Shattered: The True Story of a Mother's Love, a Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder (13 page)

“You know exactly what that meant,” David replied.

“I’m just teasing…You don’t have to get mad at me…
Just remember that’s all he gets is e-mail.”

“I didn’t want it to sound mean,” David replied. “I don’t care about that. Don’t send that unhappy face. It doesn’t fit.”

“
How’s that?” she replied.

“That’s my girl,” he e-mailed. “Much better.”

That afternoon, Heather e-mailed that she was counting down the minutes, first to lunch, then to the end of school. At one in the afternoon, David e-mailed, “It feels pretty good, doesn’t it. It’s almost time for cold beverages.”

Heather, however, didn’t feel well again, and she e-mailed that she didn’t plan on having much to drink, because she was sure that David didn’t want to take care of her. “I would love to babysit you,” he replied. Then later: “I’ll see you at happy hour. Bye.”

Perhaps Heather decided to take David up on his offer to talk to Quinton. That month, David called his fellow coach at home. Supplying, as he habitually did, an alibi, David instructed Quinton to tell Tammey that he needed to go to Belinda and David’s to help move something. That afternoon, Quinton did as told, but brought his middle daughter, two-year-old Avery. Once he got to the house, Quinton and Avery left with David to drive around while David talked.

“What are your intentions with Heather?” David asked.

“I don’t know,” Quinton replied.

“Would you be willing to leave your wife for her?” David pushed.

“No,” Quinton said. “What about you? Would you leave Belinda?”

David hesitated just a moment and then said, “I’m not sure.”

T
he holidays approached, and Brenda called Belinda late that fall, 1998, and said she wanted to come from Kansas for Christmas. Belinda loved Christmas, and the house was always decorated, but what Brenda wanted was just to spend time with Belinda and see three-year-old Evan open his presents. In a sense, Brenda’s visits were a tradition. Throughout their lives, she’d spent the holidays with her sister, including celebrating their joint birthday on December 30. This year it seemed even more important, since the sisters were turning thirty, entering a new decade of life. Making plans for her sister’s stay, Belinda sounded excited that Brenda was coming. But then, days later, Belinda called back and said, “I’m sorry. David doesn’t want you to come for Christmas. We’re going to be busy with his family. Why don’t you come after for our birthday?”

Disappointed, Brenda agreed. She could tell that it bothered Belinda to have to tell her that she couldn’t come, and she missed her. Belinda sounded upset on the telephone, but Brenda had no way of knowing how much was going wrong in her sister’s life. Since childhood on, Belinda had protected Brenda, and even now, with so much turmoil in her life, Belinda didn’t say anything about her problems to her sister.

Late that year, going into the seventh month of her pregnancy, Belinda often arrived at work appearing worn out. Cindy and Debbie pampered her, bringing over a chair so she could put up her feet and rest. Always loving to tease, Belinda sat back and relaxed. They called her their East Texas beauty queen, and she acted the part, ordering them around to do her bidding.

Going with the joke, Belinda’s surrogate moms teased and said that once Erin made her appearance, they’d sit back and issue orders to Belinda. At such times, the women laughed, discussing the excitement ahead, how soon Erin would arrive.

Yet, at other times, Belinda was quiet and serious. One afternoon, she walked through the parking lot with Debbie and said, “David doesn’t seem interested in me or the baby. I don’t think he wants the baby.” Crying, Belinda admitted, “I think he’s having an affair.”

Debbie tried to comfort her, but began to think that perhaps once the baby was born, she and Cindy needed to sit Belinda down for a serious talk, one where they explained to her that she had the right to be happy, and that maybe life with David Temple wasn’t worth so much pain.

But then, as always, Belinda backtracked, belittling her suspicions. “I don’t know, maybe I just feel this way because I’m pregnant,” she mused.

“Maybe so,” Debbie agreed. In her heart, she couldn’t believe any man would be unfaithful to Belinda. Why would he?

As the year began drawing to an end, Belinda expressed those same worries to Stacy Nissley, this time admitting, “I think my marriage is ending.”

Overcome with sadness, Belinda cried, but Stacy told her that she could hold her head high, that she knew Belinda had tried hard to keep the marriage together. Then, Belinda confessed what she’d already told Debbie: “I think David is having an affair, but I don’t have any proof.”

Football season ended for the year, but David was still rarely home. One who saw them often would later remember how David hardly ever looked at Belinda, treating her as if she weren’t even there. Yet Belinda still didn’t seem ready to admit defeat. “Belinda was in love with David, even then,” says Stacy. “She would have done anything for him, even walked away from the marriage, if that was what he wanted.”

