In 1999, the death of his wife began a criminal case against the former coach

HOUSTON (AP) – The sentencing hearing for a former Houston-area high school football coach accused twice of killing his pregnant wife in a robbery that authorities say began 24 years ago began Monday.

David Mark Temple, 54; He was charged a second time in August 2019 He killed his wife Belinda. But the jury could not decide on a single sentence Judge to announce the verdict. Prosecutors had asked for a life sentence.

A retrial for David Temple, who is being held at the Harris County Jail, has been delayed in part by the coronavirus.

Belinda Temple, 30, was shot at her home in the early hours of Jan. 11, 1999, in what was believed to be a burglary, authorities said.

Prosecutors later accused David Temple of committing a burglary at his suburban Houston home and shooting his eight-months-pregnant wife. David Temple married a woman he would later see. Aliff was the football coach at Hastings High School and was not charged with the murder until five years after the murder.

“He’s been found guilty of this. So (what he did) is resolved. Now … what are you going to do? Lisa Tanner, a special prosecutor in the Texas Attorney General’s office, told jurors during opening statements Monday.

But Stanley Schneider, one of David Temple’s lawyers, told jurors that his client’s guilt was not settled and that he planned to “look into some of the police investigation.”

“He told the police that he did not kill his wife. He said this on January 11, 1999, and he has said it continuously since then,” Schneider said.

A jury convicted David Temple of the 2007 murder, but the Texas Supreme Court He overturned the conviction. In the year In 2016, prosecutors withheld evidence.

After the conviction was overturned, special prosecutors were assigned when the Harris County District Attorney’s Office recused itself due to a conflict of interest.

David Temple’s second wife filed for divorce in 2019 amid retrials.

Defense lawyers argued that the killer was a teenager who lived in the area around the temples.