Shattered (Casey book)

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 until the prosecutor established that Temple, a football coach and teacher, had been a controlling and emotionally abusive husband involved in an extra-marital affair and, thus, had a motive for killing Belinda.

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. He was sentenced to life in prison, to be eligible for parole after 30 years. He appealed the conviction.

In July 2015, Judge Larry Gist, after reviewing nearly three months of witness testimony in a hearing, ruled that David Temple should be granted a new trial based on Brady violations—which delineates the prosecutor's duty to supply evidence to the defense attorney—by Deputy District Attorney Kelly Siegler, who went on to star in TNT Network's reality TV show Cold Justice.

In November 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed and ordered a new trial for Temple. In its ruling, the court rejected claims of innocence and ineffective assistance of counsel and agreed with Gist that Siegler, as the prosecutor, failed to turn over evidence in a timely manner and that the delay may have hampered the defense's ability to effectively defend Temple. In its ruling, the court wrote: "Most of the Brady evidence about which Applicant complains was contained within the several hundred pages of police reports that were not provided to defense counsel until some time during the trial. ...A prosecutor who errs on the side of withholding evidence from the defense runs the risk of violating Brady if the reviewing court ultimately decides that it should be turned over. The habeas judge found, and we agree, that this prosecutor's misconception regarding her duty under Brady was 'of enormous significance.'"

The appellate court then ruled that the guilty verdict from the original trial be set aside and Temple be granted a new trial. On December 28, 2016, Temple was released on a $30,000 bond.

Reception

The book remained on Amazon.com's Top 100 bestseller for months after its June 2010 release.

Crime Magazine wrote that "Casey brings all the participants in this tragedy, both heroic and villainous, vividly to life." 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. It also was included on Doubleday’s Book Club list under the true crime and drama genres.

CBS News’ “48 Hours Mystery” covered the case in a December 2008 segment titled “A Guessing Game," and CBS News "48 Hours" series followed in March 2016 with an episode titled "Playing by the Rules?"