The Guessing Game

(CBS)  This story first aired on Dec. 6, 2008. It was updated on Sept. 12, 2009.

In January 1999, Belinda Temple, the pregnant wife of a popular high school football coach, was found murdered inside a closet of the family's home.

Police soon suspected David Temple had something to do with the murder, but had no physical evidence to tie him to it. But after years of piecing circumstantial evidence together, police arrested him.

What would follow was a courtroom clash of legal titans, with a hard-charging prosecutor on one side, and a legendary defense attorney on the other.

Did David really murder his expecting wife, as the prosecutor charges, or is he innocent and unjustly accused.

Even while he called 911 for help, David knew his wife had no chance - she had taken a shotgun blast to her head. There was also no hope for the baby that Belinda Temple was just weeks from delivering.

David and his three and a half year old son, Evan, were now alone.

Asked how he broke the news to Evan, David tells correspondent Richard Schlesinger, "I told him the next day. You just lay down in the bed with him and told him that some madman had broken into the house and momma's heart stopped and she's gone to be with Jesus and she won't be with us any more."

Suddenly a single parent, David turned to his parents, moving into their home, and finding comfort in good memories.

The Temple family was well respected in Katy, a Texas town near Houston. David was a gifted athlete and became a star defensive linebacker for Katy High School. He was a force to be dealt with when he played.

David won a football scholarship to Stephen F. Austin State University, and on the field became known as "The Temple of Doom," thanks to his imposing stature.

But off the field he was a bit of a romantic, especially when it came to an attractive physical education major named Belinda Lucas.

Before long, David asked Belinda's parents, Tom and Carol Lucas, for her hand. With her parents' blessing, David proposed to Belinda in the most sentimental setting he could imagine. "So we walked down and got went out on the field I took her down to the 50 yard line. And got down on my knee and told her how much I loved her and asked her if she'd marry me," he remembers.

They married and both ended up working with children. Belinda taught special ed at Katy High, where her husband had ruled on the football field.

Debbie Berger, who taught in the same classroom, was a close friend. "You could tell in her voice, very direct, but yet very loving and warm."

David landed a job in a nearby town, teaching and coaching alongside Wade Luker, who had coached a rival team when David was in high school.

By all accounts, David and Belinda were devoted to their son, and by January 1999, the birth of their daughter was just one month away. "January 10th, we were a happy threesome as anybody in the country. Being at the zoo. Her fryin' chicken for me, which is my favorite meal, when we got home. That weekend was perfect," David remembers.

It was also the last weekend of Belinda's life. On Monday, Jan. 11, just like every day, Evan was in daycare while his parents were at work. But he was sent home early that day with a fever. David came home to watch him.

When Belinda returned around 4 p.m., David says she went upstairs to rest. David took Evan out to play. "We went to the park in our neighborhood, which we spent a lot of time at. He loved to go to the park," he remembers.

After that, he says, they made their trip to the grocery store and then to the Home Depot, never imagining what awaited them at home. When they got back, David says he saw the back door broken, dropped Evan off at a neighbor's, then ran up the stairs, where he found Belinda's body sprawled on the floor of the bedroom closet.

Crime scene investigator Dean Holtke was surprised that a burglar would be so violent. "How many burglars do you think walk around carrying a shotgun? In broad daylight?"

Holtke followed standard procedure, and asked to test David's hands for gunshot residue. He says he explained to David for what it was for and that he didn't resist.

David also agreed to go with the police to give a statement. Asked what was going through his mind at that moment, David says, "Totally shocked. Sometimes it feels like an eternity and sometimes it feels like it went really quick. I could remember having trouble just walkin' out to the cruiser. To even make your legs move."

Belinda's parents remember getting the phone call. "I dropped to my knees," her father Tom remembers. "I not only lost my daughter, I lost a granddaughter that I'm sure was beautiful as her mama. And I never got to see."

This was no ordinary crime scene. It affected even veteran homicide detective Tracy Shipley. "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."

In the following days, Detective Shipley began canvassing the neighbors. But police would soon learn that one young neighbor lied about his whereabouts that day, and he had had a run-in with Belinda before.

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[winglessduckie]

Are you kidding me? How can he be found guilty based on so little evidence. Whatever happened to a fair trial? Just because someone has an affair doesn't mean their a killer.

