Ep. 9: Sweet as Candy - Part 2

Hello and welcome to Crime on the Clarkfork, the true crime podcast that only covers cases that happened in areas with populations of 15,000 or less. In this week's episode, I am talking about the brutal murder of Betty Gore in 1980 in Wylie, TX.

Transcript

Hi and welcome back to Crime on the Clarkfork, the true crime podcast where I tell you about big crimes that happen in small places with each case having occurred in areas with populations of 15,000 or less. My name is Mackenzie Spence and I am your host. If this is your first time here, go back one episode to listen to part one or you may be a bit confused as we jump into this episode.  

The last time we talked, I told you about the affair that had unfolded between Candy Montomery and Alan Gore in 1979. Again, if you didn’t listen to the last episode, stop here and go back. There is a lot of information that will help you understand this episode in part one. 

Anyways, let’s get into it. 

The sources for this episode are: Texas Monthly, People Magazine, A&E, Biography.com, City of Wylie TX, CBS News, AllThatInteresting.com, and FindaGrave.com, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Perplexity, Today.com, Bustle, UPI

Wylie, TX. 1980. Population: 3,152.

On June 13th, Allen had to leave for a work trip in St. Paul to make sure that his new company’s biggest client, 3M, had a functioning message-switching system by the following week. After leaving his last company, he knew he would be working really long hours, but he always attempted to avoid working weekends because he knew it upset Betty. He didn’t want to go on this trip to 3M because Betty couldn’t stand being left alone, even for one night. Even so, he knew that his absence this weekend would be easier on Betty because they were planning on heading to Europe the following week. They would be taking this trip without the children and Betty had been calling it their second honeymoon. When Allen had left that morning, Betty did break into tears, but Allen reassured her that he would call her from the airport before he took off and the sound of his voice would reassure her. Betty agreed that she would be okay for the weekend alone and her and Allen parted ways. 

When Allen made it to the airport and was heading to his gate, he stopped at a payphone to call Betty at the house. The phone rang seven or eight times before Allen hung up and tried again. When he didn’t get an answer the second time, he assumed that Betty was out on a walk in the neighborhood, which she did every evening with their daughter, Bethany. When he couldn’t get ahold of Betty, Allen finished his trek to his gate and noticed one of his colleagues, so he joined him in the boarding area. They then boarded the flight and discussed the new software on the way to St Paul. The flight was painless and landed on time, leaving the men to check into their hotel, the Ramada Inn on Old Hudson Road, at 8pm. The men went to their respective hotel rooms and agreed to meet for dinner at 9pm. 

When Allen got to his room, he began to wonder about Betty. Trying to remember if she had said that she would be out of the house that day or not. He called the house again and let the phone ring fifteen times before hanging up. He then called an operator to complete the call for him, but still no answer. He knew that Betty wouldn’t leave the house without telling him, especially at night, and there was no reason he could think of as to why she wouldn’t be answering his calls. 

Now, this is where the story ebbs from the previous episode and I apologize for any confusion. There are different sources that say different things, but what I am telling you now seems to be the correct order of events compared to the previous episode.

It was at this time that Allen called his next door neighbor, Richard Parker. Richard answered and Allen apologized for bothering him, but asked if he would be willing to go over to his house to see if Betty was home. Richard sounded a little irritated, but agreed to Allen’s request. He left Allen on the line and walked out of his house in slacks and an undershirt, but no shoes. He walked across the Gore’s lawn and knocked hard on the door. He waited for an answer, but one didn’t come, so he ran back to his house and let Allen know that there was no answer, so Betty must be out of the house. Allen thanked Richard for checking and then the two hung up. Allen was worried at this point and on an impulse, Allen called the Montgomery’s house. Candy answered almost immediately. 

“Candy,” Allen said, “this is Allen. Have you seen Betty?” Without answering the question, Betty asked Allen where he was. He explained to her that he was in Minnesota on a business trip and that he had been attempting to get ahold of Betty on the phone, but he couldn't get her to answer. He then asked her if she had heard from her that day. Candy explained that she had seen Betty that morning when she went to pick up Allen and Betty’s daughter, Alisa’s, swimsuit. Just a reminder that the Gore’s and Montgomery’s daughters were good friends, so it wasn’t odd for Alisa to be at the Montgomery’s house on occasion. That day, the girls were planning on spending the day in the Montgomery’s pool. 

