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Man Accused Of Killing Wife In '99 Extradited To Pinellas

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By MARK DOUGLAS

mdouglas@wfla.com

Published: November 13, 2008

Robert Glenn Temple is in the Pinellas County Jail today after his extradition from California to face a first-degree murder charge in the death of his wife nine years ago.

Temple has been in the Shasta County, Calif., jail since September, when authorities arrested him for threatening his girlfriend, Leslie Stewart, with a large knife the day before the nine-year anniversary of the disappearance of his wife, Rosemary Christensen, on Aug. 26, 1999.

Authorities in California dropped the assault charge after serving Temple with a Florida arrest warrant for first-degree murder in connection with Christensen's death in Pinellas County.

In telephone interviews from the Shasta County jail, Temple has told reporters he didn't kill his wife, but acknowledges helping dispose of her body in a wooded area next to the Suwannee River near property owned by his girlfriend's father.

Temple blames Stewart, who was 22 years old at the time, for Christensen's death. He says the three were involved in a sexual relationship at the time, but that he was out buying flowers and beer when the incident causing Christensen's death occurred.

Stewart led detectives and prosecutors to Christensen's burial site in September, after Temple's arrest. She says Temple killed Christensen and her role was limited to cleaning up the crime scene and disposing of Christensen's body. Pinellas prosecutors have given Stewart immunity if she testifies truthfully about the events surrounding Christensen's death.

Her lawyer, Jay Hebert, lived with the secret of Christensen's murder for nine years, unable to tell anyone because of attorney-client privilege. In September, Hebert says Stewart contacted him, said she wanted to confess, and he arranged her immunity agreement with prosecutors.

At the time of her disappearance, Christensen was a well-liked real estate agent in Belleair and shared a nearby condominium with Temple, which both he and Stewart say was where she died. Her disappearance sparked a massive search involving fliers, a private detective, and a reward offered by her employer.

After Christensen's death, Temple said he removed a bloodstained section of carpet from the bedroom and said with Stewart's help, he cleaned up the apartment with products he purchased along with a Rubbermaid container they used to transport her body to Gilchrist County for burial.

Temple is now in the medical wing of the Pinellas County Jail after his arrival at 11:52 Wednesday night and booking this morning and is awaiting an advisory hearing in front of a judge at 1:30 this afternoon.

Mark Douglas can be reached at (727) 536-9603.

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