Shattered (book)

Shattered
Author Kathryn Casey
Language English
Genre True crime, Biography
Publisher HarperCollins
Publication date
 2010
Pages 384 pp (Paperback ed)
ISBN 0-06-158202-6
OCLC 2010484377

SHATTERED: The True Story of a Mother's Love, a Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder, by author and novelist Kathryn Casey, is a true crime account of the killing of a pregnant woman whose body was discovered in 1999 in an upstairs closet in her home in Katy, Texas, near Houston. The book was published by HarperCollins in June 2010.

Case information

Belinda Lucas and David Temple dated as classmates at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas. David became a high school coach, and Belinda a teacher. They married and had one child, a boy. On January 11, 1999, when their son was 3 years old, Belinda, 30 years old and eight months pregnant with their second child, was killed by a single gunshot blast to her head. The weapon, a 12-gauge shotgun, was never found.

The case remained long unsolved; eventually the investigation revealed a history of cruelty and domination by Belinda’s husband, a respected member of his town’s close-knit community.

Despite being represented by Dick DeGuerin, a renowned Texas defense lawyer, David Temple was convicted of murder in the deaths of his wife and unborn baby girl in November 2007. Belinda had planned to name their daughter Erin.[1] He was sentenced to life in prison, to be eligible for parole after 30 years. He has appealed the conviction.[2]

It was reported in July 2015 that Judge Larry Gist, after reviewing nearly three months of witness testimony in a habeas hearing, "has accused former Harris County prosecutor Kelly Siegler of withholding evidence in the murder case against David Mark Temple... and has recommended that Temple be granted a new trial." Prosecutors "intentionally, deliberately, or negligently failed to disclose" investigators' reports and witness statements that pointed to other suspects, but Siegler continued the suppression even following the conviction, according to the findings. Siegler testified in the hearing that potential exculpatory evidence didn't need to be disclosed if prosecutors "did not believe it was true."[3]

Reception

The book has stayed on Amazon.com's Top 100 bestseller list since its release in June 2010.[4]

Crime Magazine wrote that "Casey brings all the participants in this tragedy, both heroic and villainous, vividly to life."[5] The Daily Sentinel called the book a "heartbreaking story of the murder of a young pregnant mother and a frustrating investigation... ."

‘’Shattered’’ made the Book of the Month Club listing upon its release.[6] It also made Doubleday’s Book Club under the true crime and drama genres.[7]

CBS News’ “48 Hours Mystery” covered the case in a December 2008 segment titled “A Guessing Game."[8]

References

  1. ↑ KPRC-TV Local 2, "David Temple Guilty Of Killing Pregnant Wife," November 15, 2007
  2. ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Temple sentenced to life for pregnant wife's murder," November 20, 2007
  3. ↑ Houston Press, "Judge Says Ex-Prosecutor Kelly Siegler Withheld Evidence in David Temple Case"
  4. ↑ Amazon.com, "Bestsellers in True Crime"
  5. ↑ ‘’Crime Magazine’’, “Book ‘Em Volume 33: Crime Magazine's Review of True-Crime Books,” May 30, 2011 (scroll down)
  6. ↑ Book of the Month Club listing
  7. ↑ Doubleday Book Club listing
  8. ↑ CBS News, "48 Hours Mystery," "A Guessing Game," December 8, 2008

External links

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