Allen then asked Candy if Betty seemed alright when she had seen her earlier and Candy told Allen that it seemed as if she was in a hurry for Candy to leave their house. Allen continued asking Candy questions, including if she knew where she may be, but Candy didn’t know. Allen was incredibly worried at this point because he knew that Betty wouldn’t go out this late at night because it scared her. Hearing the worry in his voice, Candy assured Allen that she didn’t think anything was wrong, but went through her interaction with her earlier that day. She recalled that, when she went to pick up Alisa’s swimsuit, Betty was sewing and they talked shortly. Betty gave Candy some peppermints for Alisa because Alisa wouldn’t put her head underwater unless she got a peppermint afterwards. Candy said she then took the peppermints from Betty and left. Allen asked if Alisa was at Candy’s house now and Candy told him that she was as she was spending the night there for a sleepover. Allen asked to speak to his daughter. During this conversation, he asked Alisa if her mom had said anything about going out that night, but Alisa didn’t remember her saying anything. With that, Allen told Alisa goonight and to be good for the Montgomerys. Alisa gave the phone back to Candy and Candy told Allen that she would be more than happy to go and check on Betty, but Allen told her that it would be okay and he would call Richard back. With that, the two hung up.

By this time, it was nearing the 9-oclock meeting time with his colleagues for dinner, so he went downstairs and went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. He got back to his room around 10pm and attempted to call Betty again. He knew it would be way past her regular bedtime, which made him hopeful that she would answer the phone as she would definitely be home at that point. He let the phone ring, but again, no answer from Betty. At this point, he decided to call Richard again. Richard answered his phone and Allen once again apologized to him for calling so late, but asked if he would be able to see if Betty’s car was in the garage. Richard, once again, traipsed across his lawn to the chain link that separated that properties and looked into the Gore’s garage. He could see that Betty’s car was in the garage and that the garage door was open with the light on. 

Richard went back to his house and picked up the phone, where Allen had been waiting. He told Allen that Betty’s car was indeed in the garage, but that the garage door was open and that the light was on as well. Allen found this very strange, especially with how careful and anxious Betty was about being home alone. He automatically assumed that there was an emergency with the baby, so he thanked Richard and hung up the hotel phone. He immediately called the Plano hospital and Wylie police to see if they had received a call from Betty, but they had never even heard of Betty Gore. His mind was spinning out of control, so he called the only person who he knew would have a calm head and a sympathetic ear, Candy Montgomery. 

He explained to Candy that Richard had gone over to see if Betty’s car was in the garage and that the door was open, the light was on, but Betty’s car was also there. He asked if Betty had called over to Candy’s house, but Candy said that she hadn’t. She again asked if he wanted her to go down and check the house for him, but he told her no and that he would ask the neighbors to check once again. Candy assured Allen that she was sure nothing was wrong and that Alisa was taken care of at her house. 

Allen hung up the phone, but felt physically ill. He couldn’t think of a single reason why Betty wouldn’t have called him back or why no one knew anything. He called Richard’s house once more. This time, he didn’t apologize. He wasted no time telling Richard that he was worried sick about Betty and begged him to go back to the house, check all the doors and the garage one more time. He told Richard that if Betty was in a hurry, she may have left a note to let him know what was going on. Annoyed, Richard agreed once more to go and check the Gore’s house. He didn’t like the responsibility of checking in on his neighbor’s wife and was actually startled by the panic in Allen’s voice in his last call. 

Regardless, Richard left Allen on the line and went to go check to see if Betty was home once more. He went around the back into the alley and up the Gore’s driveway. He was surprised to see that there were actually two cars in the garage, not one. The second had been pulled forward enough that he wasn’t able to see it from the fence when he had looked earlier. He walked into the garage and tried the door to the utility room, but it was locked. He could tell that there was a light on through the crack under the door, but when he knocked, there was nothing but silence. At this point, Richard began to feel disturbed, so he left the garage and walked back to his house to update Allen. He grabbed the phone, where Allen was waiting, and told him that there was something wrong. There were actually two cars in the garage, the lights in the home were on, but no one was answering when he knocked. 

