Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Killers Amongst Us: David Temple beloved coach, murderer? (part 4)

Episode Date: July 15, 2020

Belinda Lucas Temple learns her husband is having an affair. This mother, eight months pregnant, is murdered in her Katy, Texas, home. Investigators begin to look for a suspect, but they don't have to look very far. Police argue her husband wants to get rid of her so he can marry his mistress, a teacher in the high school where he teaches. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. Welcome back to Killers Amongst Us, a production of iHeartMedia and Crime Online. Eight months pregnant, Belinda Temple found dead in her own bedroom closet. The door to the home opened. Who murdered Belinda Temple? Could it have been a robbery gone wrong? The suspect list is narrowed down to a teen student. Police say things don't add up.

It was one of the few cases we have where you have a completely innocent victim. She had lived a low-risk lifestyle. She was a teacher. She was a mother. She was a wife. She didn't have any bad habits. And to find her dead in her house was very heartbreaking. Where to from here? I'm Nancy Grace, and this is Killers Amongst Us. Belinda's parents got that phone call that mothers and fathers have nightmares about.

I dropped to my knees. And I lost my daughter. I lost a granddaughter that I'm sure was beautiful as her mama that I never got to see. This was no ordinary crime scene. It affected even veteran homicide detective Tracy Shipley. In the following days, Detective Shipley began canvassing the neighbors. Pretty much got the same story from everybody. It was a typical house.

They would see them out doing yard work. They looked very happy. But the police would soon learn that one young neighbor lied about his whereabouts that day, and he had had a run-in with Belinda Temple before. The mystery surrounding the murder of a beautiful young mom and mom-to-be, Belinda Temple, the mother of a little boy, Evan, pregnant with another child found in the closet to her bedroom. The bedroom she shared with her husband, football star-turned coach David Temple. With me, Catherine Casey, author of Shattered on Amazon that dissects this case. Brandi Chiancini, the owner of the Katie Times, forensic expert,

professor at Jacksonville State University, and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, Joseph Scott Morgan. Also with me, Detective Stephen Lampley at StephenLampley.com and author of Outside Your Door on Amazon. To Joseph Scott Morgan, forensic expert, listening to what they're saying, I'm still hung up on the position of her body. You know what? Hold on, Joe Scott. To Catherine Casey, author of Shattered,

you described brain matter on the closet wall behind some slacks. That doesn't sound right to me because, Catherine Casey, it reminds me of a time when I prosecuted a case. It was first deemed a homicide. A woman was found apparently dead of suicide naked in her bed. She was lying down when she shot herself in the head, but there was blood spatter under the pillow that she was lying on. Blood spatter. Now, obviously, that's impossible. So I knew immediately that was no suicide. I find that very difficult to take in, that someone took the time to cover up brain matter on the wall with slacks. Well, certainly a robber or a burglar wouldn't have taken time to do that.

It was a very odd thing. It really stuck out when they were looking at the closet and documenting the murder scene. To you, Joseph Scott Morgan, explain to me the significance of the glass, the broken glass that was found. Nancy, this glass that was found. was actually open because the glass was cast out into the room as opposed to, let's just say, people thinking about a glass door at their home or a pane of glass. If the door is closed, you're trying to gain access. You're going to punch a hole through that glass, for instance,

to gain entry so you can stick your hand in to open the knob. In this case, the glass is literally cast across the floor some distance away from the door, indicating that the door had been opened with great force. And you mentioned earlier that every single pane in that door was broken. Explain. Yeah, and that was significant. Nancy, this was a nine-pane door. If people at home will just imagine that half of the door is just kind of solid, the upper portion of the door is comprised of nine individual panes of glass. People have seen these before. They're not uncommon.

The one glass that's kind of knocked out so that you can gain access is on the lower level of the door of the panes of glass. But every other pane, in fact, was shattered, but was still in place. This gives us an indication that there was a tremendous vibration that traveled through that door that, you know, would give you, would coincide with a tremendous amount of force that's used to throw this door open and shatter that glass in place. Well, I don't understand why all that force was needed if the door was open, Joe Scott. That doesn't make sense to me. Yeah, I know.

That was one of the curious things for me too, Nancy. It was almost as if this was done in anger. And I hate to superimpose an idea like this, but that's the only conclusion I can come to. Or maybe when you say open, you mean open or unlocked. I guess open. It was physically open. Oh, well, that doesn't make sense. Why would she come home and leave the door wide open? None of that is fitting together for me.