[cafrnskdet]

DAVID IS A SMART MAN THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT. HE PLANED THIS WHOLE THING OUT MONTHS IN ADVANCE. THIS WAS A SET UP AND IT WAS VERY WELL PLANNED OUT. DAVID KNEW AND USED TO HIS ADVANTAGE THE NEIGHBORING KID, REMEMBER IT WAS "KNOWN" THIS KID TAKES SHOTGUNS AND DOES OTHER THINGS THAT COULD MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE A POSSIBLE SUSPECT? DAVID'S THOUGHT PROCESS...KID USES SHOT GUNS-CHECK, HE LIVES NEAR BY-CHECK, HIS BACKGROUND IS BAD-CHECK. NOW ALL THAT IS LEFT IS TO MAKE THE SCENE OF THE CRIME BELIEVABLE AND TIE THE KID TO THE MURDER AND HIS SHOTGUN FRENZY. DAVID WENT HOME TO HIS WIFE WHEN HE HAD A SHORT WINDOW OF TIME MAKING EVERYTHING HARD TO PROVE, AND HE KNEW THIS. HE HAD TO KILL BELINDA FIRST, THEN HE STAGED THE WHOLE THING TO LOOK LIKE A BURGLARY GONE WRONG AFTER HE MURDERED HER. IF HE BROKE THE GLASS FIRST OR IF THE "BURGLAR" BROKE THE WINDOW BELINDA WOULD "WAKE UP" (SHE WAS NEVER ASLEEP, BUT LETS GO WITH DAVID'S STORY.) ANYONE WHO IS A SLEEP AND HEARS GLASS BREAK EITHER CALLS POLICE, HIDES, OR CHECK TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON. THE LOCATION OF BELINDA'S BODY AND DAVID'S STORY AFTER SHE WAS MURDERED MAKES IT CONCLUSIVE THAT SHE NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED THE BREAKING OF A GLASS DOOR IN HER HOME. ALSO THEIR DOG MADE NO NOISE. WOULDN'T A DOG BARK , CRY OR ATTACK SOMEONE AFTER IT HEARS BROKEN GLASS AND SOMEONE IN THEIR BEST FRIENDS PROPERTY? IF THIS WERE A BURGLARY WHY WAS NOTHING TAKEN? WHY WOULD THEY GO RIGHT PASS VALUABLES AND GO UP TO BELINDA'S ROOM? WHY WOULD THEY SHOOT HER IN HER SLEEP AND STILL TAKE NOTHING? WHAT DID THE BURGLAR USE TO GET AWAY? A CAR? A BIKE? ON FOOT? WHY WOULD ANYONE GO INTO A HOME TO STEAL WITH A SHOTGUN? THAT'S A VERY NOTICEABLE WEAPON? THE FACT THAT THERE WERE NO CALLS TO 911 WHEN THE "BURGLARS" BROKE IN AND THE FACT THAT SHE WAS FOUND IN HER BEDROOM MAKES THE BURGLARY GONE WRONG INCONCLUSIVE. BURGLARIES GONE WRONG SHOW THE VICTIM IN A STRUGGLE, VICTIMS ATTEMPT TO LEAVE, OR THEY SCREAM FOR HELP OR BECAUSE THEY ARE SCARED. WHAT REALLY HAPPEN WAS THAT DAVID KILLED BELINDA. DAVID QUICKLY PUT HIS PLAN INTO EFFECT HE FOLLOWED EVERYTHING BASED ON HIS NOTES. HE NEEDS TO BREAK THE WINDOW TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A BURGLARY THE IDIOT BROKE THE WINDOW FROM THE INSIDE-STRIKE ONE. HE RATTLES THINGS INSIDE THE HOME AND MAKES A SMALL MESS TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A BURGLARY TOOK PLACE BUT NOTHING WAS TAKEN-STRIKE TWO. HE GOES SOMEWHERE HE KNOWS HE CAN BE SEEN AND TAPED FOR AN ALIBI. SMART MOVE, IN CASE THEY QUESTION ALL THIS HE USED HIS SON TO BRING IN THE FEELING GUILTY FOR THE GUY EFFECT. THERE WAS GUN POWDER RESIDUE FOUND ON DAVID'S CLOTHING AND DURING THE INVESTIGATION THERE WERE NO WEAPONS THAT MATCHED THE MURDER WEAPON FOUND ON THE ALLEGED NEIGHBORING KID-STRIKE THREE. WHAT HE DID OR WHERE HE GOT THE SHOT GUN ONLY HE KNOWS. THE FACT REMAINS HE TRIED TO HAVE THIS ALL PUT ON THE NEIGHBOR. IT WAS SMART AND ALMOST WORKED.