As the Christmas break approached, Belinda sent e-mails to the Katy High faculty. First, she had finally given up on getting David to put up the nursery shelf, and she wanted a referral for a handyman. Second, she wrote: “As most of you know, I’ll be delivering a little one real soon.” What Belinda needed was a recommendation for a good substitute teacher to take over her work with her students. She worried about them, and wanted the teacher who replaced her to do the same.

Getting ready for the holidays, Belinda happened upon Staci Rios, her college roommate, at the mall, Christmas shopping. Belinda was in Victoria’s Secret looking at a maternity thong. “Belinda, you have no business wearing a thong now,” Staci teased. The two women laughed until they both cried.

Staci was pregnant, too, due any day, and they talked about their pregnancies and made a promise to get together soon.

At her Bunco game that month, Belinda and her friends, including Tammey, talked and laughed while they ate dinner. That was always a big part of the event, enjoying the hostess’s specialties, sometimes lasagna or a piping hot bowl of homemade chili with a salad and bread, followed by a fast-paced game with plenty of opportunity to catch up on each other’s lives. That evening, a few women noticed that Belinda looked anxious. Usually, she was the life of the party, cracking jokes and fighting to grab the dice and steal the Bunco when someone on the opposing team threw three sixes. Once she’d tackled the dice so aggressively, she’d scratched one of the other players. But this night, Belinda had little appetite and then played quietly.

As the holidays approached, Sheree, too, saw Belinda at the mall. She looked tired, and Sheree wasn’t surprised when Belinda said, “I’m ready. I can’t wait to have this baby girl and hold her in my arms.”

Appearing worried, Belinda talked about all the shopping she had yet to do. Sheree said she envied Belinda’s holiday break, nearly two whole weeks, but Belinda said she didn’t have enough time. She wanted to make Evan’s final Christmas before the baby arrived perfect, but she was feeling worn out.

“Evan’s only three,” Sheree pointed out. “He won’t even remember.”

“Oh, I just want this to be a special Christmas,” Belinda said, looking increasingly uncomfortable. She complained that the pregnancy was taking a toll on her, that her feet swelled and her back hurt.

“I don’t want to keep you here standing,” Sheree said.

“I’ll call when the baby comes,” Belinda assured her.

That year, Christmas arrived surrounded by controversy. Just before the end of school for the year, Katy High was thrown into turmoil. The football team had done well, and they were still playing, winding their way through the playoffs. But at one of the final games, a teacher in the stands saw one of her students playing. Unbeknownst to the coaches, the teenager had been given a progress report stating that he was failing, which presented a problem. A Texas law called “no pass/no play” required that students needed to be passing all classes to be eligible to compete in extracurricular activities.

A couple of weeks later, the team won a berth in the state championships. After a rousing pep rally, as the excited football team loaded gear onto the bus to go to the big game, spirits were high. The team was strong and expected to win. It was then that one of the coaches received a call from the principal. Because of the infraction, the Tigers were disqualified from the championship. Minutes earlier revved up for the big game, the players departed the bus shoulders sagging, more crestfallen than if they’d been trounced. That year the Tigers’ season ended in disappointment and disgrace. In a town that worshipped football, many were irate over the teacher who’d reported the violation.

That Christmas, Tara Hall wasn’t around the town house as much as in the past. By then, she and Pete Engler, a teacher at Hastings she’d met through Heather, were dating. Pete didn’t care for Heather, so Tara spent more time at his place than at hers. Yet, from what she did see, it appeared to Tara that the relationship between David and Heather was escalating, perhaps even becoming serious, as when over the holidays David dropped in to give Heather her Christmas gift, a beautiful gold necklace. “She looked pleased,” Tara would say later. “Heather hadn’t had a relationship in a long time, and David was really caring. I think he made her feel special.”

Later, Belinda told friends that David didn’t buy her anything that Christmas, explaining that they had agreed to forego big gifts for each other to save money for baby expenses. Evan had a full helping under the tree, however, including a brand-new bicycle with training wheels.

As always, Belinda and David spent Christmas at Ken and Maureen’s house, starting out with breakfast and going through the day. It was around the holidays that Belinda heard David talking about getting a vasectomy. “Belinda was really upset,” says a friend. “David had never mentioned it to her.”

Two days after Christmas, on the morning of Sunday, December 27, Belinda, David, and Evan drove to Cleveland, Texas, halfway to Nacogdoches, to meet Tom, Carol, and Brenda. The plan was to pick up Brenda and drive her to Katy. On the phone earlier that week, Belinda had told Brenda that David didn’t want to make the drive, but Brenda insisted Belinda had to make him. She didn’t want her sister, so far into her pregnancy, to drive alone. Besides, Tom and Carol had asked to see David and Evan. It had been a long time since they’d all gathered together.

That afternoon, they met at a McDonald’s, ate lunch, and talked briefly. Evan sang the song “B-I-N-G-O,” and everyone laughed. When he sang the alphabet, he seemed especially excited about the letter “S,” because Belinda had taught him the song “You Are My Sunshine.”

