Details Of The Murder Candy Montgomery Committed
The town of Wylie, Texas, was just a small, quiet suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth when Candy Montgomery committed her brutal crime. According to Local Profile, there were only about 4,000 residents there in 1980, and Montgomery and her family moved to town in 1977 (per Texas Monthly). She and her husband Pat had married in the early 1970s while the pair worked at Texas Instruments, where he was an engineer and rising star, and Candy had a job as a secretary.
The move to Wylie was supposed to be a dream come true for Montgomery, but she soon became restless with the slow pace of suburban life. As the daughter of an Army soldier, she moved around a lot while she was growing up and enjoyed meeting new people and seeing new places. But in Wylie, adventure and novelty were in short supply. Perhaps her need for excitement led to what proved to be a deadly encounter.
Candy Montgomery began an affair
Candy Montgomery toyed with the idea of having an affair. She found herself drawn to Allan Gore, another member of her church (via Texas Monthly). Like Candy, Allan was also married. The Montgomerys and the Gores had become friends through church, and their daughters met through Sunday school and became close, per Local Profile. Allan Gore was his wife Betty's math teacher in college, and they had been married for 10 years. But neither Candy's friendship with the Gores nor the Gores' long-standing relationship deterred her from pursuing Allan.
Candy was the first one to propose the idea of having an affair with Allan in 1978. The pair spent weeks discussing the possibility of a sexual relationship before anything happened between them. They worked out all the details and hatched an elaborate plan for when they would meet, where they would have their rendezvouses, and even how they would share the costs associated with their trysts, according to Texas Monthly. The plan was to meet up every two weeks, and their affair began in earnest in December 1978.
Allan's wife had suspicions about Candy
During much of the affair, Candy Montgomery acted as if nothing was going on between her and Allan Gore. She even threw a baby shower for Betty Gore, who was expecting the couple's second child (via Local Profile). But the secret relationship began to change after the birth of Betty and Allan's daughter, Bethany. Meanwhile, Betty had become suspicious of her husband, and the Gores went away for a marriage counseling weekend to work on their relationship. Candy even watched their daughter Alisa while they were out of town.
Not long after that weekend, Candy's illicit romance with Allan ended. They had seen each other for about seven months, and then they seemed to carry on as if nothing ever happened. According to The Dallas Morning News, Candy didn't think Betty had learned the truth about her relationship with Allan. But on Friday, June 13, 1980, it became clear that Betty Gore had her suspicions about Candy, and the situation exploded into a violent confrontation that left one of them dead.
Candy's argument with Betty turned violent
On Friday, June 30, Candy Montgomery came by the Gores to pick up a swimsuit for Alisa Gore, per The Dallas Morning News. Alisa had spent the night before at the Montgomery house, and Candy was going to take Alisa to a swimming lesson. When Candy arrived at the Gore home, she talked with Betty for a bit while Allan was away for work. During their conversation, Betty accused Candy of having an affair with her husband, and the pair started arguing with each other. As to what happened next, only one side of the story is known, and that information comes from what Candy told the police.
Candy allegedly admitted to the affair, and Betty went and got an ax. Betty didn't want to see her ever again, according to Texas Monthly. But she was still going to let Candy take her daughter to her lesson. According to Candy's version of events, Betty suddenly became enraged, and a struggle ensued. The two women battled for control of the ax, and eventually, Candy got the upper hand.
Candy Montgomery brutally killed Betty Gore
Candy Montgomery hit Betty Gore on the head with the ax, but that first injury reportedly didn't slow her down — she continued to fight with Candy in the Gore family's utility room (via Texas Monthly). Candy later explained that she was just trying to get away, but Betty kept going after her. By the end, however, Candy had struck Betty 41 times, according to The Dallas Morning News. Experts later testified that Betty was most likely unconscious during many of these blows.
After the struggle, the utility room was covered in Betty's blood. She had been badly mutilated in the frenzied attack. Oddly, Candy had the presence of mind to go to the bathroom to wash off the blood. She then left the house without a thought for the Gores' infant daughter, who was in her crib. Candy Montgomery acted as if nothing had happened and followed her usual routine after the killing.
It was Betty's husband who became concerned when he couldn't reach his wife on the phone. He asked a neighbor to check on her, and that's when the body was discovered. The town of Wylie was wracked with fear as it had never seen such a gruesome crime. Who could commit such a hideous act?
Candy claimed self-defense
Allan Gore even called Candy Montgomery after his wife's murder, never suspecting that she was Betty's killer, per Texas Monthly. But soon, information about their affair surfaced, and the fact that Candy was the last person to see Betty Gore alive made her the prime suspect. Candy was charged with murder, but she had such a difficult time remembering what had happened that fateful day. A psychiatrist conducted several sessions with her using hypnotism to unlock her memories of the murder.
Candy Montgomery's lawyer claimed that she acted in self-defense, according to The Dallas Morning News. A psychiatrist testified that she experienced a "dissociative reaction" and didn't understand how many times she had struck Betty with the ax. The jury apparently believed this explanation of her violent behavior because on October 29, 1980, Candy Montgomery was acquitted of Betty Gore's murder. She left Texas only a few months after her trial.
For more than 40 years, this horrific crime has continued to draw much interest and speculation about what really happened that June day in 1980. This tale of an ax-murdering housewife has been chronicled in the 1984 book "Evidence of Love: A True Story of Love and Death in the Suburbs" and is the source material for several television projects.