191: Belinda Temple Case - UPDATE (episodes 127 & 128)

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Southern Fried true crime covers cases that
are not suitable for young listeners, and

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there may also be some explicit language
used. Listener discretion is advised. Two

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years ago, I released episodes one
twenty seven and one twenty eight, a

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two part series on the Belinda Temple
case. As with many of my multi

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parter episodes, I had not originally
planned for it to be more than one

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episode, but the case has so
many twists and turns that there was no

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way to do it justice in one
episode. Since then, there have been

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some more twists. One in particular
is that a main witness for the prosecution,

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Belinda's best friend, Tammy Harlan,
was involved in a hit and run

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that cost a young man on a
bicycle his life. An anonymous tipster called

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in naming Tammy as the one who
killed the nineteen year old victim, David

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Grotberg, and said she was under
the influence at the time. When Tammy

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was brought in for questioning, she
admitted to drinking some wine that night and

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said she thought she had had a
stop sign. After a full investigation,

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Tammy was indicted in June twenty twenty
for failing to stop and render aid,

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but more importantly for manslaughter. As
with David Temple's resentencing hearing, Tammy's trial

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was on hold for the pandemic.
Her latest continuance was granted in April two

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thousand and three, but hopefully she
will stand trial soon for the death of

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David Grotberg. David Temple's hearing was
also held in April of two thousand and

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three, but luckily Timmy's alleged crimes
had no bearing on the testimony. Welcome

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to episode one ninety one update on
David Temple. If you haven't already,

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I do recommend you listen to both
episodes that I just rereleased, but for

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now, let me give you a
summary as a refresher. On January eleventh,

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nineteen ninety nine, thirty year old
Belinda Temple from Katie, Texas,

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was at home while her husband David
took their three year old son, Evan

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out to run errands. Belinda was
just three weeks away from giving birth to

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their second child and first daughter,
who they had planned on naming Aaron Ashley.

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Belinda was a caring and devoted mother
who was also passionate about her role

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as a special education teacher at Katie
High School. When thirty year old David

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arrived home with Evan around five thirty
that afternoon. He found the glass to

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their back door window was smashed in. Immediately, suspecting a robbery, but

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not knowing whether Belinda was okay,
David ran across the road to alert a

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neighbor. The men returned and entered
the property after David pitt the family dog,

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which was aggressive to strangers, and
the garage upstairs. Inside the closet

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of the main bedroom lay Belinda's body. She had been shot in the back

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of the head with a twelve gate
shotgun. Both she and her unborn baby

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girl died instantly. Police focused on
David as their suspect. However, there

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was no physical or forensic evidence linking
him to the murder. But if it

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was a robbery, as he had
suggested, why hadn't anything been stolen.

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The couple's jewelry and Belinda's purse,
which all would have been in plain view

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of the intruder, remained untouched.
Dresser drawers were pulled out but not ransacked,

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and a TV had just been laid
over on its side. Also,

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the murder weapon couldn't be located,
and David had no trace of blood or

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brain matter on him, as would
have been expected if he was the killer,

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but there was circumstantial evidence that told
a story. All had not been

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well in the couple's marriage. Belinda's
friends and family considered David a critical and

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unsupportive husband. Belinda's twin sister,
Brenda, found him to be particularly cruel

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to his pregnant wife, calling her
fat and not getting her gifts for her

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birthday or Christmas. Belinda's close friends
supported Brenda's story, and at the time

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of Belinda's death, David had also
been having an affair with his co worker,

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Heather Scott, who taught at Elif
Hastings High School, where David was

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a football coach, though obviously just
because someone is unfaithful doesn't mean they're a

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murderer. Over the next eighteen months, which would turn into years, Belinda's

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shattered family and friends wondered whether her
killer would ever be held accountable. Meanwhile,

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David was getting on with his life. In two thousand and one,

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he and Heather married. Finally,
in late two thousand four, David was

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arrested for Belinda's murder, and after
much legal wrangling, he was indicted the

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following year. In late two thousand
seven, David was convicted of murdering his