Allen, even more worried than before, told Richard that he had to get into the house in any way that he could. Reluctantly, Richard agreed to Allen’s request, so Allen gave him the phone number to his hotel room and said he would be waiting to hear back from him. Richard wrote down Allen’s number and hung up. He grabbed his realtor keys, hoping that one would fit the Gore’s home. During this time, Allen was unsure if Richard was really going to go back to his house to check for Betty, so he called an old coworker from Texas Instruments that lived across the street, Jerry McMahan, and told him that something was wrong at his house. He explained the situation and asked if Jerry would be willing to go over with a flashlight and see what he could find out. 

Jerry agreed, put his shoes on, and walked down his driveway. When he got to the Gore’s garage, he knocked loudly on the utility room door, with no answer, similar to Richard’s attempts. He walked into the backyard and attempted to open the sliding glass door, but it was locked and wouldn’t budge. He finally went around the front of the house, looking into windows as he went, and then rang the doorbell, but again, no answer. He plodded back to his own house, picked up the phone and told Allen that there didn’t seem to be anything out of place other than the lights on in the house and the garage door open. Allen was adamant that there was something wrong and that Jerry needed to get into the house regardless of what it took. Jerry hung up the phone and told his wife what was happening. As he relayed the story, his wife told him that he could not go back to the house alone as she felt something was wrong. He told her that he would call Lester Gayler, a barber who lived next door to the Gores and Richard. He told Lester what was happening and they two agreed to meet in the alley. When they arrived in the alley, the pair were surprised to see Richard walking to the Gore’s house as well with a giant silver ring full of house keys. 

Jerry asked Richard what the hell was going on, to which Richard told him that he wasn’t sure, but Allen told him he needed to get into his house regardless of what it took. He told the two other men that he had the realtor keys and was going to see if any of the keys worked on the Gore’s house’s locks. Richard tried the keys one-by-one on the utility door while the other two men attempted to open the sliding glass door in the back of the house. None of the keys worked and the other men were unsuccessful in getting the glass door open, so they thought to try all of the windows as well to see if they could pry them open. While Lester and Jerry tried to get in through the windows of the house, Richard went to the front door and began checking each key on his ring, hopeful that one would fit. 

He placed the first key in the lock and the door swung open. It wasn’t locked. A chill ran down Richard’s spine as he yelled to Jerry and Lester that the front door was unlocked. The men joined Richard on the porch and each waited for the other to make the first move into the house. It was Richard that stuck his head into the house first, yelling for Betty. Finally, Lester opened the door the rest of the way and the men entered the house. When they entered the house, they noticed that all the doors in the hallway were closed. The men made their way further into the house and Lester walked to the first door, opening it, and sighing a breath of relief. A child’s bedroom, nothing unusual within. Richard looked over Lester’s shoulder into the room and also felt relief flush over him. Richard and Lester continued down the hall to the following room while Jerry looked into the bathroom, which had its light left on. On the tile, he noticed a dark substance caked to the floor tiles and he immediately knew something terrible had happened. 

As Richard and Lester continued down the hallway, they opened the second door and flipped on the light switch. As soon as the light illuminated the room, the men heard a hoarse wail of a baby and immediately knew it must be the Gore’s baby, Bethany. From the door, the men could now see the baby half sitting up and half laying down in the crib with her legs folded under her little body. Bethany’s face was blotchy and red and her hair was tangled and dirty from laying in her own excrement. Her cry was hoarse, presumably from crying for an extended period of time. Richard quickly grabbed Bethany and hurried back to his house to call 911 and make sure the baby was okay. 

While Richard left to call the police, Jerry and Lester continued their search of the house, moving to the master bedroom, where they found nothing. This concluded their search of half the house and meant they had another half to search. They went into the living room and they split up, Jerry going to the dining room on the right and Lester heading to the kitchen on the left. The pair turned lights on as they traveled through the house, aware of the iron-like smell that followed them throughout their search. Lester made it to the utility room that was attached to the kitchen and immediately yelled to Jerry that they didn’t need to look any further. Lester quickly closed the utility room door and yelled to Jerry that Betty was dead. Lester hadn’t even noticed Betty’s body, but rather the sheer amount of blood that encompassed the utility room. Jerry began heading towards Lester, and even from 15 feet away, Jerry could see the look of pure terror on Lester’s face. 

As Jerry got closer, Lester shuffled away from the utility room door and let Jerry crack the door open. He only needed a quick look before closing the door. Jerry looked at Lester and told him that Betty had blown her head off. The entire right half of her face was missing. Lester moved to the phone to call the police, but just as he was about to pick up the receiver, the phone began to ring. Both men froze and looked at each other, but it was Lester who picked it up and shakily said “hello?”