“S is in sunshine,” Evan said, beaming, and they all reassured him that he was absolutely correct.

At one point, Evan walked over and kissed Belinda’s round belly, smiled and then started singing to his mother’s wide girth. “That’s Erin inside,” the toddler told Brenda.

After lunch, Brenda put her suitcase in Belinda’s red Isuzu, and Tom and Carol headed north to Nacogdoches, while David and Belinda drove west, bringing Brenda to their house in Katy for a five-day visit, including a celebration of the sisters’ thirtieth birthday. They arrived at the house about noon, and David carried Brenda’s suitcase upstairs, to the nursery, where they had a bed for her, and Belinda showed off all she’d done, including painting the room.

Much at her sister’s house seemed changed to Brenda on this visit. With Belinda pregnant, Willie, the gray cat, was relegated to the outdoors. To give it a place to sleep, Belinda had put a blanket in the garage, along with a litter box and bowls for cat food. Shaka, too, spent more time outside than Brenda remembered. But what struck Brenda from the first night of the visit were the elevated tensions in the house.

While David and Belinda had sometimes sniped back and forth, it always seemed no different than most married couples. Now, however, they argued, more than Brenda had seen before. And David didn’t appear to understand when to back off.

“Look at her big butt,” he said ruefully, on Brenda’s first night with her sister and brother-in-law. “Your sister’s got a big butt.”

“David, I’m pregnant,” Belinda said, appearing hurt and upset.

But David didn’t stop. Over and over again he mentioned it, until Brenda finally looked at him and said, “Shut up, David. Don’t say that.” Only then did he let it go. David had never ridiculed Belinda in front of Brenda before.

That evening, they went out for Chinese food, and afterward, Brenda was in the den while Belinda and David were in the adjacent room, the kitchen. Brenda didn’t hear what David said, but she heard her sister’s reply. “You’re not happy about having this baby girl,” Belinda snapped.

“If you say that again…” David warned, but Brenda looked up and her eyes met his. He paused and suddenly went quiet.

Football season was over at Hastings and the staff was on vacation, yet the next day, David left early in the afternoon, saying he had to meet with the coaches. Belinda said nothing, but she appeared upset. “There was no arguing with him,” says Brenda. “Belinda let him do his thing.”

The following morning, a Tuesday, Brenda and Belinda drove to Walmart. Belinda had been stocking up on diapers with each paycheck, and they bought more supplies for the baby. At home, a few hours later, Belinda, bulky and uncomfortable from the pregnancy, twisted her ankle. “Clumsy,” Brenda heard David say under his breath. Belinda said nothing.

That afternoon, they headed toward downtown Houston, exiting at the Texas Medical Center, a 1,000-acre maze of high-rise hospitals off South Main Street. One of David’s cousins had been severely injured in a car accident, and Brenda waited outside in the hospital corridor with Evan while Belinda and David went into the room for a visit. Afterward, they stopped at the Houston Zoo, a short distance away, and pushed Evan in a stroller, wandering through the winding paths that took them from the monkeys to the lumbering elephants and growling lions.

The following day, the third of Brenda’s visit, would be busy. That morning, Brenda sat in the waiting room at the obstetrician’s office, thumbing through magazines, while Belinda and David talked to the doctor. Afterward, Belinda filled Brenda in, saying Erin was growing, and the doctor thought the baby might make her appearance earlier than the official mid-February due date.

From there, they drove to a Department of Public Safety office to renew Belinda’s driver’s license, which expired that day, on her birthday. David didn’t want to go and was in a foul mood. When he saw the long lines, he insisted they leave, but Belinda stood up to him, saying she had to stay. His attitude deteriorated further when, after the tedious wait in line, Belinda hit a glitch. Although she wore glasses to drive, she’d never before needed them for the vision test. This year, for the first time, she couldn’t pass without her glasses. The catch was that Belinda had left them at home.

All the way back to Round Valley, David smoldered, and he and Belinda argued. When they arrived, Belinda grabbed her glasses and left, returning to the DPS station alone. The pressure in the house was palpable, and Brenda had never before seen things so strained between Belinda and David.

Later that afternoon, Brenda went with Belinda to the beauty salon. While Belinda had her hair cut, Brenda shopped in the small stores in the surrounding strip center. She felt bad for Belinda, who’d looked depressed, and Brenda found something she hoped would cheer her sister up, a small gift for their birthday, a statue with two angels, one blond like Belinda and one with dark hair like Brenda’s. She also bought a pink plastic bank for the baby and a few toys. When Brenda gave Belinda the gifts, she appeared excited, and at the house she showed them to David, but he stared vacantly at the television, hardly looking. Brenda never saw David give Belinda a birthday present that year, and she wondered again but didn’t ask what was wrong.