Belinda and David Temple - Part 1

0:00 Hi, I'm Tina and I'm rich And if there's one thing we've learned in over twenty years of marriage, it's that some days you'll feel like killing your wife and some days you'll feel like killing your husband. Welcome to love, Mary Kill. Hey rich Hetia, got your little pre son. There. You have my little juice box. So cute. How are you? Probably talked about this before, but you drink apple juice before we record because you heard it's good for your life. I have read that it's good. I should be drinking some apple juice. Been strongly with allergies. I'm curious if anyone else out there is the middle of February, you wouldn't think allergies would be a thing intermittent all winter. Yeah, if we could call this winter, because it's really beautiful here today it's chili, but it's it's beautiful and sunny and blue skies. And in Michigan in February you usually have like these milky white, drab skies. Yeah, and twenty below zero. That's quite bad, not really not that bad, but cold. So there's been a lot of news this week in the true crime community as there. Ruby.

1:12 Well, you know, we've talked about Ruby Frankie was sentenced. She was the former YouTuber who her channel was called eight Passengers. She has six kids. We did a Patreon episode on Ruby. But she was sentenced to four counts of one to fifteen years each, which is a very strange sentence. So she faces up to sixty years in prison. That's a long time. From four she'll ultimately she'll be from four to sixty years. Yeah, that's huge. Yeah, I very widely sure she'll not have to spend sixty years in prison. Her nineteen year old son, the one who had to sleep on a bean bag for like six months, he posted something like he was smiling and he's very excited his mom is in jail. Oh really Yeah.

1:57 Her sentencing, she referred to her kids as chicks and you know, apologized and it's all it's sad and yeah. Jody Hildebrandt was also sentenced to one to fifteen years as four counts of one to fifteen years as well, which was a little surprising. There wasn't a trial because both women had pleaded guilty, right, and they were sentenced at the same time. Jody was the mastermind call. She's been called the mastermind she was Ruby's business partner. They had formed their own YouTube channel about, you know, raising children and families and Jody's Jody was like her guru in a way exactly, yes, and she's just kind of horrible. And she was the one allegedly that like taped her son and put like what did she put on his wounds? She worked the kids really hard and she had them handcuffed, and they had a lot of wounds because of like the tape and the handcuffs, and she put gosh, I can't remember, but just like lemon or vinegar or something that you should never put out of wound. Yeah, you know this case more than I do. Do you think the sentence is reasonable? Obviously it's a really wide ring. Yeah, I mean it's hard. I don't know, because one like one is not like four years probably isn't enough, especially for Jody, who allegedly was the mastermind. And Jody also was manipulated other families.

3:23 And it was weird too because she tried to keep Ruby away from her husband. And I don't know. He has since filed for divorce and I think he has custody of the kids, but I'm actually not sure what happened to the younger kids, but also this week, Harmony Montgomery, do you know that story? I don't think you're familiar, but not really. This story has haunted me for a couple of years now. I've seen her sweet little face everywhere. Harmony Montgomery five went missing in October twenty nineteen, but it took two years for her to officially be reported missing to law enforcement. In twenty eighteen, Harmony was living in Massachusetts with her mom, Crystal Sory, and her two year old brother, Jamison. Crystal struggled with substance abuse, and the children were in and out of foster care until July twenty eighteen, when Crystal permanently lost custody of Harmony and Jamison, which is heartbreaking. In February twenty nineteen, Harmony went to live with her father, Adam Montgomery and his wife Kayla in New Hampshire, who were granted full custody. Kayla has two children from a previous relationship and Jamison that Harmony's two year old brother was adopted by a couple in Massachusetts, and that must have been really hard for Harmony because she really loved her brother and she took care of him and really sweet little girl. Adam Montgomery was given custody before the home study was completed, and he has a long criminal history involving violent crimes and drug offenses, and he is accused in two different shootings. He's not a good man.

4:56 In April of twenty nineteen, Crystal facetimed with Harmony and told her she was going to come see her for Easter. But sadly after that, Adam and Kayla blocked all communication attempts between Harmony and her mom and that was the last time that Crystal saw her. In July, a family member visited and noticed Harmony had a black eye. He was so concerned he filed a report with Child Services. There was no record that Harmony was enrolled in any school in New Hampshire, so she was just kind of lost in the system. In November of twenty nineteen, the Montgomerys were evicted from their house and living in their car. Crystal was trying to find Harmony and at this point Crystal she got clean and she just wanted her daughter back. In November twenty twenty one, she called and reported Harmony missing. Eventually, Kayla and Adam were located and they claimed they hadn't seen Harmony since November of twenty nineteen, when Crystal had picked her up, which isn't true. However, they continued to collect government assistants in Harmony's name. Kayla and Adam separated in October of twenty twenty one, and he was charged with stalking her. On January fourth, twenty twenty two, Adam and Kayla were both arrested in connection with Harmony's disappearance.

6:02 During the two week trial that wrapped up this week, Kayla testified that Adam beat Harmony and killed her in the car after she'd had an accident. She was potty trained, but she was really scared of her father and he was mean. He put her body in a walk in freezer where he worked, and later disposed of her body in an unknown location. He was found guilty this week of five charges second to re murder, second to degree assault, witness tampering, falsifying evidence, and abuse of a corpse. He was not present in court for the trial or the verdict. That's strange. In New Hampshire, you have the option of appearing or not appearing, but this man, he's just so horrible face. That's yeah, that's really horrible, sad story. Harmony's body has never been found. No, I'm sorry to share this with everyone, but it's just been on my mind so much. Yeah, I can see why. I just we need to remember her and honor her and say her name and just a little heartbroken over little Harmony. Well, I have another horrible story to tell you today. Thank you to our friend Kylie at Primetime Crime for recommending this case for us. Kylie's the sweetest.

7:13 If you haven't listened to Prime Time Crime, go give Kylie a listen. She does a lot of she does two cases a week, and she does a lot of true crime news. But it was I mean, the true crime community is so generous. She told me, Yeah, you should, You guys should really do this case. It fits better with you guys, And it does. So I'm going to tell you the story of David and Belinda Temple. I want to make sure I don't forget to give credit to the source for this case. The source I use most was a book called Shattered by Catherine Casey c. A. S. E. Y. Any quotations that we're going to read are going to come from her book. Excellent book. We read a lot of true crime books, and hers was just so well thought out and so refreshing when you read a really good one, because there are a lot that are not quite so well thought out.