It was Allen on the line who said that he couldn’t wait any longer for an update. Lester didn’t say anything so Jerry grabbed the phone from his hand. Allen, feeling the tension through the phone, asked the men what they had found. Jerry responded by telling him it wasn’t good, but that Bethany, the baby, was okay.  Allen retorted asking about Betty, to which Jerry didn’t have anything to say, so he simply told Allen that he wasn’t sure what happened, but it looks like she had been shot. Allen was confused because the couple didn’t own a gun.

Jerry continued by telling Allen that he wished there was something else he could tell him, but that he needed to hang up to call the police and when they got there, they would tell everything that they found to them. Allen was stunned, so he thanked Jerry and Lester and hung up the phone. He didn’t know what to do, so he called Candy again. At this point, it was 11:30pm, so when the phone rang, Pat Montgomery was not happy, especially since he and Candy had just begun to have sex. Candy answered the phone and as soon as she did, Allen told her that he had bad news, Betty was dead and the neighbors found her with a gun-shot wound in their home. Candy immediately asked about Bethany, making sure the baby was okay, to which Allen told her she was fine and with the neighbors. Allen went on to say that he didn’t know what happened and that he knew she had some things that had been bothering her, but he never thought she would kill herself. Candy asked Allen what she could do, to which he asked her to watch Alisa, but not tell her what happened because he wanted to tell her when he got home from Minneapolis. He then hung up the phone. At this point, Candy was crying and Pat put his arms around her asking if Betty was dead. Candy responded that she didn’t know, but it sounded like it by the way Allen was speaking. 

Candy slept for 3 hours that night before getting up to make breakfast for her husband, kids, and Alisa. She continued her day as she would any other until she got a phone call from friends and neighbors asking if she had heard the news. She said she had only heard that Betty had been shot, but nothing else. Apparently, it was all over the news. As soon as she hung up on one call, her phone rang again. As the phone continued to ring, more and more pieces were being released by the police, including the fact that Betty was not in fact killed by a self-inflicted bullet wound, but rather, she was murdered with an ax. It was also revealed that a bloody footprint was found at the scene and that it was the sole detail of the crime that every person in the county knew. 

Around lunchtime that day, Allen arrived from Minneapolis where he was greeted by police officers. By this time, the officers knew that Betty had not committed suicide, but was murdered with an ax. At this news, Allen nearly collapsed. In the house, the cops had found a bloody footprint and hair in the shower that was not thought to belong to the Gores. 

It wasn’t long before Candy was questioned in the murder because she was the last person to see Betty alive the morning of her murder. It also didn’t take long for Allen to reveal to police that he and Candy had been having an affair, which was something that Candy had not mentioned when she was questioned. Her story was always airtight, leaving out the infidelity with the dead man’s wife. This gave police a motive for murder and Candy became the top suspect on their list. The real kicker was the bloody fingerprint that was found in the home, which the police were able to tie to Candy. Therefore, they put out a warrant for her arrest, charging her with the murder of Betty, to which, Candy vehemently denied. She turned herself into the police shortly after the warrant was issued. The prosecutors began seeking a hair sample from Candy to compare to the hair that had been found in the shower of the Gore’s home.

Candy was able to make the $100,000 bail, $309,000 in today’s money, and once she was released, she stopped reading the newspapers, listening to the radio, or watching the news on TV. Candy was the perfect housewife and had a whole community of people backing her and her family during this time. It wasn’t unusual for the Montgomerys to get a greeting card from people at their church that encouraged them to keep their heads high and to let them know they were praying for them and this disaster to end. 

During this time, Candy hired a lawyer from the church that her family and the Gores attended. His name was Don Crowder and he was a lawyer who normally handled personal injury work and had never been even close to a murder case before. When he began speaking to reporters about the case in Candy’s stead, he told the media that he believed the murderer was a man. As he began to look into the case, he knew that he was going to need more from Candy, possibly prying out information that she didn’t know was in her mind from her last interaction with Betty. He requested the aid of a Houston psychiatrist, Dr. Fred Fason. Fason was not a fan of courtroom work as he thought it brought bad PR his way, but when Crowder explained the case, Fason was intrigued, so he agreed to meet with Candy and Crowder once for a diagnosis. 

