Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 8-MONTHS-PREGNANT MOM OF ONE shot execution style while cowering in bedroom closet. We want justice for Belinda Temple!

Episode Date: August 7, 2019

For the second time, David Temple has been found guilty in the murder of his pregnant wife. Belinda Temple was just a month shy of delivery when she was shot in the back of the head. Joining Nancy Grace to look at the complexity of this case is Defense Attorney Jason Oshins , Forensic Expert Karen Smith, Psychologist Caryn Stark and Crime Online Reporter Dave Mack. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young pregnant mother of one found dead. Shot execution style in the head. Eight months pregnant after cowering and hiding in the bedroom closet of her home. In the last hours, a major break in the case of Belinda Temple found dead. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. I remember it like it was yesterday when Belinda was found dead in her home, eight months pregnant.

And the reality was it was a picture-perfect home. A mother of one little boy, vivacious, outgoing, beautiful home, eight months pregnant with her second child, the family beloved by the whole community, the dad, the popular high school football coach, and then she's found dead. Harris County 911, police fire ambulance. Somebody's broken into my house and my wife she's already dead. She's eight months pregnant. Okay, sweetie. Just stay on the phone with me, okay? Sir, is there any way that you can kneel down next to her and see if she is breathing? Sir? Sir? She's dead. Okay. Let me get them over there, okay?

Have them check her out. When was the last time you saw her? Oh, it's been several hours. Several hours? Yes. You say half of her brain is on the floor? She's got part of it, a part of it. I can't even, because she's down in the corner. Okay. And she's eight months pregnant? Yes.

Have you felt for her to have a pulse? Yes. She doesn't have one. We got a baby, though, right? Right. Okay. Okay. Do you know how to do CPR? Yes. Okay. I want you to do CPR for that baby? Right. Okay, okay. Do you know how to do CPR? Yes. Okay, I want you to do CPR for that baby.

Okay. Okay? Yes. Are you doing CPR for me? She's gone. Okay, well let's see if we can use her, okay, for the baby. She's just dry. Is there any way that you can do this?

There's just no way. She's got her brain and just blood is covered on the floor. I got a policeman that's pulled up now. I got an ambulance and a paramedic that's getting ready to come in too. You are hearing the actual 911 call when popular football coach David Temple says he finds his wife dead on the floor. Well, in the last hours, so many hopes, so many dreams of justice have been fulfilled. David Temple, the high school football coach star of the entire region there in Texas, has been found guilty in his wife's murder. This is a saga that started back in the 90s

when Temple was first suspected of shooting his pregnant wife. Joining me right now, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Dave Mack. Dave, let's just start at the beginning. Where does the husband, the football coach David Temple, say he was when his pregnant wife Belinda was murdered? Out running errands with their three and a half year old son Evan, a child who by the way was so sick at school earlier that day he was sent home from daycare earlier but was out with his dad seen on camera during the time that this murder took place. Where did they say they went?

They went to a place to get a drink. They went to a Home Depot. Wait, wait, wait, wait. What do you mean a place to get a drink? A bar? No, no, like a soda. You know, just an icy or something. First of all, David Temple, the football coach husband, tells deputies that he and his three-year-old son went to a park this is after he's been brought home sick from school a grocery store and a home depot before arriving back to his katie area home to find his wife shot dead in an apparent burglary that That is what he first said, but now I'm understanding that his alibi has differed in various police interviews. What do we know about that, Dave Mack? We know that the timeline tends to shift around based on what David Temple describes that took place. He, again, you've got his wife, Belinda, is eight months pregnant.

Well, his son, Evan, three and a half years old, comes home from daycare sick. David Temple was a coach and high school teacher. His wife was a special needs teacher at a junior high school. And so the reason that's important, Evan, the child, comes home from daycare early. David, the coach teacher teacher has to come home from school to take care of sick evan meanwhile eight months pregnant belinda the wife she too comes home from school and she's not feeling well so at four o'clock that afternoon she retires to bed to lay down eight months pregnant hold on let me get that four o'clock in the afternoon she lays

down right now how do we know that? We know that based on the time that she left from school and her normal routine in getting home, that it would be around 4 o'clock. And then we actually have to believe David Temple in some of this as well. But in particular, we can track just her regular movements and the time that she left school and the time that she wouldn't have gotten home. Got it. That that fits, that she would actually and the time that she wouldn't have gotten home. Got it. That that fits, that she would actually be home by four o'clock and in bed. Listen to this. Belinda's parents, Tom and Carol Lucas, suspected David after they learned he had betrayed their daughter.