[cafrnskdet]

1ST AN EXPLANATION TO MAKE THIS ALL COME TOGETHER. THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO WATCH CSI, 48 HOUR, AND OTHER FORENSIC OR COLD CASE SHOWS THAT EXPLAIN HOW THEY SOLVE CRIMES, WHAT THEY LOOK FOR, HOW THEY TEST EVIDENCE, AND HOW THEY MAKE THE EVIDENCE STICK. BEING EXPOSED TO ALL THESE SHOWS CAN TRAIN YOU ON HOW TO TO COMMIT ALMOST THE PERFECT CRIME. THIS GIVES AN AVERAGE PERSON THE UPPER HAND, KNOWING WHAT TO DO AND NOT TO DO. NOTICE HOW KILLERS NOW HAVE TACTICS. THEIR STATEMENTS ARE ALWAYS AMBIGUOUS, CRIME SCENES ALWAYS HAVE ODD ELEMENTS TO THEM. THE CRIME SCENE MAKES NO SENSE WHEN THEY TIE TIMES AND MOTIVE. THERE IS ALMOST ALWAYS A COVER UP ON MOST LOVE CASES TO TRY TO TIP OFF THE INVESTIGATION. ITS OBVIOUS DAVID KILLED HIS WIFE. TAKING EVERYTHING SAID IN CONSIDERATION HE TRIED TO COMMIT THE PERFECT CRIME FOR "LOVE." WHEN YOU HAVE THE PERFECT ALL AMERICAN BOY LIKE THEY DESCRIBE DAVID WITH A GREAT CHILD HOOD, A WIFE, CHILDREN AND A FULFILLING JOB, YOU WOULD ASSUME HAPPY BACKGROUND+ HAPPY COUPLE= FAITHFUL STRONG RELATIONSHIP. DAVID WAS NOT FAITHFUL, THIS IS THE KEY FOR THIS CASE. DAVID AND HEATHER WERE SLEEPING WITH EACH OTHER. THIS WAS ALWAYS DENIED UNTIL HEATHER GOT AN ATTORNEY. HEATHER KNEW THAT BELINDA WAS HAVING A BABY, SHE KNEW DAVID WAS MARRIED, SHE KNEW THE RAMIFICATIONS OF HER ACTIONS. STILL THEY CONTINUED WITH THEIR RELATIONSHIP. THERE WAS ONE PROBLEM, THERE IS SOMEONE IN THE PICTURE THAT DID NOT ALLOW THEIR NEW RELATIONSHIP TO "BLOSSOM." BASED ON THEIR STATEMENTS ITS SOUNDS LIKE DAVID HAD A "FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS" AND HEATHER PLAYED ALONG. THE PROBLEM HERE IS THAT THEY BOTH CLAIM IT WAS NOTHING SERIOUS. NOW TAKING THEIR STATEMENTS IN CONSIDERATION THAT WOULD MEAN DAVID WOULD BE UPSET, ANGRY OR HUMILIATED THAT HEATHER WOULD MENTION THEY SLEPT TOGETHER WHEN HE SUPPOSEDLY WAS THE PERFECT ALL AMERICAN BOY WITH HIS PREGNANT WIFE. HEATHER WOULD BE ALSO BE UPSET, HUMILIATED, OR ANGRY THAT DAVID DENIED LOVING HER AND THAT SHE MEANT NOTHING TO HIM. ODDLY THAT DID NOT AFFECT THEIR "NOTHING SERIOUS" RELATIONSHIP BECAUSE THEY LATER MARRIED. THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE THE ACTIONS OF SOMEONE WHO LOST HIS WIFE IN A BRUTAL MURDER. HE ALSO DIDN'T PURSUE THE ONE HE "BELIEVES" KILLED HIS WIFE LIKE AN ACTUAL VICTIM WOULD. ODD HOW THAT WORKED OUT WHEN THE RELATIONSHIP MEANT NOTHING AND THE POOR GUY LOST HIS WIFE....

