Duane 'Dog' Chapman is mourning the loss of his beloved wife, Beth Chapman.
Duane "Dog" Chapman is mourning the loss of his beloved wife, Beth Chapman.
Beth died on Wednesday morning, Dog confirmed on Twitter, after a battle with cancer. She was 51 years old.
Dog and Beth had been married since 2006, but had been dating on-and-off since meeting in 1986. Beth was 66-year-old Dog's fifth wife, after his previous marriages to La Fonda Sue Honeycutt, Anne Tengell, Lyssa Rae Brittain and Tawny Marie. But Beth and Dog's relationship was far from perfect when they started out, he acknowledged in his 2008 book, You Can Run But You Can’t Hide. Both came from rocky pasts before they met -- Dog was convicted of first-degree murder in 1976 after he had been waiting in a car when his friend shot and killed an alleged drug dealer during a deal to buy cannabis, and served 18 months in prison. Meanwhile, Beth's son, Dominic, whom she gave birth to when she was 17 years old, had been taken into state custody.
Even after meeting, the two didn't fall into a committed relationship right away. In 1991, Beth actually married Dog's childhood best friend, Keith Barmore, and they had a daughter together, Cecily. Dog admitted in his book that he was devastated when Beth married Keith.
"When I heard they got married, I got physically sick," he wrote, before claiming, "Friends told me he was abusing her something awful."
However, Beth and Dog continued to see each other despite being married to other people, and after they both got divorced, they finally got serious with one another in 1995. Dog ended up adopting Cecily, and he also had eight children from his previous relationships.
But what was supposed to be Dog and Beth's fairy-tale 2006 marriage in Hawaii was preceded by tragedy. His eldest daughter with his third wife, Lyssa -- Barbara Katie -- died in a car accident in Alaska the day before the wedding. Barbara was just 23 years old. According to Hawaii News Now, Dog and Beth consulted with a minister and decided to continue on with their ceremony, and informed their guests of the tragic news at their reception.
Heartbreaking family drama struck again in 2011 when Dog and Beth were awarded temporary custody of Barbara's then 9-year-old son from his biological father after a neighbor took an audio recording of their grandson allegedly being physically abused.
But despite their personal struggles, Dog and Beth continued to film their super successful A&E reality series, Dog the Bounty Hunter, which chronicled their experiences as bounty hunters. The show lasted for eight seasons before getting canceled in 2012, and the couple had a spinoff series, Dog and Beth: On the Hunt on CMT, before that series eventually ended in 2015. Throughout their time on TV, cameras chronicled their love for one another, including Dog's love advice for keeping his wife happy.
"You cannot win the heart of a girl by being mean to her," he once told a man he apprehended who was accused of abusing his significant other, during a memorable episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter. "That is not how you win the heart of a lady. You got to be kind, flowers, nice, loving, put your coat down in the rain ... You think Romeo and Juliet, he beat her a** all the time? Romeo knocked the sh** out of Juliet so she loved him? No. That's not what you do."
The show also didn't shy away from showing Beth and Dog's arguments, particularly, how Beth had no issue standing up to her husband.
"My husband is a sweet personality," Beth told cameras at one point. "The problem is when that Dog guy comes around. He's nasty, he's aggressive. He doesn't have a wife."
Meanwhile, Dog quipped, "How do you fight with a woman? We always lose. ... This is just a high-energy job, and once in a while, there'll be disagreements. But we're family, and that's what counts."
Dog was always fiercely loyal to Beth, particularly after she was diagnosed with stage two throat cancer in September 2017. In an interview with Inside Edition one month later, the usually tough-as-nails Dog broke down in tears while discussing her diagnosis.
"I told the doctor, 'She dies, you die,'" he said, choking back tears. "I said, 'I don't mean to be like that, and I don't mean to threaten you because I'm a good person, but Doc, if she dies, you die.'"
As for her scar on her throat from where doctors removed a plum-sized tumor, he noted, "Listen, she's beautiful. I told her today, I can't even see it."
In one of the more heartbreaking moments of the emotional interview, when Beth was asked if she thought Dog would fall apart without her, she bluntly replied, "Yes."
Sadly, last November, Beth's lawyer confirmed to ET that her cancer had returned after she was previously declared cancer-free. Dog continued to keep his wife's spirits up, and she shared a picture of the two lying on a hospital bed together on Instagram later that month.
"Another bend in the road, yet not the end of the road,#faith, #love #stayhumblepray," Beth wrote.
In March, Dog vowed to help his wife fight.
"My baby has cancer and she is fighting like hell," he told DailyMailTV. "I have cried a lot over this because Beth is my everything."
"Despite all of the obstacles I have overcome, this is by far the biggest test of my life and mark my words, I will not let her die," he continued. "She is my rock and my bodyguard. I will do everything I can to keep her here."
He also said he was amazed by her strength and positive attitude.
"She has told me repeatedly that if these are her last days on Earth she wants to spend every moment with me on the hunt, living life to the fullest and enjoying the time we have left together," he said. "The best part of my job is having her by my side on every journey. I can't imagine a day without her and think deep down inside she is always concerned for my safety because she wants the security of knowing I come home to her every night."
But Beth's condition continued to deteriorate. When Beth was placed in a medically induced coma at Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu earlier this month, Dog asked for prayers.
Beth and Dog's daughter, Bonnie, later shared a loving photo of the couple together. Dog and Beth adopted two children together, including their son, Garry.
Up until her last days, as a source told ET that Beth was "in very grave condition" and that she was being "heavily sedated" in the hospital, Dog remained by Beth's side with a positive attitude.
"You all know how she is about HER NAILS!!" he tweeted, showing off his wife's sparkly manicure.
Sadly, Beth died on June 26. ET learned that she died at Hawaii's Queen's Medical Center around 5:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday and that her entire family was by her side.
"It’s 5:32 in Hawaii, this is the time she would wake up to go hike Koko Head mountain," Dog tweeted. "Only today, she hiked the stairway to heaven. We all love you, Beth. See you on the other side."
For more on Beth's courageous cancer battle, watch the video below:
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