Justice Scott Morgan, forensic expert, what else catches your attention regarding the murder scene? Oh, my gosh, Nancy. This idea of the covering of this tissue on the wall and her her death was it was determined that she was killed as a result of a blast from a shotgun and this is a 12 gauge shotgun it's a very robust round and the ammunition that was being used was actually buckshot if people at home will think about a ball bearing, something that's a little bit smaller than say a marble that you played with when you were a kid, that's what

was traveling out of the end of this muzzle. But there was no shotgun that was recovered. And shotguns, unlike pistols and rifles, are kind of hard ballistically to tie down because there are no striations on the bullets, on the projectiles. It's a smoothbore weapon. The tissue on the wall being covered. Nancy, I've worked a lot of cases where people particularly would go into closets with shotguns because shotguns are very common to find in homes. People have these as defense weapons, and it makes a horrible mess, which it did in this case. What's really kind of grabbing me about this, our previous speaker had stated that a burglar would not have taken time to cover this area up. They're just in and out trying to get away.

In this particular case, these items of evidence, this tissue was covered up and someone would have had to have felt comfortable, comfortable in doing this. There would have been a lot of brain, a lot of blood, and also, Nancy,, author of Shattered. Catherine, what strikes you about the crime scene? Well, that it was so brutal. There was so much anger. This was a contact wound. They determined later that Belinda was actually on her knees facing away from the door, and the killer put the shotgun right up to the back of her head. I've seen a lot of crime scene photos over the years. I've been a true crime writer for 30 years,

but there are some you never forget. And I will never forget the pictures of Belinda in that closet. How do they deduce that she was on her knees looking away from the closet door toward the wall? From where the direction of the closet door toward the wall. From where the direction of the bullet traveled through the skull and where the brain matter was found, that it was low. Explain that, Joseph Scott Morgan. What she was speaking of is actually the trajectory of the wound and the placement of the weapon. So if she's in a kneeling position, the weapon would have been from higher to lower. The muzzle would have been in the blast.

And that means that this individual is in a dominant position, had more than likely forced her into this position when the weapon was discharged. One interesting fact about this is that when they went back later, my understanding is that they actually found gunshot residue on some of the clothing in there, which gives you an indication that the individual was in proximity to the rack of clothing. So this distributed this powder, unburned powder, onto the surfaces of the clothing and kind of gives you an idea of this claustrophobic environment in which she spent the last moments of her life. With me is the owner of the Katie Times, Brandi Chiancini. Brandi, the crime scene to me is fascinating because that's one thing that

typically doesn't lie. It can be misinterpreted, but it doesn't lie. can be misinterpreted but it doesn't lie and that's forensic evidence what do you make brandy chioncini of what you know of the crime scene well it's uh it's very obvious that uh this woman you know was you know there was some sort of attempt to kind of hide her once the shotgun blast was done. They said the flax were pulled back over her head, so it was kind of covered. And experts say that intimates that there is a knowledge of that victim with the perpetrator. Yeah, when you find a victim who's been covered up, now I have seen random killings where the victim will be covered with leaves perpetrator. Yeah, when you find a victim who's been covered up, now I have seen random killings where the victim will be covered with leaves or grass, but in this case, what does she mean by that? Catherine Casey, author of Shattered, that Belinda was covered up. Well,

the slacks were pulled back. They'd been pushed back on the railing and they were pulled back to cover the brain matter above Belinda's head. And it indicated that someone was ashamed, that there was some type of an emotional reaction to seeing what he had done. To Steve Lampley, detective, author of Outside Your Door, you can find him at stephenlampley.com. Steve, the fact that her husband found her, do you attach any significance to that? Well, I don't think it's possible. You know, you've got many scenarios. Let's say somebody did actually break in and then murder her and left, which I just don't believe based on the other evidence. It looks like the crime scene's actually been staged. I don't believe that, but let's say somebody did that. Of course, in every case, the husband, the spouse, the lover, the boyfriend, the girlfriend, the ex

is immediately questioned because statistically they could be responsible. Listen to this. Crime scene investigator Dean Holke was surprised that a burglar would be so violent. How many burglars do you think walk around late in the afternoon carrying a shotgun? And broad daylight. Holke followed the standard procedure and asked to test David's hands for gunshot residue. Did you tell him what this was? I explained it to him what it was for. Did he resist at all? No, not at all. David agreed to go with the police and give a statement. Do you remember what was going through your mind at that point? Totally numb. Shock.

Sometimes it feels like an eternity, and sometimes it feels like it went very quick. I can remember having trouble just walking out to the cruiser. You are hearing our friends at 48 Hours. That was Richard Schlesinger and David Temple. Joe Scott Morgan, what is the point that they are making? How often do you see a burglar walking around a neighborhood with a shotgun? Well, you know, Nancy, a shotgun is something that's going to draw attention. Unlike what some of us refer to as a pocket pistol or

a belly gun, something you can keep in your waistband like a small.380 caliber pistol or something like this. Listen, if you're walking down the street and you're going to go perpetrate a home invasion or some type of property crime, you're going to draw attention to yourself. You're walking down the road with your daddy's shotgun over your shoulder. It's just not something that a skilled thief would do. But then, the very night Belinda is murdered in her own home, attention turns right down the street. The night his wife Belinda was murdered in January 1999,

David Temple told police he had no idea who did it. Everybody liked Belinda, didn't matter where she was. But later, he wondered about one of her students, the temple's next-door neighbor, Riley Joe Sanders. They had had several battles that I was aware of. At the time, he was 16 and perpetually truant. Belinda had reported him to his parents. Do you think he killed Belinda?