[Elsie001]

I remember when this happened. If it had happened in one of the less affluent, high crime area, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. But, the fact that it happened in a low-crime area raised my suspicion. Coupled by the fact that the police said the dog wouldn't let them near the house; Mr. Temple had to tie up his dog. Finally, with the revelation that he was having an affair, it all sounded fishy. Such a violent, brutal crime in a room (closet) where the sound would be muffled. He 'sounded' like he was upset in the '911 call', but he just didn't seem interested in trying to save his wife or his unborn daughter. As for d-i-v-o-r-c-e, Mrs. Lucas, Mr. Temple knew he would have to pay a-l-i-m-o-n-y. Ka ching for a school teacher! No, the jury got it right and Mr. Temple is where he should be, behind bars. He planned it, carried it, and almost got away with it.

[Midniteinmke]

This was a hard one ... but David Temple is guilty. The prosecutor did a great job. If you listen really carefully, you'll discover exactly what convicted him. The gunpowder residue on the jacket that the judge threw out.

[guinea7]

thanks, bethany. :) all of your comments you left are familiar to me. i also heard that david did not let evan see belinda''s family even when belinda was alive. the other coach and david did have a falling out. the other coach asked david what he was planning to do about heather, and david said he didn''t know. david also threatend that coach at one point after belinda died and i think that''s the falling out part. david is a scary dude and i''m not just talking about looks. he tried to say on 48 hrs that sometimes your looks can work against you, and since he looks mean, people think he is mean. well, he is mean and he looks it too! i agree with you about david planning the murder.

by the way, there is a book coming out about the case. when i sat in that one day in court and listened to testimony, i met the lady that is writing the book.

i was a student at the high school where belinda taught. i started babysitting for her either my junior or senior year. i only babysat a few times, but i babysat for others in her circle too. she lived in my neighborhood. i am passionate about this case and always will be. it is the most tragic event i have ever witnessed thus far in my life.

[malugiba]

GUINEA7 - I wanted to tell you again ''thanks'' for the info. & the passion. (See my comments below.) Also, I wanted to tell you that I am truly sorry for your loss.

Bethany

[malugiba]

2 Thoughts: In the Houston papers, it was part of testimony that David''s family absolutely did not believe in divorce. It was just not an acceptable solution. (Especially when he would have to admit he was just hooked on a hot babe.) (The newspaper also told that the other coach (also married) had, had an affair with Heather Scott himself - previous to her''s & David''s affair. It also read that the coach & David had, had a violent falling out over it & that coach felt so threatened by David that he & his family actually moved out of county!)

The other thought I have is that David planned the murder well in advance of that fateful day & in his planning, he never anticipated Evan to be ill.

By the way, it sickens me to hear that David kept Evan from his mother''s family. What a tortuous man!

[malugiba]

I hadn''t been on the site in a few days. Thanks so much, GUINEA7! I read everything you wrote & I think you answered a lot of our questions. It was excellent information.

As for SSASSALIN''s comment, he/she should qualify statements as such was made - otherwise - one just looks foolish. Sorry - but it does. It makes me think of the old saying, "a little education is a dangerous thing." (No harm intended, but you [ssassalin] will understand the root of this saying someday.)

OFFICERDAN had a good theory, but no physical evidence seems to suggest such; however, it feels like the jury knew 100% David either did it or was the one behind it - if he didn''t.

I loved BOOMER''s question in regards to who''s attorney was behind this airing! Awesome question! I think 48 hours should be "required" to give up that info!!!

Bethany

[guinea7]

hey boomer, i think you are right. i don''t think david ever took a lie detector test. smart move on his part, but we don''t need a test to show he is a bad liar.

the steroid use was discussed in trial (i''m pretty sure) but not on the show obviously. i agree that it seems like that show favored david''s side. ticks me off. but why should it? he''s in jail so it''s cool. i can''t believe i''m back on this site again. i''ve got to move on!!!! :-)