The Real Story of Candy Montgomery

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Candy is one of Hulu's newest series based on actual events.

    

                                     

 

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Candy Montgomery

    As much as we would love the background on Candy Montgomery, there just isn't much out there about her early life. What we do know is that she was born Candace Wheeler, even the year and place of birth is conflicted depending on which source you read on the internet. So let's get to what we do know.

    Candy Montgomery was a wife and homemaker that resided in a small sleepy town called Wylie in Texas with her husband Pat Montgomery. They had 2 children together, little is known about their children.

    Candy loved being a mom but it doesn't appear that being a wife to an introvert was very rewarding to a free spirit like Candy. She needed more, she needed excitement. 

Pat Montgomery

    Pat was by all accounts a good husband and father. He worked at Texas Instrument as an electrical engineer earning a very good income. Pat was an intellectual and quite introverted. Which is completely opposite of his wife Candy. Pat seemed to be happy and content in both life and marriage but his lack of interest in his bored wife would lead to a devastating chain of events that would leave 2 children without a mother.

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Allan and Betty Gore

    Betty Gore was a wife and mother that resided in Wylie Texas. She would become a Grammar teacher and her husband Allan worked in telecommunications. They had two daughters together and seemed to live a very normal suburban life.

     

    It has been told in other sources that Betty may have suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of her second daughter. 

    

    She didn't seem happy in her career or happy in general. She suffered from anxiety when Allan was out of town for work so she dove into her role as a mother and attended church functions often at the local Methodist Church where she would inevitably meet her good friend and killer Candy Montgomery. 

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The Affair

    The affair between Allan and Candy began after a volley ball game in the late Summer of 1978. Candy was the aggressor in the situation. She wanted something new and exciting, she wanted to feel sexy and alive again so she set her eyes on Allan Gore. Candy pursued her good friends husband relentlessly and did not give up until she was in bed with him. Alan was flattered by Candy's flirting and directness with him. Letting him know outright that she thought of him a lot and wanted to have sex with him. 

  

      Allan would turn Candy down saying that he loved his wife and he didn't think that he could do that to Betty especially considering Betty was pregnant with their second child. Candy assured Allan that it would only be sex since she also loved Pat. She just wanted some excitement and wanted Allan to know that she wanted that excitement to be him. 

Allan leaned over and kissed Candy and walked away.

    After awhile of going back and forth in his mind Allan decided to call Candy. He wanted to work on his marriage with Betty but she got upset every time Allan brought up counseling or anything else that would help their marriage. Betty didn't think anything was wrong with the marriage. 

    So on what would be Candy's 29th birthday Allan called out of the blue asking Candy to lunch to discuss what they had spoken about a couple of weeks earlier. Candy was thrilled considering she felt like Allan had rejected her when they last spoke about whether or not to have an affair. 

    They would meet in McKinney at an auto body shop a few miles from Candy's home. They would go to a little teahouse and talked for a long while about their spouses and their children. Allan admitted to being nervous not only about having an affair but also his worry about hurting Betty if she were to ever find out. Candy agreed, stating she didn't want to hurt Pat either. She promised no one would ever know except them. They parted that day with Alan's suggesting of thinking about it awhile longer so they cold way the risk.

    Within a week Alan called Candy to discuss the ever looming affair that they both seemed to now want. But Allan seemed happy with just talking about the affair not actually following through with it. They would talk on the phone daily while Pat was at work and one day Candy decided that she would invite Alan over and if he didn't make a move then she was done. Candy wasn't interested in a meek reserved man, she wanted to be "taken" by a bold sexually driven man.

    Allan was concerned about any emotional attachments that may happen but Candy reassured him that this was just sex, nothing more, nothing less. Allan would leave that day without having sex with Candy and she was at the end of her patience. She wanted something spontaneous not planned out, all this talk and planning was defeating the purpose of what Candy wanted but then the next day Allan called and said he was ready. Candy would come up with a list of rules that would include "If either one of us want to end the affair, for whatever reason, it over. No questions asked."  The list went on but you get the basics of it. So with the rules in place the affair was scheduled to start on December 12, 1978.

    For the next few months Candy and Allan would meet every two weeks like clockwork at a sleazy hotel to have their affair. As time went on they become more friends than lovers. They wouldn't always have sex sometimes they would just talk. Candy began having second thoughts because she felt like she may be falling for Allan but Alan talked her into continuing with the affair. 

