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Bridget Nicole Compton, 51, is accused of stealing $132,480.01 from the TD Ameritrade account of Trinh Nguyen, a former Norristown State Hospital resident, officials in Bucks County, PA said. Nguyen is currently serving two life sentences for fatally shooting her sons, 13-year-old Jeffrey “JT” Tini and 9-year-old Nelson Tini, in their Upper Makefield home on May 2, 2022.
Nguyen meticulously planned the murders a week in advance, leaving behind a handwritten will detailing instructions for her and her sons’ remains, prosecutors said. On the morning of the killings, she shot her sons in their beds and then attempted to kill her neighbor, Gianni Melchiondo, with the same revolver. The gun misfired twice, allowing Melchiondo to disarm her. Nguyen fled the scene in her minivan, driving to New Jersey to purchase heroin in an apparent suicide attempt.
Police later found Nguyen in her vehicle, where they recovered heroin, blood, ammunition, and a note reading, “Please call 911! My children are Dead in their bed at 119 Timber Ridge Rd 18940.” Despite efforts to save her sons, both boys succumbed to their injuries on May 6, 2022.
Nguyen, facing eviction at the time, was initially deemed incompetent to stand trial and was sent to Norristown State Hospital for treatment. She later regained competency, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to life without parole.
While Nguyen was a patient at the hospital, Compton worked there as an employee of the Department of Public Welfare. Investigators said Compton used her position to gain access to Nguyen’s account information. Compton impersonated Nguyen in phone calls, forged her signature, and diverted checks to her mother’s address in Philadelphia.
Between April and June 2023, Compton cashed five checks totaling $132,480.01, using $10,000 for a family vacation to Puerto Rico, gifting another $10,000 to her mother, and spending the remaining funds on bills and personal expenses, according to the affidavit.
Nguyen told investigators she never authorized Compton to access her account and only asked for help changing the mailing address. Compton admitted to forging the documents and taking the money, telling detectives, “I got the money in July and was broke by Christmas... that’s how quick it went.”
“This theft exploited a vulnerable individual and violated the trust placed in a state employee,” Bucks County prosecutors said in a statement.
Bucks County Deputy District Attorneys Brittney Kern and John Fegley will prosecute the case. The investigation, led by Bucks and Montgomery County detectives, remains ongoing.
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