8:05 Right, there's mistakes and a lot of them. A lot of them are rushed to press, and so there's a lot of date mistakes. But this book was just so well thought out and she did an amazing job. Cool. But before we get to the case, I do have a snack for you, and I'm excited, are you? I'm just really hungry? Yeah, are you really? Yeah? I haven't eaten yet today it's eleven fifty. Our friend Jace from Texas, I think she's from Texas messaged me about BUCkies and no BUCkies. You love BUCkies. BUCkies sounds like we would vacation there because it's a gas station, but it's like known for their great snacks and they actually have their own brand of snacks and I ordered some to share with you today. We've had these for like over. I don't know when we got we've had these for a while, but jac said we should get the beaver nuggets. In my hand, I have the BUCkies beaver nuggets.

8:58 Oh have they made from real? I hope that I really hope not. I don't think. Let me read the ingredients. Now there's some brown sugar and corn meal and but let's take a quick break and we'll try these beaver nuggets. Alrighty, that was delicious for me. They're like corn pops but in like syrup, kind of like pancakes. Yeah, it's kind of really good, like brown sugar taste. Yeah, they're delicious. They're crunchy, crunchier than like a typical corn pop. But yeah, it's like a or sugar sugared corn pop. Well, thank you, Jaysy for the thanks justin They're great. I can't wait to go to a bucket. So there's one in Ohio somewhere, which is the one nearest, but it's like Ohio, like five hours away. Trip. I'm sorry to go back to Adam Montgomery.

9:50 I realized I didn't say that he hasn't been sentenced yet. He was in jail for a previous crime to shooting. So I think that he he hopefully will be in jail for the rest of his life because that's where he deserves to be. What a horrible, horrible man. I forgot to mention that this is going to be two parts, because there's a lot. Okay, buckle up. Our snack today is Texas based, and so is our case. Nice. You know, I love a good snack. Tie into the case. We try, but it's not always possible. I need to start. I need to bake more things. Lately. We've been really busy lately. It's been hard. Okay, We're going to go to Katie, Texas. Katie, Texas is a rapidly growing city about thirty miles west of Houston, with a population of about twenty two thousand. I feel like I know somebody who lives in Katie, but I can't remember. You could go to Facebook, maybe find that out. Maybe. Many people who work in Houston commute from Katie because of their good schools and affordable housing. In the eighteen hundreds, Katie was known as Caine Island for the creek that ran through it and for the tall, woody stemmed grasses that grow there. The MKT railroad often shortened to KT, ran through the area. In the late eighteen hundreds, when the town was formed, its name was changed to Katie.

11:11 Kat Y Cotton, corn and peanuts were originally grown on its fertile land, but today Katie is known for its rice fields. On September eighth, nineteen hundred, the deadliest hurricane in US history, known as the Great Galveston Hurricane, a Category four storm, tore through Katie and flattened the town. Only three homes remained. The total number killed is unknown, but thought to be at least twelve thousand. Just for reference, about eighteen hundred people died in Hurricane Katrina. Katie is eighty five miles inland. Wow, that's crazy. This is crazy. It had that much damage. Katie is called the waterfowl capital of the world. Birds migrating south flock to Katie for its vast rice fields. The Katie Bengal Tigers football team, the Pride of Katie, have won eight state championships. Impressive. Thomas Eaton Lucas, originally from Dunbar, West Virginia, met Carol Maxine Morris when he was living in Port Huron, Michigan, her hometown. Every case leads back to Michigan, it doesn't it.

12:15 He worked as the manager of a dime store and Carol worked at a dress shop two doors down. They fell in love and married on July twenty second, nineteen sixty two. They moved to Martin's Ferry, Ohio, to be closer to Tom's parents, and Tom got a job at the steel mill. The Lucas children arrived in quick succession, Brian Barry, who was deaf, and Brent. They'd given up on having a girl, but on December thirtieth, nineteen sixty eight, Carol delivered not one, but, to her great surprise and delight, two perfect little girls, Brenda and then Belinda, eight minutes later. Belinda was two pounds smaller than her sister, and when he learned of this double blessing, Tom said, quote, I got weak in the knees and thought I was going down. I threw my wide brimmed had in the air, and I whooped and hollered nice. Belinda's nickname was number five. Brenda's was Shrimpy, coined by her sister. Belinda, born the smaller twin, quickly caught up and passed her sister in size. She became the dominant twin with her bright, smile and spunky personality. Although Belinda was the youngest, she was Brenda's protector. She learned sign language, the only family member to do so, and became her deaf brother Barry's biggest champion.

13:26 That's great, but I'm kind of shocked the rest of the family didn't learn sign language. I think he could. He was good at reading lips okay. Carol stayed home with her brood of fun loving kids while Tom worked long hours to support the family. Tom had an accident while working at the sawmill, which led to years of pain and physical therapy. Business at the sawmill declined and the family decided to move to Nacodochus, Texas. Today do that it sounded great to me, the oldest city in Texas, which was founded in seventeen seventy nine. Tom opened up business selling marble, sinks and counts. After the move to Texas, the family said that Tom changed. He suffered from depression and became more controlling. He ruled the family with an iron fist, especially the girls. Tom's changing attitude caused cracks in the family dynamic. They would never be as close as they once were. As the kids grew up, some of them splintered off and spent less time with their family and started their own lives. The girls were active in FFA, raising cows and chickens. They also played basketball and baseball. Brenda favored spending time with the animals, while Belinda favored playing or watching sports. She worked part time at Burger King In high school, Blinda had a bubbly personality and a lust for life. She was voted most school spirit in high school. She really loved cheering on the sports teams. It's maybe a dumb question, but what's FFA. It's funny because I forget that everyone grew up in Yeah,

14:56 FFA is Future Farmers of America. Did you have FFA kids in your school? No, I don't think, not that I know of. I've heard of it, though, I guess I grew up in a big farming community. We had a lot of FFA kids and they wore these, you know, little blue jackets and they were embroidered with their name. And yeah, weren't always the coolest kids. But my first roommate in college grew up on a farm and he was in FFA. Yeah it probably had a heart of gold. Nice kid, but yeah, maybe not the coolest guy. Oh really, hope he's not listening. As school ended in nineteen eighty seven, Belinda decided to pursue a degree in education. She wanted to be a special education teacher and a basketball coach. Brenda attended the local college in Nacodochis Stephen F. Austin University, and majored in animal science and biology. Blinda stayed at home and took classes at the community college while she worked part time at a local grocery store. She and Tom fought about curfews and her freedom.

