HOUSTON – The Houston Police Homicide Squad veteran who is accused of having two wives has been identified by his fellow officers, and HPD Headquarters confirmed he is relieved of duty while facing a criminal investigation.
Homicide investigator David Keith Gunter, Jr., 35, has not been charged with a crime, but HPD Internal Affairs Division investigators are piecing together his suspected double-life to determine whether he should be fired or arrested.
His attorney at the Houston Police Officer's Union, Sally Ring, told Local 2 Investigates, "He's not going to comment and will let the investigation proceed with integrity."
The woman who said she is his original wife filed divorce papers against Officer Gunter in May and the divorce was just granted within the past two weeks.
Harris County Clerk records show the couple received a marriage license in August 2010, with the formal ceremony being officiated by a church minister.
She filed for divorce, claiming fraud, adultery and "cruel treatment."
Her divorce lawyer declined to comment when reached by Local 2 Investigates.
The divorce papers were served on the officer at a home off Highway 6 and West Road in northwest Harris County, where neighbors said the officer had been living for some time with another woman. Neighbors said he announced to them that he had married that woman about six months ago. No one answered the door at the home, where neighbors said he is still living with that woman as his wife.
In the divorce papers served on the officer at that home, Sara Rivas Gunter wrote that she was married to Gunter in August 2010 and they stopped living together as a couple on May 16, 2011.
She wrote, "The marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities … that destroys the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation."
While that claim is standard boilerplate divorce language, Sara Gunter filed an affidavit on May 25, 2011, as part of her divorce case, adding, "I have learned that (the officer) has moved to another home with another woman and does not plan on returning to our home. I have also learned that he is having an affair and claims that we were never married. I have confronted him about our separation numerous times but he refuses to speak to me rationally and continues to lie about the situation."
The final divorce judgment, which was entered earlier this month, required David Gunter to pay $885 per month in spousal support to Sara Gunter for a period of time, and allowed the officer to keep a 55" television set, a PlayStation, his golf clubs and his bulletproof vest, among other things.
David Gunter's divorce attorney declined to comment when reached by Local 2 Investigates.
No other divorce filings tied to the officer were located in Harris County or Galveston County clerk databases.
If he is charged with a crime, David Gunter's union attorney said he would have to find his own lawyer because the conduct involves his personal life.