Candy and Crowder flew to Houston to meet with Dr. Fason. After this initial meeting, Dr Fason was hooked on the case and decided that he wanted to try and break into Candy’s memory by using hypnosis. Two weeks after the initial appointment, Candy returned to Houston for the hypnosis treatment along with one of Crowder’s associates, Elaine Carpenter. During these two weeks, Candy had begun to seem more and more detached and seemed almost numb. When Dr. Fason came into the waiting area and ushered Candy back, she seemed even more detached than she had when they entered the building. Carpenter waited in the lobby and after two hours, there was still no word from the Dr. or Candy. Becoming antsy, Carpenter began pacing back and forth in the looby, what was, until she heard a shrill shriek coming from the treatment area. She then heard a low-pitch moaning coming from the office. She wasn’t able to tell if the noises were coming from Candy or someone else, but they didn’t seem to stop. 

In the confines of the office, Fason began the appointment by talking with Candy about the hypnotism process. He told her that she would have to be completely open and level during this interview and if she thought she couldn't be, the appointment would be over. Candy assured Dr. Fason that she was ready for the appointment and was willing to be open with him about the day of Betty’s death. The two began talking about the morning of Friday, June 13th. Candy opened up to Dr. Fason about everything that had happened the morning of the 13th. More than she had told Crowder or Pat. Once Dr. Fason believed that he had won Candy’s trust, it was time for the hypnosis to begin. Candy was incredibly susceptible to hypnosis. She went under quickly and the trance was deep. Fason began by asking Candy what had happened in Betty’s home that day, but Candy was not answering him. He continued to pry and finally asked what thoughts were going through her head. Candy responded with one word: hate. Dr. Fason continued to pry feelings and thoughts out of the hypnotized Candy. Finally, Candy was able to verbalize that she hated Betty because she had ruined her life. 

Getting somewhere, Dr. Fason asked Candy to go back in time to the day of Betty’s murder, when she last saw her. It was revealed that Betty had pushed Candy when she went to pick up Alisa’s swimsuit. This made Candy upset and in her trance said, “I won’t let her hit me again. I don’t want him. She can’t do this to me.” Dr. Fasom asked her to go back to the first time she ever remembers being mad. Candy was four when she lost a race to Johnny. She was so mad that she threw a jar against a pump. Her mother took her to the hospital. When Dr. Fasom asked Candy what her mother said to her, all Candy could say was “Shh”. She also said that she was afraid and wanted to scream. Dr. Fasom told Candy that she was allowed to scream all she wanted, but Candy was reluctant, so he counted to three and told her to kick and scream all she wants. When he got to three, Candy screamed and screamed. As soon as she stopped, Fasom decided it was time to take her out of the hypnotic trance. He knew it would take more appointments to get to the end of Candy’s childhood trauma, but he had found the reason behind Candy’s rage. Before the murder trial, for which Candy was the main suspect, she attended three additional hypnosis sessions with Dr. Fason. 

In October 1980, after months of claiming Candy was innocent, her lawyer surprised the court by saying that Candy was pleading self-defense for the murder of Betty Gore. On the day of the trial, Candy wore a loose-fitting blue dress, her hair was short and wavy, and she adorned a wool sweater over her shoulders. She had been coached by Crowder before she took the witness stand, but even with coaching, Candy was less than a model witness. Her voice was nasally and clipped and when she answered questions about her life, the Gores, or her family, she gave short answers. So, what happened that day in the Gore’s home that left Betty dead? Candy told it in her own words at her trial. 

On Friday, June 13th, Betty was expecting Candy to arrive at her house around noon to pick up Alisa’s swimsuit. So, when Candy arrived earlier than expected, Betty was annoyed. She had just sat down for the first time that morning after putting Bethany down for her midmorning nap. The light knock on the door was quickly answered by Betty, who was dressed in red shorts, a yellow shirt, and house sandals. She opened the door a crack and peered out to see who was there. When Betty answered the door, Candy quickly told her that she had a favor to ask. She explained that the girls wanted to go to the movies that evening after swimming lessons, so she thought, to save Betty the trip, she would come and grab Alisa’s swimsuit. Betty agreed that it would make sense for Candy to do so, especially if the girls were going to be together that night as well. It was one less thing on Betty’s plate for the day. 