    In June the affair was ended by Allan, he said that Betty was getting further along in her pregnancy and she would be needing a lot of attention. Candy agreed that it was time to end it. In truth Candy had grown bored of Allan and his mediocre sex. The affair started to become more of a choir than a relationship and that was the complete opposite of what Candy wanted.

    In July of that same year the affair resumed because Betty gave birth and he didn't have to worry about her going into labor while he was in a sleazy hotel room having sex with his wife's friend. 

But things were not the same, Candy started arguing with Allan over small things and all around acting like a nagging wife. Alan would eventually end the affair against what Candy wanted. He thought maybe Betty was becoming suspicious. He didn't want to lose his family and his life but Candy was so upset, she wasn't ready for it to end going as far as professing her love for Allan. Allan would agree that he may love her too but it wasn't right to continue at the spouses expense. 

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Betty knows

    The Gore's oldest daughter had a sleepover with the Montgomery children and they had planned on going swimming so Candy would stop by the Gore home to get the little girls  bathing suit. She didn't have any hopes of seeing Allan as he was out of town. When Candy showed up Betty confronted Candy about her affair with Allan. Candy denied the affair but Betty had all of the cards and love letters to prove it. Candy would try to convince Betty that it was over but she would not be convinced.

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The Discovery

    A few hours after Allan had left home for his work trip he tried to call his wife but couldn't get an answer. He was worried about Betty because she was taking care of their  baby and he was scared something was wrong. He would try for the next several hours to reach his wife, even calling Candy. Candy advised Allan that his oldest daughter was with her as she had spent the night and that she didn't know why Betty wasn't answering. Candy reported that she had seen Betty at 10 am that morning and she seemed fine. Allan eventually called a neighbor to go check on his wife.

    Neighbors would find the front door unlocked and entered the home. They were drawn to the weak cries of the Gores baby. She was dehydrated and her diaper was soiled. At that point the neighbors knew something was terribly wrong and went to find Betty. They would find Betty brutally murdered in a room with the door partially opened. It was clear that Betty's murder was brutal, she had been killed with an axe leaving 41 wounds. 28 of which were to here head and face. 

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Only One Suspect

    Although investigators were put off by Allan's behavior during the questioning of his wife's murder, he had an alibi. The truth was only one person seemed to be the last to see Betty alive. That person was Candy Montgomery. 

    Candy would be questioned along with other friends and family members. It wasn't until Allan came clean about his affair with Candy did police believe that Candy could be their killer. It was still hard for investigators to believe that Candy was strong enough to commit such a heinous act of violence landing 41 blows to Betty's head and face. 

    Things were starting to develop rapidly in the case with finger prints on the axe as well as evidence of someone taking a shower in the Gore bathroom after the killing to wash away Betty's blood. 

    Candy would be arrested for the murder of her friend and her lovers wife Betty Gore but not before hiring a defense attorney and friend from the local Methodist Church. 

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Trial and Punishment

    

    Candy's attorney would shock the court by pleading self defense on his clients behalf. Candy would say that after trying to assure Betty that the affair with her husband was over, Betty grabbed an axe and came at Candy. The defense would claim that in a dissociative state after being attacked by Betty that Candy defended herself and had no awareness of the amount of times she would hit Betty with the axe. 

    The biggest shock of the trial would be the not guilty verdict that the jury decided.  The jury believed the self defense story.  Candy would not face any punishment for the murder of Betty Gore. She was acquitted of all charges. 

    One juror would say that the jury was not caught up in the amount of blows Betty suffered stating "We determined it never had a bearing on the verdict at all - whether in was one gunshot or 1,000 whacks."

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Many Questions Remain

    If this was truly an accident, why did Candy take a shower to clean off the blood? It shows that Candy was aware enough to try to wash away the evidence. Also Allan would say that Betty never confronted him about the affair and he had just left the home only a few hours before the murder

    . Candy went home and changed clothes to go back to the church and never said anything about Betty attacking her or that she had to kill Betty in self defense.

     She left a 1 year old baby in the house alone with her dead mother and never said anything to anyone. She was also still taking care of Betty's oldest daughter that slept over the night before. 

    Was it self defense or in a jealous rage Candy murdered her competition?

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After the Verdict

    During and after the trial Pat stood by Candy but that would end after moving to Georgia. Candy would become a certified family counselor, helping family's through difficult times.  

    After divorcing Candy, Pat has lived a quiet life. Not much is known of him or his current whereabouts.

    Allan would remarry rather quickly after his wife's brutal murdered and he also moved from Wylie. He ended up losing custody of his daughters to Betty's parents. He currently lives in Florida and has been in a domestic partnership since 2016.

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This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.