted for his role on A&E TV's Dog the Bounty Hunter, in which he, along with his father Duane "Dog" Chapman and various friends and family track down and...
and Duane Lee Chapman, II
Duane Lee Chapman, II
Duane Lee Chapman II is an American bail bondsman and bounty hunter, most noted for his role on A&E TV's Dog the Bounty Hunter, in which he, along with his father Duane "Dog" Chapman, and various friends and family track down and capture wanted fugitives.-Personal life and career:Duane Lee Chapman...
, and his daughter Lyssa Chapman all work together as bail bondsmen and bounty hunters. Their work is the subject of the Dog the Bounty Hunter show, currently in its seventh season on A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
.
External links
Official sites- "Dog" Chapman's Website
- A&E's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" - official website
- "Best In Show" - Hawaii Business Magazine
- "Dog Inc." - Hawaii Business Magazine
Government site
News articles
- "Dog" to Marry on "Bounty Hunter" - MSNBC.com
- "So you want to be a bounty hunter" - CNN.com
- Dog's Wedding Photos - MidWeek
- Duane Dawg Chapman, Bounty Hunter- International Bail Jumper? - ElScottHarrell.com
- Hunt is on in "Dog" Chapman show - Honolulu Advertiser
- Dog's Life - Star-Bulletin
- Dog's first interview after leaving Mexico - MidWeek
Television links
- Dog the Bounty Hunter on BigBTV.com Complete Resource Site.
- Dog Makes Wishes Come True