The Lucases did all they could to keep the case alive. They paid for a billboard next to a busy highway and they took television crews to their daughter's grave. But nothing changed until November 2004, more than five years after the murder, when a case in California caught the nation's attention. He is charged with killing his wife, Lacey. Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Lacey. The Lucases saw parallels to their case and contacted the prosecutors once again. This time, the case landed on the desk of one of the toughest DAs in the nation. I got it under control. I know what I'm doing. I believe that David Kimball was guilty. With a record of high profile, high Four. And highly dramatic prosecutions. Like you're mad, like you're afraid, like you can't, can't stop. You're hearing our friends at CBS 48 Hours. I remember distinctly when Belinda's dad, just heartbroken, can you even imagine, Tom Lucas was begging for my help after David Temple was first released.

I'll never forget it. Listen. My daughter, Belinda Lucas Temple, who was eight months pregnant, was murdered by her husband, David Temple, in the Houston area of Texas. Nine years went by before we finally got him put in prison. Now then, he's served some time, and he's been let out on bond to possibly get a new trial or possibly just turn loose. This is wrong. Somebody apparently has been bought off or something. just turn loose. This is wrong. But there's somebody apparently

who's been bought off or something. I hope that Nancy and y'all can look into it and maybe do something to help. I need lots of help for, you know, if possible. She's a wife. she's deceased now so stress from that all this has caused her I have a heart attack and we were guests on Nancy's very first show we talked about this murder his family was also on this part of the show

I hope that y'all can help me it's so terrible to my daughter who was she was 8 months pregnant she was executed shot in the back of the head with a shotgun blown her brains all over the closet

now then that he is he's been let out of prison to for possible new trial and what is being done is injustice they let him out on bond.

He's waiting for a new trial. They're trying to decide whether they'll have a new trial or just turn him loose. This is not right. I would like to have this story. If you could update it and put it on, you know, it would be appreciated. It has been a very difficult time over the last 18 years. To Jason Oceans, veteran defense attorney, we know that the husband, David Temple, was tried. His first conviction was overturned and he was granted

a retrial. Why? Well, he got a retrial, Nancy, because of prosecutorial misconduct. There were, you know, that's a tough charge for a judge to overturn defense motion on that and subsequent to conviction. And the prosecutor themselves, the district attorney's office is being investigated for improprieties in the original trial and the judge granted a second trial. This is what I don't understand. To Dave Mack, when he says prosecutorial misconduct, what exactly are we talking about? 36 instances of prosecutorial misconduct, which actually it means they didn't turn over evidence of what's called exculpatory evidence to the defense, either in a timely manner or at all. Crime stories with Nancy Grace.

In the last hours, David Temple, the high school football coach star, has been found guilty in his wife's murder. This is a saga that started back in the 90s when Temple was first suspected of shooting his pregnant wife. She got home about 4 o'clock. We just said I would take Heaven out and run around. We stopped at Berkshire Brothers just to get a drink. We stopped, got two drinks, and I picked up a bag of cat food while we were in there getting the drinks. Then we decided to go to Home Depot. We'd have time to do that, make it home, and time to take Blinda to eat dinner. We pulled into the garage, got my son out, started to walk towards the back door.

And I could see that the back door is open and it's cracked with glass. And took my son across the street and banged on my friend's house. And handed them evidence and asked if they would call 911. 911, go ahead. Somebody has broken into my neighbor's house. And then ran back across the street. Where's your neighbor at right now? Went in through the gate and into my house.

