The former Miss Universe at the center of a bitter exchange in Monday's presidential debate was accused of aiding a would-be murderer and threatening to kill a judge, it has emerged.

Alicia Machado was named by Hillary Clinton as having been shamed for her weight in 1996 by Donald Trump, when she was Miss Universe and he bought the beauty contest, by being called 'Miss Piggy' when she gained weight.

The then-Miss Venezuela was photographed with Trump at a gym as he spoke about how she 'loves to eat,' and she also claimed he mocked her Latino accent, calling her 'Miss Housekeeping.'

On Tuesday Machado launched her own attack on the Republican candidate, accusing him of abuse and 'stupid things.'

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Prestigious title: Alicia Machado was named Miss Universe in 1996 but quickly gained weight and when Donald Trump took over the beauty contest, she was a 'problem', he said Tuesday

'Fat-shamed': Machado claimed that she felt humiliated when she was photographed exercising at a gym with Trump watching. He said Tuesday that 'she gained a massive amount of weight'

Campaign tool: The Clinton campaign energetically set up a conference call on Tuesday with Machado to try to capitalize on her mention in the debate. DailyMail.com is asking about the vetting of her past

Small world: Bill Clinton was welcomed to Caracas by Rafael Caldera in November 1997. Three months later Caldera was allegedly being named by Machado as a friend who would ruin a judge's career if he indicted her boyfriend for attempted murder

But now two Associated Press reports from 1998 have revealed the Machado was accused of aiding attempted murder and threats to kill in Venezuela.

DailyMail.com has asked the Clinton campaign whether they knew about the accusations, which do not appear to have ended in conviction, before the candidate spoke about her at the debate.

The campaign also organized a conference call for reporters on Tuesday with the now 39-year-old actress, in which she spoke almost exclusively in Spanish to continue the attacks on Trump.

The troubling details of what Machado was accused of emerged after she had reigned as Miss Universe in 1996.

In January 1998, the Associated Press revealed that Machado had been accused in court documents in Cadacras of driving her boyfriend from the scene of a shooting.

She was ordered to testify in court, with her lawyer telling a local newspaper that she was in fact filming a soap opera at the time.

The murder, it was alleged, was the culmination of a bitter feud.

Machado's boyfriend, Juan Rodriguez Reggeti, was accused of shooting his brother-in-law, Francisco Sbert Moukso – at the funeral of the dead man's wife, Maria Rodriguez, who was the alleged murderer's sister.

Sbert's attorney alleged that Reggeti believed the dead man had driven his sister to suicide and took revenge, the Associated Press said.

Rodriguez was eight months pregnant when she jumped to her death off a fifth-floor balcony.

The attorney also alleged that witnesses saw Machado drive her boyfriend away from the scene of the crime, and that her boyfriend had snatched the dead woman's 11-month-old son as well.

But her lawyer, Ricardo Koesling, was quoted in a local newspaper calling the claims 'a huge stupidity' and saying: 'She wasn't even present at the site of the incident.'

Machado was not indicted when the judge in the case said there was insufficient evidence that she was at the scene of the alleged crime.

Right to vote: Alicia Machado celebrated becoming a U.S. citizen earlier this year, saying she would use her vote against Donald Trump

'I'm with you!' Alicia Machado posted this tweet shortly after the end of Monday's debate - but it is unknown if the Clinton campaign knew about the questions over her past

Latino star: Since her apparent brush with the law in 1998, Machado has become a star of telenovas and how is a US citizen

There was clearly confusion as in contrast to her lawyer's initial claim she was filming, Machado later claimed that she was at home sick. The judge said there was also insufficient evidence to prove that claim.

A judge indicted her boyfriend, described by Reuters as 'a 26-year-old graphic designer with movie star good looks' – and police mounted a series of raids to find him, to no avail.

It was not the end of the affair.

A month later the judge went on national television to allege that Machado had threatened to kill him if he indicted Sbert.

