A Wharton Volunteer Fire Department captain whose estate is now the subject of a bitter court battle questioning whether his marriage was valid testified in April that he did not know his wife used to be a man, according to a court deposition obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

Thomas Araguz III's widow said Monday that Araguz intentionally lied when the subject of her sex change surfaced in depositions taken in a child custody case earlier this year. Nikki Araguz said she also lied in her deposition. They were hoping to keep joint custody of his two boys, she said.

Nikki Araguz, who was born Justin Graham Purdue, testified she did not recall ever discussing her birth name with her husband.

The depositions were taken in April for a child custody case filed by Thomas Araguz's ex-wife, who did not want their two young sons around Nikki Araguz, attorneys said.

The court documents are of interest since the fallen firefighter's parents filed a lawsuit alleging his marriage is void because Nikki Araguz was born a man.

Nikki Araguz, 35, is temporarily prohibited by a Wharton state district court from spending or collecting any benefits related to her husband's death while the case remains pending in court.

"That deposition is a lie," Nikki Araguz said from her Wharton home Monday night.

"At the time, Thomas and I thought it was in the best interest of our children to lie. They were the center of (our) lives," she said.

Deposition transcript

Thomas Araguz, 30, died July 4 while fighting a fire at an egg farm near Boling. He had been married to Nikki Araguz for 20 months when he gave his deposition April 28.

"Do you know that your wife was formerly a male?" asked Frank Mann III, a Bellaire attorney representing Thomas Araguz's ex-wife and the mother of his children, according to the deposition transcript.

"No," Araguz responded.

"You have no knowledge of that?" Mann asked the firefighter.

"I have no knowledge," Araguz responded.

If their marriage is voided in Texas, all benefits will go to Thomas Araguz's two sons from his previous marriage, said Chad Ellis, the attorney for Araguz's mother.

During another part of the inquiry focusing on Nikki Araguz, Mann asked her husband, "Would it surprise you if it said male on her birth certificate?"

"Yes," Thomas Araguz responded.

"When did you first tell your husband about the fact that you had that prior name?" Mann asked Nikki Araguz during her deposition.

"I don't recall ever discussing that with him, to be honest with you," she responded.

In his deposition, Thomas Araguz also said he knew nothing about his wife's arrest by Wharton police in 2007 for possession of a controlled substance, specifically cocaine, a charge that landed Nikki Araguz deferred adjudication and two years of probation.

Nikki Araguz said Monday her husband did know of the arrest.

Probation completed

Thomas Araguz testified that while he knew his wife had a criminal record, he did not know his wife was on probation earlier this year in Wharton County or that she checked in with a probation officer every month.

Nikki Araguz just completed her probation for the cocaine arrest on July 14, court records show.

Formerly known as Nikki Paige Purdue, she married Thomas Araguz in Wharton County on Aug. 23, 2008. The couple previously ran the Wharton County Living magazine before it closed earlier this summer.

Before she married Thomas Araguz, Nikki Araguz was married to another man almost 20 years her senior. Their marriage lasted for eight years before they divorced in 2007.

peggy.ohare@chron.com