15:52 She got a second job as an aerobics instructor and moved into an apartment with two friends. Blinda had dated the same boy through high school, but ended the relationship after he cheated on her. The next fall, Belinda transferred to Stephen F. Austin or SFA University with Brenda. A few years later, Belinda met fellow SFA and big Man on Campus David Temple. Big Man on Campus such a weird phrase. Well, in this case, it's really appropriate. Yeah, it has double meaning, Okay. David Temple was a small town hero known for his athletic prowess on the football field. David grew up in Katie, Texas. Friday Night Lights Territory. That's a great show.

16:34 That's my favorite, one of my favorite shows. Top five. On Friday nights, businesses shut down early as residents flood the football stadium that seats nearly ten thousand to support their beloved tigers ten. That's such a huge stadium. Yeah, for high school. David Temple's family has lived in Katie, Texas for generations. His parents, Maureen and Ken, married in nineteen sixty one. Ken worked in it and was also and ordained minister. They had three sons, Darren, David, who was born in nineteen sixty eight, and Kevin. The Temples were known as a good Christian family. The Temple family carved up parcels of the family's former rice fields to build homes near each other.

17:15 The close knit family enjoyed spending time together. A favorite activity of the Temple boys was bird hunting in the rice fields. A large part of their childhood was spent hunting on the property from an early age. David, who was husky and muscular, loved football and was a standout player. It didn't hurt that he'd been held back a grade and was bigger than the other kids. At five foot eleven and two hundred and ten pounds, He was a beast on the football field. He destroyed several helmets a year. David was charming and charismatic and got away with a lot at school and at home. He was the star of his family, but friends sometimes saw a dark side to him. When his longtime girlfriend broke up with him, he made her life miserable and made sure his friends did too. It was rumored that he wrung her pet rabbits necksf's horrible. Yeah. The Katie Tigers football team had come up against a long dry spell. David was their shot at breaking that.

18:14 David, number eighty three was a middle linebacker. What is a middle linebacker? That's somebody who's in the middle of the line, in the back of the line, not on the line. Linebackers are there like behind the defense. They can either like drop back and do pass protection, or they can rush. If I was going to play football, it'd be a fun position to play because he get to do everything. Okay, you're not that big though, No, I'm not that big. It's a defensive player or defending the offensive line. Defensive okay. Among the cheerleaders on the sidelines rooting for David and the Tigers was a small blonde named Renee Zellweger. She also played basketball and ran cross country. I believe for the senior superlatives. She also was like voted dream date or something like, Wow, she looks kind of I'll post a picture. She looks kind of different in high school.

19:03 Yeah, I mean, I guess we all do, h true. David was known to have a hair trigger, and he was a bully. He was condescending to his classmates. A former classmate said, quote, David Temple was always ready for a fight, and he acted like he thought he was better than the other kids. He was a bully. He treated ninety percent of us like we were a step down from him, ignoring us unless he singled us out for some kind of abuse. End quote. As his star as an athlete rose, he became more aggressive both on and off the field. David became cockier and sometimes got into screaming matches with his coaches. He believed he was destined for the NFL. He suffered a devastating injury in the first scrimmage game of his sophomore year, which ended his season. He required two surgeries to repair the injury, but David fought hard to return stronger than ever. For his junior year. He worked so hard that he was able to bench press four hundred and thirty pounds, although there were whispers in the locker room that he was taking steroids. Okay, four hundred and thirty pounds, that's a lot. I know it's a lot, but it's like a lot, a lot. I mean, I can only bench like four twenty, So it's yeah, it's it's impressive. You are very impressive, my love. I'm sorry I didn't put that in there. Wow. Fore, yes, what can you never mind? You do pretty well too, I do well with the twenty pound dumbells that we have. David knew that he had what it took to make it to the big leagues. His cockiness and

20:33 swagger knew no bounds. When David disagreed with his coaches, he became irate at times and yelled aggressively in their faces. A former teammate said, quote, David crossed the line. When I'd see him get out of line, I'd intervene. Sometimes I talk to him about keeping the aggression on the field where it belonged. David could be explosive, and he didn't always know how to turn it off. Unquote, David's aggression soon transfer referred to his classroom teachers and even to home. One fight at home resulted in David grabbing a shotgun and threatening to kill his brother. During David's junior year, he caught the eye of college recruiters from major universities like Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and the University of Texas. In the fall of nineteen eighty six, the Tigers had a fantastic season and won every game, but lost the championship.

21:25 David's star as a local hero remained bright. Everyone in Katie, Texas knew who he was. They wanted to shake his hand or pat him on the back to thank him for a great season. Unfortunately, for David, all of the major football programs decided not to make him an offer. At five foot eleven, he was deemed too short to play for a D one school. I had to just do a quick Google because five to eleven doesn't seem that short to me. And the average height of an NFL linebacker is six foot two, so three inches taller, which is not that much different. But if that's the average, though, I don't know. I mean, this was twenty over twenty years ago, so I don't know. Maybe it was different. A rash of car thefts broke out in Katie, radar detectors had grown in popularity and were being stolen from unlocked cars to be resold or pawned. An undercover police officer bought one from David, he was arrested along with one of his friends. The friend ratted David out and said they were stealing to get money to buy steroids. Although David was tied to as many as eight thefts, he was charged with only one misdemeanor count of attempted burglary and given three days in jail along with one hundred dollars fine. With his legal troubles behind him, David was offered a five year scholarship to Stephen F.