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pregnant wife. The prosecution successfully argued
his affair with Heather was the catalyst,

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and that David shot Belinda before staging
a burglary. Due to Texas laws in

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place at the time, David could
not be prosecuted for the murder of his

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unborn daughter. He was sentenced to
life in prison, but in twenty sixteen,

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after serving just nine years, David's
conviction was overturned, a retrial was

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ordered, and he was released on
bond. This was due to the prosecution's

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original failure to provide all evidence to
the defense in relation to a student and

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neighbor of Belinda's named Riley Joe Sanders. The defense wanted to present Sanders as

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an alternate suspect, especially since he
was said to have a grudge against Belinda.

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Under what is known as the Brady
Rule, prosecutors are required to disclose

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to the defense any potentially exculpatory material
relating to the accused. The materials said

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to have been withheld by Harris County
d A. Kelly Siegler related to aimes

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heavily implicating Sanders, which were much
later discredited. Sanders had been ruled out

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as a suspect by the team of
investigators on Belinda's case, and Siegler technically

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followed the Texas rule of law at
the time, but her behavior at her

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hearing was hostile and she was admonished
by the court and David was granted a

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new trial. However, he was
again found guilty at his second trial in

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two thousand nineteen. By then his
wife, Heather had divorced him. The

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prosecution again sought a life sentence,
but during the punishment phase, the jury

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became deadlocked. As a result,
the judge declared a mistrial and a new

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jury would need to decide David's fate. This was due to go ahead in

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March twenty twenty, but the pandemic
meant the new date for the sentencing kept

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being pushed back. David appealed the
mistrial ruling, requesting an entirely new trial

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with a new jury. In November
twenty twenty one, the Fourteenth Court of

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Appeals denied his submission, and David
remained in the Harris County jail on a

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one million dollar bond. According to
KPRC two News, his team was intent

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on appealing to the Court of Criminal
Appeals. This, of course meant further

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delays. I'm going to pause now
for a short commercial break. Finally,

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on April tenth, twenty twenty three, fifty four year old David's sentencing hearing

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began at the Harris County Courthouse.
By now a new prosecution team consisted of

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special prosecutors Lisa Tanner and Bill Turner
from the Texas Attorney General's Office. They

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were assigned following David's conviction being overturned
and the conflict of interest saw the Harris

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County Day's Office recuse itself from the
case. Lisa Tanner's opening question to the

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new jury about David Temple was pretty
simple, saying, he has been found

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guilty, so whether he did it
has been resolved. Now what are you

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going to do about it? The
prosecution made sure to lay out how David

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killed Belinda and staged a burglary,
pointing out that it would have been near

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impossible for an intruder to gain entry
with the family's aggressive dog on guard.

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Their argument as to motive was David's
relationship with Heather. The defense maintained that

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the issue of David's guilt wasn't the
slam dunk, the prosecution wanted the jury

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to think it was his attorney Stanley
Schneider told the jury the defense fully intended

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to explore some of the police investigation. Many of the same witnesses who had

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previously given evidence at David's past proceedings
were in attendance, and again they gave

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accounts consistent with their previous testimony.
According to The Houston Chronicle, David's ex

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wife, Heather nervously told the court
she had trouble remembering some of the key

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dates around their relationship before Belinda died. She did concur that when David was

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supposedly on a New Year's hunting trip
in nineteen ninety eight, he was actually

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staying with her. She also testified
that while she helped raise Evan, who

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called her mom, she and David
never once talked about Belinda's death in all

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their eighteen years of marriage, but
she did believe David was a loving and

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dedicated father who took Evan to visit
Belinda's grave. Nothing in Heather's testimony disparaged

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her ex husband. She agreed with
the prosecution that she told David they needed

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to end their affair, but then
in the days leading up to Belinda's murder,

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both Heather and David declared their love
for each other. David's sister in

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law, Rebecca Temple, testified for
the defense, telling the court that David

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was an amazing father who had worked
hard over the years to reconnect with his

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son. While Rebecca initially wanted nothing
to do with David following Belinda's death,

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according to the Houston Chronicle, she
now stated his marriage to Heather changed him

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for the better, testifying, I
saw a man that was softer and very

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caring and considerate. A key part
of the defense strategy appealing for leniency was

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David's apparent commitment to God, which
he had developed since first being incarcerated.

