Duane Chapman was born in Denver in 1953. At 13 years old he dropped out of school and joined a biker gang. TV Insider identifies the gang as the “Devil’s Disciples” and says that by 15 years old Dog had run away from home. His father — whom he later learned wasn’t his biological father — was a welder whom Dog says physically abused him to the point where he couldn’t shower at school because of bruises. In other words, Dog wasn’t exactly set up for success. In a 2020 interview with The New York Times, he said he was convicted of robbery 18 times. And at 23 years old he received his five year sentence for first-degree murder, for which he served 18 months.
While we don’t know precisely how Dog fared behind bars, or what he experienced, his time spent in Texas State Penitentiary was apparently enough to knock some sense into him. Speaking of his crime to the Guardian in 2012, he said, “I should not have been there, that’s that,” which sounds like he came to terms with his actions. His former wife Beth Chapman, though, said, “It’s just incredible that something that he did 33 years ago is just haunting him. … No matter how many good things we do.” Those “good things” include Dog’s charitable ventures, bounty hunting, and his adoption of Christianity — all stemming from his time in prison.
