Former ISP trooper convicted of murder

COEUR d’ALENE — Jurors convicted a former Idaho State Police trooper of second-degree murder and felony domestic battery in the death of his wife.

After about eight hours of deliberation Tuesday, the 12-person jury found Daniel C. Howard not guilty of first-degree murder and guilty of the included charge of second-degree murder. The primary difference between the degrees is premeditation.

Prosecutors said Daniel Howard killed his wife, Kendy Howard, via asphyxiation in February 2021 and then staged the scene to make it appear as though she died by suicide. A grand jury indicted Daniel Howard on the charges in April 2023.

First District Judge Lamont Berecz will sentence Daniel Howard on May 23. He faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.

Daniel Howard will remain in custody until his sentencing. He has been in jail since late Friday night, when he was arrested at the Spokane International Airport for violating the terms of his release.

He was previously released from jail in December 2023 on a $1.5 million property bond, which stipulated he must wear an ankle monitor, abide by an 11 p.m. curfew and not come within 2 miles of the airport.

Though jurors were not told about the arrest, which occurred three days before closing arguments, Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Stanley Mortensen said the incident is likely to be a factor in sentencing.

Mortensen said his office is satisfied with the jury’s decision.

“It’s hard to take a victory lap in a case like this,” he said Tuesday night. “We are here because of a loss of life. The Wilkins and Howard families lost a daughter, a sister, a mother and a grandmother.”

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris, whose agency led the investigation into Kendy Howard’s death, said justice was served.

“My hope is that Dan Howard, as a former law enforcement officer, will spend many, many, many, many years in a lonely existence in state prison,” he said. “It’s not easy going to prison as a former law enforcement officer.”

Kendy Howard’s loved ones described her as an affectionate mother and grandmother, a fun and trusted friend, a woman who was excited for the next chapter of her life.

In the months before her death, she made plans to divorce her husband, buy a house in her hometown of Kamiah and continue a romance with a man she’d known since childhood.

Prosecutors said Daniel Howard didn’t want to split their $2 million in shared assets and had recently learned of his wife’s extramarital affair.

The night of Feb. 2, 2021, he called 911 and reported that Kendy Howard had shot herself while sitting in the bathtub. But police and death investigators thought something wasn’t right.

Daniel Howard sobbed, wailed and retched as police converged on his Athol home, but witnesses testified they saw no tears. Kendy Howard’s body was positioned strangely in the tub.

There was less blood at the scene than investigators expected. Some of the blood trails on Kendy Howard’s body appeared to travel upward, against gravity, suggesting her body had been moved.

Mortensen said Daniel Howard managed to convince at least one person that his wife died by suicide: Dr. John Howard, the former Spokane County medical examiner who performed the autopsy.

Lynn Acebedo, chief deputy coroner for Kootenai County, noted several irregularities at the scene of Kendy Howard’s death. Days later, she saw Kendy Howard’s body again at a funeral home, this time noticing “significant discoloration” that wasn’t apparent the night she died and went unremarked in the medical examiner’s findings.

Kendy Howard’s body was covered in more than 30 bruises. She had a second-degree burn on her forearm and shallow cuts on her feet. Her jaw was broken. Witnesses for the prosecution said these were signs of a struggle.

The bullet, which had a downward trajectory inconsistent with suicide, nearly bisected her tongue. Medical experts testified that if she had shot herself, at least a liter of blood would’ve sprayed from her mouth before her heart stopped beating. Prosecutors said the lack of blood at the scene indicates Kendy Howard was shot after she died.

“I sincerely hope that this verdict can provide Kendy’s family with the closure and justice they deserve,” Mortensen said.