COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — The trial for the former Idaho State Police (ISP) trooper accused of killing his wife continued Tuesday.
The defendant, Daniel Howard, claims his wife, Kendy, shot herself. But, prosecutors say they can prove he was responsible for her death.
At the time of Kendy Howard's death, she and the suspect, Daniel Howard, were going through a divorce. The state spent most of the day trying to establish that Kendy was not suicidal based on the plans she was making once the divorce was finalized.
Those plans included buying a house in her hometown of Kamiah to be closer to her family and new boyfriend, Dan Prado. He testified Tuesday about an incident between Kendy and her husband just days before her death.
Body camera video shows deputy response after this incident. Kendy told Prado she abruptly woke up in the middle of night to her husband standing over her, wearing gloves and holding an object. Then, she said she saw a pistol magazine on the floor. Prado says she felt like Howard was going to kill her.
The following morning, she went to Kamiah. Her boyfriend told her not to go back home in Athol.
“She said to me….'I’m scared to go back, but he knows now,'" Prado said in court. "'He knows now he almost got caught.' Her words were, 'He’s not dumb enough to try that or anything like that again because he was caught.'"
Prado added Kendy was stressed about the divorce, but said she was excited about her plans to move forward with a new home, even transferring to work at a clinic in Kamiah after the move.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, KREM 2 heard testimony from Dean Lampert, a neighbor of Kendy and her husband. He told the jury Howard made several statements in the past that he knew how to cover up a murder.
“He said, 'I could make a murder look like a suicide,'" Lampert said in court.
KREM 2 knows from opening arguments the defense is trying to prove that Kendy shot herself. Tuesday afternoon, a friend of Kendy testified she didn’t like guns, never shot them at the range and never wanted a gun.
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