Resentencing for former SFA football player who killed pregnant wife scheduled for next week

NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) - After decades of court hearings and trials, David Temple’s sentencing hearing for the 1999 murder of his wife, Nacogdoches native Belinda Lucas Temple, and their unborn daughter, Erin Temple, is scheduled to start.

Belinda’s father, Tom Lucas, says he wants justice for his daughter and granddaughter.

“She was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. A blast from a shotgun killed Belinda and the baby. It’s something that just eats me up,” Lucas said.

David and Belinda Temple met as kinesiology majors at SFA. David proposed to his future wife on the university’s football field. They were married by his father in 1992, according to a previous story.

In 1999, Temple told authorities he found his wife’s body in their master bedroom closet, along with a broken window, after what appeared to be a burglary.

It wasn’t until 2004 until Temple was arrested in connection with the murder. Investigators said that the same gun powder that was found on Belinda was also on found on Temple, and they believed Temple staged the crime scene to look like a break in.

Temple wouldn’t go on trial for the murder until 2007.

“He got a maximum sentence for him, which was 30 years guaranteed,” Lucas said.

Nine years later, in 2016, a technicality was found that the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense and failed to disclose other evidence in a timely manner. The sentence was overturned, and Temple was released.

In 2019 Temple’s second trial began and the 2007 guilty verdict was upheld, but the jury couldn’t agree on a sentence.

“Ten wanted a maximum sentence, two wanted less than maximum, and so it was a mistrial,” Lucas said.

Temple’s lawyers requested a new trial based on their claim that a new witness had come forward claiming someone else committed the murder. But that request was denied, and the guilty verdict stood.

COVID-19 halted court cases, Temple’s sentencing trial being one. Lucas says he wants justice once and for all.

“We’re praying for justice for Belinda and Erin, and hoping that will come about soon,” Lucas said.

The sentencing trial will start Monday, April 3, at the Harris County Courthouse.

Previous stories: Man convicted of killing Nacogdoches woman walked free

Attorney asks for new prosecutor in case against former SFA player David Temple

Appellate Court upholds 2007 murder conviction of former SFA football player

Former Football Coach Convicted Of Murder 2007

Parents of Murder Victim Pleased With Sentence

Father Pleased With Indictment

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