In the early hours of June 13, 1980, Betty Gore’s life ended in unimaginable horror. Her body was discovered on the floor of her home’s utility room in Wylie, Texas, brutally killed with an axe. Betty, a young mother of two, was hit 41 times with the weapon, a fact that would shock not only her family but the entire town and much of Texas. The case became even more chilling as investigators began to focus on one of Betty’s closest friends, Candy Montgomery—a suburban wife and mother herself—who harboured secrets that few could have imagined.
The Unlikely Friendship of Betty and Candy
Candy Montgomery, born Candace Wheeler in 1951 in Lucas, Texas, had a childhood marked by constant movement as the daughter of an Army serviceman. Like many children of military families, she grew up as an ‘Army brat,’ shifting between bases and towns. As an adult, Candy seemed to find stability, meeting and marrying Pat Montgomery, a young and successful electrical engineer at Texas Instruments. The couple settled in Wylie, Texas, a quiet town perfect for raising a family. By 1973, Candy had given birth to their first child, Jenny, followed a year later by their son, Ian. Seeking connection, Candy joined the First United Methodist Church of Lucas, where she found a community and ultimately a friend in Betty Gore.
Betty Gore’s background mirrored Candy’s in many ways. She had met her husband, Allan Gore, while working as a teaching assistant at university, and the two married in 1970. Allan took a job as an engineer at Rockwell International, and they eventually settled in Collin County, Texas, where they welcomed their first daughter, Alisa. Betty devoted herself to family life, and Alisa became friends with Candy’s daughter Jenny, further solidifying the bond between the two women and their families. Candy and Betty were a classic image of suburban friendship—until an unexpected attraction surfaced that would ultimately turn deadly.
The Secret Affair that Ignited a Tragedy
In the summer of 1978, Candy Montgomery and Allan Gore found themselves drawn to each other in a way that would soon cross boundaries. After a chance encounter on the church volleyball court, the two began exchanging flirtations that quickly developed into a secretive affair. Candy and Allan, both feeling the strains of their respective marriages, sought solace in each other, but they maintained a strict plan to keep things casual, meeting discreetly at the Como Motel in Richardson, Texas. Their meetings were clandestine and carefully scheduled to avoid suspicion.
While Betty was pregnant with her second child, Bethany, in early 1979, Allan struggled with the guilt of his affair and eventually called it off, hoping to focus on his family. Candy, however, was devastated by the abrupt end. Their lives returned to an uneasy normality, but the emotional undercurrents of the affair lingered, waiting for the day when they would erupt into violence.
The Deadly Encounter on June 13, 1980
That fateful day, Allan Gore was away on a business trip to Minnesota, leaving Betty alone with their newborn Bethany. Candy had agreed to watch Alisa for the day to give Betty some time to rest. However, Candy stopped by the Gore household to pick up a swimsuit for Alisa, and what was meant to be a brief visit turned into a deadly confrontation.
According to Candy’s later testimony, Betty confronted her directly about the affair, reportedly asking, “Candy, are you having an affair with Allan?” When Candy admitted to the relationship, Betty allegedly flew into a rage, grabbing an axe from her utility room and swinging it at Candy. Candy claimed that she managed to wrestle the axe away from Betty and, in what she described as self-defence, struck her friend repeatedly, leaving her unrecognisable. Candy would later testify that she blacked out during the incident, striking Betty 41 times in a frenzy she couldn’t fully recall.
The aftermath was haunting. Candy left the house, leaving baby Bethany asleep in her crib upstairs, oblivious to the tragic scene below. Candy returned to her day-to-day life, attempting to act as if nothing had happened, but the violence and horror of her actions were far from over.
The Discovery and a Community in Shock
That evening, Allan became increasingly concerned when he couldn’t reach Betty. He called a neighbour, Richard Parker, and asked him to check on her. Richard, along with neighbours Jerry McMahan and Lester Gayler, entered the Gore home and found a bloodbath. “Thick, congealed reddish-brown oceans of blood” lined the tiles, leading them to the gruesome discovery of Betty’s mutilated body. The community was horrified; no one could comprehend how such a violent act could occur in their quiet town.
Allan reached out to Candy, who assured him that everything was likely fine, claiming she had seen Betty earlier in the day. But investigators were quick to gather evidence, noting a bloody shoe print, as well as blood in the bathroom, suggesting that the killer had attempted to clean up before leaving the scene.
The Arrest and Candy’s Shocking Testimony
As police dug deeper, they zeroed in on Candy as their primary suspect. When a five-year-old friend of Alisa’s revealed that she’d seen Candy leaving the Gore house around 11 a.m., the timeline started to fall into place. Candy’s refusal to take a polygraph test and her unsettling calm after the murder only intensified police suspicion. On June 27, Candy was formally arrested and charged with murder, a shock to the community and to those who had once seen her as a dedicated friend and mother.
The trial began in October 1980 and lasted eight days, with defence attorney Dan Crowder presenting a controversial argument that Candy had acted in self-defence. Dr. Fred Fason, a psychiatrist from Houston, testified that Candy had blacked out during the killing, a result of suppressed trauma from her childhood. Fason had placed Candy under hypnosis before the trial, where she recalled the sensation of shushing Betty as she died—a haunting echo of a memory from her own past when her mother had shushed her as a child.
Candy’s testimony was gripping, and her repeated statement, “I hit her. I hit her. I hit her,” became one of the most infamous moments of the trial. After deliberating for just three hours, the jury of nine women and three men reached a surprising verdict: Candy Montgomery was acquitted on October 30, 1980. The decision stunned the courtroom and left the community grappling with a sense of disbelief.
The Aftermath and Candy’s New Life
After her acquittal, Candy and her family moved far from Wylie, trying to escape the notoriety that the trial had brought. However, the Montgomerys’ marriage soon fell apart, and Candy eventually relocated to Georgia. Today, she reportedly works as a licensed therapist and family counsellor, leading a life far removed from the events that once made her infamous.
Sources
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Atkinson, Jim, and Bloom, John. Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs. Open Road Media, 2016. https://www.openroadmedia.com/evidence-of-love
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“The Shocking True Story Behind Candy Montgomery’s Axe Murder Case.” Texas Monthly, February 1, 1984. https://www.texasmonthly.com/candy-montgomery-case
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St. James, Simone. “True Crime: The Candy Montgomery Case.” Crime and Investigation UK. https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/candy-montgomery
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Lang, Brent. “The True Story Behind Hulu’s Candy Montgomery Series.” Variety, March 10, 2022. https://variety.com/2022/03/candy-montgomery
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“Candy Montgomery Case: The Affair, the Murder, and the Trial.” People Magazine, May 13, 2022. https://www.people.com/candy-montgomery-case
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“The Unlikely Killer: Candy Montgomery and the Brutal Axe Murder of Betty Gore.” The True Crime Files. https://www.thetruecrimefiles.com/candy-montgomery
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