Judge Maximiliano Fuenmayor said on national television that she threatened 'to ruin my career as a judge and ... kill me', the Associated Press reported.

Reuters reported that he 'said she would make sure, using her friendship with the president [Rafael Caldera], that my career as judge is ruined and then she would kill me.'

He alleged that when he issued an arrest warrant she made a threatening phone call. He had traced her identity because her number showed up on his mobile phone – a relatively new technology in 1998.

The judge said he planned to open a new case against Machado. Judges in Venezuela are more akin to prosecutors, having investigatory powers.

The indictment, if it had led to criminal trial, would have carried a jail term of up to 18 months if she had been found guilty.

Gym trip: In January 1996, during her reign as Miss World, she was photographed working out in a gym with Trump watching

Admission: Trump made no secret as he appeared on Fox and Friends that Machado's weight had been an issue.

I wasn't there, my love. I was at Venevision filming. At 2pm I left my house and called the station to tell them I couldn't go. I was ill with a stomach ache because of my diet. As you can see I am yet again, as God and the Virgin would have it, 15 kilos lighter and focusing on my work. How Achado explained what she had told a judge about allegations she drove her boyfriend from the scene of an attempted murder.

The Economist reported that she admitted making the call but that that she said it was to thank him for what it described as 'his unbiased pursuit of justice.'

Local newspaper El Tiempo said she was questioned behind closed doors by the judge for two hours, then emerged and spoke to local journalists.

' I don't have anything to do with this,' she said, crying, it reported.

'I wasn't there, my love. I was at Venevision filming. At 2pm I left my house and called the station to tell them I couldn't go.

'I was ill with a stomach ache because of my diet. As you can see I am yet again, as God and the Virgin would have it, 15 kilos [33lb] lighter and focusing on my work.'

DailyMail.com is reaching out to Machado for comment.

Machado went on to have a career in telenovelas and earlier this year became an American citizen, in time to vote in the November election.

Clinton named her in the debate on Monday night without making any reference to her past scandals.

As she was: Machado was appearing in the telenova Samantha, in which she was the eponymous central character, when the judge moved to indict her

Accusation: Judge Maximiliano Fuenmayor claimed the ex-Miss Universe had threatened his career and his life

Instead she said of her: 'One of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty contest.

'He loves beauty contests, supporting them and hanging around them, and he called this woman "Miss Piggy," then he called her "Miss Housekeeping" because she was Latina.'

On Tuesday morning Trump agreed that he had told her to lose weight, and doubled down on his description.

'She was the worst we ever had,' he said on Fox and Friends.

'She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem.'

Hours later Machado was made available by the Clinton campaign for a conference call with reporters.

Only a tiny fraction of it was in English and the campaign translated some of it for reporters, who had not been told it would be in Spanish.

In the course of it she accused Trump of 'violence' and said she wanted to share her story with the Latino community.

It does not appear she mentioned anything about the court case and although she claimed to have been 'sharing her story' for '20 years' DailyMail.com has yet to find evidence she as spoken of it since it happened.

'I have been sharing this story, my story, with all of my fans and all of the communities from the beginning,' she saud.

Basically by sharing my experience and focusing on abuse against women, the disrespect to women, violence against women, must end Macahdo on Donald Trump

'And I have been talking about this for 20 years, this really bad experience working with Mr. Donald Trump.

'I know very well what’s he’s capable of, this man.

I think I speak more English than her. I don’t see anything about this girl. She’s a doll. She’s a decoration Machado on Melania Trump

'And that’s why I am fighting to make the community understand, now more than ever, that Latinos need to support the US, that we need to return all the beautiful and grand things the US has provided for us.

'Basically by sharing my experience and focusing on abuse against women, the disrespect to women, violence against women, must end.'

Despite her attack on 'abuse against women', she had earlier this month spoke to Cosmopolitan.com about her views on Trump's wife, Melania.

'I think I speak more English than her,' Machado said. 'I don’t see anything about this girl. She’s a doll. She’s a decoration. That is how I see her.'

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.