Earl Howard of North Dakota: Affair, Guilty Plea, and 25-Year Sentence

Earl Howard is a Canadian man who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and related charges in the January 2020 arson-killing of Chad Entzel in Bismarck, North Dakota. Howard, who had been having an affair with the victim’s wife, Nikki Entzel, was sentenced on February 14, 2022, to 25 years in prison. Prosecutors said the pair plotted to kill Chad to collect on a $600,000 life insurance policy and start a new life together in Texas.¹²

What Happened on January 2, 2020

Nikki Entzel called 911 at about 5:30 p.m. that evening to report a fire at the couple’s home on the outskirts of Bismarck, saying she feared her husband was trapped inside. Firefighters and Burleigh County deputies found Chad Entzel, 42, dead on the bedroom floor near a sunflower propane heater that had been on fire. The first theory was suicide complicated by an accidental blaze.³⁴

That theory did not survive the autopsy. State Forensic Medical Examiner Dr. Williams Massello III found Chad had died from at least two gunshot wounds, either of which would have been fatal, and ruled out suicide. An arson-detection dog alerted on accelerants, and investigators determined two separate, unconnected fires had been set: one in the bedroom where the body lay and another in the basement furnace room. A piece of a Marlboro cigarette package found near the furnace was identified as a possible ignition source, and a matching Marlboro box was later recovered from Howard’s pickup truck.⁴⁵

The Affair and the Motive

Howard, a 41-year-old dual U.S.-Canadian citizen from Belwood, Ontario, told investigators his relationship with Nikki Entzel began during a trip to Minneapolis, where she met him at the Mall of America. In the days before the killing the two shared a joint checking account, stayed together at a Staybridge Suites in Bismarck, and were captured on Walmart surveillance kissing in public on December 29, 2019. Nikki had flown to Minneapolis on a one-way ticket on December 27, telling her husband by text that she was at work or in training.⁶⁷

Prosecutors said the plan was financial as much as romantic. Nikki was the sole beneficiary of Chad’s $600,000 life insurance policy. Days before the killing she had also taken out a $26,000 renter’s insurance policy and sent proof of it to Howard. She had been looking at houses in Texas and had a job interview lined up there.⁸⁹

Digital evidence tied the plan together. The driveway security camera had been deactivated, and Nikki’s phone showed multiple logins to the security system. A credit card linked to Howard had been used to buy an oxyacetylene torch kit from Praxair, and a device belonging to Nikki held a YouTube video of an explosion, which investigators took as a sign the pair may have intended to blow up the house rather than just burn it. Most striking of all: a Google search for a funeral home appeared on Nikki’s device at 10:45 a.m. on January 2, 2020, hours before she reported the fire and claimed to learn of her husband’s death.¹⁰

Arrest at the Canadian Border

Howard tried to leave the country. Shortly after midnight on January 9, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested him at the Blue Water Bridge connecting Port Huron, Michigan, to Ontario. His vehicle was seized and turned over to North Dakota law enforcement. The following day he appeared by video in St. Clair County District Court in Michigan, where he was denied bail and waived extradition. He was booked into the Burleigh County Detention Centre on January 11, held on a $1 million bond, and ordered to surrender his passports.¹¹¹²

When questioned, Howard and Nikki gave sharply conflicting accounts of who pulled the trigger. Nikki told investigators that Howard shot her husband while she waited in a car. Howard said the opposite, claiming Nikki fired the shotgun and that he later agreed to “take care of it” by setting the fires to destroy evidence. On January 9, Nikki confessed to investigators that the killing had been planned.³⁹

Charges and Guilty Plea

Howard was originally charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, arson, conspiracy to commit arson, and conspiracy to tamper with physical evidence.¹³⁹¹⁴

The 25-Year Sentence

Howard was sentenced on February 14, 2022. On the conspiracy to commit murder count, Judge Bahr imposed 25 years in prison. He also handed down suspended sentences of 10 years each for arson and conspiracy to commit arson and 5 years for conspiracy to tamper with evidence, followed by five years of supervised probation. Under the plea agreement, Howard must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence, roughly 21 years, before becoming eligible for parole. He received credit for approximately two years already served. Judge Bahr noted that Howard would be about 64 years old at his earliest possible release.¹¹⁵

Howard did not speak at the hearing. His attorney, Philip Becher, told the court that Howard was “taking responsibility for his role” and that 25 years was not a “slap on the wrist.”¹⁶¹¹⁵

Judge Bahr said the family’s support for the plea agreement was a “significant consideration,” and the deal would “put at least half of this case behind them where they have some answers, and they don’t have the risk of the matter not being resolved with some measure of justice.” The judge also noted Howard had no prior criminal history.¹¹⁶

Where Howard Is Now

Howard is incarcerated at the James River Correctional Center in North Dakota. His estimated release date is November 2040.⁹

What Happened to Nikki Entzel

Nikki Entzel pleaded not guilty and went to trial from September 26 through October 4, 2022. Prosecutors chose not to call Howard as a witness, because he had never been charged with the shooting itself and still held a Fifth Amendment right on that subject. The jury deliberated roughly two hours before convicting her of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit arson, and conspiracy to tamper with evidence.¹⁷¹⁸ On February 17, 2023, Judge Bahr sentenced her to life in prison with the possibility of parole, requiring her to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence (a minimum of 36 years and 105 days) before becoming eligible for release, plus consecutive 10-year and 5-year terms on the arson and evidence-tampering counts. The North Dakota Supreme Court rejected her appeal on October 3, 2023, ruling the evidence sufficient to support the verdict.¹⁹²⁰

1
Law & Crime. Rival Sentenced to Prison for Role in Love Triangle Arson and Murder
2
Court TV. Cheating Wife Murder Trial: Victim’s Friend Testifies
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ABC News. How Police Determined North Dakota Man’s Death Was Not a Suicide
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KFYR-TV. Autopsy Pending for the Victim of Burleigh County Fire
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Inforum. Fire Details Emerge in Bismarck Murder Conspiracy Trial
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ABC News. Convicted North Dakota Woman Speaks Publicly for the First Time
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KFYR-TV. Nikki Entzel Trial: A Timeline of Events
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Oxygen. Nikki Sue Entzel Trial for Chad Entzel Murder Begins
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Inforum. Bismarck Woman Convicted in Love Triangle Slaying Appeals Murder Conspiracy Conviction
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KFYR-TV. Texts, Emails, YouTube Videos Admitted as Evidence
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The Times Herald. Man Wanted for Murder to Return to North Dakota
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Guelph Mercury. Belwood Man Held on $1M Bond in North Dakota Murder Case
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Detroit News. Man Accused in Bismarck Death Extradited From Michigan
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Inforum. Canadian Man Pleads Guilty in Bismarck Slaying; Trial Delayed for Co-Defendant
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Grand Forks Herald. Canadian Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Bismarck Love Triangle Killing
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Oxygen. Earl Howard Gets 25 Years in Plot to Kill Chad Entzel
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KFYR-TV. State Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Nikki Sue Entzel Case
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KFYR-TV. Justice Bahr Sentences Bismarck Woman to Life for Conspiring to Kill Husband, Burn Home
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KX News. Nikki Entzel Sentencing Taking Place This Hour
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WDAY Radio. ND Supreme Court Rules Against Nikki Entzel