Right across the street from me. And then naked and upstairs. I need an address, ma'am. To her line in the portin board in our closet, their knees up underneath their stomach to protect her. Hey, dove across the bed and got the phone to call 911. You're hearing our friends at CBS 48 Hours and David Temple himself describing finding his wife's body. Listen to this development. On November 29th, 2004, nearly six years after his wife was killed, David Temple was arrested. I tried my son off for school like I did every day and an officer pulled me over, handcuffed me and

put me immediately in the back of a detective's car. And one of the detectives in that car was Dean Holtke. You know what this is about, right? And he says, no, what? I said, Belinda. He's like, you've got to be kidding me, man. That was like six years ago. I never thought that I would be arrested, ever. Temple says he's a devoted family man, despite marrying his mistress after his wife was murdered.

I have to ask you, did you kill her? Of course not. Merry Christmas. You cannot be a good father to one child and take the life of another one. To me, that is impossible. Now, take a listen to our friends at CBS 48 Hours as they describe why David Temple is released. In 2012, Temple's appellate attorneys, Casey Gautreaux and Stanley Schneider, finally saw the complete police report. And they say it contained critical evidence never seen before by the defense.

On my left is the complete investigative report. This was never seen. This is what was suppressed. Stuff was hidden. In a split decision, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found Temple did not get a fair trial and he was released in late December. Take a listen to our friends at 48 hours and the former Harris County prosecutor. So what did you have against him? A story that he told that never made any sense. What didn't make any sense about it? The story was, according to David Temple, at the very time he was out with his sick son running errands that didn't need to be run,

a random burglar just happened to break into his house and shoots Belinda Temple in the back of the head when she's eight months pregnant while David Temple is having an affair with the woman he was madly in love with. She believes Belinda Temple was killed around 4 p.m. about a half hour before David was seen by those surveillance cameras at the stores. Once Belinda was dead, Temple went right to work concocting his alibi. David Temple made a sweep through the house and made an attempt to make the house look like it had been burglarized. He broke the glass in the back door, and then he took Evan to try and get himself on videotape to alibi himself as quickly as he could. Wow, wow, you're hearing the then Harris County prosecutor. Take a listen

as I confront the then defense attorney Dick DeGaran. Dick DeGaran, buckle up. Was there insurance money? Yeah there was insurance money. Who got it? Almost all went to Evan, the young boy. Really? Because I heard only 60,000 of the 200,000 went to a trust, and that was after twisting somebody's arm. No, that's not right. The Temple family and David sought to have it put into trust, and part of it went to the original attorney in the case, but that's because from the very beginning, the police were falsely accusing David.

Well, he just got arrested a couple of months ago, so why did he need a defense lawyer there at the house the night before the funeral? He lawyered up pretty fast, Dick. Well, he sure did because they were accusing him from the beginning, and they were accusing him only because they say that when a wife is murdered, the husband is always a suspect. They didn't have any evidence then. What about the gunshot powder?

They don't have any evidence now. I don't believe that stuff, Nancy. In the first. Then they don't have any evidence now. I don't believe that stuff, Nancy. In the first place, they won't give it to us. They won't tell us about it. I got the arrest affidavit right here. Yeah, you've got the affidavit, but you don't have the test. We've been asking for the test. We filed a motion asking that they give us the test, let us independently test it. Their test came from a questionable source, the FBI lab. Are you going to say cross-contamination? Because I haven't heard that since Cochran said it in the O.J. Simpson trial. Take a listen to what Belinda's parents tell me on HLN.

When was the first time you saw David Temple after you learned Belinda had been murdered? I saw David Temple at the funeral home the night before the funeral. Now, that strikes me as very unusual, that he didn't come to you. Did he call you, maybe? No. Nothing. How did he act at the funeral, Mrs. Lucas? Just like any other day of the week, I'd say.

Didn't seem to be sad or anything. What was he like at the funeral? No tears were shed. Not a tear. I never saw a tear shed. David Temple has never looked us in the eye since our daughter was murdered. Never has looked you in the eye? No.

Do you think Belinda knew he was having an affair during the marriage? I think she had become aware of it. Do you think that is what led to her death? I feel that that could have been part of the reason. When you look at all the facts, do you think David Temple murdered your daughter? After looking at all the facts and reading what I've read, I believe David Temple killed her. I remember, after all this time has passed following Belinda's execution-style murder, an eight-month pregnant woman. I was giving a speech.

