He had been back to Texas since his release from prison in 1979, since the murder, so it wasn’t unfamiliar territory for Duane “Dog” Chapman. And yet, as the bounty hunter inhaled the fresh smell of cotton plants and watched the morning fog in a town near the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, Chapman was unexpectedly reminded of how much his life had changed — and how some of it might never change.
Chapman traveled to Texas in March with his wife, Beth Chapman, his bounty-hunting posse and a camera crew to shoot episodes for the third season of “Dog and Beth: On the Hunt.” The celebrity bounty hunter from Hawaii, who has captured more than 6,000 people in the last 27 years, was there to train Texas bounty hunters as they tracked down fugitives.
But Chapman, now 62, found himself thinking about his role in the 1976 murder of an alleged pimp and drug dealer. When an argument ended with a fatal shotgun blast, Chapman was in a car outside the victim’s house. Still, he wound up in Huntsville, a convicted felon with a five-year sentence.
In Texas this past spring, Chapman saw a way to make amends, and that spirit has infused the episodes of his reality show this season.
“In my mind this was to pay back some of the wrongs I had done to that state,” he said in a call from Colorado. “There are a lot of fugitives in Texas, and they are very appreciative if you catch people. We caught 10 or 11 people.”
Chapman shared his back story as the cameras rolled in Texas and crew members who thought they knew his story were surprised.
“I don’t usually bring it up because it is not something to be proud of,” he said.
The new, 12-episode season of “Dog and Beth: On the Hunt,” which airs Saturdays on CMT, is full of action, Chapman promised. The fugitives they chase in Texas, Alabama and Hawaii are more dangerous than ever, he said. His posse, which includes his son Leland, now will include his daughter Cecily.
And while the episodes feature drone technology to catch fugitives, the Chapmans will still deliver their trademark sermons on forgiveness and rehabilitation.
Beth Chapman would like to see that spirit extended to her husband, whom she believes is deserving of a full pardon, which can come only from the governor of Texas.
“He has changed his life,” she said. “He has changed so many people’s lives. He has been engaged in so many people’s lives.”
As the Chapmans prepared for their Texas shooting schedule, there was concern about how Dog Chapman would react, his wife said. She said that memories of his crime and the time he spent in prison haunt her husband.
But everywhere they went, they were welcomed.
“I think that made him feel a lot better, at ease,” she said. “I think it just made him feel that those days are gone and he is not going to have to relive the mistakes of his past.”
The Chapmans have attorneys putting together an argument for a pardon, but there is no timetable to submit it.
“I am probably more determined to get his pardon than he is,” Beth Chapman said. “I know what it does to him. Having your name cleared means everything.”
Dog Chapman said he doesn’t have to have a pardon, but he would like one nonetheless. He said he has tried to live up to the advice he received when he got out of prison years ago.
“Here’s what the warden told me when I got out of prison: Go out and be a productive member of society and they will forgive you,” he said.
Three years ago the arresting officer in the 1976 murder, Charles Love, signed a legal document attesting that Chapman’s “role in the crime was minor” and that he was not guilty of murder.
“That was kind of like a pardon,” Chapman said. “I will see him in two months and shake his hand. Thank God he is still alive.”
“Dog and Beth: On the Hunt” airs at 6 p.m. Saturdays on CMT. The episode featuring Dog Chapman’s time in Texas, “Road to Redemption, Part 1,” which premiered Saturday, repeats at 6 p.m. Sunday.
And that’s a wrap …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