22:38 Austin University in Nakadochis, Texas. He accepted the offer. What do you think of David so far? Seems like the classic big man on campus. Just a hot head, kind of just a big well. I wonder how much of the hot headedness came from the steroids, because I know that's a side effect of taking steroids, or it just could have been as horrible personality that might have been it. Stephen Fuller Austin, who lived from seventeen ninety three to eighteen thirty six, is known as the founding father of Texas back in time, little whiplash, Sorry, he brought three hundred families along with their slaves to Texas and gave them land. He died at the age of forty three from pneumonia while he was serving as Texas's Secretary of State.

23:22 Austin, Texas is named for him. Stephen F. Austin University opened in nineteen twenty three as a teaching college. Several buildings on campus are said to be haunted. Today, the university has partnered with the University of Texas College system. In the fall of nineteen eighty six, about twelve hundred students were enrolled at SAF. SAF athletic teams are known as the Lumberjacks or sometimes the Jacks. I'm not sure why I felt compelled to tell you more about Stephen Fuller Austin, but I thought it was a little entendus. I've never heard of it, so always nice to learn new things. David settled into SAF, taking classes and playing for the Lumberjacks. It wasn't long, though, before he began pummeling anyone who got in his way. He again developed a reputation as a hot head and bully with a hair trigger. It's unclear if David was still using steroids, but he was bigger and stronger than ever, once hitting a player on the football field so hard that his back was nearly broken. And I wanted to mention that David has the biggest head I've ever seen. Really, Okay, I took a break to show you a picture, and you didn't seem that impressed. It's a huge head, and we both are not known for our small heads. David was obsessive about his appearance.

24:38 He showered three to four times a day and wore the latest fashions, always named brand from head to foot. Even his socks had to be named brand. He was a hard worker and a leader on the field. He made the most of every minute of practice and game time. He started as middle linebacker his sophomore year and also played on special teams. He was an aggressive beast on the field. He earned the nickname Temple of Doom, his last name being Temple. The Lumberjacks won the conference title for the first time in the school's history that year. David began dating Pam, an education major, his first year at SAF. At first, David was sweet and thoughtful of sending her red roses frequently, but then he became controlling and jealous.

25:22 But she was still proud to date the star football player. She said, quote, David was my first real relationship. He was a football star and a really cool guy, and he was my first love. When asked about his controlling nature, she denyed that it bothered her. I just felt loved, she said. The Temple family embraced Pam. She spent holidays and vacations with them. Everyone was sure they'd get married one day. As time passed, their relationship grew more tumultuous and violent. Pam would break things off, only to get back together days later when David promised it would never happen again. Despite the volatility in their relationship, Pam wanted to marry David until one night when she was out of town, a friend reported seeing David slow dance with Belinda Lucas. He told her it was nothing and begged her to take him back, but days later he ended things permanently with a heartbroken Pam.

26:15 Years later she would be glad he did. Belinda Lucas loved the freedom of college life and not having her father breathing down her neck constantly. She studied and worked hard, but also found time to have fun. Blinda was bubbly, full of life and the life of the party, but she was also confident and not afraid to stand up for herself when for herself or others when she noticed an injustice. She dated casually, and she wasn't ready to be tied down. That is until she met David Temple. She fell quickly for him, despite his reputation as a menace, He treated her like a princess. He loved that Belinda was athletic and liked sports. He was a gentle giant to Belinda. When David's parents came for a game and met her for the first time, they were smitten with her. Two They thought David and Belinda were a perfect match. They liked the calming effect that she had on their son. They didn't fight like David and Pam had. Ken Temple.

27:10 David's father said, quote, Belinda was there for keeps. We did everything for Belinda that we would have done for a naturally born daughter, and we loved her unconditionally and without hesitation. End quote. The young couple adopted a dog together, a chow they named Shaka. Shaka was very protective of his owners. Belinda's friend and her twin noticed a pared down version of her when she was with David. She didn't seem to be her assertive, confident self. She went along with whatever he wanted. Her friends and Brenda didn't like David and found it annoying that he was obsessed with football. His whole personality seemed to be football. Belinda's parents, however, did like David. He was very polite with them, but he didn't seem very interested in getting to know them or being a member of their family. Belinda's best friend, Stacy Rios, over heard David referring to the Lucas family members as white trash and rednecks, but Belinda made excuses for his behavior. David went to a few NFL training camps to attempt to get signed as a free agent in the summer of nineteen ninety one, but no teams made him an offer. That fall, his last playing for SAF, David was given honorable mention as an All American linebacker. Is that a big deal? I don't really know. I would imagine, I guess. I'm not sure what division SAF was in.

28:33 It seems like a smaller school, but yeah, I'm sure that's a pretty nice honor. Yeah. In October, David asked Carol and Tom Lucas for their blessing to propose to Belinda. They approved, they thought David was a fine young man. David proposed on the fifty yard line after a football game. Belinda said yes with tears in her eyes. How can they say that he's obsessed with football and his whole world revolves around football? Grilch. Of course, David's football career for the Lumberjacks ended. He left the school with three impressive records, most tackles four hundred and ninety two, most unassisted tackles three hundred and nine, and most assisted tackles one hundred and eighty three.

29:15 Two of those three records stand today. Impressive. She's very impressive. We'll be back right after a break. We both lunch by that bath of peaver nuggets so good as soon as we said we're taking a break, because we usually do actually take a break and go to the bathroom. But that was pretty fun. I love those things. I might be one of my favorite. It'll be a Me Love Mary Kill Snack Hall of Fame. Yeah, we should actually do that. That's a good idea. Maybe every year we should do it. We know even have a list of what I'm sure a listener out there has been cattle wucking snack. Back to Belinda and David.

30:00 Belinda and David were married just weeks after the proposal on January fourth, nineteen ninety two. They were both twenty four years old. They both graduated in May of nineteen ninety two with degrees in physical education. Belinda also earned a degree in special education. They decided to stay at SFA for an additional year to get their master's degrees while they lived in student housing. The next fall, David took a job as an assistant coach for the Katie Tigers, his old football team. He coached the linebackers and the track team. The newly weeds rented a house in Goodrich, Texas. Belinda was hired as a special education teacher at a nearby middle school. David was busy with his new job, especially during football season, Belinda rarely saw him. She told a friend that she thought he might have been having an affair, but she brushed the thought off as not a good sign that early on. That's really early to be having an affair. YEA and everything seemed like it was going his way.