I believe it was in Port Huron. And I kept thinking that a woman there looked familiar to me and I didn't know why. She came up to me after my speech. It was Belinda's sister. And she broke down in tears. This was about over a year ago. and I asked her, did she want to come on and talk about what was happening and focus attention back on her sister's death? And she said, I just don't want to hurt the trial. So we agreed to stay silent. Now, in the last hours, a stunning break in the case. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. What about the theory this was a botched robbery, Dave Mack? What if anything was taken? There was absolutely nothing taken, and it looked like a staged crime scene, Nancy.

Why do you say that? Okay, there was a tea. Well, first of all, the glass door, the door from the garage into the entryway, the glass was broken out. But the glass wasn't broken like straight in but when they actually were doing a reenactment they had to open the door and then break the glass for the glass to actually show up on the floor where they found it on top of that a tv was pulled off of a tv stand but it wasn't even unplugged so if you're going to steal a tv you'd actually unhook the cable and unplug it from the wall um there was jewelry his you know he was a high school football hero and there's this big gaudy gold ring and a watch that was sitting right there in the open and wasn't disturbed at all.

So if it was a robbery, those would have been the first things. They would have stashed the gold in somebody's pockets. The TV would have not just been unplugged, but it would have had the cable either cut or undone and the glass wouldn't have shown up 20 feet away in the living room. It would have been in the door, in the entryway. And nothing was taken. Nothing was taken. We also know that Temple's defense team has long claimed one of Belinda's teenage student, Riley Joe Sanders, was responsible. Dave Mack, what about that? You know, there is some suspicion about Riley Joe Sanders. He was a 16-year-old student who lived near the temples. Belinda actually had told his parents that he was missing a lot of school. He didn't particularly care for, and

he lied to police about his whereabouts on the day of the murder. Well, what did he tell police? He told police that he was at school all day, and it turned out that he actually wasn't at school. He was actually at home smoking pot. How could they confirm that? That's what he actually told them. So can they confirm it or no? Well, they can only confirm the fact that the guy told them he was at home smoking pot, but they actually hooked him up to a polygraph and he failed three different polygraph tests. I could understand why he lied about not being in school. Yeah. I mean, to me, that makes sense. But what would the, he didn't steal anything. What would a potential motive have been, Dave Mack? Well, that was the whole point of that, that he was mad at Belinda because she told his parents that he was missing

a lot of school. That's the whole grudge that they say led to him staging a robbery and murdering her with a shotgun. Wow. Okay. That doesn't make sense to me. Let me ask you another question. With that evidence, Dave Mack, regarding the student Riley Joe Sanders, why did they elect to go forward on Temple? Because they actually didn't believe that Riley Joe Sanders was a viable suspect. They just didn't believe that he did it. The prosecutor here just did not believe him. She actually said they believed his story of sitting home smoking pot. They didn't believe he was a murderer. They didn't believe he was out to get Belinda at all. They just did not believe that he was the suspect. Wow. Okay. What about the bullets to Karen Smith, forensic expert,

Bare Bones Consulting founder, what do we know about ballistics? At this point, it's a shotgun, Nancy. So they're talking about pellets and wadding. There was no shotgun shell found at the scene, which means the gun was either unracked or somebody collected it and left with it. So they're left with very scant evidence, but it was double-aught buckshot, which is so common. It's just small pellets inside of a shotgun shell that disperse once the gun is fired. That's what was used. At this point, I'm really curious about the gunshot residue you mentioned with Victor Guerin. What happened? What tests did they do, and where did it come from?

There's also the issue of the dog. What about that, Dave Mack? Well, the Temple's had a dog who was just vicious to everyone except for the Temple's. As a matter of fact, when David Temple went across the street and gave Evan to the neighbors and said, hey, somebody broke into my house, call 911. The man of the house, I think his name was Robert, he followed David Temple across the yard into the house. He was trailing about 20 yards behind. David Temple goes in the house. The dog was so vicious that this neighbor, Robert, was not allowed entry into the home by that guard dog.

