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Duane Chapman was born on 1st February, 1953 to Wesley Chapman, a Navy welder and boxer and
Barbara Chapman, a minister for the Assemblies of God. He was the oldest of the four children. His
character was shaped by his two very different parents. While his father was allegedly abusive, he
credited his mother for helping him to find the path to God. Duane grew up in a tough neighborhood
and was often beaten up in school, which resulted in his dropping out of school.
Early Crimes
At the age of 15, he joined a local motorcycle gang The Devil's Disciples, which committed many
legal offenses. However to his credit, he mostly refrained from crimes that conflicted with his mother's
teachings. This shred of integrity earned him the name Dog. By the time he was 20 years old, he was
arrested 18 times for armed robbery. A drug deal gone bad in Texas in 1977, got him convicted for
murder and he was sentenced for 5 years of hard labor in prison.
According to Chapman, a glimpse of a church group meeting reminded him of his mother's teachings
and helped in his decision to amend his ways. While in prison, he helped catch an escaping convict.
He was a well-behaved inmate and was paroled after two years for it. After prison he found it difficult
to get a job and as per a judge's ruling he owed $200 in child support payments. This particular judge
made a deal, he offered to make a payment to Duane if he helped catch a fugitive. Duane's success
in this got him a few more similar jobs that led him to become a full-time bounty hunter.
Career as a Bounty Hunter
Chapman started his business in his hometown Denver, before moving to Hawaii with his family. He
ran his business as a family enterprise. He included another bounty hunter Tim Chapman, Alice
Elizabeth Smith (presently married to Duane Chapman) and various members of his family and
friends.
In 1980, he met Tony Robbins, a motivational speaker who was quite impressed by the effort Duane
had shown in changing his life for the better. Robbins mentioned him in his book Awake the Giant
Within. According to Chapman, he has made over 6, 000 captures without firing a single bullet. Being
an ex-con, he understood the difficulties faced after prison and so not only he helped capture the
felons but made a serious effort to rehabilitate them.
In June 2003, Chapman captured the Max Factor heir Andrew Luster, who was convicted in absentia
by the American court, for drugging and raping several women and fleeing to Mexico. Chapman and
his team refused to handover Andrew Luster to the Mexican police. So , the latter charged them for
breaking extradition laws and declared them fugitives, for leaving the country without obtaining
permission from the presiding judge. This put Duane Chapman in the spotlight and got him his own
TV Show. On November 5, 2007, US Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren dismissed the extradition
charges.

2. Dog the Bounty Hunter TV Show
Duane's show Dog the Bounty Hunter became the highest-rated TV show, but was not free from
controversies. In March 2007, an audiotape containing a racially abusive conversation between his
son Tucker and himself about the former's African-American girlfriend was made public, forcing A&E
to cancel the show.
Chapman issued a public apology for "regrettable use of very inappropriate language" on November
1, 2007. A&E resumed airing the show from June 25, 2008 and it is presently in its 6th season. He
has also written a book You Can Run, But You Can't Hide, where he has chronicled his journey from
being a convict to a bounty hunter.
Family Life
Duane married and divorced five times before re-marrying Alice Elizabeth Smith (Beth Chapman), for
the sixth time. He has 13 children of which two are no more. Zebediah died shortly after birth in1980
and in 2006, Barbara Katie was killed in a traffic accident at the age of 24.
Duane Chapman's life has been a roller coaster ride, from a school dropout to a convict who turned
his life around as a bounty hunter. According to him the urge to commit violent crimes still lurks, but
he simply no longer feels the need to exercise it.
how to be a bounty hunter