30:57 It must have been super exciting for him to be a coach for his high school football team where everyone, not everyone, but his coach has loved him. Yeah, he was like a celebrity locally, right, And yeah, his whole life revolved around it. Everything's going his way. He gets to move back to his hometown, closer to his parents, and yeah. The Temples moved to Hastings, Texas, which is between Katie and Houston. The next fall, David got a job as an assistant defensive football coach, track coach, and physical education teacher. The school district also hired Belinda as a special education teacher, basketball coach, and volleyball coach. Their new house was just fifteen minutes away from David's family. They attended the same church as the Elder Temples and a Sunday dinner together each week. They almost never saw the Lucas family, though a family member later remembered the couple's early days together.

31:48 Quote when they came, they still looked so happy. In the beginning, they were, I think, but over time that changed end quote. Cracks in the marriage began appearing. Neighbors could sometimes hear the couple arguing. Friends witnessed Belinda becoming quieter in David's presence. She rushed home to make dinner every night. David expected her to keep an immaculate house and iron all his clothing. At Hastings High School, David wasn't a well loved teacher or a coach. He was harsh with his players and students and frequently lost his temper. Belinda, on the other hand, was a beloved teacher known for her school spirit and over the top holiday celebrations. In late nineteen ninety four, Belinda learned she was pregnant, due in April with a boy. They were both very excited. Evan Brett Temple was born on April thirteenth, nineteen ninety five, at two am. He weighed seven pounds fourteen ounces. Belinda was thrilled to be a mother. She was seen rollerblading around the neighborhood with Evan's stroller. Weeks after giving birth. She confided in a neighbor that David wanted her to lose the baby weight, but Belinda was not overweight or out of shape. David really David's huge guy, but he really had a problem with women's bodies. And he just didn't like fat women. Yeah, he seems like, I don't know, just kind of the stereotypical jerk husband, you know. Yeah, he's horrible. Brenda, now living in Kansas, came to visit soon after Evan was born. David was cold and stand offish to

33:22 her. He didn't like being around Belinda's family and discouraged her from spending time with them, even her twin. Although they continued to see David's family multiple times per week, Belinda was exhausted by her grueling schedule taking care of an infant, teaching and late night coaching. She took a job at Katie High School in the fall of nineteen ninety six as a science and math specialist so she could spend more time with her son, so she stopped coaching after that point. Gotcha. Quentin and Tammy Harlan were new to the Katie area together since high school. They were a happily married couple with one young daughter and another on the way. Quinton was hired as a football coach at Hastings High School along with David. Tammy was also a teacher. The couples had a lot in common and became fast friends. They got together frequently for cookouts and cards. During the football season, Belinda and Tammy attended the Hastings football games together, loudly cheering other husband's teams. I guess if you're a football coach's wife, you're kind of like a football widow because it's a very demanding career for sure. And yeah, they're not home a lot after the football games.

34:31 David would head to a bar while Belinda went home, just another one of the duties of a football coach. Head to the bar after head to the Chilies Friday night lights reference, Yeah, I got it, a small town reference. The Chilies are the Applebee's. Yeah, I don't really think that's where they went, though. David would badger Quinton to come to the bar too, but he preferred to go home to his wife. Good job, Quinton. On some nights, though Quentin tagged along. He witnessed David flirting with and sometimes leaving with other women. Blinda wanted another baby and convinced David to buy a house. Blinda tried really hard to save money and David was more of a spender, so I think that was a point of contention.

35:13 She really wanted to buy a house and he really wanted more things like he wanted a new truck and things like that, but they were able to buy a house. They bought a two story red brick home at two two five zero two Round Valley Drive in the Creekstone subdivision, a few miles from their rental house. It was a nice house on a corner lot with a large backyard, probably nicer than the young couple could afford. When they were short on the down payment, Brenda took a cash advance on a credit card and sent Belinda the money, but they did pay her back quickly. In the summer of nineteen ninety seven, David's tenuere high school reunion rolled around. He didn't want Blinda to accompany him. She was extremely hurt. Wo rumors swirled that on the first David hooked up with his high school girlfriend. The next night, Blinda did go with David, but she left crying after he humiliated her by flirting and carrying on with other women. That's awful. It seems like he it seems like he mentally never progressed out of high school.

36:16 That's just my dime store psychology assessment. I think that's a very good assessments. I think he Yeah, he'd like to live in the glory days. And you know, he probably talked to people all the time when he met them, you know, like, oh, I was, I have records and right. As Tammy and Belinda became closer, Tammy's disdain towards David grew. She hated how her friend was treated. She was an adoring wife and mother, but David was never satisfied. He was degrading, controlling, and mean to Belinda. He called her names and talk about how hot she used to be. Belinda's parents didn't live far away, but she rarely saw them.

36:57 David refused to visit them and grew angry and soul and when Belinda and Evan went rarely for a visit. Like with so many other people in her life, Belinda portrayed a happy marriage to her parents. She didn't see them as often as she liked, but called them every Sunday. Hi, Mops and Pops. It's number five, she'd excitedly say. Blinda was the glue that held her family together, and when she wasn't able to attend family gatherings, they all stopped coming around. David had once been obsessive about his yard, but neighbors noticed that Belinda now took care of the mowing and trimming. Belinda's bright and fun personality slowly disappeared, and she was a shell of her former self. Okay, that's not exactly true I wrote this, but I think at home that's how she was. At school, everyone loved her, and she was still very abuliant and charismatic, and she got to know a lot of the kids, and I think she was lunch room monitor and she greeted the kids in the hallway every morning. So though she was a special ed teacher, she was well known to the whole student body and well loved.

