What can you tell me about the star of Dog, the Bounty Hunter on the A&E network? One time on the show, he said he was the father of 12. Wow, is that true?
—Lois Calloway, Manito, Ill.
Yes, Duane "Dog" Chapman, 53, is indeed the father of 12 children, and the grandfather of nine. Chapman overcame his own troubled past—he once served 18 months in a Texas prison for first-degree murder, for which he claims he was wrongly charged—to become a flamboyant, born-again Christian bail-bondsman. As a "bounty hunter" tracking down accused criminals who skip bail, he's helped capture some 6,000 fugitives. Chapman says his canine nickname stems from his efforts to turn around the life of a troubled friend. "I started praying for him," he says. "I became known as Dog—‘God' backwards."