I honestly don't know. Riley Joe Sanders told a reporter he was in school all day, but later admitted to the police he cut out to smoke pot with friends. He was known to use his father's 12-gauge shotguns without permission. His friends had stolen shotguns a few weeks earlier and Sanders was in the area around the time that other neighbors heard a sudden and startling noise. But there's more. We're on the record at 2 46 p.m. Daniel Glasscock who knew Riley Joe Sanders in high school said he wanted to clear his conscience. He said back in 1999 he overheard Sanders talk about a burglary that escalated. I remember him saying nobody was supposed to be there.

When he went to the house, as he went upstairs, the dog attacked him. He shot the dog, her, Belinda, put the dog in the closet, and they and ran it was confusing the temple's dog was not shot but glasscock seemed to believe that dog was code for belinda and that sanders could be involved in her murder i really believe that an innocent man is sitting in prison for something he didn't do de garin gave glasscock's videotaped statement to the district attorney's office. Well, it's looking really bad for the neighbor down the street. The next thing we know, there's more evidence. As Clappard scrutinized the reports, he became interested in another break-in

that happened just nine days before Belinda's murder. Some of Sanders' friends had gotten into a home by smashing through glass, like the Temple home. They'd gone in and rifled through some stuff, and so somebody had taken a CD player, turned it on its side, left it sitting on the floor. Like the TV in the Temple case. Yeah, the TV in the Temple case was the same kind of way. One of the boys had a beef with the man who lived there and Clappard wondered if Riley Joe Sanders had a beef with Belinda and whether that could be

a motive for him and his friends to break into her home when they believed she wasn't there. They want to go mess things up. They want to go steal a few things. They want to hurt rather than kill. To Catherine Casey, author of Shattered, there was a lot going on in the neighborhood that afternoon, right? Yeah, the investigators did a canvas and they talked to the neighbors and they found out that there were people walking by the temple house. They were going to get their mail. The mailbox was down at the end of the street. Kids were arriving home from school. People were coming home from work. No one heard anything or claimed to have heard anything

except the kids who lived behind the temples. And their testimony, while intriguing, left a lot of questions unanswered because there were people standing out on the street at 430 who didn't hear what the boys heard. And there was a car scene in the area around that time that somebody did see backfiring. They were dropped off here at the bus stop at about 3 45. They went home, did about 10 or 15 minutes worth of homework, horsed around a little and started the video. That would mean, if the boys are correct, that the shot was fired at about 4 30. That was the time that David was out shopping. He and Evan were caught by a surveillance camera at that grocery store. Within days, police discovered that Riley Joe Sanders lied about where he was.

They asked him to take a lie detector test. He agreed and failed at least twice. But there was no way to link any of the shotguns Sanders and his friends had to the crime. And there was no other evidence to put Riley Joe Sanders at the scene. What's more, the police had another suspect in their sights. I heard a loud boom, boom. Growing up, Ed and Herman Roberts lived in the house behind the temples. This is Herman Roberts. He's six years old. The police spoke with them shortly after the murder. How many times did you hear that? One. I thought it was a

gunshot. I was sure that it was a gunshot. But when exactly did the boys hear that bang? Hello. They happened to be watching Dr. Doolittle at the time, and nine years later, they remember the exact point in the film when they heard the sound. Right there. Right here. Stop it here. That scene is 24 minutes and 50 seconds into the movie. With that information, police could calculate roughly when the boys heard that noise. They were dropped off here at the bus stop at about 3.45. They went home, did about 10 or 15 minutes worth of homework, horsed around a little, and started the video. That would mean, if the boys are correct, that the shot was fired at about 4.30.

Wow, when you start basing a timeline on a scene in Dr. Doolittle, that reminds me so much of Brandi Key on CNN, Katie Times owner of the OJ Simpson case, where they actually started a timeline at the time somebody heard a dog barking. Now, that may actually be true, but there's really no way to verify that. And timeline is really where an investigation starts, Brandy.