37:59 So it sounds like and she got to be away from David and doing her own things. She was her usual self, but when she was kind of under his thumb or doing things that she felt like she had to because she was scared of him, than she kind of a different personality. She would confide in her friends and co workers, but later backpedal and talk about what a wonderful husband he was. So there was moments of vulnerability, but then she'd be like, oh, but you know, it's fine. Yeah. Blinda began seeing more and more charges from bars and strip clubs on their credit card, and when she confronted David, he stopped talking to her for weeks. I think the silent treatment is just a really horrible form of abuse and control. Yeah, it kind of is. When I was growing up, my mom would occasionally give me the silent treatment for like days at a time, and it was worse than any punishment. My mom did that too.

38:50 Actually, yeah, I don't think we ever do that to each other. No, no, no, no, really, we're perfect. We are perfect. I was gonna say one time, my mom and I were driving across the country together. We were driving to California to see family, and we got in a fight at one point, and my mom didn't talk to me for two days. We drove in the car all day. Did you just like talk to yoursel phone? I don't know. I just would sat in silence. Well, your mom was a lovely one. She was a lovely woman. Yes, but she could get she could get me. You're probably just I probably deserve Probably is their marriage deteriorated, Blinda leaned more heavily on Tammy for support. Tammy now had three young children and grew tired of giving Blinda advice and her tolerating David's horrible behavior towards her. David was a thorn in her side and a horrible influence on her husband, and their marriage suffered from Quentin's friendship with David, and she decided to put some space between the two couples. She and Quinton had been arguing more and she since that he was picking up some of David's attitude and behavior. I think that's something that Tammy felt guilty about for many, many years to come, because I understand this, Oh yeah, totally. David was hard to be around.

40:04 And I mean I've had friends like this too, Like they always call you complaining and you give them advice, and you give them the same advice and then they don't take it and gets really frustrating. But then, what you don't understand if you're not in an abusive relationship is that Belinda, she couldn't push pushback, or you know, she would be met with the silent treatment or other forms of control. Yeah. In the summer of nineteen ninety eight, Belinda was over the moon when she became pregnant with a baby girl, whom she planned to name Aaron Ashley. She was due in February David was excited at first, but Belinda prepared for Aaron's arrival by herself. She painted and decorated the nursery and put the crib together without David's help. Belinda loved being a mother and couldn't wait to welcome her daughter, but she struggled keeping her optimism and normally sunny disposition. She felt like she was doing all of it alone because she was. David was rarely home, and when he was, he was distracted. David had isolated her from her family and friends.

41:07 Weekends were usually spent with the larger Temple clan. There was never time for just Belinda and David. She continued to put on a happy face most of the time and was always the loudest cheerleader at the games he coached. Brenda planned to come to Texas for Christmas. She planned to stay with her twin. The sisters were looking forward to spending their first Christmas together in years, but David made Belinda call Brenda and tell her not to come. He said they'd be too busy celebrating the holidays with his family. Belinda confided in friends that she thought David was having an affair. She was heartbroken. But she was coming to terms with the fact that her marriage might be over. In the fall of nineteen ninety eight, Quinton began a flirtation with a pretty, young, blonde English teacher, Heather Scott. She was from Arkansas and, like Belinda, had a twin sister. A large group of teachers began going out for happy hours after school, and Heather, Quinton, and David were all part of this group. David and Quinton were best friends but also rivals. David didn't like being beaten by anyone, and he also began hitting on Heather. Gossip soon spread that Heather was getting too close to the football coaches. The wives didn't like it and nicknamed her Barbie Bitch. Tammy said quote. They said she had a thing for football coaches. At first, I wasn't worried about Quinton end quote. Heather and David began dating and spending a lot of nights together at her townhouse, as he had with Pam and Belinda. He loved bombed Heather with flowers and other small generous gifts. So

42:43 he's dating Heather when his wife is at home with their young son, and she's very pregnant at this time. Yeah, what a guy. Meanwhile, Heather was still leading Quinton on. She sent him flirty emails throughout the day and even kissed him once. Quinton was not aware that Heather and David were already in a sexual relationship. As staff caught wind of David and Heather's affair, they gave him the cold shoulder. They knew his sweet, devoted wife was pregnant. One day, he walked into the office and asked a staff member to make copies for him. She responded tartly, ask your girlfriend to do it. David responded, I don't have a girlfriend. I'm married.

43:23 We're going to do a little true crime theater for you. We have emails between David and Heather. So, David and Quinton, they're both football coaches. They shared the same office, right, and Heather, in my opinion, it's not even my opinion, it's a fact, she was pitting the two guys against each other, right, She was kind of stringing them both along. So we're going to read some of the emails between David and Heather. I will be playing the part of David. Oh, okay, So these two emailed each other. Text messaging wasn't a thing, So you emailed back and forth, and sometimes your emails were just you know, in the form of a text. Right, this first one is referring to Quinton.

44:04 Heather typed, I don't know what to do about the other situation. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. If you need to talk more, let me know. I can always make time. If you want me to talk to Quinton, let me know. I can make it so he doesn't know you have been telling me what he has been saying. I can tell him that I am seeing you away from school, and I think he will back off. It's up to you. All I am interested in is you being happy, have a great day, and get those papers graded so the kids can have some candy. Where's my piece? D I hope you're talking about a piece of candy? Five exclamation points, smiley face. Let me think about the rest. Okay, the next day, Heather typed, I just need to talk to you alone. Smiley face. I'm just so worried about my reputation. How do you feel about me talking to Quinton? Be honest, I don't have a problem with you talking to him at all. If it went past that, it would bother me. Does that sound bad.

45:01 Remember what is important is that you are happy. No, it doesn't sound bad. Would you be interested in me if Q weren't. I don't mean to sound mean. I'm just worried about your thoughts of me. I don't want you to think I'm available to anyone. I really like being around you. As bad as this sounds, I enjoy emailing Quinton. You two just happen to be married, and that makes everything so difficult. I just don't want to have to choose between either one of your friendships. I told you the most important thing to me is our friendship. I wasn't kidding. I was interested in you way before Quinton was. That has absolutely nothing to do with my feelings toward you. What goes in email makes no difference to me.

