Dog the Bounty Hunter Has Bad News About Wife Beth Chapman

Beth Chapman, wife of Dog the Bounty Hunter, has been placed in a medically induced coma.

Published: 6/23/2019, 8:21:47 PM EDT

Dog the Bounty Hunter Has Bad News About Wife Beth Chapman — Duane 'Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman (L) and Beth Chapman attend the Vettys Presidential Inaugural Ball at Hay-Adams Hotel on Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images)

Beth Chapman, wife of Dog the Bounty Hunter, has been placed in a medically induced coma.

Hawaii News Now reported the situation on June 22, the same day they received a statement from her husband. Beth and Dog the Bounty Hunter, whose real name is Duane Chapman, have been reality TV stars for years.

In November, Beth had emergency surgery for a tumor in her throat. That was followed by more surgery in 2017.

Dog the Bounty Hunter recently announced via Twitter that his new show, “Dog’s Most Wanted,” was coming to WGN America. The couple previously starred in the A&E special "Dog and Beth: Fight of Their Lives," which documented how the couple and their family and friends were coping with Beth’s battle against throat cancer, according to A&E.

“Please say your prayers for Beth right now thank you love you,” Dog posted to Twitter.

The tweet brought in over 2,700 comments, 2,300 retweets, and 14,500 likes.

On Facebook, an almost identical post by Dog got over 14,000 comments, 1,200 shares, and 23,000 reactions.

Beth's Marriages

According to Beth Chapman’s bio page on Dog the Bounty Hunter’s website, she and Dog have 12 children together. The couple were married in 2006, Nicki Swift reported. Before that, she was married to Keith A. Barmore. They were married in 1991.

“[S]orry my first husband was a heroin addict & I know all about it! It's not a diseases it's an addiction ! #ilivedit," Beth tweeted in response to another Twitter user in 2015.

Nicki Swift also reported a quote from Dog the Bounty Hunter’s book, “You Can Run but You Can't Hide,” that seemed to explain the relationship further.

"He was a thief with a heroin habit," Duane wrote, according to Nicki Swift. "He would drink a beer just to even out from the drugs. It just about broke my heart when I heard Beth was dating him. When I heard they got married, I got physically sick. … Friends told me he was abusing her something awful.”

Beth Chapman’s on-screen career started with “Dog the Bounty Hunter.” The A&E series ran from 2003 to 2012, according to IMDB. Beth Chapman was the youngest person ever to become a bail agent in Colorado, until her daughter Lyssa beat that record, according to Dog the Bounty Hunter’s website.

Bounty Hunting

According to Fox News, bounty hunting is a profession older than even the founding of America. The American practice follows laws inherited from England.

A Supreme Court case from 1873, Taylor v. Taintor, made bounty hunting a recognized part of the legal system, according to Fox.

Bounty hunting is illegal in Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin, according to Fox. In at least 22 other states, bounty hunters are required to have licenses.

Bounty hunting is a part of the bail bond system, Fox reported. If an accused person skips out on a court date after using the services of a bail bondsman to get out of jail, the bondsman can hire a bounty hunter to bring the person back.

In 2017, two bounty hunters cornered a fugitive in a car dealership office in Greenville, Texas. All three died from the resulting shootout, The Dallas Morning News reported.