Betty invited Candy into her house and both walked into the living room. Betty turned off the television, where she had been watching The Phil Donahue Show and asked Candy if she wanted a cup of coffee. Hers still half full from earlier in the morning. Candy declined and asked where Bethany was. Betty explained that she had been up especially early with the baby and that she had just managed to put her down for a nap. Candy frowned and told Betty that it was too bad because she had wanted to play with her before leaving. 

Betty got up and gave Candy peppermints, reminding her that Alisa wouldn’t put her head underwater without a peppermint as a reward. Candy took the candies and agreed to use them to incentivize Alisa later that day. The two continued their small-talk and eventually, Candy looked at her watch and told Betty that she needed to head out, but reminded her that she needed Alisa’s bathing suit for that afternoon’s swimming lessons. Betty didn’t get up from her chair, but instead looked at Candy and point blank asked if she was having an affair with Allen. Candy, stunned by the accusation, said of course they weren’t having an affair. She answered a little too quickly for Betty who then said, “But you did, didn’t you?” At this point, Candy didn’t see the point in lying to Betty. She admitted that the two had had an affair, but it had been a long time ago. Betty said nothing, so Candy asked if Allen had told her. 

Betty didn’t respond to her question, but rather got up from her chair and told Candy to wait a minute. She walked into the utility room and out of sight of Candy. Candy wondered how long Betty had known about the affair and started to panic because she couldn’t think of anything to say to Betty. After a couple of seconds, Betty reappeared in the utility closet doorway with an ax in her hand. Betty looked at Candy and told her to never see her husband again. It wasn’t a request. It was an order. Candy, shocked by Betty, told her that it was probably a good idea for Candy to go and get Alisa now to bring her home, but Betty told her to keep her for the night and drop her off the following day as planned. She didn’t want this to ruin her daughter’s time with her friend. 

Betty laid the ax against the wall and told Candy that she would go and get a towel for Alisa and told Candy to go to the utility room to grab her swimsuit off the washing machine. Candy went into the utility room and grabbed Alisa’s swimming suit and Betty reappeared in the room behind her with a towel. This time, her face was full of pain rather than rage. She reminded Candy to not forget the peppermints for Alisa and dropped a few into Candy’s bag with the swimming suit and the towel. When Candy looked up at Betty again, she felt a twinge of regret for all the pain she had caused her, so she touched Betty’s arm and told her that she was sorry for everything. 

This broke something in Betty. Her rage erupted and she grabbed the ax from where it was resting and shoved Candy back into the utility room. She rushed into the room and screamed at Candy that she couldn’t have Allen. She screamed that she was pregnant again and she couldn’t have him this time. Candy put her hands on the ax and begged Betty to stop. She told Betty that she didn’t want Allen. Betty told Candy that she had to kill her. The two grappled for control of the ax and Betty managed to hit the flat side of the ax blade against Candy’s head. This caused Candy to take a step further into the utility room, grabbing her head and coming away with blood on her hands. Betty raised the ax above her head as if she was going to hit Candy with one powerful blow of the ax, but Candy let out a scream from the top of her lungs and jumped into a cabinet, which knocked everything onto the floor. 

Betty missed Candy entirely and landed on the linoleum flooring, bounced, and cut a gash into Candy’s toe. Candy grabbed the blade at this point, her fear turning into pure rage. When she grabbed the blade, Betty began wiggling the handle to try and get it out of her grip, but Candy was not letting go. Since she wasn’t letting go, Betty started kicking at Candy’s legs and kneeing her in the thighs. With Candy still not letting go, Betty tried to get better leverage on the ax handle and eventually bit Candy’s hand to try and get her to let go, but Candy used this as an opportunity to gain control of the situation. She was able to knock Betty off balance and throw her into the freezer with her feet slipping on the linoleum floor. As Betty attempted to get up from the floor, Candy took the ax, lifted it high above her head, and brought it down onto Betty’s head. 

The blow caused a popping noise and blood began gushing out of Betty’s head. Candy immediately dropped the ax and took a step back. Betty slumped forward, but was still conscious enough to try and get to her feet. Candy was terrified that she had killed Betty so took off into the living room. She reached the front door, but Betty was right behind her and slammed her body into the door. Betty had the ax again, but she was weak from the loss of blood and wound to her head. Candy began to cry and asked Betty to let her go, but Betty told her that she couldn’t do that. Candy grabbed the ax from Betty and the women began the dance of fighting for the ax again. While doing this, Betty’s head continued to drip blood on the linoleum floor, making it slick. 