On top of that, when police arrived not long after the 911 call, they too were prevented from going into the house by that guard dog to the point where they had pulled their service revolvers and were prepared to shoot the dog when David came out and called the dog down. So this dog wouldn't have allowed anybody in that house. Except the killer. Except the killer, in this case, David Temple, yes. He wouldn't allow anybody he didn't know in that house.

He would only allow somebody that he actually knew. We're talking David or Belinda. Those are the only two people that would have got past that dog. Dave, do you know anything about the gunshot residue issue? I know that, you know, I actually heard this argument for the very first time, Nancy, when you interviewed Dick DeGaran about it on TV. It made me look it up. It went to the FBI crime lab.

They tested David Temple's jacket, and on that, they found gunshot residue on that jacket. And that's what you guys were actually arguing about. That was the evidence that the prosecutor was allowed to take to the grand jury, that they actually had physical evidence putting David Temple in that closet with that shotgun at the time of the murder. And was that the jacket he was wearing the day she was murdered? According to what I saw, yes. Wow. Wow. Explain that. Break it down, Karen Smith. That's a big deal. That's a huge deal. You're talking about a jacket sleeve with gunshot residue on it?

Listen, when gunshots happen, there's primer. There's a primer. That's what fires the projectile down the barrel. When those primer particles are heated, they form small little spheres of barium lead and antimony. And those small little spheres are the gunshot residue that FBI analysts and ballistics analysts look at under a microscope that are telltale signs of gunshot residue. If that was on his sleeve, I would want a really good explanation of how it got there. There are transfers that can happen between different, like secondary transfers from the body, secondary transfers, other things. But if it's on a sleeve of a jacket and there's a lot of it there, that's an explanation that needs to happen. Well, to me, if there's any there, it's very significant because gunshot

residue can be wiped off like baby powder. If he had gunshot residue on his sleeve of his jacket which would be there if you shot a shotgun that really places him within 36 inches of a shotgun that day i think it's damning on another note to all you moms and dads out there listening if you're like me you pour all your love, all your dreams, all your hopes, all your energy, all your money, all your everything into your children. Can you imagine you go out of town for just a couple of days and you get a call? Your baby's missing. I cannot even think about it. But that is what happened to Michael Stern. He gets a call that his only child, his beautiful girl, Sarah Stern is missing. And her car has been found abandoned on a remote

bridge. At first they tell him they think she committed suicide. He's like, no way. She didn't do that. That couldn't happen. What happened to Sarah Stern? When you see her picture, you're going to flip. Bubbly, vivacious, aspiring artist had lived through losing her mother to cancer and fought back this Saturday at a special new time on Oxygen, 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 Central. What happened to Sarah Stern? Injustice with Nancy Grace. Please join me. Thank you, friend.

I'll see you Saturday, 9 o'clock Eastern, a brand new time. Injustice with Nancy Grace. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young pregnant mother of one found dead. Shot execution style in the head. Eight months pregnant in the last hours. A major break in the case. A Belinda Temple found dead. I'm Nancy Grace.

This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. A mother of one little boy, vivacious, outgoing, beautiful home, eight months pregnant with her second child, the family beloved by the whole community, the dad, the popular high school football coach, and then she's found dead. Well, in the last hours, David Temple, the high school football coach star of the entire region there in Texas, has been found guilty in his wife's murder. This is a saga that started back in the 90s when Temple was first suspected of shooting his pregnant wife. What could possibly be a motive?

A hot co-worker. Now to Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Tell me about Heather. David Temple was having an affair on Belinda. At the time, they told police it was a casual affair. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. No, there is no such thing

as a casual sex affair when you are married. That ain't casual. I mean, is it just me? I mean, Karen Stark, psychologist, karenstark.com, he says it was just casual. Ain't no sex affair as casual when you're married.

