Shattered: The True Story of a Mother's Love, a Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder by Kathryn Casey

stroller beside her. Jackie Cerame, who lived across the street, had a child just a little older than Evan. Some afternoons, Jackie passed time with Belinda as they watched the children play. David was rarely around, and gradually, Belinda began confiding in Jackie, talking about the problems in her marriage. “David doesn’t want me to see my family,” she told her. “I feel as if I need to, but he doesn’t like them, and he doesn’t want Evan around them.”
    Jackie wasn’t sure what to respond, other than to say that Belinda had the right to see her own parents. “I think it’s good for Evan to have both families,” Jackie said. Belinda agreed, but then said again that David didn’t like it when she visited. At such times, Belinda talked wistfully of her family, missing them.
    Jackie wasn’t the only one who heard about the troubles in the Temple marriage. Not long after they became friends, Belinda revealed her disappointment to Sheree as well. “David says he’s not comfortable around my family,” Belinda told her one afternoon. Sheree and Belinda talked, and over time the older woman noticed changes in the young mother. When they first met, Belinda cleaved willingly to the Temples, talking of them often and saying how much she admired them. But as time passed and their lives continued to be centered on David’s family, Belinda sounded less enamored, calling Maureen “Mother Temple.”
    “It wasn’t always said with affection,” says Sheree. “I think Belinda grew tired of spending every holiday and vacation with them.”
    If David kept Belinda and Evan away from the Lucases, their daughter made a point of not losing contact. Nearly every Sunday, she called. “Mops and Pops, it’s Number Five,” she’d say happily. Then she rambled on about what was new in her life, especially Evan’s latest accomplishment, his first words and the funny things children do that bring smiles to their grandparents. What Belinda rarely talked about was David. “She didn’t mention him, and when we asked, she just said, ‘David’s fine,’” remembers Carol.
    That fall, Evan was in day care and Belinda was back at work. At school, she told stories about her infant son, putting his picture up in her classroom. But there was no doubt that Belinda also loved teaching. She joked with her students, urging them to study, ribbing them when they didn’t bring in their work. She was the teacher with the most elaborate Halloween costumes and the one who shouted the loudest at pep rallies. Loving music, Belinda broke into song at any moment. When OMC’s “How Bizarre” played on the radio, her fellow teachers laughed as Belinda sang along with her East Texas drawl, pronouncing the refrain, “How bizine.”
    While they didn’t see each other often, David’s Katy High School teammate and friend Mike Fleener and his wife came to the house a couple of times. Fleener took an immediate liking to Belinda. Although others noticed that Belinda was quieter around David, she still had that spark about her, a joy for life. While they were there, David locked Shaka in the bedroom, but the entire time, the dog snarled, making Fleener eager to leave. “I was afraid of that dog,” says Fleener. “We didn’t stay long.”
    On Comstock Springs, Shaka was well known among the neighbors. The children loved Belinda and congregated around her in the driveway when she was outside, wanting to talk and play with Evan, but they gave the dog a wide berth, and their parents watched the chow carefully, wary of it.
    That fall, David worked outside one afternoon with Shaka chained in the front yard. A friendly lab mix from down the block roamed free, walking the street, and as a group of neighbors watched, the lab, tail wagging, ran up to Shaka as if wanting to play. Immediately, the dark brown chow lunged at the other dog, Shaka latching his powerful jaws onto the lab’s neck and shaking it.
    Remarkably, David just watched. He didn’t shout