45:43 You shouldn't have to stop doing that No matter what. I would be happy to discuss my thoughts about you anytime. You shouldn't have to choose. Are you interested in being with Quinton? Be honest, I am just all caps talking to him. I just don't want to be the bad guy in this. On what exact day did you become interested? Are you and Quinton in the same room We're on opposite sides of the room. He can't see me. The minute I was interested in you was the first day of school. At that point, I didn't even know you. If it makes any difference, my thoughts of you are great, and I am totally sure that you are not open to just everyone. I totally enjoy being with you, whether it is out or just talking. Okay, you got out of that one, smiley face. So at the same time, Heather is emailing David and Quinton. Okay, she says, you are all too cute. I am having fun talking to you. I'm glad I can do such a good service for him. Well, I gotta go and work. Really not by choice. I really have to go check on my kids and actually do some grades. You made my day better. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Have a great night. Bye, see you later, smiley face. The next day, Quinton is in such a great mood judging from his email, and I just think I don't have anything to do with that. He emailed me first, smiley face, So how are you feeling? And yes, you had something to do with it. Q is in an excellent mood, but I can't take the credit. I feel pretty good. Are you still going

47:15 out. At least we can talk with million people around. I don't even have anything important to talk about. Just can't ever speak to you at school. Quinton seemed to be in a good mood when I talked to him earlier. I'm doing great. I'd love to come over later tonight if that's okay with you. Cool. I'm talking with Quinton right now too. At least you guys aren't side by side. He said it is hot in his room. Wonder what he means by that five question marks smiley face. You know exactly what that meant. I'm just teasing. You. Don't have to get mad at me, sad face. Just remember that's all he gets is email. I didn't want it to sound mean. I don't care about that.

47:55 Don't send that on happy face. It doesn't fit for smiley faces. How is that? That's my girl? Much better? That's a pretty strange relationship, right, yeah, I'll say so. It's like they're both they're both married, and then there's I don't know what shape that is. So there's five people. It's like a yeah, yeah, I love Pentangle. Yeah. Well, I feel a little nauseous after reading that, and I don't think it's from the Beaver Nuggets. I think it was just from having to read that, So thank you for that. Well, I hope it made sense to people. And I just wanted to portray, you know, this just this weird relationship, and Heather is definitely playing both of these guys.

48:36 We don't have the relation. I'm sorry. The emails between she and Quinton. David and Quinton are both in the same room too, and they're both emailing her just very very strange and awkward. I'm sure David probably wanted to pummel Quinton, being the alpha male that he is, but he had to keep it together or Heather probably would have been like, uh, you know, turn off to her. Well maybe not. For Christmas, David gifted Heather an expensive gold necklace. Their relationship appeared to be getting more serious. Guess what David bought Belinda for Christmas. I'm going to either say a football or nothing. Nothing, Okay. Belinda and Brenda's thirtieth birthday was on December thirtieth, so their golden birthday. They planned to spend it together. Brenda came to Katie for a five day visit. She immediately sensed major tension in the house between her sister and her husband. She was furious when David told Belinda she had a big butt, and he kept repeating it the whole weekend that she was there. What a guy. She was disgusted by her brother in law's passive, aggressive attitude towards her sister. On her birthday, David again didn't have a gift for her. He announced, and you know, so it's her golden birthday. Yeah, it's her thirtieth birthday. She's very pregnant. I'm yeah, not that gifts mean everything, but yeah, but the little token of you know, at least showing someone you appreciate that, right. And he announced that he would be going on a hunting trip the

50:07 next day and be gone for two days, even though Belinda's obstetrician had warned him that the baby might make an early appearance. Why And it's also, you know, so it's New Year's even and he's like, yeah, I'm headed out. I know you're going to be shocked. But David didn't go hunting. I am shocked. He headed to Heather's townhouse, where she was having a party. Heather overdid it, and she didn't even make it to midnight. And David didn't even call to check up on Belinda the whole time that he was there. On New Year's Day, Belinda drove Brenda to the airport. The sisters hugged goodbye. Brenda loved her sister deeply. She was her twin and could feel her complete exhaustion and anxiety over the future of her marriage and her babies. Brenda couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong and that she might never see her sister again, and sadly, she was right. A few days later, David and Belinda celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary.

51:01 I wonder what he got her for her anniversary. I bet she got like an eight carrot diamond ring or something. I bet she got nothing. Belinda was putting the finishing touches on the nursery. She'd asked David several times to install some shelves in the closet, but he'd failed to get the job done, so she decided to do it herself. The morning of January eleventh, nineteen ninety nine, was hectic as Belinda and David hurried to get themselves and Evan ready for the day. Evan was sick with a low grade fever, but Belinda was trying to save Oliver sick days until after the baby arrived, so she gave him some motron and took him to preschool. Maureen called and told Belinda to come over after school and have some homemade soup she was cooking that day so she wouldn't have to cook. Marine is her mother in law in case she forgot and how old is Evan at this point? Evan is three? Okay. When Belinda dropped Evan off at school, she told his teacher that if his fever returned to call her and let her know.

52:00 Agreed he would pick up Evan early if needed, so she could work the whole school day. Sure enough, Evan's fever returned and David was nowhere to be found. Belinda left school around noon and said she'd return after David got home to take care of Evan. She had a meeting with a parent at two pm, and she promised she would be back. Belinda tried David five more times on his cell phone to no avail. She picked Evan up and took him home and put him in bed. David came home to take care of Evan. Belinda returned to school around one. She finished her parent meeting and left school around three twenty. Several people noted that she seemed exasperated and in a hurry to get home. Before heading home, Belinda stopped at her in law's house to pick up the homemade soup from Maureen. It was good timing with Evan being sick. Her father in law brought the soup out to her car. At three point thirty two, Belinda called David and said she was on her way home. Later, he estimated that she returned home at three forty five. She had plans to play Bunco later that evening with friends for their monthly game, and she still planned on attending. At four thirty eight, Brenda tried calling Belinda's home phone to tell her her grandfather had an accident and her parents were taking him to the hospital, but she didn't answer.

