Shattered: The True Story of a Mother's Love, a Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder Read Online Free PDF Page A

and they’d ask David about it. Then they’d go to the person and say, ‘David said he didn’t do that.’ As far as Maureen and Kenny were concerned, the issue was closed,” says Thompson. “It was as if David was untouchable. I don’t ever remember him being held accountable.”
    In grade school, David was held back a year, which only helped when it came to football, making him older, bigger and stronger than the other kids on the field. Although few believed that he needed any more advantages. “He was just so much better than the other kids,” says the father of one teammate. “David, from the beginning, was a standout.”
    By junior high, David was one of the starters on the team. He’d continued to bulk up and grow stronger every year. “We used to make fun of how big David’s head was,” says a friend. Off the field, he continued to be a contradiction. He had the ability to be funny and even charismatic. One afternoon, at the home of a friend whose dad was a deputy sheriff, David donned the man’s uniform and paraded through the house, mimicking a tough cop, and eliciting squeals of laughter from his amused friends, who turned to him when they wanted someone to fight their battles. “When we needed someone taken care of, we told David,” says a friend. “He’d wait for the kid when school let out. Most of the time, the kid took one look at David and ran.”
    Another friend puts it this way: “David had a gentle side about him, but there was absolutely a dark side. There was this egotistical side, the part of him that thinks the world revolves around him.”
    In Katy, there was no reason for David Temple to think anything other than that he was exceptional. As junior high passed and his exploits on the football field were bantered about in town, many viewed him as a hope for the future, one of those who might help turn around the fortune of the Katy High School football team. Despite the town’s support and the impressive stadium on a hill off Katyland Drive with the U.S. and Texas flags flying overhead, the Tigers had gone through a long dry spell. And many were hopeful that David Temple would help lead the local kids to victory.
    When it came to girls, David had the advantage every star athlete enjoys, of being considered special and therefore wanted. By junior high, he’d found himself attracted to girls much like him, young athletes. Yet part of David didn’t appear to believe that cute and athletic was enough. “He always fit better with the tomboys,” says Thompson. “But he always thought he was supposed to be with a bombshell.”
    In junior high and early in high school, David dated a perky, energetic young woman with dark hair whose father worked for the Katy School District. Hillary Brooks was enthusiastic and fun, she played basketball, and she appeared to adore him. But as much as, at times, he seemed dedicated to her, David often pushed her to the side in favor of another girl, a pretty blond named Jimi Barlow. Friends would recall how, going into ninth grade, David fluctuated between the two girls, getting serious with Hillary only to suddenly disappear from her life and return to Jimi. “I remember this going on for years,” says a friend.
    Finally, Hillary had had enough, planting her feet and holding her ground. She refused to take David back when he asked. No matter how he pleaded, Hillary was finished, even though her own father idolized David. It was one of the few times David’s friends would remember when he became openly emotional. “I saw him cry when she broke up with him,” says a friend. “I was so amazed. I actually saw David Temple cry.”
    Although he’d professed his affection, that wouldn’t protect Hillary from Temple’s temper. Once she rebuffed him, he attacked, jeering at her and calling her names, including “horse head,” because she had a slightly long face. David urged his friends to join in and do the same, and before long, Hillary was greeted