Not just married. His wife is pregnant. So he's expecting another child. And he's taking the risk of having an affair with another teacher. And it's somebody whom he wound up marrying. So there's nothing casual about this affair, Nancy. Okay, back to you, Dave Mack. This so-called casual affair, isn't it true that David Temple married Heather

and she became Heather Temple, which means anything they had communicated to each other could not be testified to at trial. Hold on. Let me go to Jason Oceans on that. You're the defense lawyer. Jason, the marital privilege, host and wife privilege. The wife, let's just say in this circumstance, she's not the one that claims the privilege. The wife, the ex-wife, Heather Temple, can get up on the stand. Then David Temple invokes the privilege and says

she can't testify to that. We were married. Spousal immunity. I mean, one of the basic tenets of protecting the sanctity, the contract of marriage, so that disaffection perhaps couldn't color the ability to go after your spouse. So I think that was the original underlying basis in the law, and it's continued in most jurisdictions all these years. Take a listen to our friend Adam Bennett at KHOU. Heather Temple, David Temple's second wife, filed for divorce yesterday in a Fort Bend County court. The filing claims their marriage, quote,

has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities. Heather Temple's attorneys told KHOU they're aware of the divorce filing timing with the trial but are asking for privacy. We're hopeful that with the filing for divorce she'll be more candid, more forthcoming and certainly more factual with what she truly does know. Victims advocate Andy Khan has represented Belinda Lucas Temple's family since Belinda's murder. At that time, Heather was having an affair with David. Heather testified during the first trial, and she's on the list to testify at this trial. There's a marital privilege like there's a attorney-client or priest-penitent privilege. The privilege survives a divorce. What about the fact that she

has now divorced him? That doesn't change anything if there were communications during the marriage. I mean, they got married before he was charged with murder. Is that right, Dave Mack? Yes, ma'am. They actually got married about two years after the murder of Belinda, and that would be five years before he actually went on trial for murder. But the time that we're talking about here, where they were just in their, what they called a casual romance, and again, I agree with you, but that's not covered by spousal privilege. The time of the murder and the time after that does not include, it's not covered by spousal immunity because they were actually just boyfriend

girlfriend let me ask you a question uh david temple's mistress turned wife heather temple has recently filed for divorce in the middle of the trial do you think it's just coincidence or do you think it's because what she may or may not know out to you Stark. Well, it's really, you would think if she believed his story that she wouldn't, in the middle of this trial, decide that this is the perfect time to divorce him. So there's something going on there, Nancy. We don't know what it is. Well, Karen Stark, that's certainly putting it mildly. Let's get back to reality. Take a listen to the verdict being read out loud in a court of law.

Justice delayed was not justice denied. We, the jury, find the defendant, David Mark Temple, guilty of murder as charged in the indictment. It's signed at the foreman of the jury. What a moment in a court of law. Take a listen to Belinda's brother, Brian Lucas. Last time, he had 99 years and a $10,000 fine. I can't see it being any different this time. Look what he did.

He put a shotgun in the back of someone's head. You've got to realize that's pretty heinous. I mean, just imagine. I mean, that's about as sick as you get. No remorse. He's never had remorse. Today was more. He's cried today more than he has in 20 years.

And that's just for himself, though. That's for himself. That's nothing to do with my sister. That's for himself. And also keep in mind the collateral damage that David Temple has caused, obviously to Belinda's family, but to Riley Joe Sanders as well, who's forever tarnished with the stigmatize of what this family and their supporters have done to him and his family for 20 years

that he has to live with as well. And we appreciate him just, again, being forthcoming, always willing, and he's undergone a lot of the collateral damage by David Temple. Anyone he's come into contact with, he is adversely affected. You know, I'm always leery of retrials many, many years after the fact, and I've had to do them myself. I remember I had not been at the prosecutor's office very long when a case that went down, the murder of an Atlanta police officer's brother, this was before I was even in law school, had to put that case back together again and retry it.

That is hard to do. Evidence lost, witnesses' memories fade. It's really hard to do, but the prosecutors in this case hung in there. A dramatic retrial finds high school football coach, the superstar of the region, guilty in the murder of his pregnant wife all the way back in 1999 so he could continue his affair with his so-called hot co-worker, David Temple, now convicted for shooting his eight-month pregnant wife Belinda

in the back of the head, killing her. You know what? You can't hide from Lady Justice. You may run, but you can't hide. I wondered sometimes if David Temple would ever be brought to justice. Right now, Belinda, rest in peace and prayers to your family. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.