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Ex felons and even retired Texas Department
of Criminal Justice chaplain David Nichols spoke to

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David's devotion to his Christian faith as
well as his ministry during his time in

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prison. David's twenty eight year old
son, Evan, was consistent in his

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testimony. He spoke about having no
recollection of what happened on the day in

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question, let alone any memory of
his mother at all. The court heard

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how Evan felt abandoned as a child
by Belinda's family. This conflicted with her

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family's evidence, notably that they had
to obtain a court order to even see

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Evan. He testified how traumatized he
felt when his father was first sent to

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prison, saying, remember crying a
lot, hugging my mom Heather, and

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not knowing what was going to come
next or what life was going to look

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like without dad there. I want
my dad out of prison. I lost

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my dad once, I don't want
to lose him again. Evan maintained his

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father did not kill his mother,
though the court was directed to regard this

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not as fact but simply his opinion. In closing, David's lawyer asked the

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jury one question, focusing on Evan's
well being, asking what is the future

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of David Temple? As you think
about his future, you have to think

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about Evan. Punishing David is also
going to punish Evan. On April twenty

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first, twenty twenty three, after
two hours of deliberation, David Temple was

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once again sentenced to life in prison
plus a ten thousand dollars fine. He

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showed no emotion as the sentence was
read. It was a bittersweet moment for

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Belinda's family. Her mother Carol had
passed away in twenty fifteen, a year

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before David's conviction was overturned, so
she hadn't had to experience the turmoil of

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the second trial. Fighting back tears, Belinda's twin sister Brenda and brother Brian

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delivered emotional impact statements. Brenda's frustration
was palpable as you read. Belinda was

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my life. It has been hell
for me for the last twenty four years.

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I have suffered from PTSD. I
have felt survivor guilt. I will

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never understand why you killed Belinda.
David. You could have gotten divorced.

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You not only took Belinda away from
me, you took away my niece I

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never got to meet and watch grow
up. Brian told his brother in law,

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You're a despicable piece of trash.
You call our family white trash.

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Look at you, David. You
completely ruined our family. You ruined your

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family. No one else deprived Evan, no one else killed Belinda. That

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was your decision. I want you
to think about that for the rest of

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your life in prison and rot in
hell. The murder weapon used to kill

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Belinda Temple still has not been found. Almost twenty five years later, the

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time David had served while awaiting sentencing
was deducted from his total sentence. He

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will be eligible for parole in twenty
forty, when he will be seventy two

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years old, but the defense isn't
deterred and plans to appeal, which should

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surprise no one given how strongly David
maintains his innocence. Personally, I think

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David Temple is exactly where he belongs. If you listen to the original episodes

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on this case, I go into
great details supporting my belief, but I

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also play devil's advocate and illustrate the
holes in the case against David. I

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still believe he meticulously planned his wife's
murder, giving himself time to not only

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kill her, but also clean up
and get rid of the murder weapon,

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while still managing to give himself a
shaky alibi. And Riley Joe Sanders was

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thoroughly investigated and cleared, but also
since will tell you he and his friends

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did not have the wherewithal to execute
Belinda Temple without leaving any evidence behind.

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They were teenage potheads, not cold
blooded killers with a motive to kill Belinda.

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It was clear from the pristine crime
scene that Belinda's murder had been carefully

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planned. David was the only person
to have a real motive to kill his

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pregnant wife, and he almost got
away with it. Southern Fried True Crime

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is hosted and produced by me Erica
Kelly. Today's episode was researched and written

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by Jemma Harris, with additional writing
by me. As usual, any editorial

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comments and opinions are my own.
Southern Fried's original music is by Rob Harrison

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of Gamma Radio and the original graphic
art is by Coley Horner. Today's episode

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was edited and mixed by Brandon's Scheck
Snyder of Southern Gothic and Erica Kelly.

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