I want to circle back, Brandy, to what Catherine Casey was telling us about neighbors on their way to get mail spotting something unusual. So there were several neighbors that were out and about. There was a young girl that had actually walked past the house around 520, 530. There were people out in their yards and, you know, they really didn't see or hear anything until, you know, about 520 when David came home. Catherine Casey, what else did neighbors see? Well, they said that there'd been tension over at the Temple House. Some of them talked about the fact that Belinda had done the nursery all by herself

and that David hadn't seemed delighted about the pregnancy. So there was a lot of talk in town, in that area also, about the dog, about Chaka, about how frightened everybody was of the dog. And they didn't understand. Neighbors were standing out on the street watching as police were looking through the house, and they were wondering how Robert could have gotten in the house with Shaka in the backyard. You know, back to the shotgun, to you, Joseph Scott Morgan, explain exactly why it's very difficult for a ballistics expert to say in a shotgun killing that the shotgun, a specific shotgun was used. It is very difficult, Nancy, and this is the reason why. Shotguns, the interior of their barrel are referred to as what is called

smoothbore. If our listeners who are very bright people, and I'm sure already know this, will just remember back, the interior of a shotgun bore is, or the barrel, is actually similar to, say, a lead pipe. It has no specific lands and grooves like you see in a rifled barrel that makes the bullet twist and stay on its axis and creates energy and that sort of thing and stabilizes a bullet. That doesn't happen with a shotgun, Nancy. It's smooth. So therefore, when these pellets travel down the long range of the barrel, many times they're unstable and they just kind of bounce around randomly and as they exit the barrel they deploy from a sleeve and then they come out virtually unscathed so there's no specific markings tying it back to the barrel itself the one area that we do look to with shotguns though is if we take the actual spent shell you'll get what are referred to as extractor marks

and that means as the shell assuming that it's a semi-automatic is ejected on the side these it literally is grabbed and thrown clear and that little grabbing mechanism inside of the shotgun will leave a mark on the brass base of those shells. But when you don't have a weapon to compare it to, that creates a whole nother group of problems. Well, there's the issue of Riley Joe Sanders III. To Catherine Casey, author of Shattered, what do we know about this guy and why did he have a grudge against Melinda Temple? Well, we learned about Riley Joe, or the police learned about Riley Joe from members of the Temple family. They said that there'd been this problem with this kid next door. Riley Joe was kind of this laid back kid who liked to smoke pot and cut classes.

And he was 16 years old and Belinda had been his teacher. It would turn out that there really never, there was no evidence that Riley Joe had ever been in the house. They never found any fibers. They looked for fingerprints, didn't find any. They went back to him seven different times, I believe, and asked him for statements and interviewed him. And he cooperated every time, as did the other kids, the other ones, the friends that, friends of Riley Joe's. You know, he never, he took lie detector tests. He didn't pass them. Did he fail them? Well, they said that he was, you know, they were, they uh, what's the term when they're not inconclusive, you know, uh, the results were confused and they said that he was not being truthful on some questions.

Uh, he was smoking pot at the time and everything, but he, he stepped up, he did everything they asked him to do and they found no evidence. And when they talked to the teachers at school, and when they talked to Riley Joe, what they found out was that he really liked Belinda. Belinda had been really helpful to him. He was a kid who had some learning needs, some special needs for some special teaching. And Belinda was the teacher who had tried to help him out. But then there are his friends. Listen to this. One of those friends apparently broke into another neighbor's house in the area before Temple was killed. One of the things they stole was a shotgun. Also, the Sanders family happened to be hunters and owned shotguns as well.

Sanders would go out and use his dad's shotgun. But the Sanders family cooperated with investigators, turned over all of their artillery. So he was not declared a suspect after he was initially a person of interest here. But again, it's all about casting that doubt because the gun that was used to shoot Belinda Temple, that shotgun has yet to have been recovered. You know what? That's so true. Steve Lampley, detective author of Outside Your Door on Amazon, they can't find the murder weapon. That presents a big problem, Nancy. And like Joseph was saying, you're going to need that to look at the extractor marks. Since the pellets themselves offer no little help whatsoever,

not having the murder weapon is a big deal. In light of the fact police can't find the murder weapon, they circle back to David Temple. Because he was the first person to discover the body, police asked David to go to the police station to give a statement, and he complies. David said that he had taken his son out to a park that afternoon and to get a drink, and then stopped to look for a bracket for a shelf.

Surveillance tapes from two stores verify his presence there in the time it looks like Belinda was murdered. Police release David that night. Meanwhile, the investigation intensifies. It's not long before detectives discover that David seems to have some kind of significant relationship with a female teacher at school. And they bring Heather in for questioning.

When police originally questioned Heather about her relationship with David, she called it just kind of a casual romantic relationship. She didn't imply that there was anything going on, that they pledged any love, or that there was any sexual involvement. Those are our friends at Scorned. But regardless of the fact that Temple's sex relationship with a fellow teacher, Heather, has been unearthed, there's still the issue of the video. Nancy Grace, Killers Amongst Us, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.