At one point, Betty bumped against the freezer again and lost her grip, so Candy attempted to leave the utility room through the garage, but Betty managed to get in her way and hit the lock to the door, which would explain why the door to the utility room was locked when the men attempted to make entry to the house. The women tousled for the ax for some time, slipping and sliding in Betty’s blood that had made its way to the floor. Eventually, Betty got control of the ax and Candy begged her to let her go. Saying that she didn’t want Allen. At this point, all Betty did was put her finger to her lips and whispered “Shhhhhh.” 

Candy grabbed the ax, jerked it from Betty’s hands as if the women were in a game of tug-of-war. Eventually, Betty’s hands slipped due to the blood on the ax handle. She lunged towards Candy, but Candy raised the ax with all of the might she could muster and brought it down with all the force her adrenaline allowed. She continued to hit Betty with the ax 39 more times, for a total of 41 hits. 40 of those hits happened while Betty was still alive. There was no remorse for the actions that Candy partook in. Her psyche had broken the moment Betty put her finger to her lips and said “Shhh.” Candy hit Betty with the ax to the point of exhaustion. And only at that time did she stop.

Now, all of this was said in front of a courtroom, jury, and judge. The story seemed rehearsed, Candy’s voice was monotone through most of the recollection. Her lawyer, Crowder continued his questioning, asking Candy if, when she went to the Gore house that morning, did she mean to kill her with the ax? Candy replied No. He then asked if she killed Betty with the ax, to which she replied, yes. The murder weapon was in the courtroom at this time, so Crowder picked the ax up and asked her if that was the ax that she used to kill Betty. Candy asked him not to make her look at it, but Crowder continued. Asking her again if it was the ax that she used to kill Betty. Candy simply said “Don’t.” When she realized that Crowder wasn’t going to let her go without an answer, she finally said “Yes” so he would take the ax away. 

After this, Crowder asked Candy to walk through the rest of her day and the coverup that occurred after Betty’s murder, so I will go into that now. After Candy hit Betty with the ax 41 times, she walked to the Gore’s bathroom and took a shower. Throwing her clothes in the washing machine to clean them of any blood. When she got out of the shower, she grabbed her clothes, put them on wet, and left the Gore house. Her foot was still bleeding when she got to her car and placed the key in the ignition. Her jeans were soaked and reeked of fabric softener. She wondered why her pants were wet and why her toe throbbed, but she made up the excuse that he stubbed her toe on the storm door at home. She made her way back to her house and pulled into the garage. She immediately went upstairs to her and Pat’s room and took off her jeans and blouse. She cleaned her wound on her toe and tightly wrapped a band-aid around it, reminding herself that she stubbed it on the storm door. 

She then went downstairs and put her shirt in the sink, pouring detergent on it and starting the water. She left it in the sink to soak and went back upstairs to find another pair of blue jeans that matched the pair she had on that morning. She showered again and washed her hair. This is when she noticed that she had a small cut on the right side of her forehead, right at the hairline. When she got out of the shower, she attempted to bandage the wound, but her hair kept the bandage from sticking, so she gave up. She then put on the new pair of blue jeans that matched the older pair, wrung out her blouse and threw it in the dryer, and then threw her soiled jeans into the washing machine. When the shirt was finished drying, she took it out of the dryer and thought that it was good luck that the shirt was burgundy. Finally, she took off her rubber sandals she had been wearing that day and replaced them with a pair of blue tennis shoes. She laced them up rather tightly to keep pressure on her bandaged toe and headed out to pick up her kids and Alisa from the church. 

By the time she made it to the church, the children’s puppet show was nearly over. She ran into one of her church friends, Barbara, who she apologized to for her late appearance. She explained that she got caught up talking to Betty when picking up Alisa’s swimsuit. She then stated that she had a couple more errands to run, but didn’t notice that her watch had stopped, so she didn’t even have time to run into the store to grab what she needed. So she went directly to the church, which we all know is a lie. After this interaction, Candy headed to the church classroom to check on the kids, but was cognizant that she wasn’t limping due to her toe. She walked into an empty room with a mirror and dapped a piece of tissue at the wound on her head. When she left the church, one of the women leaving at the same time noticed something odd. Candy was wearing tennis shoes, which she never did in the summer. She was always seen donning her rubber sandals, but the woman didn’t think much else of this. 

