HOUSTON – Prosecutors opened the trial of a man accused of killing his pregnant wife by telling the jury about sex, lies and an unborn child's death, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.
Belinda Temple, a 30-year-old Katy High School teacher, was shot to death in her home on Jan. 11, 1999. She was eight months pregnant.
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"The other life that perished that day was a perfectly healthy 6-pound little baby girl, with its heart beating inside her mommy's womb," prosecutor Kelly Siegler said. "A little girl that Belinda had already chosen to give the name 'Erin' to."
Harris County sheriff's deputies said Temple's husband, David, was the only suspect from the start.
Siegler told the jury that David Temple was the only person with a motive to kill Belinda Temple.
David Temple was having an affair with fellow teacher Heather Scott at Alief Hastings High School, where he was a coach. They were married two years after Belinda Temple's killing.
Siegler told the jury that David Temple spent New Year's Eve with Scott, just days before his wife was killed.
"'I told Belinda I was hunting,'" Siegler quoted David Temple. "He spent the night, those two nights, with Heather Scott. It wasn't the first time they had sex, she's testified to that."
Prosecutors said they plan to call a witness who claimed that he, too, was involved with Heather Scott.
"It's about a sorry, botched investigation that ignored all the other leads and assumed that David was guilty from the very beginning," defense attorney Dick DeGuerin said. "He deeply loved her. They were the golden couple."
David Temple told investigators that he came home to find his wife's body in an upstairs closet. There were signs of a break-in, but nothing was taken. Investigators have questioned how a burglar could have gotten past the couple's dog, which neighbors have described as vicious.
David Temple, 39, was charged with murder in 2004.
The trial is expected to last about four weeks.
A gag order was issued in the case so lawyers and witnesses are not allowed to speak to reporters.
If convicted of murder, David Temple could face from five years to 99 years in prison.