COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — The fate of former ISP trooper, Dan Howard, is in the hands of a Kootenai County jury. Howard is accused of murdering his wife Kendy and staging it to look like a suicide. Kendy was found in a bathtub inside the couple’s Athol home with a gunshot wound, but investigators believe she was choked by her husband and already dead when the shot was fired.
In their closing argument, prosecutor Julia Schoffstall told the jury Kendy was “full of life,” and loved her friends and family, especially her granddaughter. They maintain she would never take her own life, and was excited to move on to a new future without her husband. She had “plans.”
“(Free of the) financial, emotional and psychological control of the defendant,” Schoffstall said in the state’s closing argument.
Testimony shows Kendy Howard had rekindled a romance with her high school sweetheart, Dan Prado.
“She was working with her boyfriend…who was a realtor…to (purchase a home in Kamiah,)” Schoffstall said.
Prado testified early in the trial that Kendy Howard told him she woke up to her husband standing over her, wearing black latex gloves and holding something she could not see in the days before her death. Testimony showed she told Prado that Howard had a terrifying look in his eye. Deputies came to the Howard home that night after friends called 911 and Kendy left. That interaction was captured on KCSO body camera footage and shown to the jury in week one of the trial. Kendy told deputies, “he’s going to kill me.”
After that incident, prosecutors say Dan Howard sent multiple messages to Kendy begging her to come home saying, “you’re safe here,” and photos of the couple during happier times. Schoffstall said it was a way for him to “regain control.” Kendy did return to the couple’s home telling loved ones she had to get back to the area for an eye appointment. She was dead a few days later.
Testimony showed Dan Howard confirmed suspicions of his wife and Prado’s affair just before Kendy died. It was Howard who called 911 to report her dead on February 2, 2021. Investigators allege his reaction was disingenuous.
“He’s repeatedly making vomiting noises but there’s no vomit…he’s wailing but there are no tears,” Schoffstall said.
A hurdle for the state’s case has long been the ruling by since retired Spokane County Medical Examiner, Dr. John Howard, who performed Kendy’s autopsy and found the manner of death to be “undetermined.” He testified for the defense. He told the jury it was “his belief” that Kendy died from a gunshot wound. Prosecutors say Howard, at the end of his career, didn’t document or photograph injuries on Kendy and went with the “obvious” cause of death without a more thorough investigation. The state says Dr. Howard did not consider all the evidence in his findings. State experts testified Kendy had approximately 30 blunt force injuries on her body, including a burn on her arm and signs she was choked. They told the jury they believed asphyxiation was her cause of death and that the manner was homicide.
In their closing argument, defense attorney Jason Johnson stated this was a case of suicide. He took issue with the bruising and photos of them in this case calling it all ‘misleading.’
“(The) photos are post autopsy…you’ve seen the pictures,” Johnson said. “The issue comes down to blood.”
He also noted the high emotions surrounding the case.
“This is a tragedy however it pans out…it’s tragic either way,” he said. “You as jurors are making a commitment to set aside emotions.”
He also asked the jury to not let the nature of how people responded to Kendy’s death sway them.
“People respond differently,” Johnson said.
He further reminded the jury that over 30 years, there were “no witnesses to any abuse” at the hands of Dan Howard. Johnson said evidence showed Kendy was having a “difficult time coping” with many stressors in her life at the time of her death. He said she was “leading a double life” and was in fear it would be exposed to loved ones who would not have approved of her relationship with Prado.
“If you separate emotions and just look at the evidence, the state did not meet their burden,” he said. “You don’t have to like him as a father or a husband…he’s not on trial for that.”
Prosecutors got the last word, urging the jury to find Dan Howard guilty of the first-degree murder of his wife.
The jury will begin deliberations Tuesday morning.
