Dupuy plotted to kill ex-wife, judge's ex-fiancée says

GALVESTON - The ex-fiancée of a suspended Galveston County judge took the stand in his custody hearing Wednesday.

Tara Compton talked about her engagement to embattled Galveston County Court-at-Law No. 3 Judge Christopher Dupuy as well as her knowledge of his alleged plan to kill his ex-wife, Adrienne Viterna.

Dupuy was arrested and indicted by a local Grand Jury, facing eight criminal counts arising from allegations he abused his power.

The indictments assert that he oppressed attorneys, including one representing Viterna in an ongoing divorce case, and used county equipment for his personal use.

Dupuy is also the target of a lawsuit filed in the Galveston County 10th District Court that seeks his ouster from the judgeship.

The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended him without pay.

Compton, who works in dentistry, explained that she sought Dupuy's assistance in a custody battle over her daughter.

She stated the "corruption" of Galveston County - particularly Judge Suzanne Radcliffe - prompted her to turn to the judge, who supposedly instructed her to "do a bunch of different things" such as not to return her child.

Toward Christmastime was when she and Dupuy "immediately" became romantically involved, she said.

To her, Dupuy was in a position of power which enabled him to help her hence her attraction to him.

Their engagement occurred around New Year's Day, but Compton said the relationship soured around Valentine's Day and they split during the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.

Compton recalled how Dupuy told her how Viterna's "cold, mentally abusive" demeanor caused "nine years of Hell" for him, claiming he laid out a plot to murder his former spouse that purportedly involved getting a "lowlife" to carry out the act.

According to Dupuy, Compton testified, the two of them along with his two children and her daughter would then move to New Zealand where the then-couple would own and operate a coffee shop.

He even texted a picture of a firearm with a silencer, Compton said.

She adamantly disapproved the viotrol this "Christian man has for the mother of his children."

Viterna requested the hearing in an effort to secure an emergency protective order in light of Compton's allegations, which were previously documented in an affidavit.

Compton was to testify last week, but she exercised her Fifth Amendment rights.