The rest of the evening went by in a blur for Candy. The kids kept her busy and at one point, she called Pat to let him know that Alisa was going to the movies with the family that evening. She even relayed the lie she had told her friend Barbara at the church earlier that day about losing track of time with Betty and then her watch dying. Possibly trying to make this a reality in her brain as well. Pat just mumbled recognition of the story as he was anxious about some computer runs he had to do for Texas Instruments. Candy then told him that Alisa was going to stay the night with them that night, to which Pat said that it was fine with him. She then asked him if she knew where Allen was working, which caught Pat by surprise. He told her didn’t know, but asked why she asked. She told him it wasn’t important and that they would be in the Texas Instruments parking lot around 4:45pm to head to the movies with the kids and Alisa. 

At the Gore house that day, the phone rang, but was not picked up. No one came or went, and the mailman came by with a box to drop off, but no one answered the door when the mailman rang. The only proof of life in the house was a muffled baby cry. In the yard, the Gore's two cocker spaniels walked nervously, whimpering and howling, confused or frightened, who knows.

The following day, when Candy was receiving the phone calls from friends and neighbors, talking to her about Betty’s death being a suicide, she thought it was perfect. The scene of the crime looked like a suicide with a gun, so everything was okay because it actually happened with a gun. When it was determined that is was not a gun, but in fact an ax that killed Betty, Candy went to her closet, grabbed her rubber sandals and then went out to grab the hedge trimmers and rendered the sandals unrecognizable before discarding the heap of rubber into her outside trash can. She continued to cover up as much as she could. Including adding stories to what she did the day of Betty’s death that were not true, but she told herself enough to make them seem true. 

After Crowder went over what Candy did to avoid detection, the court took a recess. After the ten minute break was up, O’Connell, the prosecution attorney began. He knew that Candy was smart, attractive, and direct. She handled herself very well on the witness stand. He attempted to find cracks in Candy’s story. He asked her to repeat what happened in the utility room, but with less detail than she had used before. Unfortunately for him, there was no discrepancies between the two accounts from Candy. She did include small details that only the killer would know, such as the location of the peppermint bowl. O’Connell moved his questions back and forth from the murder to a close friend’s divorce, and back to the coverup.

He then moved on to emphasize that Candy murdered Betty and then left a one-year-old Bethany alone in the house for hours and hours. Pointing out that Candy prided herself on her role as a mother. He also pointed out that Candy repeatedly lied to her friends about what happened that day. After that, he abruptly stopped and the judge told him that he could stand down.

Candy’s testimony stopped on a Friday and by the following Wednesday, the jury heard the final arguments. They went to deliberate and reached a decision the same day. Candy Montgomery was found not guilty and she served no jail time for Betty’s murder. The verdict from the jury left many upset and outraged feeling as if Candy had gotten away with a brutal crime. With that being said, her lawyer strongly believed that the prosecuting attorneys did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Candy didn’t act in self-defense when she killed Candy. 

So, Candy walked free back in 1980 after brutally killing Betty, but where is she now? According to public records, Candy obtained a therapist license in Georgia in 1996 under her maiden name, Candace Wheeler. Beyond that, not much is known. The house on 410 Dogwood Drive in Wylie, TX, where Betty was brutally murdered has sold at least 6-times since the murder took place in 1980. The 3-bedroom home that was built in 1974 has been remodeled and has a different flow than it did before. In 2022, Hulu and HOB Max released a crime drama series that highlighted the murder, which has caused people to begin driving by the house and taking photos of the property. 

As for Bethany and Alisa, Betty’s children, Alan lost custody of both of them to Betty’s parents not long after the murder. They moved to Kansas where Alisa still lives with her family. Alisa earned an accounting degree from Kansas State University and currently works in the oil and energy industry for Koch Engineering Solutions as a business controller. Bethany graduated from Wichita State University with a teaching degree, following in the steps of her mother. She now lives in Las Vegas and works as an assistant principal. In December 2013, Bethany had her first child and named her Betty, in honor of her mother. She also happened to be born on the same day as well. 

As for Alan, he remarried in the four years between the time of the murder and the trial in 1980. He seems to be in contact with his daughters, repairing the relationship that was broken after he lost custody of them.