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Convicted Canadian man star witness in American love triangle murder trial

Earl Howard, 43, pleaded guilty last October to conspiracy to commit murder and other charges

Nikki Sue Entzel is charged in the conspiracy to kill her husband.
Nikki Sue Entzel is charged in the conspiracy to kill her husband.

A Canadian man is the star witness in the murder trial of his former girlfriend in a North Dakota love triangle slaying.

Earl Howard, 43, of Belwood, Ont. — about 30 km north of Guelph — pleaded guilty last October to conspiracy to commit murder and other charges.

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In February, he was sentenced to 50 years behind bars with 25 years suspended.

Now, Howard is expected to point the finger at ex-lover Nikki Sue Entzel, 41, whose trial for conspiracy to commit murder, arson and tampering with evidence began Tuesday in Bismarck.

According to cops, Nikki Sue’s husband, Chad Entzel, 42, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in the couple’s home on Jan. 2, 2019.

Burleigh County State’s Attorney Julie Ann Lawyer said that Nikki Sue and Howard conspired to murder Chad. The pair had staged the scene to look like a suicide.

Canadian Earl Howard pleaded guilty in a North Dakota love triangle slaying.
Canadian Earl Howard pleaded guilty in a North Dakota love triangle slaying.

Murder charges were dropped against Howard when firearms experts were unable to determine who pulled the trigger on the former bowling champ.

Nikki Sue and Howard were involved in a torrid extramarital affair. The lovebirds decided they would get rid of Chad and move to Texas.

But the prosecution also pointed to a greed component that drove the deadly bus as much as lust did.

Four days before the slaying, Nikki allegedly bought a $26,000 renter’s insurance policy. She was also named as the sole beneficiary of her late hubby’s $600,000 life insurance policy.

On Dec. 30, 2019, around 10:30 p.m., Chad was last seen alive as he left his favourite bowling alley.

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Police experts believe that he was shot twice with a shotgun between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on New Year’s Eve day. The lovers then tried to stage the murder to look like a suicide.

The twosome also attempted to set Chad’s bed on fire using an electric heater.

When he didn’t show up for work after the Christmas holidays, concerned co-workers called cops. His new widow told them she was “too busy” to search for her husband.

Prosecutors said that on Jan. 2, 2019, Nikki Sue called 911 to report a fire.

Her husband was discovered naked on the bedroom floor. A small fire was burning above the furnace.

Nikki Sue Entzel.
Nikki Sue Entzel.

And the prosecution said there was a Plan B: Empty whiskey bottles to bolster Nikki Sue’s claims her dead husband was an abusive alcoholic.

The first thing detectives noted was that suicide victims seldom squeeze off two shotgun rounds.

“You can’t commit suicide shooting yourself twice with a shotgun,” Lawyer said in her opening statements, adding that Nikki Sue wasn’t too busy to ask about the boffo insurance payout.

Howard had requested that the pair be tried separately. Nikki Sue has a criminal history and she had already tried to get Howard to take the weight.

If convicted, she faces life in prison.

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun