David Temple has been tried and convicted three times of killing Belinda Temple in 1999. A jury sentenced him to life in prison in 2023, but he appealed.
KATY, Texas — More than 26 years after he killed his pregnant wife and unborn child in their Katy home, David Temple has lost his final appeal.
The Katy High School teacher was eight months pregnant when Temple shot her in the back of the head with a shotgun.
Editor’s note: The above video originally aired in 2023 when Temple was sentenced to life in prison
In 2023, jurors handed the ex-high school football coach the maximum sentence of life in prison in his third trial.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said Temple wanted Belinda dead because he was having an affair with a woman he later married.
Belinda’s brother and sister took the stand to make victim impact statements after the sentence.
“Belinda was my life. It has been hell for me for the last 24 years,” her twin sister, Brenda Lucas, said. “I have suffered from PTSD. I have felt survivor’s guilt. Belinda should be here.”
“You’re a despicable piece of trash. You call our family white trash? Look at you, David.” Brian Lucas told Temple. “You completely ruined our family, you ruined your family … I want you to think about that the rest of your life when you sit in prison and rot in hell.”
Temple’s lawyers highlighted their client’s ministry during 13 years behind bars.
“The people we met who worked with David in prison, out of prison, in the Harris County Jail said that David was special,” defense attorney Stanley Schneider told jurors.
Temple’s crime and 3 convictions
On Jan. 11, 1999, Belinda Temple was found dead in a master bedroom closet from a shotgun blast to the back of her head.
Temple claimed someone had broken into the home and killed the woman he’d met in college and later married.
Less than two years after his wife’s murder, Temple married Heather Scott, a fellow teacher at Alief Hastings High School, where he coached football.
In 2004, Temple was arrested and charged with killing his wife.
During his first trial in 2006, he was convicted and sentenced to life.
After nine years behind bars, a judge ordered a new trial, saying prosecutors had withheld crucial evidence.
Scott filed for divorce during Temple’s second murder trial in 2019.
The second jury convicted him again, but couldn’t agree on a sentence, so a third trial was held in 2023 for sentencing only.
Ex-mistress, son testify
On the stand, Scott told the jury that she and Temple never talked about Belinda Temple’s murder despite being married for 18 years.
The defense’s star witness was Evan Temple, who was three years old and in the house when his mother was killed.
With his mother dead and his father in prison, Evan was raised by Scott.
But he told jurors that his father was his role model.
“I want my dad out of prison. I lost my dad once, I don’t want to lose him again,” he said.
The son testified that he stayed in touch with his father all these years.
“My father was a big influence, even when he wasn’t present. He got to write letters, calls maybe three to four times a week,” Evan told the jury.
Events that led to the murder
Several of Belinda’s friends and colleagues told investigators that Temple often criticized his wife, calling her “fat” and poking fun at her housekeeping and child-rearing skills.
She complained to friends that she had to do all of the housework and mow the lawn even though she was eight months pregnant.
She told fellow teachers that he was unhappy about her pregnancy and didn’t want another child.
Belinda confided in friends that he “fooled around” with another woman at his high school reunion in 1998, and she thought he was having an affair.
They also argued over his relationship with her family. He referred to them as “white trash” and didn’t want her or their son around them.
His affair with Scott began in the fall semester of 1998 when they began going to happy hours together.
Over the Christmas holidays, Belinda’s sister Brenda said she noticed tension between the couple that she hadn’t seen before.
Temple lied and told his family he was going hunting on New Year’s weekend, but he actually spent it with Scott and attended her New Year’s Eve party.
On the day of the murder, Temple claimed he got home just before 6 p.m. after running errands with Evan. He said he noticed the back door was open and the door’s window was broken, so he grabbed Evan and went to a neighbor’s house.
Temple asked the neighbors to call 911, and then he went back to the house.
When detectives arrived, they said Temple was calm and didn’t seem upset that his wife was dead. Witnesses said he appeared concerned only about Scott’s state of mind.
There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing was missing.
The timeline for Temple’s alibi also didn’t match up.
An autopsy determined that Belinda died instantly, but the unborn baby died later from lack of oxygen.
He was arrested and charged in 2004.