53:17 Later, Brenda would say she'd had an impending feeling of doom all day. David's father called at about five point fifteen to check on Evan, but also got the answering machine. At five twenty five, a neighbor walked by and noticed David pulling into the garage in his blue truck. She thought she saw a small child in the front seat with him, and then the garage door closed. Moments after returning home, David ran to his neighbor, Mike Ruggiero's house. He pounded on the door with Evan in his arms. He flung his son at Mike and said, quote, someone's broken into my house. Take Evan unquote, and then he ran off. Mike handed Evan over to his wife and told her to call nine one one and David to see if he could offer assistance. Mike saw David walk through his backyard and close the gate behind him. The temple's vicious dog, Shaka, was in the backyard, so Mike didn't open the gate. He noted the shattered glass on the back door. It did look as if a break in had occurred.

54:16 David called nine one one at five thirty six pm, Paris County. I believe our ambulance. Somebody's broken into my mind and my wife stay on the life of the ambulance. Sir, we have a shooting victim. Go ahead her. I just walked in. My wife. I believe he's been shot. It's got blood. Every word, okay, sir? Is she breathing? Her brain is on the floor. I think she's already diod she's eight much brain Okay, Sting, just stay on the phone with me, Okay, sorry. Is there any way that you can kneel down next to her and see if she is breathing? Sir? Sure did? Okay, let me get them over there. Okay, can check her out. When was the last time you saw her. It's been shovel several hours? Yes, you say half of her brain is on the floor. She's got bought over the port of second because she's done in the corner. Okay, she's eight months. Have you felt for her to have a pulse, yes, she doesn't have We got a baby, though, right right, okay, okay, but I don't have to do CPR, yes, okay, I want you to do CPR for that baby. Okay, okay, yes, let's do. Are you doing CPR for me? She's gone? Okay, well let's see if we cheat her. Okay for the baby. Is there any way that you can do this? This is just no way. She's got her brain and just bloody, just covered on the floor. I got a

55:47 policeman that's pulled up. I got an ambulance and a paramedic that's getting ready to come into her. Okay, that's hard to listen to. That wasn't It seems very emotional to me. I don't know if it was contrived tears or not. Yeah, well, and just disturbing hearing you know, the detail about her condition. The frustrating part of that call for me is that if he even if Belinda wasn't alive and he knew that she was dead because I don't want to be graphic, but her brain matter was out of perhad his baby girl was still inside of Belinda, so he could still have performed CPR and saved the baby. Yeah, exactly. I thought the operator was really that was really she did a wonderful job. Smart of her, Yeah, to go there really quickly, and yet he just didn't seem interested.

56:37 I think that's a good Yeah, like he like, of course it would be you know, disturbing and emotional and gross, but save your baby, your baby and the baby at that point, she was I think three three weeks to her birthday, and she would have been able to survive outside of the womb. So that's the hard part from me in that situation. And he said he had been gone for several hours but he was actually I think he was gone less than two hours, so he would have no idea how long ago that she'd been shot. He said that he checked for a pulse and shaken Belinda, but there was no blood on his clothing or his hands.

57:20 Police arrived at the scene at five forty nine pm. After securing the dog, David told them his wife was dead, and I think we're going to talk about the dog in the next episode. But the dog is known to be vicious and people like anytime anyone was in the house, they'd be like, can you please put your dog away? The dog is scarying me. EMTs arrived moments later, and David led them to Belinda. She was face down in the closet of the primary bedroom with a bullet through the back of her head that shattered her skull and destroyed her face, her brain matter oozing from her skull. She was fully clothed and even wearing her shoes. Her broken glasses were found near her body. Only wore her glasses when she was driving and always took her shoes off when she came in the door.

58:05 And if she was going to go laid down, she would have taken her shoes off. She was very pregnant and her few were swollen, so as are like, the first thing you're going to do is a pregnant woman is remove your shoes. Her congealed blood signaled to the amts that she had been dead for at least a half an hour and there was no use attempting CPR and Belinda, she and baby Aaron were both gone. David claimed he'd returned home with Evan after running errands and going to the park. Remember, Evan was sick and he'd come home early from school and there wasn't a car seat in David's truck. He found the back door open with a broken window. He said he'd taken Evan to the neighbors for his safety and then they returned.

58:47 He returned home and found Belinda and then called nine one one. That's what he told police what happened. Not buying it, We do know that he left the house. We'll talk about it on the next episode, but there is secure a surveillance footage of him entering a couple of stores. Okay, so I'm sorry you guys, that's what we're going to have to end up for it today. Don't hate us, rest in peace. Belinda and Aaron just cutted by this story really really sad. Does it remind you of any other cases that we've done recently? I mean, definitely some parallels with Scott and Lacy Peterson. I know we've talked about it before, but the leading cause of death for pregnant women is murder by their partners, right, So it's a story that's all too common. Unfortunately, it's so sad.

59:39 Yeah, it's just hard to wrap your head around, like how you could kill your spouse, but kill your spouse that's pregnant with your baby, and your baby is viable outside of the womb at that time. I don't know how you are that cold hearted and you do that. Yeah, but we're putting the cart before the horse. We don't even know if David was the one who killed Belinda. I have a feeling though. Yeah. Do you want to go on the Ohio Turnpike and find the BUCkies nearest us? Yeah? I'll be back in six hours or so. It's kind of impressive how much of this bag we duram that episode. They're delicious, So if that who was at it? JC? Jacy? Thanks JC, Please rate, review, follow, and subscribe. Us, find us on social media, or send us an email at Lovemarykill at gmail dot com. Please consider supporting us on Patreon dot com slash Love Mary Kill one tier five dollars a month for early ad free access and a monthly bonus episode, And like today, we will be posting both of these the two part episode. We'll be posting both of them to the Patreon And if you want to send us a stack LMK podcast po box one one one Dexter, Michigan four eight one three zero just looking at me. It's waiting for you to jump in. That just occurred to be. That are the name of the town we live in.

1:01:00 Is the name of probably the most famous fictional serial killer in the world. That is just dawning on your now. For a long time, I never really thought of it. I don't think there's any serial killers in our town. Oh you never know, you never know. I don't feel like I'm tempting Faid, Yeah exactly. Yeah. Well, thank you everyone for listening, and as always, don't kill your husband, don't kill your wife.

1:02:13 And Jody Hildebrandt was also sentenced