Harris County, Texas (KTRK) – A Katy man convicted twice of killing his pregnant wife, during what authorities describe as an orchestrated robbery more than 24 years ago, has been sentenced to life in prison.
On Friday, after deliberating for the third time, the jury ended the argument at noon and sentenced David Temple to life in prison.
David Mark Temple, 54, was convicted in August 2019 for the second time of killing his wife, Belinda. But this jury could not decide on the verdict, which prompted the judge to declare a mistrial. Prosecutors demanded life in prison, and on Friday, they got it.
Authorities said Belinda Temple, 30, was fatally shot in her home on January 11, 1999 in what was initially believed to be a robbery.
Prosecutors later charged David Temple with burglarizing his home in a Houston suburb and killing his wife, a high school teacher who was eight months pregnant, because he was having an affair. David Temple later married the woman he had been seeing.
Eventually she filed for divorce in the middle of his retrial in 2019.
Belinda’s brother was in the courtroom Friday and had some final words for David Temple.
“You’re despicable. I want you to think about this every single day for the rest of your life in prison. You absolutely destroyed our family, you destroyed yours. You disallowed it. Nobody disqualified that, not one of these jurors, I made that decision,” Brian Lucas said.
Belinda’s twin, Brenda Lucas, sat in the courtroom and told David Temple that he had taken her best friend away from her.
Brenda said, “David, you didn’t just take Belinda away from me. You took my niece who I never got to meet and watch grow up. Belinda should be here. Belinda should be studying and enjoying life with family and friends.”
In addition to life imprisonment, David Temple must also pay a $10,000 fine.
David Temple trial timeline: The twists and turns from the 1999 murder verdict to the 2019 verdict
Read more: True crime writer remembers Belinda Temple after husband found guilty of her 1999 murder
SEE ALSO: Jury selection begins in re-sentencing trial of Katie man convicted of killing pregnant wife in 1999
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