Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
ABC 20/20’s Bad Romance recently revisited the case against David Temple, who was convicted twice of murdering his pregnant wife, Belinda Temple. Previously, David had claimed that on January 11, 1999, he found a home invasion scene at his Texas home. He claimed to have discovered his eight-month-pregnant wife, Belinda Temple, lying dead face down in their bedroom closet. She died of a fatal gunshot wound to the head, reported ABC.
Investigators did not believe David’s account based on the crime scene and other evidence. They also learned that he was having an affair with Heather Scott. CBS News stated that the duo married less than two years after Belinda’s murder. In the meantime, authorities investigated David and another suspect, Riley Joe Sanders III, for over five years.
In 2004, they arrested David Temple and charged him with his wife Belinda Temple’s murder. A spectacular trial that started in 2007 would end in David’s first conviction in November of that year. But, nearly a decade later, in 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction and released him from prison in December.
CBS reported that in August 2019, David was retried and once again convicted of Belinda’s murder. However, a judge declared a mistrial after they failed to decide his prison sentence, reported Fox 26. His sentencing took place in April 2023, when the convict received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Is David Temple still in prison for murdering Belinda Temple?
According to the Texas Department of Corrections, David Temple is now serving his prison sentence in the Alfred D. Hughes Unit. The records stated that he will become eligible for parole on June 18, 2040.
Fox 26 reported that David’s conviction stemmed from the shooting death of his pregnant wife, Belinda Temple, in January 1999. Belinda was a Katy High School teacher when she died of a fatal gunshot wound to the head shortly after getting off work.
David and Belinda had a three-year-old son, Evan. Additionally, at the time, the victim was eight months pregnant with their second child. David had claimed that he found his wife in the closet of their master bedroom. Moreover, he had alleged that someone had broken into their home via the back door. However, detectives believed that David’s story did not match the evidence they found at the crime scene.
An investigation revealed that David, a football coach at Hastings High School, was having an affair with a woman named Heather Scott. She taught at the same school where David was a football coach. Prosecutors had alleged that he shot Belinda to be with his Heather. The two married within two years of the murder but have since divorced.
Before arresting David Temple for murder, authorities investigated for over five years and also looked into a second suspect, Riley Joe Sanders III. According to CBS News, Sanders was a student at the high school where Belinda Temple taught and lived next door. Sanders maintained his innocence.
David’s first trial took place in 2007, involving famed Texas defense attorney Dick DeGuerin, and prosecutor Kelly Siegler. A jury eventually convicted him in November of that year. However, a re-investigation proved that the prosecution had withheld critical information regarding the case from the defense.
Then, in November 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned David Temple’s conviction, allowing his release from prison the following month. However, about three years later, in August 2019, a second jury convicted him of murder after a retrial. After a failed attempt to decide on his punishment, a judge declared a mistrial in the sentencing phase.
Finally, in April 2023, the sentencing took place when David received a life sentence with the possibility of parole. He continues to serve his sentence.
