A disgraced former state trooper in Kootenai County, Idaho, stands trial for allegedly murdering his wife and leaving her dead in a bathtub. You can watch in the player above.
Daniel Charles Howard killed Kendy Howard on Feb. 2, 2021, authorities have previously said.
Their daughter, Brooke Wilkins, said in an Oct. 1, 2021, post to Facebook that her mother was found shot to death and naked in a bathtub.
“He called it in as a suicide,” she wrote, referring to her father. “There are multiple reasons why this doesn’t make sense but I don’t want to interfere with the ongoing investigation.”
Daniel Charles Howard. (Mug shot: The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office)
She noted that her mother never touched guns. Wilkins said that her father had long subjected her mother to physical and emotional abuse. Kendy Howard was looking for a way out of the marriage.
Wilkins said that law enforcement was called a week before her mother’s death to escort Kendy out of the home.
“The marriage was always bad,” she wrote. “But it became terrible the last couple years. She was coming to work with bruises. She would do anything not to be home when he was. He would threaten to kill himself if she wanted to leave. Last December she started talking seriously about divorce. She was getting financials together. Had met with attorneys. Was looking at houses in her hometown.”
Also from Wilkins’ Facebook post:
She woke up with him standing above her wearing all black and gloves. While talking to him she was able to get her phone and make a call. She didn’t want to talk to law enforcement just wanted out. They both left for the weekend. When she came back she was still pretty shaken up but was convinced he has accepted it and everything was moving forward. No one wanted her at home. Multiple people begged her to stay with them. But she was convinced he would never do anything beyond pushing or hitting her. He came home February 2nd and she didn’t make it to February 3rd.
Daniel Howard resigned from his job as an Idaho state trooper on Nov. 14, 2014, amid a criminal case against him. Crimes included terrorizing his wife’s lover and also using a fake name to apply for a motorcycle title, according to the Spokesman-Review.
“I screwed up and I stand here utterly ashamed,” he said at his sentencing hearing, adding that he “will forever endeavor to correct these wrongs.”
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