Duane Chapman - Personal Life

Personal Life

Chapman's first child is called Christopher Michael Hecht from a late-teens relationship with Debbie White. Chapman was not aware of the child's existence, and Christopher was adopted after White's suicide. Upon reaching adulthood, Christopher was reunited with his father when his grandmother contacted Chapman to tell him he had a grown son.

Chapman married La Fonda Sue Honeycutt on April 1, 1972, in Texas; they divorced October 27, 1977, while he was in prison. They had two children together, Duane Lee Chapman II and Leland Chapman. Although the boys were not allowed to see their father for several years, they began rebuilding a relationship when the boys were 11 and 8 years old. Later, when they began getting into trouble as teenagers, Chapman obtained custody of them.

Chapman married Anne M. Tegnell on August 22, 1979, in Colorado. They were divorced, according to court records, on August 5, 1982. Three children resulted from this marriage; Zebediah Duane Chapman, Wesley Chapman, and J.R. "James" Chapman. Zebediah died shortly after birth in 1980. Wesley and J.R. were raised by their mother in Utah.

Chapman married Lyssa Rae Brittain on June 22, 1982. They were divorced on November 20, 1991. They've four children: Barbara Katie "B.K" Chapman, (1982–2006) Tucker Dee Chapman, "Baby" Lyssa Rae Chapman, and Nicholas Chapman. Chapman retained custody of the children as they grew up, although the girls went to live with their mother as young teenagers. Barbara Katie, died in a car accident in Fairbanks, Alaska in 2006 the day before her father's wedding to Beth Smith.

Chapman and Tawny Marie were married in 1992, but filed for divorce in 1994. Court records show they were officially divorced in 2002. Marie had a daughter from a prior marriage but she had no children with Chapman. Chapman later said:

"Tawny coerced me into marrying her. I told her I didn't want to marry her because I liked women too much to settle down ... I knew in my heart that marrying Tawny was a mistake. She was all wrong for me ... Despite my misgivings, I married Tawny ... It was a disaster from the start."

Chapman met his fifth wife Alice Elizabeth "Beth" Barmore (née Smith) in 1988, when she was 19. Throughout the next decade, they had an on and off romantic relationship, even marrying others. Beth has two children from previous relationships, Dominic Davis (taken into state custody when Beth was 17 years old) and Cecily Barmore-Chapman (from her previous marriage to her first husband, who was Chapman's best friend in high school). In 1995, Chapman and Beth joined forces in business and life, finally blending their families and moving in together. Beth runs the bail bonds office and goes bounty hunting with her husband, often counseling the detainees. After 16 years together, they married on May 20, 2006, at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Hawaii. Besides Beth's daughter Cecily, whom Chapman has adopted, they have two children together, Bonnie Joanne Chapman and Garry Chapman. Dominic rejoined the family as an adult, when Chapman located him for Beth.

Recently, Duane Chapman, Beth Chapman, his sons Leland Chapman and Duane Lee Chapman, II, and his daughter Lyssa Chapman all worked together as bail bondsmen and bounty hunters. Their work was the subject of the Dog the Bounty Hunter show, which ran for 8 seasons on A&E. The March 21, 2012 episode showed Duane Lee telling Beth “You want me fired, you gotta fire me," and then Leland weighed in, saying “I quit too.” In 2012, the two brothers admitted leaving the show. Duane Lee and Leland severed all ties with their family. Since leaving the show Leland operates his own Bail Bond Company on the Big Island of Hawaii and heads Bounty Hunter Tactical Supply Co. while Duane Lee moved to Florida.