Should Candy Montgomery be referred to be a devoted mother or an axe murderer? The main suspect in Betty Gore’s gruesome murder was Candy Montgomery.
To learn more about this terrifying murder mystery, keep reading.
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Who is Candy Montgomery?
American housewife Candy Montogomery, also known as Candace Wheeler. She was charged with killing Betty Gore, the lover’s wife. She used a 3-foot axe to attack Gore 41 times. The aforementioned occurrence occurred on June 13, 1980, in Whylie, Texas.
Candy was 30 years old when the event occurred. Pat Montgomery, an electrical engineer, was her husband. She was the mother of a girl and a boy. She visited the First United Methodist Church of Lucas regularly, just like any other Christian wife.
The Murder of Betty Gore
Two of Betty Gore’s neighbors, Lester Gaylor and Richard Parker discovered the deceased elementary school teacher. At the Texas house, she lived with her husband and kids, her body was discovered with 41 axe wounds. The murder weapon was taken into custody. What occurred, then?
Betty Gore and Candy became great friends after they met at a church event. She shared a home with her husband Allan, two children, and Candy, with whom she had an adulterous relationship.
When Gore’s husband Allan was away, everything turned sour. He asked the neighbors to get in touch with his wife when he was unable to reach her. They broke down the door of the house, but it was already too late.
When Betty’s body was found, it had been severely dismembered. Their little daughter Bethany was awake and sobbing while sleeping in her cot in a different room. The crime scene’s fingerprint and footprint evidence pointed to Candy. On June 27, Candy was put in custody.
Candy takes Self-Defense Plea
In October 1980, Candy Montgomery’s trial got underway, and she admitted to killing Betty Gore while claiming that she had been acting in self-defense. Eight days of the trial were spent in McKinney, and the jury was made up of nine women and three males.
If we go back to the day of the crime, it all began when Candy offered to transport Alisa, Betty’s elder daughter, to her swing class the next day after she spent the night at the Montgomery residence. The two spouses got into a fight over Candy’s involvement with Allan when she came by the Gore home to pick up Alisa’s bikini.
Robert Udashen, Candy’s defense counsel, alleged in court that Betty assaulted Candy with an axe on the day of the encounter. Candy prevailed in this struggle and overcharged Betty, killing her.
However, it was discovered after the autopsy that Betty had received some axe wounds while she was asleep. Betty also stated that she was forced to use an axe because Gore had just attempted to hit her with the same tool seconds before. Before the trial, Montgomery had a polygraph examination, revealing that she was telling the truth.
District attorney Tom O’Connell, however, made a compelling case that she might have left the area. He argued that the case could not qualify as self-defense since the number of attacks—41—was out of proportion.
On October 30, 1980, district judge Tom Ryan ultimately ruled Candy Montgomery not guilty of the crime. To anyone with a rational mind, this judgment was surprising. After Candy was found not guilty, many criticized the decision and yelled “Murderer! Murderer!” as she left the courthouse. The Father of Betty said:
“In my opinion, justice will be carried out. She must accept it… I wouldn’t say that I was pleased with the outcome. We are unaware of what occurred and will never be aware of it.
Where is Candy Montgomery Now?
Candy was questioned about the rationale for her adulterous affair while having a successful family. She said the relationship with Allan was not an emotional one. What she wanted was to jolt her “very dull” marriage to Pat. She said that they intended to keep their separate husbands as their spouses.
Candy could be found not guilty, but she would always feel guilty. She currently works as a therapist for adults and teenagers under the name Candace Wheeler. She and her husband were divorced following the trial, and Pat relocated to Georgia. Candy is still a Texas resident, according to reputable sources.
Where are Candy Montgomery’s children today?
The kids were not identified through legal records since they were not mentioned in court. Throughout the years, numerous dramatizations of Candy’s life have given them a variety of titles. They go by the names Becky and Jason in the most recent Disney+ series. Their names are Sara and Sean in the 1990 television film A Killing In A Small Town. Their names were Jennifer and Ian, according to The Cinemaholic(opens in new tab).
The article also implied that despite whatever pain their mother’s acts may have caused, both children are now married, have kids of their own, and still enjoy a close relationship with both parents. No proof of this, however, was shown.
Where are Betty Gore’s children today?
Bustle (opens in new tab) reports that Lisa graduated from Norwich High School in 1992 before going on to Kansas State University to earn a degree in accounting. They indicate her LinkedIn profile states she presently works as a business controller for an Engineering firm. Although having been raised apart from her father, they are friends on Facebook, and Allan has given his opinion on several of her out-in-public photos.
According to her Facebook page, Bethany is currently employed as an assistant principal at an institution in Las Vegas after graduating from Wichita State University. It is known that she has two kids, however, a family Facebook photo shows her with three kids, indicating that she may have more than two.
About the Series
Reporters John Bloom and Jim Atkinson were the first to follow the story, and they later wrote a well-researched book about it titled “Proof of Love: A Real Tale of Passion and Murder in the Suburbs” in 1984. These two series were created with a lot of aid from the book. How do you feel about this situation?
This terrifying story is rendered in a “sepia-toned” manner by Candy on Hulu. Candy is portrayed by Jessica Biel, while Betty Gore is portrayed by Melanie Lynskey. After more than forty years, the series will revisit the incident.
It was released on May 9, 2022. Michael Uppendahi, the director of Candy and Mad Men, said, “I alter my approach to material based on everything that I do. Regardless of whether it is true or not, everything is different. It compels you to use different muscles or build up new ones that are lacking.
On the other side, Elizabeth Olsen plays Candy Montgomery in the short series HBO Max’s Love and Death. The series was created by Kelley and is based on the book Evidence of Love: A Real Tale of Passion and Death as well as a group of pieces with the same title (“Love & Death in Silicon Prairie”) that were published in Texas Monthly.