Dog the Bounty Hunter on Wife’s Death: ‘She’s Sleeping’

Duane 'Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman (L) and Beth Chapman attend the Vettys Presidential Inaugural Ball at Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, on Jan. 20, 2017. Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images

Duane “Dog” Chapman issued another statement on his wife’s passing this week.

“I loved her so much,” he said of Beth Chapman, who died at age 51 this week, adding he strongly feels “Beth isn’t dead, she’s sleeping,” Yahoo News reported.

He also warned people from donating to any unauthorized funds for Chapman, saying, “we don’t need any money at all,” adding that fans should send flowers instead of cash.

Duane also posted a video of his wife on June 28. He wrote: “People have asked me. What is something fans do not know about Beth… Here you go.”

He also said at a press conference this week: “Her way was to live. She wanted to live so bad and she fought so long, and the reason she fought, she liked life but she wanted to show people how to beat it and what to do when it got her,” according to Hawaii News Now.

Beth was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 before she was declared cancer-free. It returned in 2018 before she underwent surgery.

From the reality television show Dog The Bounty Hunter Beth Smith (L) and Duane 'Dog' Chapman arrive to A&E Television Networks Upfront celebration held at Rockefeller Center in New York City on April 21, 2005. Fernando Leon/Getty Images

“Beth was somewhat of a control person—not from the grave but from heaven,” Duane told reporters. “I’m sure she’s still controlling me and I’ve got notes in my pillowcases, on my sink, in my shaving thing. She’s still telling me what to wear.”

“She did it her way. … Her way was to live. She wanted to live so bad and she fought so long, and the reason she fought, she liked life but she wanted to show people how to beat it and what to do when it got her,” Duane Chapman added.

'Dog the Bounty Hunter,' Duane Chapman films a segment in Malone, N.Y. on June 28, 2015. Scott Olson/Getty Images

“One of the last things she said [was], ‘It’s a test of my faith.’ She had faith and that was it,” he also said. “There’s things you go through when you’re dying, like steps like you do when you lose someone, right? You get mad at them, and then you go through all these steps.”

“Well, the last step when you’re dying is to accept it,” he added. “And she said to me the other day, ‘Honey, that last step, I ain’t taking…’ So go, Bethy.”

Notable Celebrity Deaths in 2019

John Singleton

John Singleton attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Calif., on March 4, 2018. He died in late April after a stroke. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Nipsey Hussle

Nipsey Hussle and Lauren London in Los Angeles, on Feb. 7, 2019. The rapper was shot dead in late March. Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images

Luke Perry

Undated file photo of Luke Perry. Newsmakers

Peter Tork

Peter Tork of the Monkees died at 77 in February 2019. Noel Vasquez/Getty Images

Albert Finney

British actor Albert Finney died in February 2019 at the age of 82. Lucy Nicholson/AFP/Getty Images

James Ingram

Longtime R&B singer James Ingram died in late January. Quincy Jones, a collaborator of his, wrote, “With that soulful, whisky sounding voice, James Ingram was simply magical ... every beautiful note that James sang pierced your essence and comfortably made itself at home.”

Singer James Ingram died at the age of 66 after a battle with brain cancer, according to reports on Jan. 29. Getty Images

Fatima Ali

“Top Chef” alum Fatima Ali died on Jan. 25, after a battle with terminal cancer. She was 29.

Former “Top Chef” contestant Bruce Kalman paid tribute to her, “It’s with a heavy heart we say goodbye to Fatima Ali today, as she has lost her battle with cancer.”

“Top Chef” star Fatima Ali died at the age of 29 after battling a form of bone cancer, said her family. Instagram

Carol Channing

Carol Channing, whose career spanned decades on Broadway and on television, died at age 97. Publicist B. Harlan Boll said Channing died of natural causes early in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2019. Jim Cole/AP Photo, File

Bob Einstein

Bob Einstein in Hollywood, Calif., on June 27, 2018. Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Comedian and actor Bob Einstein died on Jan. 2 after a battle with cancer. He was 76.

Daryl Dragon

Daryl "The Captain" Dragon beside his ex-wife, Toni Tennille, wearing his signature captain's hat. Hillel Italie/AP

Daryl Dragon, or “Captain,” of pop group Captain and Tennille, died on Jan. 2 of renal failure.