Murder trial for former ISP trooper begins

COEUR d’ALENE — A former Idaho State Police trooper is on trial for allegedly killing his wife three years ago.

Daniel Charles Howard, 57, of Athol, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the 2021 death of his wife, 48-year-old Kendy Howard. He also faces a felony domestic battery charge.

In court Monday, prosecutors said Howard killed his wife by using a “carotid restraint technique” that cut off her blood flow. He then allegedly put her body in the bathtub and shot her in the mouth, using his law enforcement experience to stage the scene to look like she died by suicide, before calling 911.

“There were two sides to that coin,” Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Stan Mortensen told jurors, referring to Howard’s background in law enforcement. “Having the ability to read a crime scene and collect evidence also gives the ability to stage a crime scene and not leave evidence.”

Prosecutors said Kendy Howard had entered a romantic relationship with a man she knew from high school and had met with a divorce lawyer while her husband was in Alaska for work. She was in the process of buying a house in Kamiah, where she told coworkers she had a job waiting. Before her death, she got a new prescription for her glasses, scheduled cosmetic surgeries and purchased a hot tub for her new home.

Kendy Howard wasn’t suicidal, prosecutors said. She was preparing for a new life, away from her husband.

But Dan Howard didn’t want to split $2 million in shared assets with her in a divorce, prosecutors alleged. He had also reportedly learned of his wife’s extramarital affair. For those reasons, prosecutors said, Howard murdered his wife in February 2021.

Prosecutors said a Spokane medical examiner “failed to recognize” bruising on Kendy Howard’s body, including bruises on her chest that indicated suffocation. A second-degree thermal burn on her arm reportedly went unremarked, as did a broken jaw.

In June 2021, the Kootenai County coroner received the autopsy report and determined Kendy Howard’s cause of death was “undetermined,” rather than suicide or any other cause.

Detectives embarked on a two-year investigation, Mortensen said, which culminated last spring in a grand jury indictment.

Defense attorney Jason Johnson said police made up their minds early on that Howard killed his wife but the evidence indicates she died by suicide.

Johnson suggested Kendy Howard was suicidal because she was unhappy with her body, trying to stop drinking alcohol and struggling with the decision to end her marriage. He said she had no DNA under her nails, which would indicate a struggle, nor did Howard sustain any defensive wounds. Meanwhile, Johnson said, bruising on her hand showed she fired the gun before her death.

There was DNA at the scene that pointed to suicide, Johnson said. It was on the handgun found with Kendy Howard’s body.

“It had her DNA on it and another male’s DNA,” Johnson said. “Dan was excluded from the gun.”

Kenneth Lallatin, a retired detective sergeant with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, took the stand Monday. He was among the police who responded to Kendy Howard’s death and later became the lead investigator on the case.

Lallatin described his interactions with Howard the night of Kendy Howard’s death.

Howard reportedly told police his wife had gone upstairs for a bath while he remained downstairs. He heard a thud but did not investigate. Instead, he filled out divorce paperwork and had a few beers while he watched TV and did laundry. An hour and a half later, he said he went upstairs and found Kendy Howard dead.

Howard allegedly said he believed his wife shot herself because he wanted to include the Kamiah house in their divorce settlement.

Lallatin said he later overheard a phone call between Howard and his stepdaughter, Kendy Howard’s daughter from a previous relationship.

“She was angry,” Lallatin said. “She was upset and she immediately accused Dan of killing her mother. He was visibly shaken and upset and denied it.”

The trial continues today.