Body camera footage shown in murder trial

COEUR d’ALENE — The night his wife died, Daniel Howard told police he believed she shot herself because he wanted a home she planned to buy in her hometown to be liquidated as part of their impending divorce.

Daniel Howard is on trial for first-degree murder and felony domestic battery. Prosecutors say he killed his wife, Kendy Howard, the night of Feb. 2, 2021, then staged the scene to make it appear as if she died by suicide. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Body camera footage played in court Tuesday showed Daniel Howard’s conversation with deputies after they arrived at the home in Athol where Kendy Howard died.

Daniel Howard told police his wife had brought home divorce paperwork she got from a local attorney, though he described her as indecisive about the split.

“She wants to divorce one day, she doesn’t the next,” he said.

He said he drew up a preliminary list of assets to be split between them, including a home Kendy Howard intended to buy in Kamiah, her hometown. The previous day, he had confronted Kendy Howard’s brother about his suspicions that she was seeing another man, one who lived in Kamiah.

They didn’t raise their voices or touch each other when arguing about the Kamiah house, Daniel Howard said. But Kendy Howard became upset.

“She didn’t like the idea of liquidating the house down there,” he said while crying.

He said his wife told him she was going to take a bath and went upstairs.

Police asked him to recall her final words to him.

“Something about that house being on our list being bulls—t,” Daniel Howard said.

He said he remained downstairs, watching TV, drinking and filling out divorce paperwork. He heard a thump upstairs but did not investigate the sound until about an hour later. It was then, he told police, that he found his wife deceased in the bathtub.

Prosecutors say Daniel Howard killed his wife using a “carotid restraint,” a technique that cuts off blood flow to the brain and can render a person unconscious in seconds. They allege he placed Kendy Howard’s body in the bathtub and shot her in the mouth. Expert witnesses for the prosecution have testified that Kendy Howard’s body was covered in bruises sustained before her death and that a lack of blood at the scene indicates she was shot after her heart stopped.

Throughout the trial, witnesses have testified about Kendy Howard’s plans for the Kamiah house. She had met with a loan officer about financing and told friends and coworkers she intended to move. She informed her manager she would soon give notice at Kootenai Health, her longtime employer. The day she died, the Kamiah house passed inspection.

Kendy Howard had other plans, too, witnesses said. Feb. 3, the day after she died, she had a scheduled meeting with a friend who worked in real estate to discuss selling the Athol residence. She had also scheduled a consultation for cosmetic surgery, three weeks after her death.

When speaking to police, Daniel Howard described an incident in the past where he said his wife put a gun to her head — the same gun that shot her, which he had given to her as a Christmas gift years before — but instead fired into the floor.

“I asked her to get help and maybe get some medication,” he said. “She accused me of telling her she’s nuts.”

Dr. Morgan Ford, Kendy Howard’s primary care doctor since 2004, testified Monday that he never treated her for depression or suicidal thoughts.

Medical records entered into evidence show Kendy Howard saw a nurse practitioner in April 2019 due to “anxious, fearful thoughts” following a breast cancer scare. At that time, she denied experiencing depressed mood or thoughts of suicide.

The trial continues today.